Rustic Boutique

There is nothing like a visit from the ‘parcel man’ to put a grin on my face because it means that he is dropping off a big box of Sweet Pickins Milk Paint! And this delivery was no exception because amongst all those pretty bags of milk paint is the latest Sweet Pickins colour release First Crush!! We have been so excited to get this new colour in, if you haven’t heard about this colour release let me just take a minute to fill you all in.

As you can see above, the latest colour release is a soft vintage pink. It is not a fleshy toned pink and does not have coral undertones but rather a true pink that has been lightened to a deliciously blush shade, and how perfect is that name!

Whilst on face value you may not be a ‘pink’ fan, this colour is very versatile and can be manipulated with waxes to achieve some quite varied finishes. Below is an example provided by Sweet Pickins of First Crush with a variety of waxed finishes.

Just take a look at the change in intensity, depth and tone the different waxes achieve. The white wax providing a very subdued and washed out pink in contrast with the dark wax adding layers of warmth and depth to the colour.

Did you know that you can buy Sweet Pickins Milk Paint online through our website?! First Crush is now available online through our online-store as well as over 30 other fantastic Sweet Pickins Milk Paint colours. Some colours do tend to sell out quite fast so if there is a colour that you have missed out on, please don’t hesitate to send us an email to rusticboutique@hotmail.com or a text message to 0434840145 and we can order any products in for you.

We also have added our favourite ‘go to’ cling on paint brushes to the online-store.

I will write a detailed post about why we love Cling On paint brushes so much very soon, however if you are after a superior quality, durable and easy to use paintbrush that will last an age all at a very affordable price, then the Cling On brushes are the best choice. For furniture painting (particularly using milk and chalk type paints) it is definitely worth investing in the right type of brush. The Cling On range have been specifically formulated for furniture painting and thus are perfectly suited to Milk Paint and other specialty furniture paints as well as ordinary latex paints.

We are slowly adding to our online range of DIY and paint products with more products to come (which we will definitely write about as they arrive). I also just wanted to take the time to thank all our past and current clients who have supported our small business and those who have been purchasing products online, we really appreciate the support you show to our small local business, so thank you!!

Happy shopping and happy painting!

Adriana x

As you may have noticed, things have been a bit quiet on the blog and social media since we closed our shop front in Smythesdale in January this year. I have had a few people message to ask if we are still creating and curating and the short answer is YES we are!!

Here is the latest custom piece we have just finished.. as well as a gorgeous pair of refinished bedside tables which have found the perfect new home!

On closing the shop in Smythesdale we decided to take a short break to catch our breath and recoup as well as give ourselves the time to reinspire creatively. Seeing as we have opened a Rustic Boutique booth space in the gorgeous town of Castlemaine we ‘ducked our heads’ so to speak for the last couple of months and have been focusing on curating some great furniture and vintage wares for our new location (inside Platform No.5 Showroom in Castlemaine – 9 Walker Street, Castlemaine VIC 3450).

If you haven’t been down to Castlemaine to check it out, it is definitely a fantastic destination. We are now located inside the beautiful Platform No.5 showroom which boasts some amazing bespoke hand crafted furniture, original vintage pieces and antique, industrial and farmhouse furniture as well as several vintage and artisan stall holder booths (including our own).

Here are a few snapshots of some of our recent booth displays

We are really enjoying our new location, and the lovely old mill hub we are located in is truly a great outing destination. Our ‘neighbours’ include the Castlemaine Vintage Bazzar which provides another venue for vintage ‘picking’. From there it is only a short stroll to the absolutely fantastic Austrian Café – Coffee Basics Das Kaffeehaus which has a delicious range off meals, sweets and drinks including wines and cocktails. Also within the same ‘short stroll’ location are several other quality destinations including a brewery, Boomtown winery, a traditional German smokehouse / smallgoods deli, a biodynamic fruit and vegetable shop and an ice creamery amongst others. So don’t be worried to make the trip out, it will be more than worth it!

A few of you have also been asking wether we still stock Sweet Pickins Milk Paint.. and the short answer to that is also YES. We are really passionate about Sweet Pickins products and their Milk Paint is just fabulous. The milk paint is not available from our booth space at this time, however we do have your milk paint needs covered. We have just launched a web-store (yay!!) where you can purchase all your Sweet Pickins needs. If you are local to Ballarat feel free to message me regarding local pick up, otherwise we can post Australia wide. Sweet Pickins Milk Paint has been selling like mad lately and so we did sell out of quite a few colours, however we have a large top up order on its way to us as we speak, which should be available and online by late this week/early next week.

So what else is in the pipelines? At this point I am tied up till June as I finish off a backlog of custom work for a very dear client. That being said our booth space is freshly  restocked and we have more unique stock lined up for the booth as well as some very exciting furniture transformations to come. We also have some big plans for our web-store and some other news but we will keep those for next time, so keep your eye out as we bring you all the exciting plans, projects and pieces lined up for the rest of 2018!

Adriana x