Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Linky Party!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. We had a wonderful time this weekend at our furniture painting workshop on Saturday. We can't wait to share our latest makeover we have been working on in our store. Promise to show pictures this week. Now for this week's linky party.

Amanda has certainly been Keeping up with the Joneses! She has been busy painting away. Check out her latest creation with Arles. Such a beautiful, rich color. Great job bringing out the beauty of this piece, Amanda.

Next, check out this wonderful cabinet that Katie from Sweetgirl Expressions made over with Napoleonic Blue. She found the cabinet for free (can't beat that) and turned into a real treasure using some fun, whimsical stencils. Fabulous update Katie

Now, it's your turn! Remember each piece you link up gets you an entry in our sample deck giveaway!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our weekly Chalk Paint Linky Party - Grab our button on the sidebar

4. Party closes on Thursday, February 2 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.

Sometimes you just have to try

Thank you so much for the well wishes. It is not often at all that I am sick and I have never spent the whole weekend in bed! After the antibiotics kicked in, I am finally doing better. Now, I get to step in and play nurse as our two youngest ones are sick; at least I know exactly how they feel!

We wanted to share our latest project with you. Brad and I work very well together, we love working together and creating together. Finish each others sentences and thoughts kind of thing. After 12 years of interior design, it is not very often that we disagree on a project or a piece. This one is one of those exceptions.

When we first found this bombay chest, we knew style wise, it was perfect. What we disagreed on was how to finish it. The wood finish was actually in really good condition. I mean like new, perfect, condition. It is rare that we find a great piece in great condition and at a great price.

I wanted to lightened it up a bit. I have really liked seeing the two tone look with wood and paint and wanted to leave some of the wood. He not only disagreed, but was very adamant about it. He wanted the entire piece painted. After sitting unpainted for a very long time, I finally convinced him to let me paint it the way I was envisioning it and then if he still didn't like it, he could repaint it his way.

Since the red tones are very strong on the wood, I picked Old Ochre to help soften and warm the contrast. It really is just a gorgeous color.

Brad watched me take out the drawers and paint them and he would walk by and tease me saying there is no way it would look right and he would be repainting it soon himself.

It wasn't until everything was put back together and it was sitting in our living room that he started to warm up to it. After living with it for a little while, and I think the influence of family and friends seeing it and falling in love with it finally had him convinced.

Now, it is one of his favorite pieces...now for sale in our store.

Sometimes, you just have to try it first to be convinced.

(I know I will be eating these words before too long, I'm sure ; )

Also, be sure to head over to Debbiedoos to check out latest Chalk Paint GIVEAWAY

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Linky Party!

So sorry not to have any features this week. We have had a rough weekend around here. Amber and I like to work together selecting who we are going to feature. Well, she has been sick all weekend and running a fever and I have been busy packing orders and trying to keep up with it all.

Have fun linking.

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our weekly Chalk Paint Linky Party - Grab our button on the sidebar

4. Party closes on Thursday, January 26 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.

ASCP Sample Deck and Update Kit

When we first became retailers of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, we (like all of you) loved all the beautiful colors. Annie prides herself on her color palette, and we have to agree she has done just a phenomenal job! The colors have depth, warmth, distinction and are very historically accurate.

Well, our business started with interior design, specifically window coverings. We specialize in custom blinds, shades, shutters and draperies. We meet in our customers homes and bring the samples to them. We always have sample decks to show customers all the color options available to purchase for blinds and fabrics.

Using that background and Annie's gorgeous colors, we created a sample deck of Chalk Paint colors. The color of the Chalk Paint intensifies when you wax it, plus it can look very different with the dark wax. That is why we created our sample, showing each color with clear wax on one side and dark wax on the back.

Many of you have purchased our Chalk Paint sample deck over the last few months. We thank you so much for your business and are truly grateful for all the wonderful comments we have received back about them. It is always so nice when someone takes time out of their busy day just to send a note of appreciation; here are just a few:

I just received my chalk paint samples and I am SO thankful for the product! I've agonized for weeks over what colors to paint and wax my first table with chalk paint, and being able to hold up the samples you created helped me decide within a minute! Thank you for producing this product. I know it will help me hundredfold in the future.

p.s. I love my paint deck!!!!!! Thank you.

When we saw the sample deck, we all gasped because it is so good, and would be so helpful...an excellent display of all the colors.

Click HERE for the link to our sample decks.

We now have an update kit available for those who purchased our sample deck prior to the four new colors debuting. Click HERE for more info about the update kit.

Thanks again for all your kind words, we are so pleased you like it!

Who Is Annie Sloan?

Want to learn more about who Annie Sloan the person is? Take a look at this wonderful video she just released. It shows Annie in her own world, doing what she loves! Hope you enjoy.

Don't forget, you can meet her in person all across the United States on her tour, but especially here in Colorado! Annie will also be introducing a new color on her tour in support of breast cancer research. Hope to see you there!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Linky Party

Exciting details coming soon about a new giveaway...

But for now, let's get to this week's linky party.

We are featuring Karen from Never Enough Thyme Creations. She did an amazing job transforming this hutch into a gorgeous custom painted piece! She used Emperor's Silk, Old Ochre and Olive to create this beauty. Excellent work Karen!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our weekly Chalk Paint Linky Party - Grab our button on the sidebar

4. Party closes on Thursday, January 19 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Makeover

Since becoming retailers for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint nearly a year ago, most of you know that we just opened our store front last fall. After being a shop at home window covering business for 11 years, this has been quite an adjustment. The first order of business was to redo and update the shared lobby in our building. The building is amazing, it is from the late 1800's and has so much character; we absolutely love the charm. The lobby on the other hand, really needed a facelift. I think the last time it was updated was in the 1980's.

Here is the before...

It almost had the feel of a waiting area for a Mexican restaurant. Especially the row of tiles beneath the benches. Don't get us wrong, we absolutely love Mexican food, but we were looking for a softer, more european feel.

Being on a very tight budget, we had to get creative.

Now, the after...

We reupholstered the bench cushions using a large drop cloth and made pillows out of burlap and the leftover drop cloth material.

To add interest and to help break up the monochromatic theme, we Chalk Painted the pillows using various stencil designs. We used French Linen, CoCo, and Graphite on the pillows. Yes, you can use Chalk Paint on fabric! Because the paint is so highly pigmented, it just fades ever so slightly each time you wash it. This fading only adds to the beauty of the look.

For an even softer tone on tone look, we used Old White on this pillow below.

And of course, the tile had to go. It was so easy, we did lightly scuff the tiles with 150 grit sand paper, just to scratch the surface. It only took a few seconds. Then painted with Country Grey. We painted two quick coats of paint, stenciled a few, and then sealed with wax. It is durable and has held up great even with people sitting and kicking their feet up against it.

What a simple, easy fix for changing the look of the room.

We found these gorgeous lanterns and could not pass up the opportunity to use them. Added a mirror, a lamp, and a few accessories and mission accomplished.

Here's a quick peek again at where we started...

Goodbye Mexican restaurant, hello european elegance....

Stay tuned as we share more ASCP makeovers of our store

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Link Party

It seems that the days just run together right now! As regional trainers for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, we are in the middle of training new stockist that came on board in Utah and Arizona. We are having fun, we love sharing Chalk Paint and all the wonderful techniques.

QUESTION TO ALL OF YOU:

There are so many things we have wanted to post lately, but just have not had the time. So, we wanted to pose a question to you all. What do you think of our weekly linky party? Do you enjoy it, is it worth it, and should we continue with it? Should we offer it less frequently or leave it open longer, or keep it just the way it is? We are so grateful to all of you that link up. We absolutely love it, we love seeing what everyone else is creating and doing with Chalk Paint and love sharing it with others, but just wanted some feedback from you. What are your thoughts?

Sarah from Shabby Chic Sarah is doing a wonderful job painting with Chalk Paint. We really like this beautiful shabby chic piece she finished. She made her own custom color using Aubusson Blue and Original. (Original is only available over in Europe). Love the soft distressing, fabulous job, Sarah!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our weekly Chalk Paint Linky Party - Grab our button on the sidebar

4. Party closes on Thursday, January 12 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Link Party

Happy New Year Chalk Painting Friends!

Wow, I can't believe 2011 is already gone.

We are so excited to begin 2012 and looking forward to all the new products that Annie will be releasing this year. Boy are we going to have fun.

We have been so busy over the Holiday Season getting ready to re-release our Chalk Paint Sample Decks that we designed and fabricate. Most Chalk Paint Retailers across the country will have them available for purchase by the end of the month.

We are excited to be going to our yearly Chalk Paint retailer meeting down in Louisiana in March, that officially kicks off Annie's Tour for 2012

With that said, we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What I really like about this piece from Whimsical Perspective is the multiple colors used.

I am a big fan of using Chalk Paint washes over other colors to create depth.

This piece started with CoCo and Old White with a French Linen wash over the whole piece.

It shows that learning some Techniques from an Annie Sloan Workshop sure pays off!

Do you have something you painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Please share in our Link Party, here are the details:

1. Our blog is exclusive to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Please only share pieces using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It can be anything you want, as long as you used Chalk Paint!

2. Please post a permalink to your post only, not your entire blog.

3. Please help spread the word about our weekly Chalk Paint Linky Party - Grab our button on the sidebar

4. Party closes on Thursday, January 5 at 11:59pm MST. We will pick more people to feature for next week.