Showing posts with label old white. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old white. Show all posts

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Bitty in training..








Got this little old glass front cabinet from a client and it was in purrrty bad shape :/
Alot of loose veneer, chipping and what not..took her in, painted the outside in a very light turquoise  mix up of Provence and Old White. Painted the back panel in a pumped up version of Antoinette pink and just because I reaaaally need to do SOMETHING with my vintage fabric hoard *uhhum.."STASH"
I decoupaged some cute little turquoise polka dot fabric on the shelves as well..


As I was staging this to take the picture, I went inside and grabbed all my little granny knick knacks and dust collectors and just thought...Damn! I am going to be one SERIOUS old Bitty! I'm gonna have a  huge problem COLLECTION by then of  Kitschy doo dads, bits, baubles and what nots by then..
Ahhhhh that's the life..just me. my 87 Cats, my blinged out bingo dotters, orthopedic support hose, and my moo moo's. Hell's Yeah, Golden Years..here I come!!

Mama's comin' babies., gimme' bout 40 years...






I get's my party on ya'll....

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Annie's book signing and.... I crapped my pants!!




O.K get out your trifocals...(Do they even make trifocals)??!

this is a long one...



Did you know!?

Did I tell you?!

That Annie Sloan came to Peinture!!

um' yah..it was kind of a big deal.




I'm gonna' go out on a limb and GUESS this was Debbie's reaction when
she found out Annie was coming to HER store..
....



Like...press, reporters,billboards..the whole shot.

I mean,the woman came to America and only came to 2 stores for a book signing!

We were pretty much cleaning and preparing as if we were 4 nesting pregnant women! *and anyone that has ever nested KNOOOOOWS what I'm talkin' about!



(Isn't that some crazy shit!?) 



anywho, I digress..

Well, we got the shop in tip top shape! Lookin' good, smellin' good..paint displayed like NOBODY's business'..then, since we're awesome and had sold a bunch of pieces we needed filler! Debbie asks if I have anything I am working on and if so, bring it into the shop..so, In fact I had been working on this antique dresser







 and a tooootally cool old secretary.





I finished them up and brought them into the store. We had everything in place. Angela had made some really nice tablecloths and chair pillows using Annie's fabric (which is ridic)...by the way..Debbie brought some new art work in, we had a local tea bar set up a tea social in the back with macaroons, and little finger foods...sorry, no crumpets. (by the way, WTF is a crumpet)? 







and one of our favorite customers had dyed some drop cloth in each.and.every.single.color, using Annie's paint for us..so we had a phenomenal fabric display also. We even recruited the hubs as Security!





*He's been workin' out and shit, so who better to test his new Brawn out on,then some fluffy, middle aged women?..duh'!!*



He's kickin' ASS & takin' names!




So now, all we needed was Annie!





Yeah, this is basically what we looked like waiting for Annie to come..Hope she didn't see us!



She gets there you guys, and it was so funny..My husband was telling me that he was expecting her to pull up in some big Mercedes SUV or a caravan of blacked out chevy suburbans but no, here comes little Annie in her very sensible rented Nissan Maxima. 
Woompwoompwaaaaaa...
Sorry Jose, there will be no blacked out suburbans for you to guard for Annie =<







Anyway, she comes in and you guys this lady is the sweetest,humble and down to earth "celebrity" I have ever seen. I mean, there isn't a pretentious bone in her little body. The First thing I noticed was she stopped dying her hair.. She has the best salt and pepper thang' going on and I lurved it. She immediately came in and was greeting everyone, taking pictures and signing books before we could even get her settled in..and boy did we need to get her settled in! Poor Jose was on the verge of having to crack' some skulls out there! The line was gettin' a little cray cray up in there! Bein' all sassy and thangs' with poor Jose..
"When's she going to start signing"
"Why isn't the line moving"!?




"When are you gonna strip"?
 HAHAHAHAHA kidding. He WISH they were telling him that! ;) anyway Jose dealt with the ladies and ushered them all in..and everyone got there fill of Miss Annie..
She signed away and after mingled about and answered people's questions..








she was taking tons of pictures all over the store and then Jose comes over and bumps me all excitedly..

"Look! Annie is taking a picture of your secretary!!?"
"WHAT!??"




Omgeeeee you guys I basically sharted..right then and there!
She turns around,and says "What a gorgeous piece"!
OK, at that point if I was a peacock you couldn't have gotten NEAR me!




I was cooing, and twirling (in my head) like a fool!








I eventually calmed down... Later on she came over with Debbie and told me what a great piece it was and I told her well, all thanks to YOU and your magical paint! Seriously, I don't know if I can even sell it now! It will just forever be known as "Annie's piece"...

Ha! Who am I kidding..

We're open Wens.- Sunday 11-5...come on down "friend-o"..Cash is King.

Anyway, Annie stayed and talked and laughed and I think she enjoyed her time at Peinture. It was a total success..record sales, yummy food and good music from our resident pianist Trevor..we officially pulled off a uber successful book signing and didn't even have to crack any skulls.
Mission Accomplished!





Melissa, Annie & Debbie
 April 2013

















frenchcountrycottage shabbycreekcottage savvysouthernstyle polkadotsonparade diy by design

Ivy & Elephants 
Handy Man, Crafty Woman
omesticay speaking

Friday, February 22, 2013

Ballard?.....SCHMALLARD!




So.....a few weeks ago, I got an email from a previous customer who had an antique dresser of her grandmother's that  was in great shape BUT she wanted to have it "shabbied" *painted, distressed, waxed and all that good stuff..Their FIRST thought was to go with just a basic antique white..PERFECT! Bring it on over!




SO... I stock up on A.S.C.P Pure White and a can of Old White and was ABOUT to get busy when she texts me that they have changed their mind on color...OOKKKKKK...what did you have in mind? "Well, I emailed you a link to Ballard designs. We found a bed in this color that we love!


We want to see if you can match it?..uuhhh...SURE! 
Thee Ballard designs!: The place that sells dog treats for $100 bucks!?@#$%*... 
Ballard Designs: the place that sells rugs worth more than my engagement ring?! yikes...
No pressure right?

 Replicate Ballard Designs..No PROB!Bring it on...teeheehee...Well, ladies and Gentleman..I was intimidated at first BUT chaknow whaaaaaa' I think I did a prett-ie sweet job..I really like it and I hope you do too...

So...It IS a sweet piece..great scroll work and carvings and awesome hardware.... yum!!




Now, at first glance..I thought the color looked like a dead ringer of Duck Egg Blue BUT, if you look at the picture 38,972 times... *But WHO's counting right?


You see MORE than Duck Egg..It's a very GRAY blue .So I got all "Bill Nye the science guy"

 and got busy concocting my "Ballard Blue"

This is at the VERY Beginning of my blend BUT basically it turned out to be 1/2 Paris Gray , 1/2 Provence and a DAB of  Old White by the time I got done!
I did my usual, and turned it upside down 1st to get all the hard to reach bits out of the way..

Painting in the kitchen of course!
*Hey! It was 55 degrees in So Cal...That's INHUMANE conditions to be outside!! ;}




Once the body was done we had to deal with the top... =/

She told me that the body was great BUT it looked like granny momma had been leaving her denture cup on the top of the dresser for 80+ years... =<

It had a pretty gnarly water ring stain... BUT, Restore A Finish to the rescue!




Going


Going...


GONE!

Woohoooo..with THAT done I was able to distress her, and wax her up in clear & dark wax...


and call it a day...















Well there she is..my Ballard knock off...hope you like!
Thanks for stoppin' by...see ya soon!

Smooches...

Meliss






This.
 girl.
 likes.
 to...
 party all the time, party all the time, party all the tiiiiiiimmmme!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

ANOTHER Annie Sloan chalk paint tutorial?...

 So I scored this sweet little coffee table a while back at the PTA thrift store for $5 bucks! She's been patiently waiting her turn in the furniture storage (ah' hem.. "hoard")  and today's her lucky day! So, lets get started hooking her UP!




*A lot of times with these "curvy leg" reproduction type pieces, the legs are loose and a little wobbly, so take this time before you paint to grab a Phillips or your hand drill and tighten everything up.* 

Then I made a solution of TSP and scrubbed her all down. Once she was all dry and cleaned up, I brought her in the living room...(YES, I paint in my living room) helloooooo this paint is magical..Memba'? No fumes, No Sanding, No Priming!  So, I lay out my drop cloth (A.K.A  6yo daughter's old bed sheet) and got to work! 



*TIP* Whenever you can, ALWAYS paint the underside and legs of the furniture first. It makes it a WHOLE lot easier to get to all the knocks and crannies and saves the strain on your neck and back! 

So, I mixed up A.S.C.P Old White and Cream to make a soft creamy white.  To avoid dripping all over the cans when pouring, I like to use my big medical syringe. You can use it to siphon out the paint you need without spilling it everywhere and it keeps your lids nice, neat and easy to open and close.  Great little tool to pick up!


I finished painting the under body, allowed it to dry..


and gave it the first coat of clear wax.



I applied the coat of wax, rubbed off the excess with a lint free towel..(AKA Hub's old T Shirt)

 *Tip! When you are done wiping back the wax your hand should glide across the piece. IF you get any resistance or you feel like your hands "catches" on a specific area..you've got too much wax still left on the piece. Chalk paint is very porous, so when you're apply the wax it actually sinks down into the open "Pores" of the paint and accepts what it needs. Everything left on the top is actually excess and that needs to be removed *  

This was a piece for someone who wanted a conservative look so I did some very light distressing.



 After the distressing I knew I wanted to give it a little more of an aged "Patina" so I applied Dark wax where I wanted more of an aged look. Always, make sure that you have good coverage of clear wax on the piece BEFORE you apply the dark wax.. because otherwise you'll be tryin' to remove that dark wax for days! It needs that barrier coat of clear wax, and THEN after you apply your dark wax, and you find areas you don't want dark wax on, just use some of the clear wax on a corner of your lint free towel and rub some of that dark wax off...the clear wax works like an eraser! 
You can easy-peasy wipe off as much as you like!


Apply Dark wax

Wipe off excess, with a clean cloth or T-shirt

After you do all your hot spots with the distressing, apply ONE more coat of the clear if you like, ( I did on this piece because it is a coffee table and I knew it would be a high traffic piece) buff it to a shine, and enjoy your fruits!
Till next time...Cheers Ladies, Meliss






VOILE!