I love all the amazing Annie Sloan Chalk Paint®; I have been selling Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® in my store, Not Too Shabby since July 2010, and I am completely addicted to how creative you can be with all of the colors, waxes, and techniques. I have been painting furniture for over 25 years, and I've tried lots of different kinds of paint,...
This is a fantastic article about our fearless leader, Lisa Rickert, and how she started Annie Sloan Unfolded. Check out http://junkbonanza.blogspot.com/2012/09/lisa-r-story-of-annie-sloan-unfolded.html I love her kitchen cabinets painted Paris Grey, they really look amazing and should give all of you confidence since Lisa painted them with Chalk Paint® decorative paint while she was 7-1/2 months pregnant! Enjoy the read, I hope it inspires you...
Today marked the end of a huge emotional project. I finally finished my antique hutch. Just a little history on this piece, I bought it from the estate of my friend who was an amazing wood worker. He passed away from cancer over 5 years ago and his wife sold me his 'pet' project. I bought the hutch knowing full well that it...
Final day of the paint convention and after a fantastic breakfast at Cafe du Monde (Beignets and Chicory Coffee - YUMMY) we got down and dirty painting. We practiced gilding over Provence, loved the result, especially after waxing with dark wax. Did some more work with the craqeluer, combined over decoupage, and some 'water-painting'. My favorite piece was stenciling Annie's way. Annie loves using...
After our first day at the paint conference, we all joined Jolie Design and Annie Sloan at the Historic Van Benthuysen - Elms Mansion for a wonderful cocktail party. This extraordinary historic mansion, built in 1869, was beautifully set-up with food and cocktail stations throughout the home, allowing all of us to tour the entire house and grounds. The house was recently repainted...
Just got back from 3 fantastic days in New Orleans - What was I doing there? Well, I went to my first ever paint conference, and it was AMAZING! People gathered from all over the United States and Canada to share painting ideas, techniques, and (best of all) learn from Annie herself! Annie was so patient going over color techniques, sharing her waxing...
One of the most common questions I get now that we are selling the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, is 'how does this paint hold up?" Well, Annie has shared a picture of a piece she did several years ago. She did this piece in 3 colors, using a potato stencil for the design. Primer Red, Aubosson Blue, and a yellow. Annie uses this...
I have been painting furniture for a while, and though I often am inspired by the piece itself, sometimes I need a little help when picking out the specific color/colors combinations. Here's a great quick lesson on colors, check out Annie's latest blog entry: http://anniesloans.blogspot.com/2012/03/complementary-colours-complementary-is.html ...
If any of you have been following my blog, visited the store, or met me treasure hunting, you know how excited I am about the amazing Annie Sloan Chalk Paints, well I'm even more excited to share that Annie herself will be here in 2 weeks!!! Annie Sloan is the author of 23 books, creator of the original and unique Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the rain - we desperately need it and I totally understand it can't just rain when the store is closed, and I'm home sitting in front of the fireplace. I get it, it has to rain now, today, yesterday, and oh-my-goodness, tomorrow too! Because of the rain, the store is a little quiet and it...
Love this blog and thought her latest Annie Sloan adventure was too good not to share! Please read and enjoy and I'll be playing with crackles this Sunday so I'll have lots of fun new stuff to share at the store over the next few weeks. The Empty Nest: ~Oh Annie Sloan....You crack me up~ ...
I love vintage furniture, I love the versatility, the solidness, the great lines, but mostly I love painting vintage furniture and giving it a new life! Here's a great example of multiple uses for your vintage longer dressers. Something like this is great for both a pedestal based or wall mounted TV/entertainment center: Or, as a double sink vanity in a master bathroom: I...
Got this great dresser, 1970's french Provencal style, with a double drawer on the bottom, original hardware, and just a couple of issues. 1) the front had been banged and chipped with one pretty good chunk missing. 2) the laminate had been chipped off one of the back legs. After using wood putty to re-build the missing chunk, I let it dry for...
I have this blog entry from http://www.emmatree.com/2008/11/its-all-about-me-lately.html that I have bookmarked for a couple of years. I re-read it often. Recently I've been inspired by some other blogs to share some things about me that you may not know: I think people are basically nice, selfish maybe, but basically nice. I had horrible crooked teeth when I was growing up (braces in my 30's fixed...
