French Baskets created with CHALK PAINT® in French Linen

I have been on a roll lately and trying really hard to

keep up with the sales at my new "Patina" space.  

I found a set of 3 boring baskets

at Goodwill not too long ago, they are even lined

with plastic if you wanted to put flowers in.

I mixed up a 1:1 ratio of Annie Sloan CHALK PAINT®

French Linen (my favorite color) and water to thin

it down so I could paint a wash onto the baskets.

This is a great trick to "grey" vintage picnic baskets, too!

Thanks to Debbie at 'Round the Coop and her awesome

Pinterest, I found this tutorial about how to print on burlap. 

When I was in Oxford, England visiting Annie Sloan

at her shop, I scored a grain sack from France.  I framed

the front and had some amazing remnants from the 

back of the sack.  So, using this tutorial...

'Round the Coop DIY board on Pinterest, 
I used my basic Canon inkjet to produce this

image on my French burlap with an image
from The Graphics Fairy

Affixed it to the front of my new French basket

and added my latest obsession, Cotton Bolls (not a typo!)

Annie Sloan CHALK ® Tour San Francisco Event just days away!

 The Annie Sloan CHALK PAINT® American Tour began in New Orleans with two days of intense training and fun!  The first day concluded with a fantastic party at the Elms Mansion.  

From left to right,

Local Retail Partner, Susan Bell of Decor with a Past in Live Oak, serving
Fabulous Finds in Marysville and Junk in the Trunk in Grass Valley

Local Retail Partner, Bobbi Eddy of Not Too Shabby,
serving Folsom and The Red Door in Elk Grove

Stockist, Me, Tami Fandrei of Patina Decorative Finishes, serving Northern California

Stockist Debbie Cooper of 'Round the Coop, serving Country Roads in Old Orange as well as L.A. and Orange Counties

Local Retail Partner, Melony Hannah of Well Worn in Oroville, serving 8th and Main in Chico and Sera Bella Home in Redding

We all had a fantastic time as you can see:

Completing the party with a New Orleans Tradition:

the "Second Line" to live music!

Day Two.  Annie paints barefoot.  Don't you love it?

Will you be joining us in San Francisco?  There is still time to sign up.  You could even come the day of, there are "open registration" spaces available for those who "drop in!"

For more information, go to the Annie Sloan Unfolded site here!  While you are at it, check out the new website that was launched this week!  I think it's "BRILLIANT!"

Annie has landed...

That's RIGHT...she's in America now, New York City to be exact!  There are still a few spots available for the Tour here in San Francisco!  Want to meet all of our stockists and LRP's and OF COURSE, Annie?!

Here is the link! www.anniesloanunfolded.com/event

I spent my morning at Barnes and Noble as I tapped my foot waited patiently for the crew to put out their new shipment of magazines!  Soooooooo...just to drop a few names and covers:

Annie Sloan was in these NEW issues, including the PREMIER issue of Vintage Style:

Annie Sloan is coming to the U.S.

You have your seat reserved yet???  Here's your chance to paint with Annie and learn about color theory and the amazing person behind this fantastic paint!

March 19th at Historic Fort Mason in San Francisco.

Our giveaway raffle is now closed, local winners for each shop to be announced by tomorrow evening!

Pinterest and early morning Etsy ramblings

Happy Friday morning, everyone!  Pinterest and Etsy SUCKIN' are the life right outta me.  So, I'm back, making it a goal to only pin between the hours of 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.  That's right, ever since I turned 40 a few weeks ago (sigh), some kind of internal clock kicked in and at 4 a.m., my eyes pop open and I'm awake.  ACK.  It's killing me.  Come 8 p.m., I'm like my 80 year old grandparents nodding off in front of "The River" and WHO does that?

There are NO some advantages to waking up before everyone.  1.  No fighting over the Keurig, I have it all to myself and I sure need it at 4 a.m.  2. I get all the good things on Etsy.  By 10 a.m. when I really wake up, I have a little buyer's remorse, sometimes a bit more than a "little."  Yesterday, I bought a vintage wallpaper kit.  Like what the hell am I going to do with THAT? how EXCITING, a vintage wallpaper kit!  3.  I am up with my East Coast peeps!

So, what is your Friday looking like?  I've been clearing out my garage this week trying to get ready for two giant pallets of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to grace my life and for a fun event here.  On Sunday, I will be hosting all of my Local Retail Partners in Northern California as we put together idea books of ASCP to put in all of our shops.  I'm so excited to get everyone together and CREATE!  Happy Friday, everyone!

I'll leave you with this, it's on it's way to my doorstep:

Let's focus on the facts

I am going to squash some common misconceptions in regards to paint and wax.  I've been hearing a lot of chatter and see so much on the internet, I want my favorite people (that's YOU!) to know the facts about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and WHY everyone wants it!

#1 Annie Sloan Chalk Paint IS made in the UK, but for North Americans, it IS made in the U.S.!  It is produced in good ole Kansas City, Missouri on U.S. soil.

#2 Make your own Chalk Paint recipes floating around the internet.  WHY make chalk paint yourself?  I keep seeing these recipes floating around on the internet with "make your own chalk paint" for $1.50.  WHY, people?  Annie spent years developing this paint that has withstood the test of time...20 YEARS....That's right.  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint was developed nearly 20 years ago.  No matter what, you are using latex paint to make these recipes and that is certainly not in your $1.50 price. And latex paint is certainly NOT the first choice for painting furniture. WHY bother?

#3 Wax products with no solvents or chemicals.  WHY would you want a wax with no solvent?  Wear some gloves if solvents freak you out.  Annie Sloan Soft Wax is created the way it is FOR DURABILITY.  MY customers want durability in their finishes on their furniture, they don't want something that doesn't create a long lasting finish or something you can take your fingernail to and scratch.  You CANNOT create a wax that has the long term durability without solvents.  I'm all for natural products, but believe me I've tried the "natural" products and they don't clean my kitchen like Clorox Wipes do.  I have three kids and two dogs who traipse around and trash every surface in my house, so I need a product that works and is durable.  As a licensed painting contractor in Northern California, I MUST ensure that the products I'm using are durable.  Who wants a call back a few weeks later that something has chipped or cracked or scratched up?  Not ME.  That's why I use what I know is proven.  Don't be mislead by other products or recipes that don't have what you need to protect your artwork!

#4 Cost.  Did you know that with one pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, you can paint two giant china cabinet buffets or four regular pieces of furniture?  It doesn't cover like latex.  That's about $19.48 in paint per buffet.  You find that Goodwill piece for $75, with a little work, you've got a buffet that looks like you paid $750 but in reality with paint and product you only invested $100.  Out of one pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I can paint four pieces of furniture and out of one tin of Clear Soft Wax, I can protect 12 pieces of furniture.  The Dark Soft Wax...heck, I've been selling this stuff and painting furniture with it for over 6 months now and I'm only NOW on my 2nd tin of Dark Soft Wax.  It goes a long way.  Don't skimp on inferior products.

#5 In order to call a paint No VOC there is strict and extremely costly testing that has to be done on paint.  Our paint has such small VOC's, it's nearly undetectable.  Who cares?  I say, take a sniff test.  If I can sell it to my pregnant friend, Jen Green whose awesome blog is HERE to use in her 6th month of pregnancy and feel safe at what I'm exposing her to, who cares whether or not there are no or little to no VOC's?  Remember the days of adding vanilla extract to latex to mask the odor?  (shudder)  I sure remember, the vanilla extract never truly covered up the odor.  It was just vanilla flavored toxic fumes.

I've been told our paint smells earthy.  Of COURSE it does, because it's natural and green.

When you buy Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Waxes you are getting two decades behind a perfected product with proven results and durability, why bother with the rest?

If you want to find out what all the fuss is about, come to San Francisco on March 19th...we'll show you!

ANNIE SLOAN WILL BE IN TOWN!!!!

Don't worry...if you happen to live anywhere east of us, she's coming near you, too!  Details below!

Want to learn from the master herself?  Want to hang with all of the West Coast Stockists and Local Retail Partners and master some techniques to use in your home or business? You can right here...I WANT TO SPEND ALL DAY WITH ANNIE and make new painting friends, play with paint and eat some amazing San Franciscan cuisine!

It's time for another GIVEAWAY!

Patina Decorative Finishes is carrying a new wax buffing brush!  Want to try it out?  Now you can buff Annie Sloan Wax to a shine in seconds and Big Fat Lye for cleaning all of your wax brushes!

Three chances to win this amazing duo. 


1. One entry if you "Like" Patina Decorative Finishes on Facebook.

2. Another entry if you become a blog follower.


3. TWO extra entries to anyone who shares this giveaway on your Facebook Wall!


Retail value for the duo...$34.95 and winner will be chosen January on January 10th.