~ Hanging with Annie Sloan on my day off ~

Hello friends...welcome back!

Spring has sprung here in Virginia and all the flowering trees are showing off beautifully!

So what did I choose to do on my day off....

PAINT!!!

Before I get into those projects, I want to share a technique I learned from Annie Sloan's brand new and FABULOUS book.

Color Recipes for Painted Furniture.

If you have not purchased this  yet, I highly recommend it as it is chock full of creative and colorful information and techniques.

My good friend and one of my favorite customers, Traci, from 

Twig and Twine Nest 

called me and asked if I was going to have a class on any of Annie's new techniques.

I had just received my book shipment and thought this would be the perfect time to play.

I invited Traci to the shop to play with me....Yeah, I know my job is rough!

Color Recipes for Painted Furniture by Annie Sloan

We were going to try to duplicate Annie's wet wax distressed look pictured above.

I pulled out a large kitchen cabinet door from my local Habitat Restore and we got to work.

We followed Annie's instructions....French Linen Chalk Paint® base coat, then generous amount (not gloppy!)of Soft Clear Wax, while wax was still wet we applied a wash of Paris Grey and Old White.

We immediately started wiping back the wash and wet wax to reveal the French Linen below.

Our first try was not quite right and that was our fault. We did not make the wash wet enough and  it went on too thick.

Thank goodness you can paint over Annie's wax with her paint because we were able to just start over again with no problem!

The second time we made the Paris Grey /Old White wash much looser 

and the results were spot on!

We both loved the look and I think our sample board looks exactly like the wardrobe in Annie's book...it was really fun and easy.

I love the Swedish washed look we achieved.

Thanks Annie!

Every Thursday I invite customers into the studio to join me in a 

Bring Your Own Piece of Furniture Workshop.

Lately they have been turning out some very beautiful restyles.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a few..

Outside open porch rockers...remember, NO WAX outside!

I had this fun mother/daughter team burnish with a piece of brown paper bag instead of wax.

They created a nice sheen and smoothness without the wax.

LOVED that this lovely lady choose Olive and Graphite for her pie crust table.

 I showed how to lay the Graphite on in a way that it would take on the look of slate stone.

Really beautiful.

Dull brown side table is now striking with Coco/Duck Egg Blue wet distressed

This sweet lady already owns an antique vanity I had painted in

 Duck Egg Blue with Graphite top.

She found a lovely antique chair and painted it to match.

Notice the little touch of Imported French Gilding Wax on the legs...perfect!

I loved the custom mix of Hydrangea by Annie Sloan on this former

 Potterybarn looking white table.

I suggested she paint the inside of the drawer Versailles...she loved it.

Another custom mix of Arles and Cream Chalk Paint®

Want a soft buttery yellow...here she is!

The color mixes are infinite with Chalk Paint®, you just need to be adventurous.

Check out the all the great color mixing advice in the Color Recipes book

This beautiful cabinet was painted by a customer who had NEVER used Chalk Paint® before!!

It looks like an antique, right?

Nope....started out as a slick Ikea type finish with no character at all. All those great scrolls and turns were all invisible.

I believe she would fit right in at The Palace of Versailles with her gilding and expertly applied Soft Dark Wax...well done!

That's what has been happening at

The Empty Nest.

I'll leave you with one last photo..my family gifted me with a telescope last year.

This is a photo of my moon the other night as seen through the lens...

and this was with the regular lens, wait until I use the zoom!!!

You know I LOVE my Moon!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative!

The May Chalk Paint® Workshops are up and available for signup!

If you would like to join me for some fun in an Official Annie Sloan Workshop, 

Click on my WORKSHOP PAGE ABOVE or call me at the shop for details!

540-216-3044

For an Official Chalk Paint® Workshop near you, go to 

www.anniesloan.com

and remember...always look for the LOGO!

                                                         

~ Finally Springtime in Virginia ~

Hello friends....it's Saturday and I have a Workshop at the studio today. That's makes three this week...no wonder I am just a little extra tired!

After the shop closed last night, had to run a few errands for class supplies.

While out I was struck by how beautiful the day had been and by the progression of the blooming trees in town.

In the parking lot I had to grab my mini ipad to capture some very low and gorgeous clouds hanging over the town.

They seemed to be everywhere and I was so pleased to see that many of my friends on Facebook had also taken the time to capture them.

Never get so busy that you neglect to notice all the beauty around you. 

The Spring sky was intensely blue....Greek Blue!

The cherry trees have come into full bloom so quickly that they are already pushing out new green leaves right behind the flowers.

Winter seemed to last forever here in Virginia and now it's a mad rush to Spring!

What's this?.....did it snow again??

No...this is just a beautiful carpet of fallen cherry blossoms.

Aren't they just lovely?

All pale pink and delicate.

When a stiff breeze blows them off the branches, they do look like falling snow.

Well that's it, just a quick little Saturday post.

What is your part of the world looking like??

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

~ How to dye fabric with Chalk Paint® decorative paints by Annie Sloan ~

Hello friends...thanks for visiting and get ready for a little creative fun!

My friend and mentor Nancy Tribolet created this lovely rose painted skirt set

Back in the 90's, while living in Texas, I used to do quite a lot of fabric painting.

This was part of the cover of a fabric painting book by Nancy Tribolet

 My medium of choice was Delta Ceramcoat Fabric Dyes. They were not like the stiff craft acrylics that laid on the surface of the fabric, but rather a dye that penetrated the fibers and left the fabric soft.

Unfortunately, this product is no longer produced...much to my dismay.

But guess what I discovered in Annie Sloan's new book, Color Recipes??

YOU CAN DYE FABRIC WITH CHALK PAINT®

Best of all it stays soft!!

No special equipment or tools needed. I used a plastic tub to dye my vintage doilies

I ran about 4 inches of tap water into the container and poured in about a 1/8 of a cup of paint.

I gently mixed the paint and water together

and proceeded to drop the doilies into the solution. It took about 35 seconds for the dye to take....incredible.

It left no stain on my hands. I love this!

This is a before and after shot.

I love the soft pale hue of the dye.

I mixed Florence and Antibes Green to create a lovely 1950's kitchen green.

Isn't this a pretty color? Have you tried mixing Annie's colors yet, you should give it a go. 

It is amazing how many fabulous new colors you can create with a few key colors of

 Chalk Paint®.

Need a grey...try mixing blue and orange...need brown..try combining a red and a green.

So easy!

I even dipped a few linens in a large cottage cheese container. Seriously, no special equipment needed.

Here are all the pieces that I dyed using Barcelona Orange, Scandinavian Pink, my custom green mix and Aubusson Blue.

After drying I hand washed a few and the water ran clean. The Chalk Paint® did not wash out.

After my pieces dried, I pinned them side by side and using a running zig zag stitch, sewed them all together.

Here is my vintage dyed scarf, all ready for Spring.

I added a few little crocheted flowers for some feminine sweetness.

This project was so easy and quick to work up. 

How fun would it be to dye some t-shirts with your children or maybe some canvas tennis shoes!

The possibilities are endless..bed sheets, patterned fabric, window treatments....

Somebody Stop Me!!!

I hope you give this a try and please do let me know what how it went.

Now go color your world!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative!

                                                          

~ Me..Annie Sloan..New Orleans and making new friends ~

Hello friends...guess where I spent last week???

In the Big Easy!!

New Orleans, Louisiana

Every year Lisa Mobley Rickert, the CEO of Annie Sloan Unfolded, invites all of the Stockists for Chalk Paint® decorative paints by Annie Sloan, to her hometown of New Orleans.

And what a town it is!!!!

And what a wonderful time I had!!!

Thanks Mary Corso for the beautiful scarf!

It was five days filled with new friends.

Fellow European Stockists from places like

 Denmark(Hello Adri!!), England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Poland and France.

Talented and lovely ladies..every single one of them.

We all became fast friends through our love of Chalk Paint® and Annie.

Lisa and the Unfolded team had arranged for us to enjoy a scavenger hunt through the beautiful art gallery district of the French Quarter.

many thanks to Michelle Gallant for these great photos!

We were given a wine glass at the first gallery stop and a clue to the item we were to hunt for.

So much fun!

Once we found all the clues and had our cards punched to verify, we headed to the fabulous Presbytere Museum for a private party.

Ok...here is where the photos get a bit fuzzy. dim lighting and cell phone do not make for clear photos. But I think you will get the feeling that a fabulous time was had by all.

See that crazy, lovely, funny gal next to me? That is the incomparable Claire from France and she is one witty and wonderful gal. Claire owns a beautiful Flower shop in Brittany called

 Les Couronnes Sauvages

and she is also a Stockist for Chalk Paint®.

I brought a little bit of France back to The Empty Nest from Claire. That's for another post.

Many of you will recognize the talented Amy Chalmers from Maison Decor blog, second from the left and to the far left is the wonder woman herself Robyn Story of Robyn Story Designs.

Ok...so we got a little silly after a few many glasses of wine.

Hello Claire!

Amy!!!!

I adore this lady..hard working and super talented.

The many gallery owners really made us feel right at home.

If you look closely at the mirror to the left, 

you will see me and Annie chatting with Vickie from Switzerland.

The handsome man on the left is Annie's husband David Manuel.

Say hello to Vickie aka 'Sparkles' from England. 

She owns a lovely shop called Bateau Rouge, in Switzerland

I bought so many lovely French treasures for The Empty Nest from Vickie. 

And did I tell you about the food?????

OMGoodness the food in New Orleans is the BEST!!!

Stockist, April James, was having a romantic moment with a lobster.

Can't go to New Orleans without enjoying some crawfish!

When it came to entertaining and feeding us, this hotel was tops.

Every lunch and cocktail party was filled with delicious dishes of every variety.

Loved the colorful exteriors of the buildings in the French Quarter.

The antique shops and galleries are some of the best in the country.

This particular shop the Bevelo Gas & Electric Light shop was spectacular.

As I was walking in, I met Annie and David leaving and Annie told me to be sure and go all the way to the back room.

I walked into this little back room and just stood in awe of the beauty.

Just look at this beautiful mirror and the gilding.

My first thought was..."I could get this look with Chalk Paint® in Florence/Clear/Dark wax 

and either gold leaf or French Gilding Wax."

I called this room 

'Decayed Elegance'

Crumbling walls with shades of Duck Egg Blue peeling paint and plaster

The chandeliers were stunning.

Oh My..Oh My..Oh My!!!

I wanted one of everything

The walls!!!!!

Yum!

Who doesn't love exposed brick.

The metal art was divine

This is one of my favorite images.

What faux finish artist would not kill to be able to replicate this wall.

I want this look in my home!

Each shop and gallery was better than the last.

Lets just say New Orleans knows a thing or two about chandeliers!

And window dressing!

Loved the placement of a statue and the lighting that reflected it onto the church wall.

Very cool.

On to the Presbytere where we drank wine, 

ate local delicacies and jammed to the Jazz band.

Lisa announced the winners of the gallery scavenger hunt...

Lisa had personally chosen a gift form each of the galleries we visited.

Lisa has very good taste, so I knew the prizes were going to be good.

Guess who won one of the prizes?????

ME!

I won a set of 8 of these beautiful ruby red and 22 karat gold tumblers!

The cell phone pic does not do them justice...they are stunning!!

Many thanks Lisa!!

And then we have Annie Sloan herself. 

I am so proud to call Annie a friend...a real friend. Not just someone you talk to once a year, but someone I chat with on Facebook or a quick private message or email. She is so approachable and down to earth. She never makes you feel as if you are bothering her when she is asked to sign a book or pose for a photo (for the millionth time). She just smiles and and says "of course".

I admire her so much.

Signing my Color Recipes book.

So that was my whirlwind week with Annie.

It's back to the shop and I am ready to take on new projects and make 

The Empty Nest

the very best it can be.

Thanks for all the great advice Annie!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative!

PS....next post I will be doing a tutorial on fabric dying with Chalk Paint®, so do come back. Also be sure to click on the Workshop tab under my header as the April workshops have been posted. Many seats are sold out already, so don't wait too long to call the shop.

For a workshop in your area go to 

anniesloanunfolded.com

for a Chalk Paint® Stockist near you!