Chalk Paint | Fresh Picked Vintage

Meet Annie Sloan

March 11, 2012 by Stephanie · 1 Comment

By now, most of us have at least heard of Annie Sloan’s chalk paint and many of us have used it.

I’ve used it. I LOVE it. For the type of painting I do, it saves me work (no priming or sanding!) and it gives me the look/feel I like.

In March and April Annie Sloan is touring the United States to meet folks, share her love of paint and demonstrate her product. I’m thrilled to say I will be attending the Atlanta part of the tour on March 29th!


	Photo courtesy of www.anniesloanunfolded.com

According to the event website, each event across the country will be formatted in the same way and will include a 2-hour demonstration and history given by Annie Sloan, 4-hour hands on workshop covering Annie’s range of techniques, and a book signing/ social hour to conclude the day. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet Annie Sloan, your local Stockist, and others passionate about the range, versatility, and ease of use of this incredible Chalk Paint and Soft Wax.

I would LOVE it if you can join us in Atlanta (or of course attend whichever site is closest to you). There are still tickets available! For more information and/or to register, please check out the Annie Sloan Unfolded American Tour website.

If you signup to attend in Atlanta, please give me a shout and let me know so I can be on the lookout for you.

Looking for more info and/or inspiration for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint? Check out my Paint Passions Pinterest board!

Filed Under: annie sloan, Annie Sloan Tour, chalk paint ·

A Little Mention

March 9, 2012 by Stephanie · 6 Comments

Something exciting happened to me yesterday that hasn’t happened since I was a kid. I got my name in the paper!

A local online paper is doing stories about various vendors opening up in the revitalized downtown. I’ve mentioned recently that I’ve taken on a new (very small!) space. It’s in The Shoppes at the Grapevine in Greer, South Carolina. If y’all are ever nearby please come check this place out! There are over 30+ vendors selling everything from jewelry and art to vintage and handmade items. It just opened in the last month and is already doing well. I’m very excited to be joining them!

Just painted the table on the left in French Linen.

Anyway, back to the article. I heard the editor wanted to do some business spotlights so I sent him my info and in less than 2 days he had it online!

Another table redo, vintage locker basket & some
jewelry from The Rusted Chain!

You can see my space is small right? Only 7×3 and no tall stuff or hanging from the ceiling. A challenge but I love being in the front window!

We’ll see how it goes…if all goes well I might be asking for a bigger space.

I do still have my booth space at Remnants in downtown Anderson, South Carolina as well. Things have been going very well there. As a matter of fact when I showed up there last week it was looking empty because I had sold several pieces of furniture!

So that’s the latest with me. It’s great to be selling more but that means I need to up my productivity!!!

What have you been up to?

Filed Under: annie sloan, booth, chalk paint, The Shoppes at the Grapevine ·

A Farm Table Redo

October 16, 2011 by Stephanie · 11 Comments

Hi y’all!

Let me tell you – I’ve been busy busy busy! I’ve completed several projects and haven’t had the chance to blog about them so I’m doing my best to catch up.

For today, I’d like to share one of my favorite projects to date…this is a little farm table that was pulled out of a barn here in South Carolina. I got it from my friends Mike and Patrice over at Estate & Garage Treasures. Remember them? That’s where I got my wonderful new (old) sideboard!

Anyway…I’ve looked high and low and can not find my picture of the before. Story of my life right? Trust me, this was farm fresh! Dusty, dirty and well, did I mention it was pulled out of a barn?

So now…Ta-Da!

Here’s what I did…I of course used my favorite paint of all time, Annie Sloan’s chalk paint. If you haven’t used this paint yet please try it.

The base coat of the table was done in Aubusson blue. This color can look a bit frightening to those that don’t love color but believe me, if you layer with it and wax it can be beautiful! Remember my chair?

The second coat was done in Paris Grey. I watered it down a little and put it on very lightly. I then sanded it down a bit here and there to make it look a bit distressed.

Lastly, I rubbed dark wax on it all over followed by clear wax rubbing away some of the dark in areas so that it doesn’t look too solid.

What do you think?

If you love it, it’s for sale! My new friend Jennie has a shop called Jennie Leigh Design here in Greenville, SC. She is the new Annie Sloan chalk paint stockist in South Carolina! The big news? Some of my pieces are now for sale in her shop! I am so honored to have my items there. I’ll be doing a post all about her shop soon so stay tuned!

Linking to…

http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

http://savedbylovecreations.com

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/

Filed Under: annie sloan, chalk paint, farm tables, Jennie Leigh Designs ·

Help Wanted – First Holiday Fair

October 9, 2011 by Stephanie · 9 Comments

As I mentioned in an earlier post, you guys are in for a treat because I LOVE the holidays! I mean L O V E them! Especially Christmas…I love trying to find the perfect gift, I love wrapping, I love seeing the faces of folks opening on Christmas morning. I LOVE it all.

So I did it…I signed up to sell at a Holiday Fair! It’s a fairly good sized one at our convention center the first weekend of December.

I’m very excited because I’ll be sharing the booth with a new shop here in town that is the only Annie Sloan chalk paint seller in our state!

I’ve started making lists and lists and more lists. What I want to sell, things I’ll need, etc. We’re guessing large furniture pieces (like dressers) won’t sell well at a sale like this so I’m thinking I’ll focus on selling…

smaller painted pieces (chairs, kids chairs, small end tables)
pillows
table runners
embellished flour sack towels
muslin ribbon
handmade gift tags & ornaments
perhaps a couple of holiday burlap banners
maybe even some handmade jewelry

So here are my questions for you (whether you’ve sold at a show like this, been to a show like this or none of the above!)…

Do you think vintage Christmas items would sell well? what about just other vintage items (like old scales, letter block stamps, etc)?
Since we’ll have pipe & drape (vs. real walls) how can we take advantage of vertical space to display items?
Do you think ANY of my painted furniture would sell at a show like this?
Have you ever shared a booth with someone? thoughts on how to keep track of inventory
What other advice do you have?

Would love to hear from you all!

thanks!

Filed Under: chalk paint, craft fair, holiday fair ·

The Ten Dollar Chair

September 3, 2011 by Stephanie · 9 Comments

So a couple of weeks ago I came home from our local Habitat for Humanity Restore with a chair, an end table and a coffee table for $30!

The chair was in good condition. Solid wood, nice detailing, just some scratches and a blah wood finish, for $10.

Last week I ordered two new Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colors from my friends at the Mill at Gibsonville - Primer Red and Aubusson Blue.

The paint sat in my house one night before I just had to open it! I decided the Aubusson Blue was just the thing for that blah chair.

Steps to achieve this look:

Apply one coat of Aubusson Blue to the entire chair. I like to pour some chalk paint in a plastic cup and stir in just a tiny bit of water (I find the paint is sometimes a bit thick straight out of the can but that is just my opinion!).
Stand back and think “wow, that Aubusson Blue is one bright color!”
Once the chair is dry, mix Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint with water (mine was about 60% water, 40% paint).
Apply this whitewash over the entire chair taking care to wipe off any excessive dripping.

White washed chair before sanding.
Finn the puppy is hard at work guarding it!

Once the piece dries, lightly sand in areas the chair would naturally have wear and/or where you feel there is too much whitewash.
Wipe away all dust.
Apply a coat of clear wax, removing any excess.
Buff with a clean towel.

Admire your beautiful chair!

Note: My camera made the seat of the chair look a bit more streaky than it really is!

What do you think? What is your favorite paint color?

Linking back to…

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/
http://www.serenitynowblog.com
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
I Heart Naptime
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com

Filed Under: annie sloan, blue, chair, chalk paint, Habitat for Humanity ·

The Five Dollar Table

August 26, 2011 by Stephanie · 19 Comments

In Would You Buy It Wednesday this week I told you about the end table I got for $5 at our Habitat for Humanity Restore.

It’s a nice solid wood piece with some pretty detailing. The downside? The top was a mess. Very scratched…deep scratches. Not sure what folks did with this table and not sure I want to know.

Anywho…the big issue is that I can’t find my “before” picture. I could swear I took one but where did it go? I checked my computer, my phone, camera, etc. and it’s nowhere to be found. So, you’ll just have to picture it in your head and believe me when I say the top was a mess!

Because I’m in major love with Annie Sloan chalk paint, I painted the entire piece with Old White. I did two thin coats. Note: I prefer to mix in just a bit of water with the chalk paint. I find the paint fairly thick for my use but that’s just my preference.

Once the paint was dry I used Frog tape to tape off the edges of the table so I would have an even rectangle to work with. I then took this marvelous vintage sheet music I got at a sale last weekend ($8 for a box!) and layered it on the top of the table to test it out and find an arrangement I was happy with.

Then comes the fun part…Mod Podge! I took one sheet at a time and put mod podge first on the table with a brush and then brushed some on the back of the music. I layered it all back down the way I laid it out the first time and did my best to work out any bubbles.

After waiting a bit for that to dry, I brushed on two layers of Mod Podge over the sheet music to seal it.

The next day I used my Annie Sloan dark wax on the table in some areas I wanted to distress and then sanded a bit as well. I also rubbed a touch of the wax in places over the sheet music to make it look even more aged.

Lastly, I added two more coats of Mod Podge over the sheet music and clear wax over the table.

Ta Da! Behold my Sheet Music Table!