When I decided to consign my card line with Black Dog Salvage, the marketing manager mentioned that she would also like to carry my jewelry.
In order to do that though, I would need to provide a jewelry case. I found a used one on Facebook Market Place and decided to paint it the main color you see here on my website to match my brand’s colors.
I’ve never painted furniture before, so I signed up for a class at Black Dog Salvage to learn how to prep the case and figure out my approach to painting it. Black Dog has a great furniture paint that is so easy to use with great coverage. But since it is mixed with latex and acrylic, you need to understand how to mix it and use it to get the results you want.
The class was $75 for three hours of instruction using sample pieces of wood so you get a good feel of the product and what it can do. The class is worth every penny! You also get a 10% Off coupon to use when you buy your paint and supplies that they carry. Since I am terrible at mixing colors, (hence why I only paint with one!), Susan, the instructor, was kind enough to work with me after class to come up with the mixing formula to get this Lavender/Perrywinkle blue that I am going for on the case.
You can put this paint on practically anything, and it covers great and the colors are divine! This is the only line of furniture paint that has a true black and white, and I’m just so impressed with the thought and details that went into formulating this product.
Here’s the best part though…NO SMELL! You can paint your furniture indoors and when somebody walks in the door they would never know you were waiting for the paint to dry. It was really important to Black Dog that there would be no odor and there isn’t. I put a cup of the stuff up to my nose and couldn’t detect any smell at all. Winner!!!!
In the class, we go over different painting techniques which was loads of fun, and I am eager to go to garage sales to pick up some cheap furniture to transform into painted loveliness, but first things first.
Here’s a photo of the case I picked up and will be transforming later next week…
It’s about 3 1/2 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. Perfect for a little collection of jewelry that I can fill with one-off designs of my choosing. It will be so nice to have a little retail nook of my own here in Roanoke at one of my favorite places to shop!
And now for Black Dog Salvage Paint Class…
Our paint guru for the class was Susan Hudson, and she is a trip. I loved listening to her story about the development of the paint, as well as her background in art and instruction. She is a great instructor, but seems like someone that would be fun to enjoy a glass of wine with. She is instantly approachable and I could tell she really loves what she is doing. She didn’t get started with Black Dog until she was in her mid-50’s, and as a second career, she’s a star!
It was inspiring for me to learn about painting and color mixing, and I loved that we could try out the paints on actual wood as well as learn all the different ways to get a distressed look that doesn’t look fake. She’s like a mad furniture paint experimentalist, and it was loads of fun hearing how she came up with some of the techniques she teaches. All trial and error and discovery..which is my favorite way to create!
It was a fantastic class, and made me all the more happy that I will now have more excuses to go into Black Dog Salvage as this progresses. When I get the case painted, I’ll do a follow-up post so you can see how it goes!
