This adorable little pedestal/table got a make-over
this week at The Whistling Elk.
Paint Couture!™ Painted Table at The Whistling Elk
In our Paint Workshops you will learn how easy it is to create beauty where there was none (or little) before! Not kidding here!
This little pedestal table was painted white and in a very chipped condition…it was cute…I mean looking at it I knew that it had POSSIBILITIES…and that is the key!
So with really very little effort on my part and my Paint Couture!™ products it’s lovely! It looks rich and expensive! (I want to take it home ;))
You don’t have to be a Do-It-Yourselfer to use this paint or to create a great piece.
Come to one of our Paint Workshops and see for yourself how easy it is!
Call and register for one of our next scheduled workshops:
Thursday, April 10th – 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Sunday, April 19th – 9 am – 12 pm
You will learn to paint, glaze, gild, stencil and emboss…also to distress so that you can create masterpieces with an aged European style finish!
Learn to paint furniture at The Whistling Elk Workshops
At The Whistling Elk you will find everything to make your house a home. From furniture to home accents to personal items…everything with design and quality in mind.
I had a fabulous day today…I really love what I do and now I can even say I am a bit of a contortionist!
My client had an armoire that was a nonedescript green and she wanted to jazz it up but she did not want to (couldn’t) move it. So I gilded and glazed it in place…talk about getting into tough positions in tight spaces…hahaha…I am smiling just thinking about those back legs… Glad no one was there with a video camera…
Here’s the before picture…although as usual I started gilding before I took it!
Armoire Before Glazing with Glaze Couture!™ Amber Honey
and here is the finished product!
Amber Honey Glaze Couture!™ was perfect for the job.
Several new mirrors have arrived at The Whistling Elk – The mirror pictured is one of my favorites and I set it up behind a little cabinet I was planning on painting. Sitting at my desk I can look out and appreciate the mirror – the chandelier reflected in it and now the little cabinet that I just finished painting. Love this little vignette!
Paint Couture Paint and Glaze at The Whistling Elk
The cabinet started out just a mousy brown and it is actually a new piece (not old) – I bought the piece with the specific intention to paint it. I painted a faded blue on the inside glazed it with champagne and stenciled some small Fleur de Lis randomly on the back panel. (sorry didn’t photograph that)
I embossed the stencil so it stands out nicely and the zinc and brilliant white that I used on the piece make the stencil design shimmer.
Silver Star is dabbed on the hinges and on the teardrop door handles. I took almost all the glaze off the top as I wanted it to look slightly different than the body of the piece.
It’s a lovely little French cabinet now!
The Whistling Elk Paint Workshops – Learn to transform your furniture!
Our next paint workshop will be March 20th…that is also the first day of Spring!
I can hardly wait. Sign up now and learn how to paint your own Masterpiece.
New merchandise arrivals always make me happy! La Vie est Belle! At The Whistling Elk it seems that all the new shipments include a lot of bling. I confess I am always into beautiful, sparkly bling! Just a little bit in a room adds a little something…We just received a lot of pretty crystal…there are candlesticks, vases, pitchers, salt & pepper shakers and salt cellars with little tiny (very cute) spoons! Even the new artwork has bling! There are tiny crystals embedded in the prints which add just the right element of ooh la la!
Crystal Cream & Sugar and Salt Cellars
There are four of these chic lamp prints all with embedded crystals. Love the carved gold frames…and the bath print below is the most gorgeous shade of green…there are three prints in this collection.
Great Gifts at The Whistling Elk in Chester NJ
The “red” vase I just finished painting this morning even expresses some bling. It has a certain richness – it was a nondescript cement color before I gave it a coat of red paint and followed up with some gold stenciling and a bit of Black Walnut Glaze Couture!™. Now it is quite elegant! Ahh, La Vie est belle at The Whistling Elk!!!
Paint Couture!™ French Polynesian Pink with Various Glazes
This beautiful, vibrant color was the perfect choice to be painting on Valentine’s Day…its just perfect!
For these Paint Stick Samples I used Glaze Couture!™ Verde, Black Walnut, Lite Brown Sugar, Champagne, Zinc, Copperhead and Red Mahogany. I glazed 2 sticks with Brilliant White Paint and then put Red Mahogany glaze over the Brilliant White on one of them to show a layered glaze effect.
The last paint stick I coated with Micki’s Magic (an accessory paint). I love the Micki’s Magic over the French Polynesian Pink – it adds so much dimension and variation – like a shimmering rainbow of color!
I think that a very sheer coat of Brilliant White under any of the glazes would create a beautiful specialty finish.
Angelic
Paint Couture!™ Angelic with various glazes
For these Paint Stick Samples I used Glaze Couture!™ Lite Brown Sugar, Red Mahogany, Verde, Black Walnut and Copperhead. On these paint sticks I glazed and wiped off. I used the Champagne Glaze but with this one I glazed the piece twice and as is often the case with Champagne I did not wipe it off. I also painted two coats of Micki’s Magic on the paint stick sample.
Paint Couture Brilliant White and Zinc combinations
I did one paint stick with zinc glaze and 2 sticks with Brilliant White. On one of these Brilliant White paint sticks I applied Zinc over it. You probably cant really see it in the photo but this sample with the triple treatment is my favorite – it’s very rich and has a lot of depth to it. (its the one in the middle)
Paint Couture is such a great product for all those paint projects you have around your home! And, its a lot of fun on these snowy winter days when you are stuck inside!
Don’t forget we offer great workshops at The Whistling Elk and will teach you how to create a beautiful piece of furniture using Paint Couture!™ products.
Need a special gift for your Valentine Sweetheart? Of course you do!
We have lots of ideas…
Lampe Berger, LoLLia, Shelley Kyle, Paint Couture!™ and of course La Vie Parisienne Jewelry..for your Valentine
We have a great selection of new Lampe Berger lampes, a full stock of Shelley Kyle and LoLLia…and for you do-it-yourselfers…Paint Couture!™ products plus the new Gilding Waxes will be arriving soon!
Just checking in lots of new arrivals from La Vie Parisienne – necklaces, earrings and bracelets! LOVE!
Need a special gift for your Valentine Sweetheart? Of course you do!
We have lots of ideas…
Lampe Berger, LoLLia, Shelley Kyle, Paint Couture!™ and of course La Vie Parisienne Jewelry..for your Valentine
We have a great selection of new Lampe Berger lampes, a full stock of Shelley Kyle and LoLLia…and for you do-it-yourselfers…Paint Couture!™ products plus the new Gilding Waxes will be arriving soon!
Just checking in lots of new arrivals from La Vie Parisienne – necklaces, earrings and bracelets! LOVE!
and I did get snow/iced in yesterday! Sigh…but I was prepared! I painted almost all day – a little snow wasn’t going to keep me down!
Snow/Ice Storm…
So previously I had painted two coats of Paint Couture on my signs…then I stenciled a background design on some of them and distressed it so it was faint. I used Paint Couture’s Embossing medium over top and stenciled on different Paris configurations.
Paris signs at The Whistling Elk before glazing
Later after blowdrying the Embossing Medium with my hairdryer I used Glaze Couture!™ or Brilliant White to glaze over the entire sign. I am not finished with these yet though…I may apply a second glaze to some of them (like verde over the blue sign) and I know I am going to use the Paint Couture Gilding Wax to enhance them…when I do I will post the finished product!
This morning when I left my street looked verrry pretty…but it made me have to stay home yesterday….grrr…
…and tomorrow it looks like more of the same is coming. Tonight I am taking my Paint Couture home with me.
Today I experimented with some sign making…using my Paint Couture!™ Embossing Medium – I think I will bring the rest home with me tonight just in case Mother Nature decides to strand me again!
Embossing Medium from Paint Couture!™
In early January I had some sign blanks made up just for this kind of occasion! Previously I painted some of them with Peace – today I embossed a stencil and coated the whole thing with Brilliant White.
Here are my Paint Sticks showcasing Paint Couture!™ Madagascar Mocha with various Glaze Couture!™ finishes on top!
Paint Couture!™ Madagascar Mocha with various Glaze Couture!™ finishes
The glazes used (left to right): Little Black Dress (Metallic) with the left edge glazed again with Micki’s Magic, Baltic Black over Madagascar with Black Walnut Glaze, Black Walnut Glaze, Micki’s Magic (Accessory Paint), Lite Brown Sugar, Red Mahogany, Verde Glaze, Copperhead Glaze, Champagne Glaze, Zinc, Brilliant White (Metallic Paint).
I used the same design for these sticks as my other posts…that is the end of the stick is the Mocha with just glaze over it, then the next area is mocha-lacquer matte-glaze, the next area is just mocha-lacquer matte and the top of the stick is the mocha alone.
Little Black Dress – Black Walnut over Baltic Black/Madagascar Mocha – Black Walnut Glaze over Mocha
I prepared an extra paint stick this time showing Madagascar Mocha with Baltic Black…wet and dry distressed on top – then the Lacquer Couture Matte and Black Walnut Glaze…I like this combo a lot! I like the aged woody warmth the Black Walnut gives to the sample (its the middle stick above).
On the topmost stick above with the Little Black Dress (metallic black paint) over the Madagascar Mocha I coated the outside edge with Micki’s Magic just to see what it would do over the Madagascar Mocha/Little Black Dress. This was just an experiment that shows how many different directions you can go with this paint by layering glazes.
Below is shown a grouping I am calling my “red/brown tone” collection of glazes over Madagascar Mocha….left to right Micki’s Magic – Red Mahogany – Lite Brown Sugar – Copperhead. They almost give the appearance of wood stains.
Paint Couture Madagascar Mocha with various glazes
These paint sticks are really invaluable when you are looking at a color and wondering what it could look like or when you are trying to relate a paint color to something else that is going to live near it… Sometimes it is even surprising when a glaze color that you don’t think will look good does…these sticks are such a invaluable visual tool!
Paint Couture Madagascar Mocha with Glazes
This last grouping shows Verde, Champagne, Brilliant White (metallic paint) and Zinc. Although the metallic don’t always translate well in the photos the Champagne and Brilliant White are beautiful over the Mocha.
But that is not surprising because I have loved everything I have put the Champagne or Brilliant White over…
At The Whistling Elk we offer Paint Workshops…learn how to use this amazing paint to paint your furniture and accessories and create works of art!
Ok, I admit right upfront that I am prejudiced because as a painter this is my paint of choice but for all the reasons I list…you just gotta love this Paint! Here’s why:
Top 10 reasons why Paint Couture!™ is the best Furniture/Cabinet Paint Available
1. Paint Couture!™ is a low VOC, self-priming acrylic paint available in 50 colors (and counting)
2. Paint Couture!™ has great adhesion capabilities over existing painted or varnished surfaces (which means usually no sanding or priming is necessary) and paints on smooth and flat with little or no brushmarks.
3. A quart of Paint Couture!™ is $29.50 (wow) and it is available in gallons!
4. Using Glaze Couture!™ over the paint colors gives you the opportunity to increase the color possibilities to around 450 (and counting!) and creates either an antiqued or metallic finish – you get a beautiful protected finish with no waxing!!
Paint Couture!™
Paint and Glaze Couture are both available in half pints (giving you the opportunity to sample without spending a lot of money)
Paint Couture Accessory products like the metallics – Pale Gold, Rich Gold, Silver Star, Antique Silver and Brilliant White, Micki’s Magic and Little Black Dress offer even more possibilities for creativity!
Paint Couture Brilliant White Paint
Paint Couture Gilding Waxes give you the opportunity to accent your finishes! Really? Oh yes with 10 colors! – Black Velvet, Pink Cashmere, Gold Lame, Gunmetal Tulle, White Silk, Blue Organza, Green Moire, Copper Charm, Silver Taffeta and Bronze Brocade (oh my!)
Paint Couture Gilding Waxes
Lacquer Couture!™ is a clear and very durable topcoat which enables you to protect surfaces…with little or no odor – available in 4 sheens! It dries fast too!
First it snowed, now its really cold…grrr…but it is perfect weather to stay indoors and PAINT!
I used my snow/cold downtime to paint up some samples…with Paint Couture!™ thereby creating 10 Ways to Make Peace!
Paint Couture!™ Peace with 7 glazes and 3 paints on top!
step one…paint two coats of peace on paint sticks (24 hours between all coats)
step two…taped off and painted a section with Paint Couture Lacquer Matte.
step three…chose 7 Glaze Couture colors: Lite Brown Sugar, Champagne, Red Mahogany, Black Walnut, Copperhead, Zinc, Verde – and three accessory metallic paints: silver star, micki’s magic and brilliant white
step four…applied the glazes over a portion of the lacquered stick and a portion of the “Peace” only section
VOILA Beautiful Paint Sticks showing Peace (alone) – Peace with Lacquer Matte – Peace with a Glaze over the Lacquer Matte and Peace with a Glaze
This way you get to see how the glaze looks over lacquer (not to mention how nicely it slides on) and how it looks over the un-lacquered paint!
I have been working madly to plan for the next four days….so much fun!
I leave tomorrow morning – so the shop will be closed for 4 days while I am gone…
Having just completed a major floor move in the shop — I am ready to fill in with new exciting merchandise.
The shopping words for this season are OPULENT and GLAMOROUS!
Oh so exciting!!!
Schnadig Sofa
The shop is set up with a completely different floorplan for 2014. This pretty Schnadig Sofa is taking center stage in the shop….Its so pretty and versatile. You can go in so many color directions with it…in fact you can change the colors for the seasons of the year by using pillows and throws in colors you choose. It’s so reasonable in price also!
The Whistling Elk – Wall art
Space is at a premium in the shop so every inch of wall space must be used to display the art work … here’s one of the collage walls (with a floor lamp shade showing in the foreground). The artwork at The Whistling Elk is always 20% off so its a good investment and as you know we all have lots of walls!
Paint Couture! embellished mantel
You may remember my post regarding the painting of this mantel…I used Paint Couture™! paints and glaze to make it so beautiful…but I think I am going to re paint it for the spring. That’s right! Another mantel facelift is on the way…I just have to settle on color. I am thinking of doing something with the Pantone Color of the Year 2014 – Radiant Orchid….that would be something with Brilliant White over top! WOW…just sayin.
Soon we will begin our Paint Workshops again – so keep posted and plan to attend to learn how to paint furniture!
Pine Cone Hill at The Whistling Elk
Our Paris Boudoir is still the room in the shop that everyone wants to move right into! The bed is layered with Pine Cone Hill products – why? because it is such a well priced bedding line…love it! Lots of soft soothing color combinations for the bedroom. I’ll be visiting Pine Cone Hill in Atlanta to see what is new for 2014. Meanwhile still loving this soft palette of color including Madeline Café au Lait, Louisa, and Candlewick designs.
Home Accessories at the Whistling Elk
Sometimes the things that really make a room are the little things…like a sweet arrangement of glasses on a tray, a cocktail table book strategically placed to accent some colorful flowers! The tray is actually my favorite thing right now…its antique silver with a mirrored base…which has been antiqued to look so old…just love it!
Well my head is swirling with all the things that I am going to be looking for at market…all the plans, colors, objects and vignettes to come. Can’t wait to translate it all to the shop floor so that you can share in the excitement for 2014.
You are Cordially Invited to Our
6th Annual Charity Event
Benefitting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Thursday, December 5th from 12 to 9 pm
$15 Donation
Discounted Shopping
Door Prizes
$350 Gift Certificate * Lampe Berger & Case of Fragrance * Kennebunk Weavers Throw Blanket * Basket of Paint Couture!™
Great Gifts for the Holidays!
Mark Roberts Fairies, Lampe Berger, Kennebunk Throws, LoLLia, Shelley Kyle, La Vie Parisienne Jewelry
& lots of beautiful decorations and home accessories!
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.
Ceiling Medallion makes a great centerpiece for a table
I just finished stenciling and distressing this table top…its painted with Paint Couture!™ Baltic Black and stenciled with Paint Couture Pale Gold – one of their fabulous accessory metallic paints. After I took this photo I glazed the whole table with Glaze Couture!™ Black Walnut (my favorite!). I plan on putting the Lacquer Couture!™ over the table on Monday. Wow, there are sure a lot of “coutures” in here…but what do you expect when you are painting pieces that are fashionable and elegant!
Paint Couture!™ Paints Glazes and Topcoats make furniture painting easy and fun and results in elegance
I used a ceiling medallion to create my design and then used parts of the medallion to fill in the center and bring the design out on to the leaves of this drop leaf table. I always sand thru my stencils to rough them up and make them look a little uneven because I want an aged effect. Wait till you see how it looks glazed…ooh la la!
When I finish I will post the elegant finished product…
We carry all the Paint Couture! products at The Whistling Elk and offer Paint Workshops so you can DO IT YOURSELF…if you imagine it you can paint it!
I just got back from Charlotte where I attended a fabulous Paint Workshop at Great Walls Supply…
Thank you so much Mike and Micki for making the Paint Couture! ™ line available to all of us who love to paint furniture and cabinets!
Paint Couture!™ Paint, Glaze, Topcoat & Stencils
The Paint Couture! is wonderful but it doesn’t stop there. The Glaze Couture! is amazing and offers us sooooo many possibilities for creativity and reinventing color! Nope that’s not it either…the Finish Couture! and Lacquer Couture! are just the best for protecting your painted furniture and cabinets. Did I say CABINETS? Why yes, I did!
Paint Couture!™ on Cabinets – Ohh la la!
There’s still more…Accessories! Loving the Brilliant White and the Gold Accent Paints, the Embossing Medium and the brushes and all of the brand new products that will be available shortly. Oh I am just in heaven! Ohhh la la I forgot the stencils!
Now that I am home I can’t wait for my next shipment. I have three Paint Workshops scheduled for next week and the phone has been ringing off the hook for that past two days – its as if they were just waiting for me to get back and schedule some new classes…surely no one will be disappointed either as I have planned four more classes for November!
All the Paint Couture!™ products are available in my shop The Whistling Elk – or check them out on line at Paint-Couture.com – you will not be disappointed. You WILL be painting everything you can get your hands on!!!!
It sure was a lot of fun to hang around with a bunch of very creative painters and play with some dazzling new products. Looking forward to the next one!
I am working in a dining room in which we are effecting a transition from very contemporary to a more traditional room. We decided to paint the contemporary console to make it feel more traditional….
It is finished but there is a piece of glass that lays across the top and rests on the two higher ends of the piece. We’re going to let this piece cure for a couple of days before we put the glass and accessories back on top!
Contemporary console custom painted to change the “look”
The console was an extremely high gloss black/cherry finish much like that you would find on a piano. First we cleaned it really well with TSP, then painted a first coat of Paint Couture Baltic Black. A couple of days later it got its 2nd coat of the black and then a couple of days after that the piece was stenciled then distressed by sanding off all the edges and flat surface so some of the cherry color came thru in places.
You will note that every time I work on this piece I let it sit a couple of days. This isn’t necessary as you need only wait 24 hours between coats of product….however as I am painting this piece in the client’s home (its very heavy) I had to schedule myself for this time away from my shop. I also figured since the original finish was soooo high gloss that a little extra cure time would only be an asset.
After the 2nd coat of black the piece was stenciled and distressed.
It was glazed with Paint Couture Black Walnut and then finished with a Paint Couture Satin Topcoat.
Top of hand painted console
I plan to go visit it in a couple of days to see how it is doing and then we will finish up the details in the room!
At The Whistling Elk we offer classes so that you too can paint your furniture….we use Paint Couture products which are wonderful. There are so many paint and glaze colors to choose from and the topcoats are fabulous. I also used Paint Couture pale and rich gold to give my stencil dimension. Call for class schedules and details and to register!
The Whistling Elk 
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