Thursday, August 25, 2011

Cabinets and New Projects



Don't forget about our Link Party and

Coco AND French Linen
Chalk Paint Giveaway!


Now, here is what we have been working on lately.....
We are testing out colors for cabinets and having so much fun playing! The sample above was created with Chateau Grey as the base coat, then clear wax, followed by a custom tinted wax. For the tinted wax, we added Versailles and Old Ochre and a little bit of dark wax to some clear wax. Really like the depth and variations in the color!
Had fun playing with a stencil too, simply used dark wax for that.

And here is a peek of a few projects we have in the works....
Look at all the details in these two! We are very excited to get busy on these.
Hope to have the "afters" very soon...
Hope you all have a great weekend! Stay safe, especially on the east coast.

We will be getting our hands covered in paint at our workshop on Saturday!
Looking forward to it!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Linky Party & Giveaway!

Coco AND French Linen Chalk Paint Giveaway!

The rules:

We host a weekly link party dedicated to Chalk Paint, every Tuesday and Wednesday, however this one is a Special Linky Party!

Every time you link up to this linky party you are automatically entered into a drawing to win 2 free quarts of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Coco and French Linen)!

Please Note: This link party will stay open until midnight (MST) on August 31.

Winner will be chosen at random on September 1.
(Paint will be shipped as soon as stock is received in September)

That's 1 whole week to enter all your Chalk Paint projects!

Get your brushes ready and start painting and linking!

The more times you link up your projects, the more opportunities to win!
Please do not re-enter the same project more than once, duplicates will be deleted.
However, you can enter as many new projects as you would like!

For an extra opportunity to win, become a follower of our blog and leave a comment that you did so (if you are already a follower, leave a comment letting us know)

Now onto our feature and linky party:
Erin at Nest for Less added a great little touch to her daughter's room by repurposing this mirror with Paris Grey and a little whimsy!
The ladies at Elizabeth & Co. have been busy painting up a storm! Megan gave new life to this tired and worn out vanity. Amazing what a little Paris Grey and Old White can do!
Beautiful job ladies!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?
Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our Chalk Paint Linky Party

4. Party closes on Wednesday, August 31 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

French Desk and Chalk Paint Sale

Picked up a great little antique vanity the other day. Love the lines and the overall design of the piece. Would make a perfect french desk.
The top was in pretty bad shape, very scratched up, but fortunately the scratches were not too deep.
Stripped the top using a water based stripper called Motsenbocker's Lift Off Paint and Varnish Remover. Took me about three applications to get down to the bare wood.
Now with a clean surface, I decided I wanted a nice contrast with the paint.
Went really dark with Jacobean stain from Minwax. I let it sit for about 15 minutes to absorb into the wood to the desired color. Finished the top with a Minwax wipe on Poly after the stain was dry.












Duck Egg








I wanted to reveal the Duck Egg underneath the Country Grey in areas, so I sanded back to reveal the color as well as some of the wood beneath. This time I decided to sand before waxing, and I used a damp terrycloth towel to "sand" with. Much less dust that way and very easy to control how much you are sanding back to reveal.
This is what I love about Chalk Paint. Look at how natural the distressing looks. Just like it happened over hundreds of years. It feels just like velvet. And it is so incredibly easy to do!
In fact, it took me three times as long to strip and restain the top than it did to paint, distress and wax the entire lower part.
Now I have a divine little french desk.

Don't miss out on our inventory blowout sale of
Chalk Paint 4 oz sample pots!

In anticipation of the newly redesigned sample pots to be released soon,
we need to get rid of our existing inventory.
Own all 24 Annie Sloan colors in our Ultimate Chalk Paint Sample Kit
available for a limited time only.



Monday, August 15, 2011

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Link Party

Has it already been a whole week?!? We have literally been working 'round the clock lately. Getting caught up on all the sample deck orders, painting, and busy doing some design work on a retail building (hint, hint, can you guess what that might be?) More news coming soon....promise! But for now, let's get started with our Chalk Paint Party....

First up from The Empty Nest is Janet's lovely china cabinet. She took a common old dark wood china cabinet and freshened it up with Old White and Duck Egg. Be sure to check out her tips (and Annie's) for brining out the beauty of Chalk Paint. Beautiful Janet, thanks for sharing!
Colleen from The Painted Turtle has been painting everything in sight! Her hubby is always telling the kids they better not stand still too long or mom might paint them too! Take a look at the wonderful job she did distressing this desk where it would have naturally worn over time. I also like two-toned look she created using Paris Grey and Old White, great eye for detail Colleen!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?
Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our Chalk Paint Linky Party

4. Party closes on Wednesday, August 17 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Link Party

They say.....a picture is worth a thousand words. I say, this picture frame is worth a thousand words. BEAUTIFUL! Nicole from Davis Domestications took a boring brown cast off frame and created this beauty that would be proud to hung in any home.
She used Duck Egg & Old White along with Clear Wax and Dark Wax to bring out the carved details.
Next up is Becky, from White Street Interiors. She saw the potential in this great little desk and chair she found at a garage sale. Painted it up with Louis Blue and Old White along with a couple coats of Clear Wax and little distressing.
Love the combination of the Louis Blue and Old White, simply gorgeous!
Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?
Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our Chalk Paint Linky Party

4. Party closes on Wednesday, August 9 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick 2 more people to feature for next week.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Coffee & Paris....Chalk Paint Style

WOW! Thanks again to all those that linked up to our weekly Chalk Paint Party!
I was amazed to see so many people mixing colors to create their own unique look.
Great job everyone!
Lots of beautiful pieces to look at. In case you missed it, here is the link.
This is a shelf we have been working on for a little while. Fun little craigslist find, but definitely in need of a face lift. Yes, I almost forgot to take a before picture. I had painted one spindle, but quickly put everything back together to snap the before.
Don't you find that you get so excited to dive in and start painting that you forget the "before?" I know I always do!
The shelf was small scale and perfect for my daughter's room, as you can see, there was some water damage on the finish and it was peeling up. Since the finish was so bad, I decided to go ahead and sand the shelves down so that it would not continue to peel up.
No sanding on the spindles, just painted right over the finish.
This is the reason it has taken a while to complete this project, 24 spindles with lots of nooks and crannies! Not hard to do, just monotonous and time consuming.
But, alas! It is all complete!
We found that the underneath sides of shelves were not finished, just raw wood. So we decided to stain that side along with the lip of the shelf to add some contrast to it. Shelves stained with Minwax Jacobean. Painted the spindles and the other side of the shelves with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey.
The spindles were perfect for small accents of dark wax, after the clear wax of course.
We stained and polyed the shelves first. Went back and taped off with the green frog tape once it was dry. This was the first time using the frog tape, and let me tell you, we are sold! This stuff is the bomb! The stain had bled over on the back side of the shelf, but we just taped off the edge and painted right over the stained area. No bleeding at all, just a clear crisp line. Also, the Chalk Paint covered where the dark stain had bled over with just one coat, how great is that?!
Now, the only thing left to do is to decide which side of the shelves to use.

The stained side....
OR the painted side...
Which do you like best?

Linking to: Debbiedoo's

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Linky Party!


Welcome back to our Chalk Paint Link Party!
We have been busy lately and working on some very exciting news that we will be sharing soon.

But for now, have you heard the other exciting news? The four new Chalk Paint colors coming out in September! They are pictured here in case you missed them.

So many beautiful projects from last week!

Linda over at Studio Stuff did an amazing job updating this armoire. It started out as a blonde '80's style and now looks fresh and beautiful! Great job Linda on jumping in and painting and congratulations on the newest addition to your family!
Linda used Chateau Grey as her base coat and Old White on top.
Next up is Tricia from The Little Cottage on the Pond. Tricia painted her kitchen!
Love the two-toned look she did using Country Grey and Old White.
Tricia did an amazing job of upgrading her builder style kitchen into a custom farmhouse kitchen. Be sure to check out all the little extras she added including rebuilding her island and adding feet to her cabinets for that custom built in look.
She has also been very busy painting everything with Chalk Paint!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?
Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our Chalk Paint Linky Party

4. Party closes on Wednesday, August 3 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick 2 more people to feature for next week.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Chalk Paint - The New Fantastic Four

Coming in September...
Introducing the newest colors to the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint line!

Pure White - You've asked for it! Quite simply a pure clean white.

Coco - A warm greyed brown, the color found on old French woodwork.

French Linen - a cool neutral khaki grey inspired by old pieces of French and Italian furniture. Warmer than Paris Grey.

Barcelona Orange - a vibrant orange, brought back by popular demand.

All four colors are available for pre-order on our website now. Be the first to try the new colors! Click here to reserve your pot of paint! Expected to ship in early September. These colors will sell quickly, so be sure to reserve yours today!