Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Fabulous Day with Annie Sloan!


I know that many of you are waiting to hear about my experiences at the Annie Sloan workshop in San Francisco.  Now that I am back home, rested and settled, I am ready to share! 

I posted this photo on my Facebook page Monday just after Annie signed a copy of her "Quick and Easy Paint Transformations" book for me!  I just have to say that Annie Sloan was every bit as lovely, kind, personable and genuine as I knew she would be!  I think it's safe to say that her audience was on the edge of their seats soaking up each and every captivating syllable that came out of her mouth on Monday morning!  I know I was!  After her awe-inspiring talk all about color, paint and how she started her successful company, we broke up into groups of about 20 ladies, strapped on our ASCP black aprons and got to work experimenting with a variety of fun techniques!  Annie made her way around the building, visiting with one group after another to field questions from her (dare I say) groupies?  Well, I felt a bit like a groupie anyhow!

As if meeting Annie wasn't enough of a thrill, I also met some very wonderful kindred spirits among the group of artists and stockists who attended the workshop.  I hope to keep in contact with each and every one of them!  One sweet little gal that I enjoyed getting to know had not heard of chalk paint until the weekend just before the workshop!  She knew nothing of painting furniture and admitted to having a very modern home with furnishings straight off of showroom floors.  She shared with me that she was inspired by a decorating blog to make some changes in her decor, read an article about the Annie Sloan Workshop, called in sick to work and showed up to learn about chalk paint!  I am so excited for her and hope that she'll keep in touch and share her project stories with me!

In addition to chatting it up with Annie and a lot of fabulously creative and lovely women, I did manage to learn a lot about chalk paint, color and techniques!  I came home with pages of notes, a few sample boards and a snazzy new apron!  I promise to share my newly acquired chalkpaint tips and techniques with you all as I get to work on some fun new projects!

Thank you so much for your sweet visit!
I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Best Wishes and Blessings,
Amanda