Chalk Paint Success!

Yay! This is my favourite redo out of all that I have done, well it still isn't completely finished yet as I have to do something with the manky insides of the drawers but I couldn't resist posting early.

I found her at an auction in the winter and got her for next to nothing.

 Don't you just love a bargain? 

The top was quite heavy marked, as were the drawers so I sanded it down with the electric sander and then gave it a wipe. Because I had used chalk paint before, and had a not-so-good experience.. I had the benefit of knowing that this paint dries super quick meaning that it is hard to get an opaque and even coverage. With this in mind, I bought some gold craft paint and sprayed the piece, concentrating on the edges, legs and top with the happy knowledge that this chalk paint can go on top of any surface below.

This dried really quickly, so I was able to paint over it on the SAME DAY! Amaaazing! I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Henrietta. It is has lovely lilac tones to it but overall I think it is more pink. It really is such a beautiful colour on! I had heard along my relentless research on how best to use this paint that using a foam roller gave good results so I gave this a shot and it worked brilliantly! I also made sure to put the lid right back on securely after I poured it each time onto the tray as this stuff thickens up really quickly. Normally I would have to use a brush to get into the nooks and crannies, but with the gold shining up from below I wasn't that fussy and just went with it.
I just used my regular Colron clear finishing wax to protect it and to secure the chalk paint to the furniture.

I left little bits of gold peaking through;

At first I was going to get new knobs for the piece, possibly crystal, but decided against it when it was all painted. So I just gave the old ones a good scrub and here they are in all their glory

Such pretty legs! I love old furniture, the quality of the wood, the fine detailing and all the skill that went into making it, this piece even has beautiful dove tail joins on the drawers!

Oh la la she is pretty :) 

My favourite piece so far.

NeW bLoGgY sTylE

Hello all, I have been playing around with a different look for my blog, something which I think is more personal to my brand. It is hard to know as the old look was very colourful which I thought reflected my furniture, but my style has been changing recently.

(Ok..so it is very much still a work in progress BUT)

What do you all think??

With thanks to the Background fairy

and shabbyblogs.com

who are both fantastic, completely free and I now love them!

How cute is this below!! :)

Chalk Paint DISASTER

Oh dear. I am so annoyed I could cry! Ok so here is my story so far... Firstly, I bought this table at an auction a few months ago;

It's quite nice, right? So I sanded it down by hand, filled in the surface and primed it with 1-2-3 waterbased and decided that I would HAVE to try this Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that everybody is raving about.  So I ordered some 'Old White' from an ebay supplier and got cracking....literally - the paint looks so uneven, liney and cracked on that I could just cry...but instead I thought that I would keep a cool head and lightly sand it down to see if it would smooth. (It didn't). Then I thought that the problem may lie with my less-than-average attempt and filling in the surface;

 so I asked my kind daddy for help and he put a nice layer of filler on, which then turned into this mess

Yup. 'Electric sander' I hear you say?! My thoughts exactly, so I got it out and sanded til my heart was content - look how lovely and smooth it was;

So I tried my chalk paint all over again, and the same thing happened all over again. AHH! It looks grainy, uneven, gathered and I just don't know what to do with it next.

The texture is the same all over the legs and everywhere. Maybe this is the way it is meant to look? Maybe it is just not my style? Maybe I have done something wrong? I have tried it thick, then thinned with water, I have used big brushes and then small brushes, long strokes and short strokes and even a roller to no avail.
Is there anybody who can give me advice on where to go with it next, or even anybody who has had a bit of trouble with this paint too?
In short, Help!