Month

January 2016

French Linen and Old White

I must be in a grey and white mood because all of my most recent projects have been painted French Linen and Old White. 2 of my favorite colors and they go great together.

I needed something to add to my booth at Drab 2 Fab to display some things, and honestly to make my booth a little more appealing. My awesome and amazing friend Kristen gave me some wall shelves that her husband made, and that they weren’t using any more.

IMG_3895

To update them a little I painted them French Linen, and then added a whitewash of Old White to give it a weathered look.

I love how the grain in the wood comes through. Then  little clear wax and just a hint of dark wax and some new hardware and they were ready to put up. Love the look of these!!

IMG_3954

I loved this look so much I used it on my next project!

IMG_3898

I just got this large blue milk can and wanted to give it a quick make over. So once again I painted it French Linen and then whitewashed it with Old White.

Once it was painted I distressed it with sandpaper so get down to the blue and then waxed it.

IMG_3907

Perfectly weathered “old” milk can!! 🙂

On to my next project.

I have had this lovely bookshelf for a while and was trying to decided what colors to paint it. Hmmm….yup…French Linen and Old White! Can’t go wrong with this combo!

I added a little stencil to the bottom and distressed this to give it some character. I also added a little gold to the feet and along the top and bottom!

Some pieces that I put in my booth to sell are hard to part with, and this is one of them. I really do love this bookshelf! But I’m trying not to be a hoarder so I gotta let some go! 😉 I’m sure I will use this combo of colors again. Let me know what your favorite Annie Sloan paint color combo’s are! I would love some idea’s for my next project!!

Thanks as always for stopping by to take a look 🙂

Cindy

A tale of 2 night stands

One of the things I love about ASCP (there are loads of things I love) is the ability to transform a piece of furniture and give it a unique look. I recently painted 2 different end tables to add to my booth at Drab 2 Fab Paint & Decor.

The first end table is painted in Annie Sloan Old White and the second in Annie Sloan Cocoa. The table in Old White I lightly distressed then gave it a coat of clear wax and she was done. I love this simple white table with the curved legs.

The table painted in Cocoa started out black.

IMG_3844

I wanted to use what was already there so I left some of the black showing to give this piece more of a distress look and giving it a bit more character. Easy to do with the plank look on top and the carved legs. I used the wet distress method to show just the black and not what was under the black paint. And then I clear waxed over everything. Once that was done I added a thick layer of dark wax and then worked that in.

There really are so many possibilities with chalk paint and wax. Don’t be afraid to try different methods to get the look you want.

I have both of these in my booth at Drab 2 Fab Paint & Décor in Lehi if you are interested.

Tell me what you think of my 2 tables. I would love to hear your thoughts. And if you have any questions please leave them in the comments section.

Thanks again for stopping by to take a look!

Cindy

Until you try

A good friend of mine gave me a an apple a day calendar and each day there is an inspirational quote included. Today’s inspirational quote:

IMG_3876

Very fitting for my day! Today was the grand opening of Drab 2 Fab Paint & Decor where I have my own booth! And here it is!

A few months ago I decided to try my hand at selling chalk painted furniture! I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t sure about this and it took me a while to convince myself to do it. Actually I had a few friends and family members help me with a lot of encouragement and help. I’m a procrastinator to the core and so this was a big decision and a scary one for me to make. But today is the big day and so far so good! So that little saying by Henry James – Until you try, you don’t know what you can do fits right into my day! I still have a lot to learn and a lot to do to try and make this little venture work but I made it past the hard part – deciding to do it!! So glad I made the decision because I love doing this and fingers crossed I will get to for a while. It’s an adventure for sure. In fact today after going to the store for the big grand opening I talked my hubby into going to a local thrift shop just to look around. Never go to the local thrift shop to “just look around” in your husbands Honda Civic or this may be you:

Yes that is an old door I found for $10 and couldn’t leave without and that is me trying to drive a stick shift with the seat pushed ALL the way up!! haha We made it home without incident so it was all good!! 😉 Anyhoo good day for me all the way around! This is going under my “gotta do be done Projects” cuz “Until you try, you don’t know what you can do”

 

Thanks for stopping by

Cindy

 

Adding dark wax to Emperor’s Silk

Happy New Year! Hope you had fun ringing in the new year! I am excited for 2016 and all it’s possibilities!

Today I am going to show you a beautiful vanity I painted Annie Sloan Emperor’s Silk.

IMG_3793

I know white is all the rage right now and I love white furniture but sometimes you need a little pop of color and what better way to get it than red!! I found this vanity a little while ago but was having trouble deciding what color to paint it. Last week I decided it was time, and red was the color that kept coming to mind. I wasn’t 100% sure so I went back and forth but when a piece of furniture speaks to you, you go with it. So red it was! 😉

I love the legs and height of this vanity but when I bought it I knew there were a few things that needed to be fixed.

IMG_3772

The most obvious problem was a missing drawer. The front of the drawer was taped on but the actual drawer was no where to be found. My first thought was, I will just glue it on and it will have to be a false drawer. But my handy hubby said, and I quote, “I can build that”! haha 🙂 He’s pretty handy (lucky for me) so I hired him! 😉 I started painting and he started building.

Emperor’s Silk is a beautiful bright red. I put 3 coats on because the finish on this vanity was kinda slick and the dark finish was showing through on a few places after 2 coats. I didn’t do any distressing on this piece but I did want it to have an antique look so I uses A LOT of dark wax on this.

After applying a clear coat of wax to each area I immediately applied the dark wax generously and then worked it in. I have seen people apply dark wax right to the paint and then clear wax over that, but I like that the clear wax lets me work more easily to distribute the dark wax where I want it and take it away from the places I don’t want it. If you don’t clear wax your paint first you will need to paint over the dark wax if you don’t like it. But applying dark wax before the clear wax will give you a deeper and more noticeable dark wax look. Sometimes you may want that. I left a lot of dark wax in the crevices and I when I was brushing the dark wax on and rubbing the extra off I made sure to always go in the same direction – side to side – to get a uniform look. You can see from the pictures that the dark wax changes the depth of the color. I love it on Emperor’s Silk. I did a chair in the same color and didn’t add any dark wax. You can see that post here:  http://thecindyproject.com/?p=39 Either way you can’t go wrong with this red.

About the same time I finished painting the vanity my amazing “Bob the Builder” husband finished the drawer.

So now instead of 2 drawers I have 3 working drawers. Thanks Jamie! 🙂 I painted it and put the hardware back on and here she is!

Loving the effect of the dark wax. Antique’d but not distressed to give it a beautiful elegant look. Perfect for an entry way or anywhere you want that “pop” of red!

IMG_3793

Let me know what you think of Annie Sloan’s Emperor’s Silk. Do you like the dark wax? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Here’s to a great start of 2016!! Thanks again for stopping by!

Cindy