Saturday, December 24, 2011

Kim Cole Wins Iowa Great Chalk Paint Give Away!

Kim Cole, YOU are the winner of the Iowa Great Chalk Paint Give Away!



Not only did you win this sleighful of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint products, but your name will be entered into the Jolie Design, worldwide distributor of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, drawing. That drawing is for a registration fee (or product equivalent) to a workshop on the Annie Sloan American Tour.

Here is what I know about Kim. She lives outside Indianola, Ia. She has also recently started painting furniture finds (yep, a bit of a junker in her!). Fortunately she sent me a couple photos of her work!




I think maybe Kim will enjoy adding some other colors from the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint palate and experimenting with some of the 50 different techniques and ideas in Annie's book 50 Quick and Easy Paint Transformations. Kim, email me and we will discuss delivery of your winnings!

We had literally hundreds of entries into the contest and I want to thank you all for becoming followers of Annie Sloan and TLC Vintage Collection. I hope to meet many of you and hope you can make it to the March workshop in Chicago. We will have a blast!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Last Day to Enter the Iowa Chalk Paint Give Away

Busy day. My grandboys, 7 and almost 3, are to come over and decorate Christmas cookies. Need to run to The Brass Armadillo, need to clean up yesterday's work mess, clean house, wrap presents! Fortunately Dan has day off and he will help.

So this is just a reminder that you have about 17 hours left to enter the Chalk Paint Give Away if you haven't before. It's a wondful box of things to get you started on your next and future paint projects! You get to choose the paint colors!

Photo Courtesy of Shade of Amber, Colorado...And don't forget Barcelona Orange which was not available when these colors were done.

Please visit Annie Sloan American Tour and get signed up for a workshop near you in March!

For an extra entry for my drawing tonight, please tell me in comments below or email, what village is Annie Sloan's decorating shop located in England? The answer is at http://www.anniesloans.blogspot.com/

Good luck on winning this!


The winner of my drawing will be entered into the national drawing for a spot at one of Annie's March workshops!

Remember also, the reason for the season. Peace!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Project Christmas Presents: A running blog

4:15 pm I could have done another one, seriously! But I've got to leave for a reception!

Pick the before and after photo! LOL. Merry Christmas, Sis!


So here's how I finished up the table. Clear wax, then some dark wax, then some gold wax highlights. I will buff tomorrow. Who wouldn't like this under their tree! I will probably do something more with the pulls because they are kind of blending. So I will play with dark ax on the details a bit more tomorow. Cheers!


3:15 The blanket stand is complete! I will wait and buff tomorrow to give it a tougher finish and shine.

Compared to:

Detail:



Onward with the table.....

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2:15 pm -- Second coat of Napoleonic on the blanket rack. So as soon as that is dry, will wax and distress it. See how quick this paint dries for you? I wax, then distress to eliminate dust from my environment. You just wipe off the loose bits that you have removed from the piece and then touch up with a bit of wax to seal the edges. I am distressing lightly on this because there is a layer of gold paint underneath that I want to show in places. Decided I will go with clear wax as the color of blue is about right to match The Blue Boy.

But I did adjust the pink for the second coat. I left the back with just the original pink Bubble Gum, so you could see the difference. The new one is called Barbie Pink because it reminds me of those little pink booklets of outfits you got with each Barbie clothes purchase when I was a kid. I cannot give you measurements as I added the red to my leftover pink....





I also think it is going to work a bit better with the dark blue of the drawer insides. My next decision is a color for the original drawer pulls. May go a deeper pink yet for those and then touch p with a little gold wax!

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12:45 pm -- Invented my pink; I call it Bubble Gum. 8 parts Pure White and 1 part Emperor's Silk. Did you know that is another super great thing about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP)? Little to no black in the paints so you can combine and get beautiful new-to-you colors! No mud!




Like it? I love the details on these drawers and can't wait to figure out how to make them stand out. I may make the next coat a bit darker pink by adding Emperor's Silk to what is left of my mixture. Or I may add some Emperor's Silk to my clear wax. Did you know you can do that too? Just play with this paint!



And then there are this girl's gams! They will need some special treatment to stand out too!




You know what? I have not heard a word -- by phone, email or FB from my dear sis today. Do you suppose she is onto this project and lurking out there, watching my every post?? LOL. Just like when we were kids and would search the house for our presents! Boy, did we spoil a lot of surprises for ourselves!

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It's now 11:45 am and first coat on blanket rack and inside drawers. Napoleonic Blue is being used to match up with The Blue Boy. I had to shellac a smiley ink drawing someone left on the side of the table. This is so the ink does not bleed through my paint when I get to it. Unfortunately the side table has not seen a brush yet. I had some veneer on the drawers that had to be reglued. Problems, problems. I decided to drop the third item for today as I ran into so many issues to deal with -- not to mention that my husband just reminded me I have to be dressed and down town for the launch of the book I helped write this past year....more on that tomorrow....




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It's 10:45 and I have hit a snag. Note to self: Not all old furniture is worth saving! Check it out closer before I buy. Yep, bad veneer -- on both, not just one piece! The shorter table has to be abandoned for today as it is so bad that it has to be removed. And under you can see the joints. hmmmmm. Other is workable but will take a while. I may just pull out the other table my sis liked that seems to be in a sounder state. The cuter tall table can still work for us.See what I've been struggling with for past hour.



Hopefully next time I check in here, I will have to set down a paint brush, instead of a chisel, in order to log in!
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It's 9:45 am and I just brought the "presents" in their rough states from garage into kitchen. Yep! That's my paint workroom! You can use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint right on site -- no obnoxious odors to deal with. So I'm rolling up my sleeves. Here are the items: 2 mismatched bedside tables and a blanket rack. Sad, aren't they?

So check in every hour or two and see how it's coming along!

Shhhhhsh. Don't tell my sister I'm blogging her presents today!

Uh-Oh! Not ready for Christmas here!


2 days til our Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Give Away! Have you put your name in with me? If not check out yesterday's blog on how to still get some chances in.

Meanwhile, I've been dashing around and not getting everything done. So I am declaring it a Paint Day! I have a special someone who is getting furniture for her Christmas gift. Hopefully she is not reading my blog today. She is expecting the furniture that she already picked out "someday, when you get around to it." Well, why not for Christmas. It's my sister and I love her and since we shared a room for some 14 years or so, I guess it is appropriate she picked bedroom furniture!

She also picked out colors to match some family hand-me-downs errr....heirlooms, Mom's copies of


The Blue Boy and Pinkie. Now here is the things most people don't know. These two paintings were painted by two different painters about 25 years apart AND the costumes are 150 years apart in style! But the two were not linked til a collector purchased both of them around 1920! Yet most of us and the world associate the two because they are such a beautiful match! One critic considers them the "Romeo and Juliet of Rococo portraiture." But I digress....

So today I will take photos as I go and do a number of blog entries so you can see how efficient and fun it is to work with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. And the results, beautiful! Check back in!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Three Days Left to enter Iowa's Great Chalk Paint Giveaway



Just wanting to post another look at the rules. I am emailing this link to some past customers who I haven't seen enter the contest! Today earn another chance by leaving me a comment on whether or not you think you will register to go to one of the workshops during the Annie Sloan American Tour Visit the website for details!




TLC Vintage Collection and JH Design Studio are giving away this sleighful of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint products for Christmas! We are celebrating the announcement of the 2012 Annie Sloan American Tour!

Follow instructions below to win -- no purchase necessary -- a chance at this gift:

-- 2 cans of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, two cans of Annie sloan Soft wax (dark and clear), 1 Annie Sloan Quick and Easy Paint Transformations, 2 paint brushes, 2 small wax brushes and 1 handpainted color chart! (sorry the sleigh is just for display purposes!)

AND if you win the above

-- the winner's name will be entered into a drawing for a chance for $350 towards an Annie Sloan American Tour Workshop spot in their area or an equivalent value of Annie Sloan paint products.

Here are several ways to enter the contest, whether you buy our paint or not! Do them all for multiple chances that I will put in our fishbowl!

1) Become a follower of this website like my other followers on the right -- just hit the enroll button and follow the instructions and leave me a comment! Help me reach 200! Ambitious I know, but I want to be followed!!!

2) "Like" the TLC Vintage Collection Facebook page and leave me a comment

3) Become a follower of Annie Sloan's Blogspot and report back to me by email at janet@tlcvintagecollection.com what her most recent blog was about. Go to http://anniesloans.blogspot.com/

4) Go to http://www.anniesloanunfolded.com/event and report to me at janet@tlcvintagecollection.com which Annie Sloan 2012 American Tour stop is closest to you. Even better, sign up for the workshop while you are there and tell me you did!

5) Visit our new retail location in Laurens, Iowa at JH Design Studio. Jan Hersom will help you sign up for our drawing! Visit Jan's website http://www.jhdesignstudioia.com/

6) No purchase is required if you do any of the above steps and make sure I know about them. But if you do purchase paint at The Brass Armadillo in Des Moines and you email about the color and day you purchased or from my website http://www.tlcvintagecollection.com/, your name will also be entered into the drawing.

So many ways to get your slip into my fishbowl. Check back often and comment on my blog and we will have a new blog daily til Christmas! Our drawing will conclude at midnight December 23, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Three Day Countdown to the Iowa Great Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Give Away

Time is running out to get entries into our fishbowl for the Great Iowa Chalk Paint GiveAway! Just today through Friday night and then it's time for the drawing! I'm excited!



Just a reminder of what our winner gets!

2 quarts of chalk paint -- their choice of colors!
1 can each of clear and dark wax
2 small wax brushes
2" paint brush
3" paint brush
Annie Sloan's 50 Quick and Easy Paint Transformations book
A hand painted color chart
Entry into Jolie Designs contest for a registration (or paint value equivalent of $350) at one of the 2012 Annie Sloan American Tour Workshops!

If you have not yet entered, please pull up my Dec 5 blog and read the instructions. If you have already entered my contest, earn another chance by emailing me your favorite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint color!




Monday, December 19, 2011

Annie Sloan Demo House??? Can I do a house makeover???

Our house is a typical year 2000 suburban home. Medium oak woodwork everywhere, white vinyl panel doors, textured ceiling, two story, laminate wood floor, inexpensive white kitchen cupboards. The living area gets lots of use! And the kitchen? Well, let's just say I love to cook. Everything is pretty dated. The two rooms I like the most are the dining room which I feel I got "just right" and our bedroom that I did years ago in a deep blue Ralph Lauren suede paint finish. That was before my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint experience.

The redeeming part of this otherwise dull house is that it sits on .44 acres backing to woods and a park. Oh yes, I love to garden and am a Master Gardener. We have deer (often), occasional fox, ground hog, and a large variety of birds -- ranging from some very busy humming birds this year to turkey buzzards and bald eagle sitings!


So, now I am thinking ambitious. An Annie Sloan Demo House? Re-do room by my house using Annie Sloan products? From paint to wax to lacquer! Can I do it? Is it too ambitious? I'm thinking start small -- the ground floor guest bathroom. That will give me experience with walls, cabinet and floor. I'm excited and intimidated by the prospect -- but heaven knows this house needs a major makeover!

Only problem? So many color choices! That is why I will fall back on the color expert -- Annie herself! If you visit http://www.anniesloan.com/ you will discover that if you click on each color Annie gives combination advice! Or pick up one of her books.

Meanwhile get signed up for the workshop closest to you during the Annie Sloan American Tour I'll be at the Oak Brook workshop with lots of my colleagues. Will you be? Let me know! Good for another entry of your name into the Great Iowa Chalk Paint Give Away!