I was in love with a sample that I painted while I was in North Carolina at the Paint Couture!™ workshop last month. I guess I still am…cause its been sitting on my desk ever since.
Meanwhile we have been decorating like mad at The Whistling Elk…getting ready for the Christmas season…and I kept looking at our mantel and thinking hmmmm i’m gonna paint that and then decorate it for the holidays! So…I just finished it….here’s a tease!
The Whistling Elk and Paint Couture!™
It would have been beautiful in Little Paris but it now sits in the Paris Boudoir bedroom with all the Pine Cone Hill bedding and Kennebunk Weavers throw blankets. The colors in this room are soft and inviting. You feel relaxed just standing in the room!
I didn’t go with the sample colors from the workshop…just deviated a little using Paint Couture!™ Abundance and then dry brushing on Brilliant White (gotta love that stuff). When it was dry I glazed it with Glaze Couture! Verde Green! It looks marvelous and I can’t wait to bling it up (as if it needed it)!!!
One of the Door Prizes at our 6th Annual Charity Event on Dec. 5th is a Gift Basket of Paint Couture!™ products. Some lucky person is going to be painting!
Our Charity Event benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society again and we are looking forward to a wonderful day/evening of discounted shopping on December 5th….so mark your calendar.
I fell in love with this little table while out searching for antiques….
Its not old – just cute with great character! It’s oval about 16 x 12 and was already painted with Annie Sloan Paris Grey. It also has a marble top – black with a little pink and grey.
As soon as i saw it i knew i was going to paint and gild it! It was just a matter of what color…
oval table detailed with annie sloan chalk paint
So naturally i did paint it – it wasnt even in the shop for 24 hours before it got a makeover!
So here “she” is wearing some Annie Sloan Henrietta over Paris Grey….and then rubbed with some silver gilding wax and some kings gold gilding wax.
This little table had a dark wood top…it really had style with those cute legs so I decided to just paint the top with some Annie Sloan Pure White.
I left the legs the way they were – so here is the table with the Pure White on it.
Table with Annie Sloan Pure White top
I waxed it with the clear wax and then applied a little dark wax then distressed it.
Last i hit it with some of the gilding wax then distressed it some more…
Now it has a whole new life!
Love it!
Small Painted Table – Annie Sloan Chaulk Paint
I also worked on this standing mirror…it had a lot of “design” potential!
One of the reasons i selected this piece to paint was because of the beautiful wood carved crown at the top…
and the way this mirror resembled a “boiserie” panel…
The way i envisioned painting this piece i knew that its architecture would be greatly enhanced by using two colors to create a contrast.
I knew that using an alternate color on the crown and on the inset panel would work beautifully
and that connecting them by hitting part of the molding with the contrast color would be very pleasing to the eye.
So, i decided to use Paris Grey and Pure White.
Here’s the crown with a little Paris Grey which i purposely slapped on so it didnt cover all the dark wood.
Later i put some Pure White sloppily over the Paris Grey – i didnt care about covering since i knew i would distress it heavily later.
Crown Top of Standing Mirror with Paris Grey coat of Annie Sloan Paint
Originally it was also part of my plan to highlight this piece with some gold wax accents.
However, a customer came into the shop
while i was working on it and asked me not to put the gold on until she saw it finished with just the white and grey…
she thought it might work for her just that way…so i will have to wait until tomorrow when she comes in to see whether it will go home with her sans gold wax..
Here it is BEFORE distressing…
Standing Mirror in Paris Grey and Pure White before distressing
I painted the body of the piece all Pure White then applied the Paris Grey over only the molding and on the inset.
I did that because i knew when i distressed it i would get the dark brown and the white thru the grey.
Annie Sloan Paint on Mirror before distressing
Here is the boiserie mirror after distressing…I am just dying to highlight it with gilding wax!
Standing Mirror wearing Annie Sloan Chaulk Paint
Here’s some close ups of the details of the newly antique mirror!
Standing Mirror Top DetailAnnie Sloan Paris Grey and Pure White
When i am painting i find myself working on a lot of projects at once…
if i have a can of paint open i generally use it on as many pieces as i can so i dont have to open/close the paint, clean the brush etc.
it may be that i am just lazy…. but i think its a good idea to use the paint on something else while the can is open…
so here’s a little mirror that i also worked on!
Oval Mirror Before Annie Sloan Pure White
This distressed mirror was a brownish/cordovan kind of a color with some gold in the corners.
I just went ahead and coated the whole frame with Annie Sloan Pure White, Clear waxed it, distressed it and then
hit it with some of the gilding wax.
Oval Mirror Annie Sloan Pure White Chaulk Paint
Here it is all done and ready for me to put in Little Paris so perfect for my shabby chic shop!
The Annie Sloan Chaulk Paint has been a pleasure to work with and i am loving
all the new decor created…a very good product for interior design!
The bottom legs/skirt etc has been coated with Annie Sloan “Paris Grey” while the top has an old coat of a beige tone benjamin moore paint on it.
Originally this table had a dark stain on it. It has been hanging around for a while and was pretty beat up.
When i selected it to experiment with i thought it might be fun because when distressed it would show the dark stain thru the beige…and the Paris Grey.
Annie Sloan Paint
I also selected this table because it has nice detail for painting. The top has a raised pattern to it around the edges which
is separated from the center by two circular grooves which i plan to gild. And, the little finial
at the bottom of the leg stretchers is screaming out for gold…
So with my design plan in my head and the brush in my hand, the Annie Sloan paint went on easily and covered well…waxing was easy too.
Painted Table with Fleur de Lis
After sanding the table and distressing it to the level i desired i painted a fleur de lis on top with some antique gold paint i had around
and also put the gold in the round grooves and on the outer edges of the table.
Then i waxed it again…
The next day I sanded it down again, distressing the gold paint and the fleur de lis.
I sanded some spots down to the very dark stain but decided i didnt like what i had so repainted/waxed some spots and re-distressed.
I actually really like the soft beige coming thru the Paris Grey.
I also decided not to distress to strongly overall as i liked the softness of the look. So, when i was satisfied with what i had i waxed it one last time. The next day i buffed it out.
Annie Sloan Paint – Table and Chairs
I had these two upholstered chairs so i painted and distressed the chair legs to go with the table!
It was easy – paint, wax, sand/distress, wax….Voila!
So Very, Very Shabby Chic and perfect for Little Paris!!
Painted Table and chairs
here’s what the chair legs looked like before…
Annie Sloan paint on chair legs
So the bottom line is that i am enjoying the whole process and having lots of fun with the Annie Sloan Paints!
Stay tuned because i hateto waste time so have been painting on other little projects which are coming along…
This amazing piece of furniture arrived on Friday.
Note to Self Desk...or Vanity
It came along with the sofa that i recently blogged about…you know the one i waited all day for…that was so late in arriving…
I was so excited about the sofa that I didn’t unpack the desk right away.
Yesterday we brought it up to the shop floor of The Whistling Elk and put it together. It’s gorgeous.
Vanity or Desk elegant and sleek
Top down…its a beautiful desk…
Raise the top and voila its an amazing vanity with a beveled mirror!
No real identity crisis here – just imaginative design.
The legs are metal with a silver finish that looks fabulous – sleek and elegant satin finish French legs. OOh la la!
The entire top is ivory with a patterned art finish in a soft gray which resembles wallpaper.
Vanity / Desk with slide out shelves on sides
Originally I was thinking this piece would be placed somewhere in Little Paris as it looks very French and very sophisticated
but it’s going to look amazing anywhere in the shop or in your home for that matter!
When I purchased this piece of furniture I must have been in a hurry or something because i didn’t realize that the middle section of the top was hinged
and raised upward to reveal a beveled mirror…creating a vanity. I must be slipping…I did order it from a catalog picture — something that i RARELY do.
But all’s well when its a happy and beautiful surprise.
Desk top seen from the back
The name of this desk/vanity is Note to Self….how appropriate!
Wallpaper Pattern on top of vanity
What a beautiful and clever design which will elevate the décor in any room.
Here on my desk is my lastest project for a client. We are going to paint fleur de lis designs randomly on her office walls. I cut this Fleur de lis stencil when i painted the Paris Boudoir in Little Paris shop.
In order to give my client some choices for how the fleur de lis will look i first painted some copy paper with the wall color (2 coats)…
fleur de lis stencil with modern masters 14k gold metallic paint
Then i stenciled the fleur le lis design over the paint three different ways. The first (above) is stenciled with just full strength modern masters 14k metallic gold paint.
For the 2nd sample of the wall design i mxed the 14k metallic gold with glaze to make it more transparent.
fleur de lis stencil with modern masters 14k mettallic gold mixed with glaze for a room wall design
Lastly, I added some paint crystals to the 14kgold/glaze mixture (below). This gives the fleur de lis a glittery effect.
The glitter will catch the light and sparkle – its a faint effect so you actually wonder if you are really seeing it! Love it!
fleur de lis with paint crystals
Voila ! Beautiful effect -so easy to do and painted randomly around the room makes a completely original wall design!
PS….I have little sparkles all over me (from the paint crystals)….its like fairy dust maybe it will bring me luck today at The Whistling Elk.
2011 is over, the inventory is done, and the clean up after Christmas is progressing. That means new merchandise is coming and new vignettes are being set up in the shop!
i think this spring “clean up” is my favorite time of year. I love the lushness of the christmas decorations but i also love the clean lines of the shop once the christmas comes down.
Oh such fun! I am leaving for Atlanta next week where i will buy the 2012 Christmas! That’s right….that’s the first thing i buy in 2012…
But while i am there i will buy Spring too….i have a plan for merchandise needed and some new fresh ideas too.
Buying for Little Paris and The Whistling Elk will offer me the opportunity to purchase a wider array of merchandise than in previous years….and ooh la la that is so totally fun!
Today I am sitting here (feeling too lazy to do much) and my toes are cold! I should probably move some furniture….but no instead i am thinking about the last few months and planning for the next few…
and I realized that Little Paris
has been open over a month now and I havent posted a blog since it opened!
We are starting to get in all the fall goodies and holiday merchandise…the other day i unwrapped this little gem
It really is the little things…this simple scrolly iron ornament is great over a doorway or a bed.
And, I love putting them over pictures too!
I particularly love this one because it is only $39 and it’s like a fashion accessory – it will jazz up anything
you put it with. I always order a lot of them because it is so popular and i hate to be without it!
I love to paint them too – the one above comes in a rust but it would be pretty gilded.
This next one comes in white….shabby chic white…but i got the gold fever and gilded it!
It’s only $36 and that is a bargain for all the good looks you get out of it!
The Whistling Elk 
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