OCTOBER WORKSHOPS

Posted on 09/30/2012 by Tricia

Wait to you see what is in store at The Purple Painted Lady over the next couple of months!!! I am so excited regarding some changes that will be happening at the shop and “Adventures” we have planned for you!

For example- scheduled for Tuesday, October 16th from 10 – 2pm we are hosting a “50 Shades of Grey” Painting Party! This class is focused on using Chalk Paint™ Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan and – if you can stand the conversation without blushing- a book review of this infamous trilogy! Do we dare? Oh yes your inner goddess says! Click here to check out this link for more information and to reserve your seat.

No handcuffs permitted and …..Laters, baby!

On Thursday, October 18th we have our Chalk Paint™ BASICS Workshop scheduled. If interested, click here to register.

On Sunday, October 21st we are hosting our famous “ReFunk YOUR Junk” Workshop. If interested, click here to register.

BARN SALE & JUNK JUBILEE RAFFLE TICKET! (& Directions)

Posted on 09/28/2012 by Tricia

ONE DAY TILL The Purple Painted Lady Barn Sale & Junk Jubilee happening on SATURDAY, September 29th at!
845 Yellow Mills Road, Palmyra NY 14522
See Directions Below if coming from Rochester or from the the EAST

For those of you who have RSVP’d- PLEASE print the FREE Raffle Ticket here – one for each guests. Fill out the requested information noted on it and bring it with you TOMORROW. ONE per each guest- and upon initial entrance ONLY.

If you forget your raffle ticket at home- we will cry with you..so we apologize- we will NOT have extras at the door!

We have INCREDIBLE items to raffle- over 65 items in fact!!!! ps We will have “other” Raffle Tickets for sale at The Green Angels booth!!!!

FROM ROCHESTER

FROM THE THRUWAY (Interstate 90)

OR if you want directions from your exact address- click here and fill out the information needed. Remember- the Barn Sale & Junk Jubilee is happening at 845 Yellow Mills Road, Palmyra New York 14522

Cleaning Furniture & Cabinets Before Painting

Posted on 09/24/2012 by Tricia

I think we all scavenge Craigslist for incredible finds and sometimes we find the most gorgeous piece- minus all the crud covering it. Or- it is just a piece that needs to be cleaned prior to painting. And I always recommend cleaning down cabinetry in the kitchen, bath, or laundry room prior to painting. No matter the painting occasion, this is what I do at The Purple Painted Lady:

First clean with Mineral Spirits…THEN…wipe it down with a rag that is moistened with clean fresh water!

Using old towels or t-shirts cut up- I apply a little odorless mineral spirits on it and then wipe down the piece.

The rag should be slightly damp, but not dripping! I like to use “real” Mineral Spirits..meaning not the “green” Mineral Spirits that have that milky white appearance. I personally feel it does not work as well as the original Mineral Spirits.

Take your rag and place it on the opening of the Mineral Spirits. Flip the container a couple of times in different areas of the rag. (Think like how you would put nail polish remover onto a cotton swab or ball)

With a tiny bit of Mineral Spirits on your rag, rub the piece in the direction of the grain of the wood. The mineral spirits on the rag will remove grease or dirt. Again, I always do this prior to painting a cabinet job. In the bath- I wipe off residual toothpaste and in kitchens- the cabinets near the dog’s food dish or garbage can are the dirtiest. Such as life though- and we all live in our homes versus using them as a show room.

After wiping down your piece with Mineral Spirits, give it a bit of time to allow the Mineral Spirits to totally evaporate prior to painting. (If you are doing a few pieces- by the time you finish cleaning the last piece- the first will be ready.)

THEN- finish with a clean water rinse!

The washing with Mineral Spirits will remove any residual oil or grease from the wood if there is any. Mineral spirits will evaporate from the wood completely without leaving any residue. This is the purpose in waiting some time – up to a day after cleaning with mineral spirits… for the mineral spirits to evaporate.

Some people recommend using TSP to clean your furniture- and that is fine too. I personally- have had many customers have issues with this method since they do not thoroughly rinse the furniture or cabinets with water or denatured alcohol after using TSP. I get emails asking, “what did I do wrong? The paint is peeling.” 9 times out of 10- it is because of this!

So I prefer to just use odorless Mineral Spirits. With that said- DO NOT USE THE “Environmentally Green” brand of Mineral Spirits!

Mineral Spirits are a staple in my painting closet and I always have it on hand. Also- if you make a glaze out of your wax using Mineral Spirits- I recommend staying away from the “Green” Mineral Spirits – which has a milky white look to it.

TSP was commonly used prior to the 1970’s to clean walls prior to painting them. The reason for cleaning with TSP was because it etched the gloss of oil based paint, making it rougher so that the next coat of paint would stick better. If you have an oil based paint on your wood, then I’d clean them with TSP if you intend to repaint that wood. But, there is no point whatever in cleaning bare wood with TSP, or latex painted wood with TSP.

If you do use TSP, then I would also clean the residual TSP off the piece of furniture with a clear water wash or denatured alcohol.

Another option:

Use Denatured alcohol. Create a ratio of 60/40 = alcohol to water. Then as stated above, moisten a rag (not soak it.) Wipe down the piece of furniture or cabinets, and then let dry.

Personally- I stay true to using Mineral Spirits again. It is ideal to clean a surface free of any waxy or oily/greasing substances. But Chalk Paint® in general has great bonding capabilities.

But if you cannot purchase Mineral Spirits where you live, or have personal reasons not to use it~ here are some additional options:

Cleaning with one of the following (they are all biodegradable and grease cutters) … Motsenbocher’s TSP Substitute, Dirtex, or Krud Kutter.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW = is that it is extremely important to rinse away any cleaning material to neutralize the Ph after you have cleaned the furniture. That is because you do not want any residual cleaning product left behind. You also want to furniture to be dry when you start to paint.
Hope this little post was interesting and helpful!

French Gilding Wax- Adding Ooh-la-la For Minimal Moola-la!

Posted on 09/17/2012 by Tricia

I was playing around the other day with a sample board at the shop. First I painted it with Antoinette Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan and then – while it was still wet- wiped a good amount of the Chalk Paint® off. Not sure why I chose to do that- but I did.

Although the washed off sample board had a simple look- I still thought it was pretty. But then I realized how much nicer it would be by applying a little French Gilding Wax.

Immediately I realized how the French Gilding Wax transformed something that was simple & pretty- to something that was haute & exquisite. It made me think, “French Gilding Wax- Adding Ooh-la-la- for minimal Moola-la!” ..and thus, this post began to unfold. Click HERE to see all of the Gilding available on our website.

French Gilding Wax is so easy to use! No fancy tool, just literally opened the top of the 30 ml glass container and using my finger- lightly touched the creamy Gilding Wax. It has a smooth-silky feel to it! Very luscious.

Using my pointer finger, I rubbed some of the Empire Gold Gilding Wax to my sample board…and WOW! The areas I wanted to accentuate- danced with luster. The French Gilding Wax was incredibly easy to use and I immediately started to think of all the projects I plan on using this with.

Click HERE to see a quick VIDEO showing me using Gilding Wax.

Then CLICK HERE to read another post with more examples that I used Gilding Wax on.

The Purple Painted Lady carries quite a few different colored French Gilding Wax colors. By clicking on the name of the gilding wax below, it will launch you to the item in my on-line shopping cart. French Gilding Wax is sold for $21.95 per container.:

Renaissance Gold
This gilding wax is the darkest of them all. It has a slight copper tone to it- definitely more red within this gold compared to King’s Gold or Empire Gold.

King’s Gold
In the spectrum of gilding wax- this color is not as deep as the Renaissance- but not as pale as the Empire Gold. If I was Goldy Lock’s – I guess I could say this one is just right.

Empire Gold
Empire Gold is more of a pale gold…softer and toned down compared to the King’s or Renaissance.

Silver
This is self-explanatory. Perfect compliment for a cool metallic, versus going with a warm gold.

Again, the French Gilding Wax is a beautiful way to accent a piece by either kissing just the corners of your piece with it or going all out and using it as a trim. The degree of icing is totally up to you.
So, what do you think about French Gilding Wax? Would you like to try it?

Here is another example of using the Pewter Tim Gilding:

The dresser above was done by Leslie. If you are going for that Industrial / Metal look- than follow the steps she did.

She used the Pewter Tin Gilding Wax and Chalk Paint®! We love the way this piece turned out!

Graphite with both Clear Wax and Pewter Tin Gilding. She applied the Pewter Gilding using her Ultimate Wax Brush like normal wax; first swirling and then ……she dragged it in direction of grain to finish. Love the high/lows giving it an”old” feeling. Looks old but with that contemporary flair.

Kitchen Cabinet Q&A from a Customer!

Posted on 09/16/2012 by Tricia

Seems like we have painted quite a few kitchens lately and I just received this question from Brenda in Ohio.

On 9/15/2012 2:09 PM, Brenda wrote:
Hi Trish -I ordered some chalk paint® and wax from you a couple of wks ago with the intent to use on my kitchen cabinets. Currently, they are that ugly orangey wood (pine, I think) with what looks like lots of poly coats. I am looking for a somewhat smooth finish – not planning to distress it at all. First, do you think this is the right paint for this job? If so, should I prime first? Should I sand it first (please say no, haha!) Can I use a roller to apply this type of paint (both for ease of painting and for a smoother finish than a brush will provide).
One more thing – is there a wax brush you can recommend besides the Annie Sloan one?
Any suggestions would be awesome! ~ Thanks! Brenda

Here is The Purple Painted Lady’s Response

Hey Brenda,

Thank you for choosing The Purple Painted Lady to give your business to. That is honor and we do not take it lightly. With that said- of course I do not mind helping you.

Your kitchen cabinet situation sounds like a typical scenario that Chalk Paint® would be perfect for. HOWEVER…you never mentioned what color Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan you are choosing to paint over the cabinets and I am curious of how many cabinets you are going to paint.

Here is how I would approach your specific cabinet job.

I would ……..

1. If these are not brand new cabinets- please wipe cabinets down with Mineral Spirits. I like to use the odorless spirits versus the “green” and would recommend Walmart Supercenter, Lowes or Home Depot for this. When you use the Mineral Spirits…the amount you need is not a lot- so your rag should not be dripping with Mineral Spirits. I use the analogy of nail polish remover. Take a rag and place on top of the mineral spirits and flip it over to get a few dabs of it on the rag. You want it moist, but not saturated. Hope that makes sense! Then- thoroughly wipe down the cabinets- concentrating a bit more around the handles and on the doors that are positioned in your kitchen that may get extra dirty (like near the dogs water and food dish OR near the garbage can) After wiping down the cabinets- (give it an hour for the mineral spirits to have totally evaporated) If you have filthy cabinets (sorry to insinuate anything) – but if your cabinets are well loved- and you have crud on them, use a Scotchbrite scrubbie with Mineral Spirits. These are those yellow sponges with the scratchy (abrasive) green fibers on one side.

2. I typically remove the doors and remove handle hardware (and other hinge hardware) if it is in the way when painting fronts. Leave the hardware and screws in the actual cabinet – so you know which hardware and screws go to which door. This can save you time afterward- since I had a job once where the screws were different sizes and it took forever to figure it all out during the installation part and I almost pulled out all of my hair in the process. If you have many cabinets- consider drawing on a piece of paper a layout of the kitchen and number the doors for easy installation once your painting project is completed. Number your doors and make a schematic on which door goes where. If you have an older home- this could save you a lot of frustration later when trying to rehang! (speaking from experience here)

3. I know you wrote you would rather not sand – and honestly- most likely you do not need to – but since you wrote that the cabinet has LOTS of coats of polyurethane, you may want to email me a clear – well lit photo I can confirm.) If you do sand- sand lightly using your hand with a 220 grit paper. Again- I stress- sanding lightly–and like spending 30 seconds on each door but making sure to get top to bottom and side to side …….basic coverage and sand in the same direction- not a circular motion. (Again, I am only suggesting this since I do not have a photo and you stated there are “lots of poly coats.”)

4. Since you mentioned the cabinet are very orange…..I would consider using shellac on the cabinets. (not because Chalk Paint® needs that- but since you stated they are painted orange this will prevent any of that from shadowing through- especially important if going with a light color…may not be necessary if painting with a dark color (you never mentioned the color you are going to paint them). You could always do a test door without shellac. Go ahead and paint it and see how it looks after 2 coats. If you do a test door- pick the smallest door to try it on.

Shellac in general is an excellent sealer.
I would remove the doors and use the spray shellac in a well ventilated area outside your home.
Brush the shellac over the actual cabinet boxes in your home.

Please read the post about using Shellac and please watch the “Shellac How To” video embedded in the post by clicking HERE.

5. Then go ahead and begin painting with your Chalk Paint®- most likely- 2 – 3 coats using a kitchen SPONGE Cabinet Roller (I like the Whizz brand at Lowes.) I am recommending a sponge roller since you communicated that you prefer a more smooth finish in your letter to me. (since I do not have a photo illustrating what the cabinets look like- (raise panel, etc???……I just want to mention to use a brush to cut in corners if any or to do small spots)
Note that I almost 100% of the time brush the paint on when I am doing a cabinet project.

Since you want a super smooth finish- lightly sand your paint with some 220 or UP (meaning 300 grit) sand paper and blow off any dust before beginning you begin the wax top coats. Again- this is done for a really smooth finish.

Another option for a smooth surface if using brush- is using a small amount of water with your Chalk Paint® in your final coat of chalk paint®. I do this by placing only a ¼ inch of water in a plastic cup. I dip my paint brush in the SMALL AMOUNT of water and then dip the tips of the brush into the quart of the paint. I am not gobbing my brush with paint here. This extra bit of water allows the paint to be a little thinner and smoother and it will glide on easier and you will use less paint. Every time I need more paint, I first dip my brush into the water, then the paint can.

Keep in mind when using a roller:

* You should apply uniform thin coats. Please do not think you will be further ahead applying thicker coats.
* Paint all cabinets with strokes going in the same direction- meaning either vertical or horizontal)
* Lastly- make sure to always finish the cabinet with a few clean passes as so to not have roller edge lines. The paint is self leveling- but help it by creating a smooth finish to level!

And when painting when a brush- always remember to “lay” your paint or do a finish stroke! Meaning take your brush and paint from one edge all the way to the other edge in one smooth sweep!

6. Once done with all coats of Chalk Paint® – I would use Annie’s soft wax. It was created and formulated to work perfectly with Chalk Paint®. The bulk of your project expense is the Chalk Paint® – which is well worth it since it will give you 50% greater surface coverage compared to latex. You asked specifically- if I could recommend a Wax Brush other than Annie’s. The Ultimate Wax Brush that I sell- is not an Annie Sloan Product. I carry it because I love it and I use it for ever project and as I state in my video that I recorded in June 2012…”it is worth its weight in gold.” Ultimate Wax Brushes are sold at $34.95 here on my on-line store (click here if interested in one) and sold at my shops. There are other ways to apply wax as in using your hand and a rag – but from my experience helping customers- the wax brush seems to be the tool to use to ensure success regarding uniform coverage! Please watch my video regarding “How To Apply Clear Wax” by clicking here.

Brenda- you did not provide the dimensions of your kitchen- but I would suspect based on an average job – 2 tins of clear wax would be more than enough for a kitchen.

ps I just looked at your past orders. You purchased one quart of Old White and a tin of Clear Wax…… are you using this for your cabinet? If yes- I am speculating it is a small job.

Thank you again for writing me- please let me know if this helped you!

Kitchen Cab ReFAB workshop WEBSITE post

Kitchen Cabinets Chalk Paint

On my Facebook Page HERE– I post quite a bit of information for Chalk Paint® users. Here is one regarding preventing streaks in your paint and wax- which is very important when it comes to your kitchen cabinets!

Streaks in Wax page 1

Streaks in Wax Page 2

Streaks in wax page 3

Old Ochre Cabinet with name