November Fab Furniture Flippin Contest - "Colour Your World" Velvet Finishes Sponsored Post

Drum roll please... the moment that you have all been waiting for! The sneak peeks are over and the final product is here. The final product is my entry into November's Fab Furniture Flippin Contest. This contest was sponsored by Velvet Finishes, in which I received free product for my contest entry! Thus, this post is sponsored by Velvet Finishes.

When I got the confirmation that I was chosen for a slot in November's Fab Furniture Flippin Contest I was so thrilled! A friend turned me on to the contest because of my passion for style and design, specifically, furniture flipping. If you have never heard the term furniture flipping, it basically refers to taking a piece of furniture and giving it new life! I have taken raw pieces of furniture, broken pieces of furniture, and even antique furniture and made it my own!

This months contest is sponsored by Velvet Finishes ( http://www.velvetfinishes.com/ ) 

I absolutely love this line of products! I had heard of Velvet Finishes but not yet used their products. Because the contest is sponsored by Velvet Finishes, they supplied the products for my piece. I received a bottle of Ready, which is essentially a primer for your piece. It was so easy! Just spray and wipe.

I chose the Velvet Finishes paint color Stately for this piece because I thought it would make a bold statement. The color is so rich and glamorous! If I was going to "Colour my World," I was going to do so boldly! The creator of the line, Kellie, jokes that you can just "slap it on" and I proved that theory to be true. This had to be the easiest paint I have ever used. The finish is true to the name because it dried velvety smooth without thick spots and without my brush strokes showing. 

I allowed the first coat to dry for 30 minutes before applying a second coat. I was outside working on the piece and it was windy so it sped things up a bit. Another note, the 32 oz jar of paint goes a long way! I painted the entire dresser with less than half of the jar of paint. 

Once the piece was dry I used Velvet Finishes paint color Eloquent to paint over the feather stencil that I found at Hobby Lobby. I like this color because it is a very light shade of the color used on the base of the dresser. 

Finally, I added hardware that I also found at Hobby Lobby. Since the theme of this month's contest is "Colour Your World," I wanted to add a little extra pop of color. I chose bright, fun knobs for the two bottom drawers and knobs with a subtle design, yet still with the same color within the design for the top draw. 

Thank you to our host of the contest:

Fern Avenue

http://www.onfernavenue.com/2016/10/color-your-world-painted-layered.html

Sweet Tea Refinishing

http://www.sweettearefinishing.com/2016/10/colour-your-world-with-velvet-finishes.html

If you are a blogger and interested in participating in the Fab Furniture Flippin Contest you can contact info@fabfurnitureflippincontest.com for more information

Sponsored by Velvet Finishes

Stained

I have a big project ahead of me. We sold our beautiful glass top dining table because, well, have you ever had a toddler? It's impossible to keep food and fingerprints off of any and everything! I am currently in the process of refinishing a table that I got a steal on. $50 for the table and 6 chairs! My plan is to sand down all 6 chair tops and the table top and give them a fresh stain. Then I will paint the rest of the chairs and table with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Sanding is my least favorite part of furniture flipping. It's a tedious process but the reward is so sweet when you get down to that bare, natural wood. It's a beautiful sight. It's made new.

As the layers peeled away and the raw wood started to peek through, I found myself thinking of the layers of stain that are removed from my life when I chose to walk with Jesus daily. I thought, "we are all stained with sin." Ecclesiastes 7:20 says that surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. We fall short sometimes. Whether that be running back to an addiction that soothes an anxiety, letting  our tongue lash out at our children or spouse, or over indulging in that meal. Sin comes in all shapes but it doesn't change the fact that it's sin. But our best defense is choosing to walk with Jesus daily.

1) Open your bible
Our instructions come straight from Him. God gave us everything we need and it's found within the pages of His Word. Some days you may not think you have another minute to spare with all of the appointments, laundry, dinner to be made, diaper changes, etc... but it's important to leave enough margin in your life to fill up on God before you fill up on anything else! 

2) Pray

Pray often! Prayer is such a powerful tool. James 5:16 says that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. When I found myself talking to God more often, I found that my relationship with him grew closer. 

3) Community

Pastor Shawn says it all the time, "show me your friends and I will show you your future." The relationships that you allow in your life are going to be the ones that shape your life, your thoughts, and your actions. Our church offers a number of community groups: women's group, men's group, couples group, singles group, single moms group, recovery group... you name it, we have a community for it. There's nothing like being cared for by a group of people that you can share your heart with. (Insert: hashtag love my tribe HERE)

4) Serving

"You my brothers and sisters were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather serve one another humbly in love." Galatians 5:13. I get to serve in Freedom Kids each week and it's such an honor to serve God in a way that brings children closer to Him!

5) Love

Love. Love. Love. It seems like every book I am currently reading, every small group, and even the sermon by Pastor Shawn today have all been about love! Love God! Love others! Those are the two greatest commandments that we have been called to follow. 

Matthew 22: 37-40

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Though we may find it monotonous at times, we have to remove the layers of stain in our lives by allowing The Lord to make us  brand new each and every day. Like that old chair, we have to go through the process to get to the sweet reward, which is God's promise that we will be made new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Just Getting My Feet Wet

Well here it is: this platform that I have created for myself. I have spent days thinking about what my first post may be. Should I share how I chose to spent the afternoon riding the boys around on the golf cart instead of tackling the sink overflowing of dishes. Or should I share my latest DIY project? 

I used to be that oversharer on social media. The one that told you every thought going through their mind, every judgement, every witty response to what's trending in the news!  Have you ever looked back at your post from years ago? I'm talking about myspace and facebook when you needed to have a college email address to join. I literally want to crawl in a hole when I see some of the stuff that I blurted out on the screen back then. I created a new Facebook page because I could not stand the "On this day" feature that would show me pictures and post that I made on that date so many years ago. I seriously said that? I seriously posted about that? Most of it I have to laugh at. It's a good measuring tool for me to see my growth over the years. 

Recently I sat in a leadership meeting where we were advised on the use of social media. If we had a platform that we could stand on and it could reach tens of thousands of people, what would we say? Would we talk about the weather? Or who we are voting for? When my friend Thea suggested that I should start a blog to promote my DIY projects I thought it was a pretty cool idea. But wait, "I'm not blogger material," I thought. I have probably written at least one run on sentence already. And thank God for spell check! But Thea was on to something. I knew that I needed to not just share how-to's but I needed to speak life! I have this platform now where I can encourage Christians, mothers, and wives just like me. Let's face it, life is not always the spotless house, the perfect husband, or the well behaved kids that we see on social media. It gets messy. We often fail, feel lonely, or feel discouraged in the season we are in. 

I will do my best to share with you, in transparency, my heart and use this place as a place of encouragement, growth, and fun! If you're reading this, thank you for trusting that I have something to say that is worth reading. Bear with me while I figure out this whole blogging thing and rest assured that I will at least have proper use of there, their, and they're (yes it drives me nuts too)!

This Beautiful Mess

This is where I sum up who I am in a few choice words. Let me start with my name. My name is Ashley Davis. I am married to an amazing man and we have two beautiful boys. I'm outnumbered y'all. I live under one roof with three very messy, very hungry, and very active boys!

I have an infant (2 months) and a toddler  (2 1/2 yrs) that I decided need me home more than they need me to be working a 9-5. Now that took a HUGE leap of faith! Philippians 4:19 says that He will supply all of our needs. Calan (that's the amazing husband I told you about) and I prayed about it and worked the budget 10 times over. It will be tight but it will work! I resigned just 1 week ago.

Courageously Made was inspired by the story of Esther. She courageously answered God's calling for her life, unknowing of the outcome. I am inspired by Esther's willingness to live courageously in order to bring glory to God.

This blog will follow what I like to call my beautifully messy life and my attempt to be courageous in my journey as a Christ-follower, wife, mother, and DIYer.

Here goes nothing---