Tales of this shopkeeper III

It was last fall as I was doing research ie. checking out products, reading blogs, etc. that I kept seeing "chalk paint."  Pictures were posted by others claiming the wonderful benefits of this paint and, I have to admit, I was impressed!!  I just had to try it as that's what we do at Winsome Cottage.....we paint furniture.  Well, to make what could be a very word-y and lengthy story shorter......I bought the paint and wax and brushes.  It was love at first use and even though I was using it like latex (because that's all I knew) I couldn't believe how wonderful it was! Every piece I painted sold very quickly......hence, the reason that we are now in our third week of carrying Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint.  I stand behind this great product with lots of enthusiasm!!  The "tough sell" was my husband as he is the main painter for our business.  I won't go into all the reasons he was such a skeptic but I can honestly say that now he is a true fan!  I've included a few photos of furniture we've had the pleasure of painting with this non-latex, no prep, quick drying, low VOC product.

Paris gray and old white

Duck egg blue

Chateau gray with dark wax; Louis blue interior

Close up of old white with dark wax

We are hoping to eventually be "latex free" in the shop by summer.  I'm sharing all of this because you "do it yourself-ers" would love this paint AND you that are fearful of "do it yourself" projects would find how easy and successful you can be painting your own projects.  And that leads me to this.....a beginner's workshop will be held at Winsome Cottage on Thursday, February 23 from 6:30 to 9:00.  We will cover the basics of doing a two color project.  The workshop will be taught by talented, Debra Campbell, of Wallartistry Studios.  She has lots of experience behind her.  You will go home with a finished project and lots of encouragement to begin using this fabulous paint.  If you are interested, you can comment here; contact me on Facebook or email me at shopwinsome@yahoo.com.
Last but not at all least, I spent a bit of time working at the shop the other night and came up with this little project that is now in our front window for sale......simple items and materials.  Here they are:  an old kitchen cabinet door/glass; cast iron hooks; stencils; Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (I used Emperor's Silk)

Oh, man! Don't you Love this color??? Okay, just dip the tips of your brush in the paint then dab it almost dry on paper towel.....

As you can see I used a simple pack of cardboard stencils...I taped my stencil down but you can use stencil spray and it will keep your paint from slipping underneath.  I just held parts of it down with my fingers as I went. Use a pouncing or stippling method to fill in the stencil.  I used numbers but you could do letters for the first initial of someone's name.....

Attach the hooks and you're done!! What a great piece for a mudroom, kid's room, bathroom.....you name it!  So simple...a quick result project.  Oh, and we put "d" rings on the back to hang it. Love the fact that it's an old kitchen cabinet door and love the graphics of the numbers.......and love that we used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!  We are a local retail partner for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint....go to
http://www.anniesloanunfolded.com/ for a local retail partner near you:)