I'm still here! New Orleans and Other News

It has definitely been WAY too long since I did a blog posting. Things have been so wonderfully busy over the last several months and I couldn't ask for more. In March, I traveled to New Orleans to kick off Annie Sloan's North American tour. I had the time of my life. New Orleans is definitely a place I will visit again. 

I learned so many wonderful things from Annie about color theory, and about all the new fun stuff we have coming! Fabrics, fragrance diffusers and brushes (which are in stock now!). She really is as wonderful as people say she is. I never thought she would even know who I was, but just from small conversations through Facebook, she knew me by name and even associated me with Old Glory General Store. It felt like I was meeting a celebrity, but after a few short days, she was like an old friend. 

I took a thousand pictures, but here are just a few of how I will remember New Orleans.

 Annie Sloan Unfolded threw us a wonderful cocktail party at a gorgeous mansion. Look at the grounds!

The most wonderful, talented group of people I have ever met. I'm in there somewhere! 

 A little Greek Blue anyone?

Breakfast on the sidewalk.

Ok, so now for some current events! This Saturday, June 1st, I will be at the Corona Antiques and Collectibles Faire. It is located at the Heritage Park, 510 West Foothill Parkway, Corona, CA, 92882. I will be there with some great furniture pieces and of course Chalk Paint™ decorative paints. 

There will be over 60 vendors and admission is free! You don't want to miss it!

Well, that is all for now. I will be sure to post some pictures of the furniture in the next few days, and there will be a giveaway coming! So stay tuned for that as well!

We have a winner!!!

After adding in all the names between the Facebook page and then the blog, there were 48 entries. I then used the True Random Number Generator to find the winner!!

And the winner is...

Gayna Roy Redick!!

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered.

Only 6 more days to enter the Giveaway!

Just a quick reminder that I am giving away, FOR FREE, 2 cans of paint, 2 waxes and Annie Sloan's book! And to be in the running to win, all you have to do is post a few comments!

On December 30, I will announce one lucky winner. Here's what it will include:

2 Quarts of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
1 Clear Wax
1 Dark Wax
1 Annie's book, "Quick and Easy Paint Transformations"

Here are ways to enter:

1) Become a follower of my blog here and post a comment letting me know.

2) Become a follower of Annie's blog (anniesloans.blogspot.com) and comment with "American Tour 2012"

3) Go to anniesloanunfolded.com and read all about this incredible event!

For an additional entry, become a follower on my Facebook page "Sweet Vintage Decor" and let me know that you are a new follower!

Kitchen Cabinets Transformation with ASCP

Hope you all are getting your Christmas shopping finished up! Is it just me, or did Christmas sneak up on us really fast? It seems like last week I was barely getting ready for Halloween.

Anyway, about a month ago, I painted some kitchen cabinets in ASCP's Country Grey. This is a house my family owns and rents out, and the kitchen cabinets were dirty, greasy and in rough shape. Not to mention brown, boring and VERY dated. The kitchen counters are a weird green tile, but the appliances are stainless steel. Because it is a rental and we needed to keep costs down, my mom asked me to paint the cabinets.

To start, I removed all of the cabinet doors and hardware. I then used scotch bright pads and scrubbed down everything. Most times I down even clean dirt off of furniture before painting, but this kitchen was not clean! I wasn't worried about the paint adhering, it was just gross! I painted the cabinets themselves 2 coats of Country Grey with a regular 2" angled paint brush.

I then painted the cabinet doors. After 1 coat, I noticed that some of the cabinet doors had grease spots bleeding through. To be safe, I painted them all with 1 coat of Zinser Shellac. It costs about $13 for a quart and you can find this at any hardware store. It dries very fast and only added $13 maybe an extra hour to the job - and thats with 21 cabinet doors! I have painted many pieces of furniture and this is the first time I had to seal something before painting. After the Shellac, I painted 2 coats of Country Grey to all of the cabinet doors, front AND back.

I then finished everything off with 2 coats of lacquer. We already had the lacquer on hand, but if it were my choice, I would have used 2-3 coats of wax which is just as strong, if not a stronger protective finish than the lacquer. This was also before we received the Annie Sloan Lacquer.

I also spray painted the old hinges in brushed nickel to match the new handles. The entire process took about 3 days. Here is the cost and material breakdown as well:

3 Quarts ASCP Country Grey (I still have about half a quart left) = $116.85

1 Quart Zinser Shellac = $13

1 Package Scotch Bright Pads = $8

1 Can Brushed Nickel Spray Paint = $5

New Handles = $40

Total cost = $182.85

Like I mentioned before, I had lacquer on hand, but if I would have used Annie Sloan wax like I would have preferred, I would add an additional 2 tins ($50) to be safe.

Here are the before and after pictures. Please excuse the poor quality!! I was planning on going back to take good pictures after the house was cleaned, but the house rented so quick that I didn't get the chance!

Don't forget to enter the BIG GIVEAWAY here: http://sweetvintagedecor.blogspot.com/2011/12/big-annie-sloan-chalk-paint-giveaway.html

Not sure why, but Blogger is putting the pictures in a random order, I apologize.

The BIG Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Giveaway!!

So here it is folks! I am finally posting it! I have been so busy between both stores.

Ok, so back to the stuff you REALLY want to hear about! Annie Sloan is coming to the US!! She will be here in March and is doing a tour across the states. If you are the winner of my giveaway, you will also be entered to win a seat at one of Annie's workshop tour stops!

On December 30, I will announce one lucky winner. Here's what it will include:

2 Quarts of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
1 Clear Wax
1 Dark Wax
1 Annie's book, "Quick and Easy Paint Transformations"

Here are ways to enter:

1) Become a follower of my blog here and post a comment letting me know.

2) Become a follower of Annie's blog (anniesloans.blogspot.com) and comment with "American Tour 2012"

3) Go to anniesloanunfolded.com and read all about this incredible event!

For an additional entry, become a follower on my Facebook page "Sweet Vintage Decor" and let me know that you are a new follower!


There is so much going on and I plan to post more now with this awesome iPhone app!!

(Photo courtesy of Jolie Design)

Introducing, Lisa with Sweet South Cottage!

Hello everyone! My next few blog posts will be introductions of my other Annie Sloan Chalk Paint stockist-sistahs! Lisa over at Sweet South Cottage wrote a wonderful post about me and my business and I wanted to be sure that my few, but faithful followers were able to see it as well!

To view Lisa's blog and her wonderful post about me and Sweet Vintage Decor, go HERE!  But be sure to look around at all her other wonderful goodies that she has hiding over there!

Lisa and I share the sentiment to help and encourage those around us. You will be seeing more postings on her blog about other Annie Sloan stockists in the future and I am going to flow with it as well!  This way, we can be sure to share all sorts of talent and ideas and yummy pictures of furniture, all over the nation. Starting in Florida and now here in California.

Be sure to become a follower/subscriber to Lisa's great blog! You won't want to miss anything good!

Where shall we go next ladies??

Time to Catch Up!

It has been longer than I would like since my last blog post. I have been incredibly busy in the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, we had a Fall open house at Old Glory and it was wonderful. My mom and I met a lot of wonderful people that day and it seemed many enjoyed my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint demo. 

Last Saturday was the Affaire at the Barn in Menifee, CA. This is the event that I realized that I really need a semi truck for this business. I've since decided that a trailer will do. It took 3 trips in my little SUV and a car load in my mom's car to get everything there. A lot of packing, loading, driving, unloading, and setting up. But boy was it worth it! We had the BEST time and met SO many great people! 

When I pulled my camera out to take some pictures, I realized that I grabbed my cousin's Cannon battery (left here on her vacation…I will bring it in two weeks Anna!) for my Nikon camera. Awesome. So please forgive my lack of pictures. 

I met a wonderful woman named Maryjane. She was an instant fan of ASCP and has done a blog post about the event and yours truly! Visit her blog HERE. Be sure to check out her 1957 travel trailer. I have a serious case of jealous-itis.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to hear about my new space I am moving into! Exciting things are happening and I am so excited to share! 

New colors are in! Pure White, CoCo and French Linen. French Linen is my new favorite!