I have been painting furniture for a while, and though I often am inspired by the piece itself, sometimes I need a little help when picking out the specific color/colors combinations.  Here's a great quick lesson on colors, check out Annie's latest blog entry:

 http://anniesloans.blogspot.com/2012/03/complementary-colours-complementary-is.html

If any of you have been following my blog, visited the store, or met me treasure hunting, you know how excited I am about the amazing Annie Sloan Chalk Paints, well I'm even more excited to share that Annie herself will be here in 2 weeks!!! 

Annie Sloan is the author of 23 books, creator of the original and unique Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Soft Waxes, and the owner of a boutique decorating store in England.  If you are interested in more information about Annie herself visit http://www.anniesloan.com/.


This is your chance to take a hands-on workshops using Annie Sloan's Authentic Chalk Paint and Soft Waxes. Learn special techniques and effects from Annie Sloan herself as well as other artists and designers.  Your local stockist and retail partners will be on hand to help in the training (Whoo Hoo that's me and some of my amazingly talented Annie Sloan Chalk Paint friends - can't wait for you to meet them!). 

This workshop is for all skill levels, do not worry that you should have taken a local beginning class first, this will be a great opportunity for you to get experts helping you so you learn 'Annie' way right from the get-go.  If you have been painting away with these great paints since we brought them out, you may be thinking you don't need this class - STOP!  Yes you also need this class!  You will be surprised with it's content and you will walk away grateful you didn't miss out, trust me on this.  I have been painting for more than 25 years, had the store for almost 7, and I continue to learn every time my Annie Retail Partners get together.

Registering is easy, just go to https://www.anniesloanunfolded.com/event/ and follow the easy instructions to register for this amazing opportunity.  Cost for the all day workshop is $350, included all materials, breakfast, and lunch.  More than that, you will meet other local people who LOVE this paint and have tons of information and ideas to share - that is price-less!

Who knows when Annie will be back in the US doing a tour?  Don't miss out, register now!

Bobbi

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the rain - we desperately need it and I totally understand it can't just rain when the store is closed, and I'm home sitting in front of the fireplace.  I get it, it has to rain now, today, yesterday, and oh-my-goodness, tomorrow too! 
Because of the rain, the store is a little quiet and it is a great opportunity to catch up on some chores.  The website needs updated pictures, I need to change some displays, make some more sample size jars of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, organize the bills, glance through some catalogs and magazines, get some inspiration from Pinterest, and eat some chocolate (of course!). 

Here's some of my latest inspiration from Pinterest:
Love this 3 crate storage coffee-table idea from the Tip Junkie.
I find lots of dresser 'bones' and never thought of filling with crates.  What a great organizing idea for your entryway or mud room from Faded Country blog.
Brilliant re-purposing of a buffet with plastic milk crates from bluevelvetchair.blogspot.com.
I love the chalkboard labels painted on these crates - fantastic sitting out, or in the pantry, office, bathroom....anywhere!  Thank you to Suzi's Farmhouse Finds.
Great way to show off your beautiful canned goods on the wall from 3.bp.blogspot.com
I absolutely adore these crates personalized, what a nice idea from mysweetandsaucy.com.  We have some great vintage farm wooden crates with 'Angel' on the sides....I'm inspired to create some new displays. 


Have Fun!

Love this blog and thought her latest Annie Sloan adventure was too good not to share!  Please read and enjoy and I'll be playing with crackles this Sunday so I'll have lots of fun new stuff to share at the store over the next few weeks.

The Empty Nest: ~Oh Annie Sloan....You crack me up~

I love vintage furniture, I love the versatility, the solidness, the great lines, but mostly I love painting vintage furniture and giving it a new life!  Here's a great example of multiple uses for your vintage longer dressers. 

Something like this is great for both a pedestal based or wall mounted TV/entertainment center:

Or, as a double sink vanity in a master bathroom:

I apologize for not giving credit to the original sources, I've held onto these pictures for so long I've forgotten.  So, let me make it clear, these are not my pics, these are 2 different pictures from people who worked very hard to create these looks.

Moving on, this is a great project with 2 dressers turned into a kitchen island (re-nest.com) and depending on your kitchen size you could do the same with a longer dresser:

I adore this project with a long dresser placed in the hallway (sundayinbed.tumbir.com):
Bringing the project back to Not Too Shabby, we have 2 great long dressers.  By removing the 2 center drawers, and sliders, you have a spot for your cable box and DVD player making a fantastic entertainment center:

The other dresser would be a wonderful sideboard, behind the sofa table, or entryway organizer:
So next time you're confronted with a lot of dressers (imgfav.com),
whip out your Annie Sloan Chalk Paints and get excited.  This is a great chance to inexpensively furnish your home in a truly unique way!
Bobbi

Got this great dresser, 1970's french Provencal style, with a double drawer on the bottom, original hardware, and just a couple of issues.
1)  the front had been banged and chipped with one pretty good chunk missing.
2) the laminate had been chipped off one of the back legs.

After using wood putty to re-build the missing chunk, I let it dry for about 2 hours before sanding it smooth and blending the corner all around.  I also sanded the back leg smooth so the missing laminate isn't as noticeable.

Then I pulled out the newest color from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - Antoinette.  This is not your normal pink.  For those of you who know me, I don't do pink well but this color is different.  It's more of a shell pink and after waxing with the Annie Sloan clear and dark waxes, it 'deepens' and becomes a beautiful vintage pink.
I also rubbed off some of the paint along the top edge to expose the gold underneath.

Quite an improvement for this dresser, which is now ready for a little girl's room or guest room.

Sharing at French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Fridays.
French Country Cottage 

I have this blog entry from http://www.emmatree.com/2008/11/its-all-about-me-lately.html that I have bookmarked for a couple of years.  I re-read it often.  Recently I've been inspired by some other blogs to share some things about me that you may not know:

1. I think people are basically nice, selfish maybe, but basically nice.
2. I had horrible crooked teeth when I was growing up (braces in my 30's fixed that), almost 2 rows of teeth on the bottom they were so crooked.  In 5th grade I decided I would SMILE!  I mean smile at strangers, in the hallway between classes, everywhere.  I would just pretend my teeth were straight and white and that was it.  My belief in my great smile was so complete that when school pictures would come out, I was always shocked when I would be smiling away with horrific teeth!  I remember getting my senior portraits and the photographer asked me 'which side is your best side' and I said, they are both great!  Thank goodness he picked the angle.
3. I forgot I had freckles (refer to point #2).
4. I do not play well with others.  Really, I don't.
5. I love my friends, I'm the kind of friend that helps you move, picks you up when your car breaks down, watches your kids, and loans you money.  But here's the thing, my friends love me and they would do all those things for me.
6. I always try to do the right thing.
7. I get inspiration from everything. I'm always thinking about the store, furniture, painting, decorating, what to do next.  I LOVE IT! 
8. I'm a magazine hoarder.  I love all the pretty pictures, the stories, the pages.  I'm trying to transfer my love to pinterest to save space.
9. I am emotional.
10. I am a strong WOMAN (9 &10 are not mutually exclusive)
11. My parents are deaf. 
12. I am the oldest of 5 kids.
13. I sing in the shower & the garage (paint warehouse).
14. I LOVE my family.  Everyday I feel blessed by them.  They make me laugh, cry, stress me out, and inspire me.  I am so proud of them.
15. I think that family is not limited to your husband/wife/kids/pets.  I think family is whoever you want them to be, and that is why Tori. Sabra, and Gary are part of my family.
16. I am a terrible gift giver.  Honestly, I have no excuse.  I have great ideas before hand, great ideas to share, but usually get sidetracked and have to scramble at the last minute to pull it all together.  
17. I love color!
18. The walls in my house are gasp - WHITE!  Running the store is more than a full time job and I really have had no time to paint the walls.  I've picked colors, many times, but I can't seem to spend time on my own home.
19. I dream of being a painter, an amazing collage artist, or portrait painter.  I am so not talented in this way.  Seriously, I am a fantastic painter of furniture but ....not so good on the others.  So for now, I will enjoy my dream paintings.
20. I LOVE books, I love the written word.  I read it all, detective, mystery, romance, smut, young adult, science fiction, historical, sport, decorating, I like it all.
21. I miss my grandparents everyday!
22. I love movies!  I love suspending reality and just enjoying the movie.  I do not enjoy analyzing them and determining why the movie isn't realistic.  I just love movies.
23. I think that life is challenging, work is challenging, business is challenging, maintaining friendships are challenging.  I think it is work to make everything work.  If it ever reaches the state where it's not worth the work, then I'm done.
24. I ask questions, I think it's flattering to be asked questions, it shows interest.
25. I think we are all amazingly unique people.  Our lives, our loves, our dreams, all of it makes us unique.  I think this uniqueness deserves respect.  Our religion (or lack of), our politics, our choices, all of those things that make us who we are should be respected, and appreciated.  It takes all of us to make this amazing world.  Frankly, I would not want to live in a world made up of a bunch of Bobbis, that would be way too crazy!  I love the Pams, Cassidys, Sams, Toris, Kims, Tamis, Terris, Dianes, Davids, Roberts, Charlies of the world.

I share this because I think we pick our attitude, we make choices everyday to smile, visit, talk, help a stranger, it's all a choice. 

Bobbi