i said never...and now i remember why.

I have been committed to a few things in my life. My family, health, Cameo Boutique and vanGogh Chalk Paint. The order of this is somewhat sketchy, but you get the drift.

I have been painting with Chalk Paint exclusively for quite some time now, teaching workshops, and even being the Vancouver Island Distributor. When you are spoiled enough to have a limitless supply of Chalk Paint and furniture to work on it just naturally happens that you dont ever paint with anything else

This brings me back to quite some time ago, before I became so committed...a time when I was still using acrylics and latex paints. This was a time of frustration, angst..and regrets. Any time I worked on a piece, it looked so perfect before distressing. Once it had been distressed it looked like amature furniture night...

These products definately have their place, and can be used to create some AMAZING looks. For example check out this classy china cabinet I did in latex window and trim paint. Clearly a gem, and not distressed.

But seriously, if it is your intention to distress or antique your item, there is only ONE game in town. Well maybe two if you count milk paint (and you wanna mix/tint/bind it yourself)..so back to one game in town. CHALK PAINT.

Remember after you (ladies) finished giving birth to your first child? That overwhelming feeling of "Im never doing that again!" then time goes on, your child grows, and something happens. You forget the suffering you endured to bring forth your amazing creation.

This is what happend to me last week. Only it wasnt my child. It was a custom furniture job.

I have had a lovely gal in the shop several times who was desperately seeking white distressed end tables.  (you all know I havent been using white much lately). Only catch was, she really didnt seem to gravitate towards to esthetic of chalk paint. Once I saw her living room I understood that the use of a latex would be best suited for her. Her decor was very very modern. Even the choice to distress them confused me a bit..but whatever I aim to please.

Then it happend. I agreed to paint for her these custom end tables, and distress them. Im not sure where in my brain the information was stored regarding my previous experience distressing latex (yes I know about the wax trick, the vaseline..etc etc) but it was clearly inaccessable at decision time.

I mixed her up a custom color to use for the base that would match perfectly but not cheezily (its an adjective Im sure), sought out just the right white for her...first sand them out...then I primed them. I then embark on painting. They looked so pretty I was thrilled with how the "hot spots" laid out.

Laying the white on top what where the memories started to come back to me...ah yes, now I recall that need to use like 4 coats of paint. ugh. Crap, this stuff takes forever to dry..now I am two days into paint.

Oh yeah, I cant wet distress this....crap. Now I have to sand through 4 coats of white paint before I will even hit the custom color. And all that sanding...I forgot about that.

What if I blow right through the base coat because Im trying so hard to get through the white? What if the sandpaper leaves all sorts of nasty scratch marks? My ARM IS GETTING SORE! IM BLOWING THROUGH SANDPAPER A MILE A MINUTE!  OH NO, I forgot that when you sand down acrylics/latex they get all dull and lose their sheen!! Panic starts to set in, I try to talk myself down..(I did that exact thing when I went into labour with baby #2)

I stuggled through, and made the most of this RElearning experience. The end tables turned out lovely (I used several of my top secret tricks from the past to accomplish this ie i looked on pinterest:) and I am sure that tomorrow when said customer comes in her hunt for white distressed end tables will be over.

Here is my point of this long winded blog. I believe to everything there is a purpose, latex/acrylics are fabulous for theirs...

Chalk Paint just flat out kicks ass for its purpose. Here is what this process would have looked like if I had used Chalk Paint.
~ wash down project with a damp cloth
~lay out hot spots (one good coat)
~by the time the second table was painted the first was ready for top coats (chalk paint dries FAST)
~lay out two nice thick yummy coats. perfect coverage
~grab my green kitchen scrubby and a bowl of water...scuff scuff..blendy blend.. perfect distress.
~wax wax
DONE.. total time frame.. oh, maybe a solid 4 hours.

So this serves as my public service announcement to all DIY'ers..dont follow in my ill fated footsteps, you shall only attain frustration and sore biceps. Chalk Paint is where its at man:)

For all the information you will need about the amazing lineup provided by vanGogh Chalk Paint please visit their website..through which you can also locate our lovely little shoppe Cameo Boutique!

http://www.vangoghchalkpaintcollection.com/

the path less taken

I have been seriously sidetracked lately. That china cabinet I promised still sits, half painted in the studio at Whippletree....BUT I have turned out a few great things that were "unplanned".

Inspiration is one of those tricky bitches, you never know when it will sneak up on you and poke you in the *#&* (put your favouite explative here).

I was perusing one of our local buy and sell sights when I stumbled upon a pair of hexagonal end tables. MDF and laminate, looked to be in pretty good shape. What really caught my eye was the wheat sheaf motif (what a mouthfull) on the doors. It was unique and very pretty. The price was too good to pass up, when I placed the call, the home was only 3 minutes from my house...so the deal was sealed. They had to be mine.

As I mentioned inspiration sneaks up on you, but in my case it not only sneaks up on me...it grabs ahold and wont let go until I have completed the task. No matter if it takes all night. I have joined the color movement, because if I hear one more time "oh they are lovely, if only they were white I'd buy them" I may lose my mind.

White has its place, and it is lovely, but lets not forget the world is full of color. It is meant to be enjoyed, played with, and its time for some creativity folks. So here is an example of me, taking the road less travelled.

Firstly I have been dying to use the color combination of Serentiy under Starry Night with French Caffeine Wax. ...

serenity

 

starry night

 

 

and just for the interior doors (and for fun!) Victorian!

 

 



As usual excuse the disgusting flash effect from my photos, they flat out suck. Trust me when I say these end tables are two of the deepest most luxurious pieces to come out of my studio.

 

The inside of the doors have a fun peek a boo of victorian purple, and as usual I color block repeated these colors on the inside cabinet walls. Priced at $150 for the pair, someone who isnt afraid to take the road less travelled is going to get one heck of a buy!

Visions of sugarplums dancing....

Goodness me! The fact that Christmas is right around the bend, well.....it just excites the heck out of me! Its one holiday that I love to decorate for and now I have TWO places to do it! Home and Shoppe! My partner shares the same sentiment, in fact, she probably owns more decorations and christmas "doo dads" than 3 households combined:)

I love the look of a homespun christmas, and came up with a craft idea that I had considered for a Cameo Workshop in late November (details to come). Here are a few of the templates, some have been left "empty" for a graphic application OR a photo frame for your cute kids!

 

These are all available for sale at Cameo Boutique!

you reap what you sow

I just got off the phone with the ever so inspirational Kathy vanGogh, and I tell ya, she should be a motivational speaker. Some people just naturally can light a fire within others...theres a doors song somewhere in there.

The context of our conversation really blew me away! The Cameo Boutique has now been named the official Vancouver Island Distributor for http://www.vangoghchalkpaintcollection.com/ !!

We have been working hard to make vanGogh a household name here on the island, and apparently it hasnt gone unnoticed. We are so excited to begin the process of setting up other retailers, and helping them achieve their dreams just as Kathy has helped us.

I must give thanks to one other person, my amazing aunty who backed me in this adventure. And I say adventure (not venture) because that is really what life should be:)

Getting back to it

With all this business and workshop development I haven't been able to do much rummaging or creating lately...I am feeling a bit hollow. Time to fill my cup.

I have spotted a few prospectives, and went out this afternoon to pick them up...I spent most of the night scanning pinterest (follow me?? http://pinterest.com/gryphonlove/) which is where I find my creative juices really get flowing.

I've said it before, just looking at creative stuff is inspiring! I have picked out two china cabinets, and am almost decided on what finish to apply to them...now the only decision is which one to do first!?!

Here is a before shot of one, check out the amazing cornice, and detailed carvings down the side! I already picked this one up at a great price...this is actually the photo from the ad:)

 

 

I intend to use some really bold rich coloring on this, here is a sample of the palate I will be working with. Confidence is the blue and Balsamic is the brown, I will be color blocking, and distressing some areas, look for the finished cabinet instore next week.

 

 

As always you can check out the amazing lineup of vanGogh products http://www.vangoghchalkpaintcollection.com/

 

 

 

Farmhouse Primitive

My partner Krysta (K-Rock to my L-Camino), spotted this awesome old handmade cabinet and we scooped it up! It was made very well, barnboard backing, solid shelves, somebody must have taken great care crafting this for his sweetheart:)

Here is a shot of the before...old, cracked, chipped, wormholed, and long since it was loved.

 

Now to be fair, it looks a lot better in this photo than it did when we went to pick it up! This is what the lady (who was gonna redo it) took as HER before shot...ours would have been a sanded down, half painted blue mess..yuk.

 

We hauled it home and put it in the shop, it sat for a few weeks while I pondered over and over again what to do with it. I bounced a lot of ideas off Krysta, and we must have talked about this thing like 10 times at least. And then as always, it is as though lightening strikes my brain, and I am consumed with the vision.

 

I started this by painting the "hot spots" out in the base colors. When I say "hot spots" I'm referring to the areas that I intend to distress. I always put great care into selecting these areas, they should be those most likely to naturally distress, and to keep things interesting throw a couple suprises in there. I chose from our vanGogh Chalkpaint Collection a rich GO TO base color Balsamic

 

I then went over the balsamic with the color Lipstick, at this point I also began to color block in the inside shelving, I knew I wanted the interior to really pop so I did the top of the shelves in Lipstick. I had to do a couple coats to get it really really rich red. The color is amazing, but the red pigment requires a bit of coaching to get it deep and dark:)

 

I taped off the interior and painted out the back walls in a gorgeous shade called Muse, I then also painted the entire exterior the same. Now what I feel is really worth mentioning is the coverage. It was amazing how this light shade covered all that darkness to well.

 

I decided to bring all the colors to the inside in a color block manner, so I painted the edges of the shelving in Balsamic. The exterior was already in rough shape, and I have never gone this far with distressing before. Farmhouse primitive is not my usual finish, but I was super excited to give it a shot! Here is what turned out, and has now been deemed the "cameo finish".

 

Inside of cabinet

 

 

A shot of the cornice

 

 

And a snapshot of the whole thing, please excuse my complete lack of photography skills, and this was taken all by my cell phone! hah!

 

 

The cabinet is a stunning piece, if you would like to see it in person come on by Cameo Boutique in unit #8 Whippletree Junction! For further information on vanGogh Chalkpaint, or to find a retailer in your area go to, http://www.vangoghchalkpaintcollection.com/

 

For a list of upcoming workshops at Cameo Boutique check out our website http://cameostore.wix.com/cameoboutique

 

or find us on good old Facebook!

 

whats cookin??

I love to cook, I never follow a recipe. Measuring doesnt work for me either. Something about it goes against my grain, I like to keep it loose and shoot from the hip so to speak.
This afternoon I decided to treat my kids to some muffins for an after school snack, the lack of eggs required some creativity.

What I DID have in stock was, frozen grated zuchinni from my garden as well as frozen blackberries we harvested....from there I tried to think what would work without eggs. This is what I came up with, and I have to say it turned out fantastically.

Total prep time, 5 mintues, heck I didnt even thaw the frozen stuff all the way.
preheat oven to 425

wet ingredients first. ( to let them thaw a bit)
one sandwich size ziploc of frozen shredded zuchinni
one cup frozen blackberries
1 cup milk.

throw in
one heavy hand of steel cut oats
one handful of hemp seed
half cup brown sugar
about three/four cups premix pancake powder

toss this all together to moisten, the zukes will throw off a lot of moisture as they cook. as will the blackberries. it was a really chunky batter. This batter stood for about 10 minutes while I dealt with my 4 year old...as a result it rose up nicely from the pancake mix:)

butter your muffin tin. fill muffin tins almost full.
bake for about 40 mins, do the old toothpick test to make sure it comes out clean.

Viola, easy muffins that are healthy (ish) and a great way to use up your fall harvest. It turned out the perfect dozen muffins, and they were pretty good!