~ Haven bound & Heavenly Giveaways ~

Hello friends....YES as my post title says, I am Haven bound...

not to be confused with Heaven bound!

But..

WAIT

Maybe I can do a little of both while in Atlanta!!!!

A whole bunch of Haven and a little bit of Heaven

all rolled up into one big 

GORGEOUS

package.

If any of you are headed to Haven you can join me in all my Heavenly fun!

Heaven you are wondering...what in the world is she talking about???

Ok...I'll share some super exciting news with you.

The other day I was talking with my friend Melissa Riche, who is the uber talented 

Public Relations Director (did I get your title right Melissa?) for 

Annie Sloan Unfolded.

Melissa is the lady responsible for making sure all the major and minor publications and media are aware of 

Chalk Paint™ brand decorative paints and products.

Not to be constantly confused with paid ads.

Melissa gets the Annie Sloan Unfolded product line noticed for FREE!

Now thats a talented and hard working lady.

OK...back to our conversation...

Annie Sloan Unfolded – the US distributor for the amazing Chalk Paint™ 

will have a booth at Haven and we have a lot of great giveaways and competitions taking place at the 

booth throughout the two days.

 Most of you have already heard of Chalk Paint™, and a lot of you have already blogged about it – in fact it’s thanks to bloggers like you that Annie Sloan’s unique decorative paint has become such a success with DIYers.   So Annie Sloan Unfolded wants to give something back (cuz they rock that way) to thier existing fans, and introduce new products and paint to those who haven’t already experienced it first hand.

So here is how they are going to do that..

image courtesy Alice and Jay

Every attendee at Haven will receive a sample pot of Chalk Paint™

via Wallartistry.com
say hello to pretty Diane..she hand paints my charts for The Empty Nest

Along with a hand-painted color card.

Here is what will be happening at the Annie Sloan Unfolded booth.

Add Hello Beautiful!

Firstly, we’ll be launching the latest color in the Chalk Paint™ color palette. 

 It’s called ‘Florence’ and it’s a gorgeous jewel-color shade of green with a hint of blue. Like most of Annie Sloan’s colors, it takes its references from 17th and 18th century colors.  

It’s similar to the old ‘verdigris’ which was used extensively on Italian furniture of that period. 

 I know you will love it – this will be the color everyone is talking about this fall - and you will want to use it right away to add a serious pop of color to a room or a piece of furniture.

My head is swimming with ideas on what I will be painting in Florence.

The Empty Nest will have this beauty in stock next week.

Can you spell

EXCITED!!!

Secondly – we will have some great giveaways with a total of 

35 major prizes.  

That means you have a one-in-seven chance of taking away something extra special from 

Annie Sloan Unfolded

via 3Oaks blog

 whether it’s one of Annie’s gorgeous new brushes

 a quart can of Chalk Paint™,

or some of the Soft Wax.

We’ll be playing ‘Spin the Chalk Paint™ Color Wheel’ every hour, with sixteen prize colors to give away.  If your spin lands on the color of the hour, you could win, for example, an ‘Antoinette’ (a delicate soft pink) gift basket or the new ‘Florence’ gift basket, each will include a quart can of Chalk Paint, along with clear wax and one of the new brushes.

We’ll have bigger prizes too:  ‘Create Your Mint Green’ basket will feature quart cans of Old White, Country Grey, and Duck Blue, along with a set of brushes.  And our ‘Summer Hot Colors’ prize will feature e.g. Emperor’s Silk, Old White, and Barcelona Orange.

Last but not least:

Our 

Grand Prize 

will be given away at the end of the conference on the second day.  All you have to do to win is drop by the booth and give us your 

business card 

to be eligible.

so be sure to bring lot's of business cards for some awesome networking!!

The Grand Prize is sure to get your creative juices flowing, and its market value is almost 

$1000.00 

Yes...you read it right

$1,000.00 !!!

 It includes:

       One sample pot of each of the  glorious Chalk Paint™ colors (29 altogether)

       One quart can of Old White (which is easily mixed with any one of the sample pots to give you numerous color variations)

       One can of clear Soft Wax

       One can of antique (dark) Soft Wax

       One set of three Annie Sloan paint brushes (just launched here in the USA)

       An Annie Sloan apron

       Two of Annie’s recent best-selling books on decorative paint techniques: 

‘Creating the French Look’ and ‘Quick and Easy Paint Transformations’

      A special stencil created for Chalk Paint™ by Royal Design Studio  (who will also have a booth at Haven)

AND

Annie Sloan Unfolded will also be contributing prizes to the Haven Scavenger Hunt.

So are you feeling lucky???

Be sure to come by the

 Annie Sloan Unfolded

booth, say hello and take a spin on the Chalk Paint™ wheel.

I am so excited to meet all of you and you will recognize me right away...

Me and my BFF Annie Sloan...OMG...did I just say BFF!!

I'll be the lady with the Huge smile on my face!!

If you have blogging friends who are also attending Haven,

please help me spread the word.

Feel free to blog about this post and share whatever you would like.

See you in Atlanta!!!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

                                                                   

~ One random act of kindness a day ~

Hello my friends....I hope you are all having a good week. 

Mine has been wonderful. 

Lot's of wonderful things happening in my life right now and I will be sharing them very soon.

In the mean time....

Let's play again!!!!!!

Last Friday a friend told me about a yard sale that was going on in my area.

"Have you been to Ray's yet today?' she said

"No..what and who is Ray?" I replied

" A huge yard sale" she said

"WHAT!!!!....no one told me about a huge yard sale!!"

Off I went in search of Ray and his awesomeness...

I pulled up to Ray's house and the yard was covered with 

AWESOMENESS!!!

Ray told me most of the stuff had come from 

a home in Bethesda..a dentist/artist home.

I spotted so many vintage dental treasures.

Two stainless mirrors with trays caught my eye.

Very medically sterile, don't you think?

But I had a vision....

Here she is all beautiful and reborn. I can picture her on a pretty vanity of a young girl.

Using a sanding block, I removed most of her rust..I left a little for character.

Painted her with CHALK PAINT™ Brand Decorative Paints in Antoinette.

Antoinette is such a soft plaster pink...lovely!

CHALK PAINT™ stuck like a charm.

 I rubbed a hint of gold wax here and there for a little glam attitude.

I decoupaged the tray with Mod Podge and a beautiful floral paper napkin.

She is so elegant now...a far cry from her 'rinse and spit' past life.

I created two of these and they will be headed to my shop.

Look what else I used Mod Podge on...

I found these hanging metal signs for less than a $1.00 at my local Joann's.

They had awefull dark canvas letters glued onto them.

I removed the letters and painted three coats of CHALK PAINT™ in Graphite to create my own 

little chalkboards.

YES...you can create colored chalk boards using CHALK PAINT™!!

Just apply at least 3 coats..dry and season with a piece of chalk..wipe off and you are all set.

Imagine Provence or Emperor Red chalkboards with white chalk lettering...beautiful!

I decoupaged strips of antique sheet music to the front and back.

Perfect for shop pricing and little announcements!

Maybe a little embellishment of some sort will be added..ephemera..lace..ribbon or burlap??

See the decoupaged bucket vase from last week....I have been keeping it filled with Hydrangeas because.....

My Hydrangea bush is overflowing with gorgeousness this season!!!!!

The colors are so intense.

Note to self....I must plant more of these.

Here is another little bargain project I created for my shop.

I found this maple candlestick at a thrift shop.

Sorry forgot the B4 photo..you guys know what golden maple looks like..right?

Very plain.

After a coat of Antoinette CHALK PAINT™, Annie's wonderful Craqueleur varnish crackle and some dark wax..

Voila!

Instand age and loveliness.

By the way...I am still working with my first jars of Craqueleur...it goes a very long way!

Now..about my post title...

While at Ray's yard sale (more of my finds to come), one of Ray's friends mentioned that he lost out on a higher bid to purchase an old quilt at a recent auction.

I overheard this and told him I had an old quilt in my trunk that I had just purchased at another auction.

I showed it to him and he LOVED it.

He offered to buy it from me.

Now for quite some time, I have made it my mission to try to perform at least one random act of kindness everyday.

I thought this was the perfect opportunity for that days act.

I told him he could have the lovely old quilt...he was so thrilled and amazed that I would just give it to a complete stranger.

His joy made me feel joyous....

That's what it is all about..right?

Well he walked me over to a large black tarp draped over something.

He pulled back the tarp and revealed a lovely French desk/vanity.

HE GAVE IT TO ME!!!!!

Folks...I'm here to tell you..paying it forward works!

What goes around...comes around...remember that.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative!

Joining Shades of Amber

                                                                  

~ mod podge love ~

Hello friends......thanks for joining me this week.

Mr. Secret Agent had given me flowers a while back (thanks hon!). 

They came in this tall yellow metal bucket, which was lovely, however the yellow was a tad too bright.

But you already know I can fix that..right?

Out came the Mod Podge, antique sheet music and 

CHALK PAINT™ brand decorative paint in Graphite.

After thoroughly cleaning the metal bucket, I started applying the Mod Podge in small sections

and adhering small torn pieces of sheet music.

I started at the bottom and worked my way up, overlapping pieces as I went along.

It went very quickly and when finished covering the piece, 

I gave the whole thing a final coat of matte Mod Podge.

I painted the exposed handles and edges with Graphite CHALK PAINT™ because it adheres to metal with no priming..so cool!

I went outside and picked two Hydrangea stems for a little photo shoot.

I think my bucket vase is much more stylish now.

Mod Podge and CHALK PAINT™ a match made in Heaven!

And here is just a sneak peak of some sewing I have been doing lately. 

Creating some cheerful aprons for my new shop.

Lot's of color pops!

Until next time.....be kind and stay creative.