Playing with Paints at the Sea Rose Cottage

Yesterday, we celebrated the first day of spring in style!  My mom and I enjoyed time at the Sea Rose Cottage in Bristol, RI.  We took part in a chalk paint course with Nancy Chace.

Nancy and I at her shop, The Sea Rose Cottage

My mom and I don't often get to do mother & daughter days now that I have two little ones of my own.  So it was a great treat to have a little road trip, to play with paints, do lunch and go antiquing.

It was wonderful to learn some new techniques with the chalk paint:

Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint & Waxes

We had a full three + hours of learning from Nancy, who is such a fantastic teacher.  The Sea Rose Cottage is such a nice sunny space to learn and be inspired in.  Her shop is filled with beautiful mirrors and furniture that Nancy has creatively finished.  Shelves are filled with vases of sea glass, nautical ropes and other inspiration of the ocean.

We had so much fun experimenting with the paints.  Many of you know that I gravitate toward blues.  So at the class I decided to try out some colors that I haven't before - French Linen - a dark color, Graphite - nearly black and Paloma - a pale, lavender grey.

My mom

We were joined at the Sea Rose Cottage by Cindy who owns The Roman Table in Scituate Harbor.  It was her first time trying out the paints and I think she loved them.

Cindy painting with Versailles

Nancy took us through all different techniques.  Some I have tried before: Wash Method, Sand Back Method and Dry Brush Method.  Some new ones for me were: Wet Brush with Wax Method, Simple Crackle Technique and Tinted Wax Method.

I was surprised that with the crackle method you just use a blow dryer to get that effects - no harsh chemicals!

I really loved the tinted wax method and can't wait to try this on some pieces!  Last night was literally dreaming of painting furniture and what I could Graphite under etc.  I'm so very inspired and can't wait to pop the lid on my new cans of paint.

Here are the sample boards I created in Bristol.  I'm not sure if you can see the differences with the clear and dark wax:

Crackle with Paloma (L), Sand back and dry brushing with Cream and Paris Grey (R)

The wet brush method and experimentation with a wash and tinted wax:

 French Linen over Graphite (L), Cream and Paris Grey (R)

I also picked up this gilding wax yesterday!  A little pot of gold that will work magic on mirrors and details of furniture:

We finished the day off with lunch at Aidan's Pub dining on the patio in the sunshine and hit a few antique / consignment shops before heading back to the South Shore.  Could there be a better way to spend a day with my mom?