Susan Bickford of Singing Walls in Nashville does really exquisite, high quality work as you can see from the photos on her website. Nice flash on that site intro BTW!

This ceiling treatment that she did with one of my favorite Modello patterns, OrnCen162 is a prime example. To me, color selection is key to creating an elegant treatment that looks like it was born to be in a room and this totally hits the mark.

Susan was able to surprise her husband with a really special and personal custom art piece this past Christmas by working with Dawn on our graphic staff. An original photo of the lucky man on his Harley was used to create a custom Modello that Susan incorporated with her specialty decorative and textural finishes on framed canvas. Vrrrrm. Vrrrrm!

Carol Leonesio is a lovely lady, long-time customer and fellow blogger in Massachusetts who tracks the ups and downs of her decorative painting projects.

One of my favorite projects on her site is the Magnetic Memo Board, and not just because she used our Damask and Trompe L’oeil Molding in one of my alltime fav color schemes. I had been toying with the idea of doing this in one or some of the offices here and it’s good to hear how someone else approached it. Carol recently updated me with the info that she thinks that 4-5 thin coats of the Magnetic Primer would be better than 2  or 3 as she has a hard time getting the magnets to stick. I am wondering about just painting on sheet metal? Does anyone else have an experience with this to share?

Another one that caught my eye was this darling Nursery Mural that uses our Elegant Fruit Branch as a frame.

In a recent post on floorcloths she has done, she shared this one which I think is MOST clever!

Carol also shares her marketing tips, as in this post that shows an oversized postcard that she had printed and hand delivered door-to-door in a neighborhood she wanted to target. It’s easy to see how Carol keeps busy!

In going through one of the many stacks of things I rip out of magazines I rediscovered this Elle Decor feature from months ago on the opening of the Reem Acra flagship boutique in New York. Ms. Acra’s passion and business revolves around luxury bridal and eveningwear designs. I ripped out the page not because I needed a gown (but they are gorgeous, aren’t they?!) but because it had a beautiful gold design on white floor: Unique and elegant and oddly familiar….

After picking it up again and actually reading the copy I realized that it was the familiar work of one of our favorite decorative concrete customers, Dominick Cardone The Concrete Impressionist. One of Dom’s specialties is gilding with 24k gold on concrete and he had been sending us progress shots but we never saw the final result-until now. Isn’t this just swanky?

Here’s Dom two years ago at the Artistry in Concrete event at the World of Concrete show where he used custom-designed Modellos for a 9/11 tribute-again with his special gilding techniques.

OOOH. I SO-O-O-O love this and I am so doing something like this in my new home, uh, I mean office.

Our customer, Heather Mueller of Metamorphasis Designs in Ogden, Utah spent a year working in this wonderful home in Las Vegas for a wonderful woman that just wanted more, more more pattern. That would be my dream client.

Heather masterfully layered pattern after pattern using a combination of Modello Designs and Royal Design Studio stencils all throughout the house. They even used some patterns to make the molds for the individual tiles they cast and put on the ceiling.

For some of the panel designs they also incorporated stencil designs from The Stencil Library. Props to Helen and Chips. Did I mention that I LOVE this?

I recently put the call out for some more customer ceiling photos on the painting message boards. You see, I’ve been honored and invited to participate at the higly anticipated Meeting of the Masters as both an exhibiting “master” and a presenter. Unfortunately, this falls right on the heels of my Italy trip so I will be stopping there ON THE WAY home. Not much time to prepare on the front end either with a million other projects happening simultaneously so I thought it would be just brilliant (and somewhat easy) to simply do a powerpoint presentation on all of the great things our customers have been doing on ceilings with our Modellos. BTW if you watch the video of the last event on the Meeting of the Masters site you get to see me blabbing while I wave my arms around wildly. Note to self: Put hands in pockets next time.

And without further ado, some recently received photos from Rhonda Canales-

From Kathy Enguita-

From Julie Worthy-

All gorgeous, and let me tell you ceilings are NO piece of cake to decorate. Bravo!

I have been getting unbelievably gorgeous photos from customers lately, showing our stencil and Modello patterns in action. It’s so inspiring for me, and I think you will find them so as well. Here are some from Lauren Gaines. Lauren was a part of the Art of Living project and I can tell you this woman is an incredibly talented and HARD worker. We practically had to pry the trowel out of her hand at the end of the day. She does a lot of work in builder showcase houses in her area and consistently wins awards. No wonder!

This is the Grand Damask done with metallics on a distressed plaster finish.

Isn’t this the prettiest color combination? It looks so French. The Fabric Damask is done with a “breakaway” look, achieved by perfectly imperfect troweling.

Here is a detail. The background has a really subtle horizontal stria. I love this Lauren!

More great customer work with Modello decorative masking patterns! These are from a talented long-time customer, Dorothy Hooper of D Hooper Design Works. Dorothy’s stencil and faux work is featured quite extensively in our customer Showcase and it’s always great to get more photos!

It makes me a little nervous just imagining being THAT high!

Dorothy used plaster and glazes to create this custom look.

Her customer wanted the look of a faded Persian carpet. Great job, Dorothy!

I ALWAYS enjoy getting photos that show how customers have used our stencil and masking designs, but one of my alltime faves has to be Patti Halstead. She just seems to have a way of turning the design drama-meter up a few notches-plus she gets GREAT photos of her work.

In most businesses, but especially this one, it’s all about making a strong, visual statement. Patti has been able to set herself apart with her unique style, sophisticated marketing and desire to be different. You can see more of her work at her online gallery.

She has recently moved her business direction to a more commercial focus, which includes designing and executing exciting public spaces for several upcoming resort projects, and is offering the opportunity for some Signature Training. You will have the opportunity to live on the beach for a week, while learning and executing advanced-level architectural finishes in a project team environment.

It provides a great way to enhance your portfolio, broaden your design horizons and gain experience working in the resort design business. Modello Designs is a sponsor of this event and I can’t wait to see what Patti comes up with!

Don’t have a bag to match your shoes? No problem, just get out your brushes! Morey Dunbar just may be one of the most creative people I know! She shared these projects with me that she did recently with some assorted Modello patterns and metallic and reactive paints and I thought it might inspire you to dig some old purses out of the back of your closet, wipe the dust bunnies off and have at it!

Morey shared a little of her process

I like taking unusual products and utilizing them on unconventional surfaces to see if they work. I’m always playing with something. The purses were all treated with MM metal effect reactive paints to see what would happen. They are copper, bronze and iron. The accents on the copper and bronze are micromarbles. The pattern on the oxidized iron is lusterstone and iron paint mixed and slightly oxidized. The wine satin shoes where done in oxidized iron to match. The detailed were enchanced on them to show up better.

You can see more of Morey’s work at www.paintedonline.com.

One of our Royal Design Studio customers, Sheryl Barlow, recently contributed some decorative finishes in a builder’s Parade of Homes in York County, Virginia.

There were 9 houses total, and awards were given out in various categories. Sheryl’s “Wax Resist” ceiling treatment, which is featured as a FREE recipe on our website, won the prize for Most Creative and Original Design. Congratulations Sheryl! The home tour continues through May 20th, so check it out if you are around those parts.