Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Workshop

A couple of weeks ago, I had the extreme pleasure of getting a free pass to the Annie Sloan workshop in Peachtree City, GA and what a delight it was!  I learned so much and hope to take some of those lessons and make over some furniture of my own.  This paint is truly a wonderful way to update and change that old and tired furniture that we all have sitting around.  I’m more convinced than ever that it’s a wonderful product and if you haven’t tried it yet, you might want to give it a whirl.

We started out with a talk from Annie herself, as well as paint demos on her products.  From Oxford, England, Annie has been at this for over 20 years, so you can imagine the knowledge she has acquired on painting.  A wealth of wisdom on the subject and Annie has written more than 20 books on painting.

Annie demo’d a few paint techniques.

After a delicious lunch, we broke into smaller groups and I want to thank Robyn Story of Robyn Story Designs in Tampa, for inviting me to this workshop and letting me sit in and learn first hand from her and her partner in Tampa, Lori.  They were so great!   Robyn is one of the very first stockists who joined Annie Sloan just over a year ago, when her paints exploded in the U.S. and all over blogland. She loves the paints and knows how to use them to their highest potential.

We walked into a fully stocked room all ready for us to sit and paint.  Who doesn’t love to dip a brush in paint and do some creating?   Love it.

They had an array of moldings with several Annie Sloan chalk paint colors, demonstrating them with paint and wax.  We learned a lot about working with waxes.

Me, Robyn, and Linda, who was the lucky ticket winner from my blog giveaway.  She drove over from Prattville, AL.

We sat down at the tables with products to work with and went through a series of painting techniques.

We tried out Barcelona Orange and Duck Egg Blue on a piece of wood.  The blue side was layered with 3 layers of thinned paint, dipping our brush in a little water and then the paint.  It gave a beautiful translucent effect.  We let each coat dry in between, then added another thin layer of paint.

We painted over the gold molding with light pink, Antoinette.  After it dried, we rubbed off with a t-shirt and the gold shines through, a simple way to distress.

This piece of molding got a coat of Old White.  After it dried, we sanded down with a fine sandpaper on the edges.

Then we added the clear wax and rubbed it in well.  You must add clear wax before you even begin to apply the dark wax.  Then the dark wax is applied and almost all is wiped off, leaving a pretty aged look to the wood.  I have done this distressing technique many times in past years with glaze and also stain and they all work in similar ways, but I really do love both waxes, since I’ve had the chance to work with them.

After the orange paint dried, we added dark wax full strength on top to soften the color.  You can see how that works to tone down that orange to a pretty burnt orange.  The blue has 3 layers of watered down Duck Egg Blue.

Robyn and Lori brought some of their furniture painted with Annie Sloan paint to show off. This was a thriftstore find, I think.

And get this fact!  We learned that Annie Sloan chalk paint can be used on laminate and it will stick!  Now that is amazing.  I might be trying that one.  She said except for really glass-like laminate, that the paint will stick to most of it.  Robyn even told us that she painted a pattern on the driveway to her shop in Tampa with the paint and it is holding up GREAT.  That’s pretty amazing!  

Check out this melamine wall unit that they painted with ASCP.

Another technique on molding.  Love this color.

This is a two-toned bombe chest using Old White and probably one of the grays.  She definitely has some lovely colors.

We all added our handprints on a floorcloth, after Robyn urged us to get creative and sign our names under our handprints.  Annie came in and she did the same.

Annie dropped by our workshop and answered a few questions and also showed us some of her new fabric collections and how her paints all blend in with those.

I really enjoyed my day at the Annie Sloan workshop and thanks to Robyn for making it possible for me to go.  I learned so much and feel really confident about using her paints now.

I know I’ll have a few pieces that will need a makeover when I move again and this paint will be perfect for that!

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