Celebrating Winter trying Chalk Paint

It is finally winter here in Kentucky.  It has been a mild season till this week.  Not enough snow to play in but temps are down.  We are staying in, keeping the fire going and staying cozy. 

I am so excited about these last projects, I have been working on.  The frame that I spoke of in a previous post, turned out very nicely.  In the pictures, you still see the chiping on the old frame but I (personally) don't think that it hurt the looks. 

I cut a mirror to size and did my favorite antiqueing finish to it. I used the "toile" design lace and etched a branch acrossed it.  Mercy! It is hard to take pictures of mirrors when you do not want to see what is in the reflection. 

I used the Annie Sloan Chalk paints for all my latest projects.I use "Provence, Duck Egg & Old White" in different combinations.  I am also trying the dark & light waxes for the finish coat.
The antique frame and chairs are painted in only Provence.  I applied dark wax to antique and the used the light as top coat. 

These chairs were received separately, thinking that they were the same until I got them together.

One started out white and the other brown.  This allow me to compare the coverage of the paint. This paint claims that you do not need to sand & prime.  I used several coats on both the light and dark chair to get a good coverage.  I have to say that I cleaned and scrubbed the chairs very well.  And I did some sanding on the brown chair due to the varnish coming off very badly.  But I did not sand them completely  smooth, leaving alot of chips and dents.  You can see these on all the projects.  If you want a smooth finish, I still recommend sanding.

 
I used the "Duck Egg" ASCP, to stencil the chairs.  I wanted the stencil to look worn.  I may have painted it too light.  When I put on the dark wax to antique the chair, it covered the stencil more than I like.  The stenciling is very hard to see in the photos.  The stencil that I used was a romantic "Springtime in Paris" for Royal Design Studios.  I really like the quality of their stencils.   I also took the mirror and glass workshop where I learn to antique mirrors thru Royal Design Studios.

Below are several projects I have also been working on.  A small reproduction medicine cabinet that I have had for years.  AS with everything in my log home, it was dark wood.  So I painted it "Old White" ASCP.  The inside was backed with a red calico material, I have painted it with several coats of an unknown "aqua-turquiosy blue".   Not "Annie Sloan Chaulk paint". And I also refinished the mirror.  I am not too sure about the outcome of the small mirror.  I may have to replace it and redo it. Sometimes I get carried away and overdo.  Here are some mirrors that I diy-ed a custom finish and frame for.   The far end has a silhoutte that has a rusted finish. 



 I normally go to my local Lowes and have them cut my mirrors.  But I really should get a glass cutter for these smaller projects at least for convenience.  Would make it quicker to make changes.  I look forward to doing and finishing my projects using the ASCP.  I have several small things that I have started.  I will place more pictured in my facebook album or etsy shoppe when and as completed. 

I hope you all have a fun Valentine's day

Summer has begun, I am behind as ususal!

A Happy Summer to everyone!! It is hard to believe that the year is half way passed.  I always have so much that I want to do and learn (about blogging and marketing online).  My latest excuse... Family has been up visiting this past week.  And I have had a wonderful week with my aunts, uncles and cousins.  I really enjoy doing genealogy and have spent hours reviewing and scanning old documents and pictures.  But this does keep me from doing the necessary things to that I should be keeping up with.  Oh well, those things aren't going anywhere, I can do them tomorrow ;-) 

I did get my stairway stenciled.  I haven't added the color accents yet, haven't decided exactly what I want to use yet.  But I like the simple look of the two colors at the moment.  They brighten up a dark stairway.  

  

One thing I did find out about my stairway is that my stair's riser heights vary.  A couple were 6 inches, 6.5 in., 5.5in  this made for quite abit of adjusting and frustration. Things are never as easy as one hopes.  I repeated the stencils on the upper section of the stairway.   I am really happy with the results so far.  I decided not to put the faux bois graining on the treads of the stairs at this time.  I am afraid that it will make the stairs too busy and take away from the stencilling.  Before I finish with the accent colors, I am going to be doing my son's bedroom floor. (This is what I am behind on).   I hopefully will get the rest of the furniture out of the way and get the old carpet out.   I did order my Large Feathered Damask stencil  (www.royaldesignstudio.com) that I am going to use on the floor.  I am getting excited about finally getting this project moving.   I will post more details in the next posting.  

I do want to repeat that stencils are great tools to use.  They are useful to DIYers, artist and crafters.   I have been inspired in many way by looking at projects others have done using stencils.   The Royal Design website shows many of these. 

One last thing,  If you live around Clark county Kentucky,  The public library is having an art show of local artist during July.  I put my gourds in that I showed in my last posting.  I also put in a Altered Mirror Window and an acrylic  painting below. 

I have to brag that I have a fantastically talented friend whom will have artwork on display also.  This would be a fun day trip for the family or a group of friends.  I hope that my Rowdy Golden Girls homemaker group will met up together and go.   Clark county has a wonderful library.  They do alot of activities for the community and a great research department.  I hope that everyone will come by and visit.

See you all when the month is half past.