ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT-Have you used it?

I am interested in hearing responses from people who have purchased Annie Sloan Paint? Did you love it? Ease of use? Was it worth the money and would you purchase it again?

It looks beautiful!

Paris Gray with wax by Annie Sloan Paint

Furniture and image by Miss Mustard Seed .

Duck Egg Blue and Old White

Image via Annie Sloan.

Louis Blue and Old White.

Furniture and image by Miss Mustard Seed .

Aubusson and Old White.

Furniture and image by Miss Mustard Seed .

Old White	Country Grey	Paris Grey	Paloma
Old Ochre	Cream	Versailles	Arles
Emperor's Silk	Scandinavian Pink	Primer Red	Henrietta
Emile	Old Violet	Antibes Green	Duck Egg Blue
Provence	Louis Blue	Olive	Aubusson Blue
Greek Blue	Château Grey	Graphite Colors Available. Image via Annie Sloan.

My new toy came... Learning how to sew!

My new toy came! It is new Singer Heavy Duty Sewing Machine. Yes, heavy duty because I plan on sewing heavier fabrics like canvas, french ticking and grain sacks. Now I have to learn how to use it! Any class suggestions? Any fabric source suggestions? Here are some fabrics I am craving... I am going to need a warehouse for all of my craft stuff!

Doggy fabric for Family Room pillows.

Grain Sack for Living Room and Kitchen Table.

Lovely trims for something!

Oh, for the love of Polyvore and Pinterest!

Pinterest and Polyvore are addicting!

I found Polyvore because I was asked by a good friend to help give her some ideas for her nursery. I am honored she asked and excited to help. I was thinking, "How am I going to show her any ideas I have?" Polyvore to the rescue! You just click on the wonderful icon "Clip to Polyvore" and there it is. So simple. I decided to practice and make one for my current project, Caleb's new bathroom. Here are my ideas. I already have the artwork! It is by John W. Golden. You can get the art straight from the artist at ETSY here. It is the same art at Land of Nod, but sold straight from the artist in multiple sizes!

You can check out every source in this inspiration board at Polyvore, here.

The Emporium at Kudzu Originals is Open!

I love this. I have made several.

emporium [ɛmˈpɔːrɪəm]

n pl -riums, -ria [-rɪə]

(Business / Commerce) a large retail shop offering for sale a wide variety of merchandise

[from Latin, from Greek emporion, from emporos merchant, from poros a journey]

The Emporium at Kudzu Originals is now open on ETSY! It has a been a journey getting there. Organizing my things, my thoughts and defining my style. Hence the name emporium, a JOURNEY with a WIDE variety of merchandise. Since my long hiatus from blogging, I have really tried to define what I love and what makes me happy. ( And strangely, a few graphic projects along the way!) I read a lot of other blogs and ripped images out of magazines. I love art, photography and interiors. I love old things. I love personalized items and monograms. I love handmade. I love making something from scratch. I must really like the color red and and blue. I love old furniture, french style and industrial. I love paint just out of the tube. I love Caleb's selection of crayon choices. I am learning how to LIVE with what I LOVE and make it all work together. The start of my ETSY store is a small sampling of what I like and hope you like too. Something small to add to your home or to give as a meaningful gift. And I guess if I do what I LOVE, then I will LOVE what I do!

The JOURNEY begins!

Hardware shopping for vintage dresser refinish!

I have been working for awhile now on this sweet little vanity that my Grandma left me. It is so cute! I remember sitting at it when I was a little girl and playing there with some little glass figures that sat on it. It has taken me FOREVER to figure out how I was going to paint it. Fortunately for me, I have been following some blogs for awhile and had some awesome inspiration from Miss Mustard Seed's blog. She is very nice and lists all the colors that she uses on her furniture! I will give the details on my experience painting the piece later. I have been too busy inhaling the glazing fumes!

Anyway... I am in need for some good hardware. I think I found some I like at Anthropologie. Of course, when I go looking there I go shopping for other things not hardware related! Here are some things I love love LOVE!

Wallpaper! Such a trend for 2011.

If I had a girl, I would be all over this. Photo from Anthropologie.

I am hoping I can find something similar to this that I can finish myself.

I think that would look sweet in Caleb's room.Photo from Anthropologie.

And finally, the hardware. I need 4 knobs.

I like this because it has a zinc finish.Photo from Anthropologie.

And lastly hardware sources to check out...

www.lookintheattic.com

rejuvenation.com

Any suggestions on other hardware sources?

Just in time for Christmas! My favorite artist from Nebraska...Cody Foster.

Image from Cody Foster and Company

Image from Cody Foster and Company

Image from Cody Foster and Company

Image from Cody Foster and Company

Our mantel.

More mantel.

Since I just recently spent a week doing the family tour in Nebraska, I thought I would write about Cody Foster. He is a native of a Valentine, Nebraska, a small town in a very pretty part of Nebraska. Valentine is immediately north of the Niobrara River, on the northern edge of the Sandhills physiographic region. We actually canoed the Niobrara a couple years ago and loved it.

The store, Backporch Company and Friends is still there on main street Valentine and is absolutely adorable. His grandmother runs it! Cody Foster still keeps his entire company based out Valentine as well, which is wonderful for the economy. He started designing in high school with his grandmother, Isa Foster making Christmas ornaments. When we stopped in his sweet little store, it gave me shivers. The houses are incredible he designs and my mantle is my display for them. For more information on Cody Foster, click here. To buy Cody Foster in Knoxville, check out Michael Peters Home in Bearden.

Here are a few pictures of his designs that might inspire you for the holidays! What's your favorite holiday decoration?

Country Living Fair 2010 Stone Mountain, Georgia and Southern Living Idea House Senoia, Georiga

Southern Living Idea House 2010 Senoia, Georgia

Note the Christmas subway art.

Room at idea house. I like how they used the ceiling.

Earth Angels Art display

Some cool upholstery.

Close up junk market style places setting by Gorilla Glue.

Salvaged door knob used as a vase!

Table setting junk market style by Gorilla Glue.

Note the candleholder- all made from piping at Lowes.

Great idea by Rustoleum paint- Funkin pumpkin with chalkboard paint.

Good use for clearance pumpkins.

Gorgeous display of pumpkins at entrance. So festive.

The Country Living Fair was everything I thought it would be and more! There were so many cool vendors and sponsors at this event. Next year I think I will be a little more prepared with some definite things I have in mind for my house because it can get a little overwhelming with all the fabulous choices there are. I think my favorite purchase was a linen pillow for my antique library chair that has a ruler screen printed on it. It worked out perfect! I also got to shop from Jenni Bowlin's tent, a favorite scrapbook supplier and stocked up on some bingo cards. I got some great ideas at the Gorilla Glue tent on junk market style and some super paint ideas from Rustoleum. I was super excited about how to refinish some antique knobs with Rustoleum and came away with a great freebie from them as well that makes spray painting easier.

We also toured two great homes while we were in the area, The Southern Living Idea House in Senoia, Georgia and one of the new green houses designed by Country Living manufactured by New World Home. Now I will not claim I am interior designer or decorator, but it made me get excited about interiors when I saw the Idea House! I am also amazed at the Country Living house that is complete in 60 days and custom built. Beautiful and eco friendly. Senoia is so quaint and cute. We browsed a couple antique stores there and then ate lunch at the Redneck Gourmet down a couple feet from a scene from "Fried Green Tomatoes".

I could write a book about our wonderful trip and post a bunch of pictures of the fun we had!

Cool links:

Country Living Eco house 2010

Southern Living Idea House 2010

Rustoleum Paint Cabinet Hardware