This Saturday is the Day!!!

This Saturday is a big day!!  A really, really big day.  Annie Sloan is coming to our store 'The Abode' for a book signing!

Her new book 'Color Recipes for Painted Furniture and more' just came out and we have it, and we have her!!!  Crazy, isn't it!!  

 

That right there alone is reason enough to come to beautiful downtown San Clemente.  Annie Sloan!  Here!  At The Abode!!  What more do you need?   But downtown San Clemente has so much to offer, so you might as well just make a whole day of it!

This Saturday is the perfect day to have a perfect day.  And really, it should be "A Perfect Day in San Clemente" day.

This is how it should go:

Start the day with a nice breakfast.  A couple of good places:  The Beach Garden Cafe - right across the street from the pier - yummy and a great view!  Or Cafe Mimosa, right across the street from The Abode.   So also a great view! And also delicious!

 

Both great choices.

Then it's time for the book signing!  Don't delay - get over there and get your book signed!  Annie will be signing books from 11:00 to 12:00 and then it's social hour from 12:00 to 1:00 pm.   You will probably want to hang out with Annie for a bit.  She's not only extremely talented, she's quite good fun.  And nice.  Really, really nice.  And did I mention that she is the author of over 20 books, and the inventor of the amazing Chalk Paint®, - that phenominal paint that sticks to virtually anything? That paint that gives your furniture amazing fine finishes with very little effort?  And she is nice.  Did I mention that?  And did I mention that this new book 'Color Recipes for Painted Furniture and more' is already in the top 5 of Amazon.com's top interior design books?  And that it is a REALLY GOOD BOOK?  Because I think I should mention that!  And that we will have some refreshments for you all to enjoy at The Abode?  Because a perfect day involves lots of refreshments!

And if that wasn't enough - right next door is the annual San Clemente Community Garden Fest!  It's just next door and it's a big deal. It comes around only once a year, and it is this Saturday! People come from all over for this thing.  And it's kid friendly.  And there will be flowers!!  Lots of flowers!!

And all this is a good reason to come for breakfast -  parking could be a problem.  San Clemente will be hopping this Saturday.  Annie, Garden Fest, Perfect Weather at the Beach!  I'm telling you - get down here early!

And bring the family.

And did I say get here early?

And after the Garden Fest, you need to just wander Del Mar and shop in all the great shops!  There are so many!  Lots of great restaurants, antiques stores and boutiques.  

And then.....is it time for lunch yet?  There are so many great places to eat I don't know which to recommend.  Too many!  Yum!

This one might be my favorite.  

And then more shopping.

And then the very important walk down to the pier.  It's very important to end your "Perfect San Clemente Day" sipping cocktails at The Fisherman on the pier.  Go to The Fisherman "bar" on the right side of the pier.  The food isn't anything special, but the atmosphere and the view, and of course the drinks, are perfect.  Just follow Avenida Del Mar all the way to the end.  You will end up at the pier.

And there you have it!  A perfect day!

Hope to see you all this Saturday!

228 Avenida Del Mar

San Clemente, CA 92672

Any questions?  Call Jill  

MaK & JiLL Have Moved!!

Okay - It's hard to believe that the last time I blogged was October 21st!  I really shouldn't point that out.  Hopefully you have noticed!  And been wondering!  "What is going on with Mak & Jill?"  "I need my posts from Mak & Jill!".  Of course you have!

Well - we have been busy behind the scenes getting our new store "The Abode" ready!!!  Yes - our very own store!!                                                    

Just 2 years ago Marjee and I decided to start doing what we love - so we created a bunch of fabulous furniture and art and accessories and took them to space KK13 at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market and started selling.  We got a great response and have been going strong ever since!  We have had HGTV hosts buy our stuff, Reality T.V. shows interview us for pilots, books and magazines ask to use photos of our beautiful creations.  We have found success in doing what we love!  And now, less than 2 years after "giving it a go", we have opened the doors to our dream come true - a fabulous retail space of our very own!                                                                                                

We opened the doors to our store in a historic "Ole Hanson" Spanish home in down town San Clemente, CA on Avenida Del Mar.  It is filled with beautiful and interesting things, and everyone is loving it! 

So - there is a little preview.  Come on in and let us know what you think!  

Bed Turned Bench Twin Sister

Here she is!  The quieter, more laid back sister of "Bed Turned Bench".  

There are the twins before:

And here is the first bench, during.  She was given a slatted seat, made out of scrap wood.

But her sister was given a solid seat, so she could be hinged, and supply some storage!  Because we can all use more storage, right!?  Right!!

She got the shabby chic treatment with some Annie Sloan Old White, some distressing, and a coat of clear wax.  Per Rick, the buyer, who loves some shabby chic!

And here they are together.....

So which is your favorite?

Shabby Shabby's Big Sister

A while back I painted a dresser in a shabby chic style, and named her Shabby Shabby.  

I wasn't sure I loved Shabby Shabby.  My hubby hubby was the instigator for that piece.  He likes things with a ton of distressing and character.  I like distressed, and I certainly like character.  So I did that piece for him.  And he loved it.  And lots of other people loved it!  Which kinda made me love it.  

It got pinned a ton on pinterest - more so than any other piece I've done.  So now I love it even more.

So here is Shabby Shabby's big sister.  The better looking sister if you ask me.

Again, she is heavily distressed.  But not quite as heavily.  I left more big areas of the white paint in tact on the body.  But I still went pretty crazy with the electric sander.

Yum.  Did you notice her beautiful bowed front?  And that nice carved detail under the top drawers?  She is mighty pretty!

And I LOVE the color of her drawers.  I did a custom piece for someone in this color and loved it, so I used up the extra on this.  It's a mix of Annie Sloan's Florence, Napoleonic Blue and Provence.  I dry brushed some plain old Provence on there too, to add the beachy white washed look.

I decided to white wash the hardware on her also.  I just brushed on some old white, let it sit a bit, till it was almost dry, then wiped off the high spots with a wet cloth.

And she was finished with a coat of clear wax.  

Incredibly easy, and quite lovely if I do so say myself!

The end!

Why Not White........?

I am a lover of COLOR!  I am sooo drawn to anything with lots of color. Vibrant color!  Mmmmm.  Color, color, color!!!   However.......who doesn't like white!?  I certainly do!  But you would never know it.  I looked on my portfolio recently, and white is nowhere to be seen. There are bits here and there along with other colors; but nothing just beautifully white.  Beachy, shabby, glorious white.

The reason I noticed this is because I had an old friend call about having something painted.  Rick, my brothers best friend from high school, had called and wanted a piece painted a beachy, shabby, glorious white.  Not really his words, but you get the picture.  I told him to check out the portfolio page and see if there was anything there with the finish that he liked.  And then I went to take a look.  Oops.  Nothing.  So Rick just had to trust.  I think he was a little worried.

So......here is some white for the color crazed pages of Mak & JiLL!

And this is what it looked like before:

Rick and his wife Trisha were very, very happy with their updated beachy white desk.  So happy that lots more of their furniture is coming my way to get the white treatment!  And remember the bed turned bench from the last post?  How could you not?!  Well they have ordered one of those in white!  They live at the beach, and all of this beautiful white furniture is going to look amazing in their place. Hopefully I will get some pictures to post of these pieces in their natural habitat.   Are you reading this Rick?  You had better have signed up for my blog Rick and Trisha!!  Send me photos!!! :)

And here are some beautiful photos of whites at their finest!

 White with pops of color.  Yum.

And yum.

O

Or white on white?  I could never......  But it's beautiful!

Wow.  Can't really go wrong with those windows.....that view....

But isn't all the white just perfect?!

Is this the most perfectly done white kitchen?  

Another view of the perfectly done white kitchen.  I LOVE a white kitchen with pops of color.  I don't think I've ever seen it done better than this.  It is just completely perfect!!!!

 

 And we should definitely end it with a white piano!!!!

I think you might be seeing alot more white on the pages of MaK & JiLL in the future!!!