Sharing Some Things I've learned about Chalk Paint!

Lots of little things running through my mind to tell people. So, thought today I'd jot some down for you because it seems I'm getting phone calls and emails every day now of folks just learning about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!

Number 1: Never totally trust a color chart in a book or on line. Call me and we will discuss colors or come visit me and we will open cans or make sure you see a Hand Painted Color Chart! Why???

The print process and whatever they do with color on the web changes the true color of ASCP! (or probably any other paint for that matter). And sometimes the names can be a bit confusing. To me, Chateau Grey is really green (or is it just me?) and Country Grey is more tan or khaki. All the colors are beautiful, but maybe not quite what you think you are getting if looking at one of Annie's books.

Number 2: If you are planning to paint the next day, make sure the lid is tight and turn it upside down overnight. This will make it easier to make sure the paint is well mixed the next day and save you lots of stirring time! Some of the good stuff sinks to the bottom, so you need to stir it up, no matter how nice and creamy it looks when you open the can!

Number 3: Get this paint to the consistency you want to work with it. Don't be scared to add water. I pour off what I think I will use in a separate container and often add water so I can eliminate brush stroke lines. If you get it too thin, not to worry. Leave it open to the air and it will thicken up again.

Number 4: Think outside the box. I've always been fairly traditionalist in my style of home furnishings and clothes. I like the classics. I feel at ease with that in the business world. But there is this secret Bohemian side of me that loves my ratty jeans and tie dye hoodie (found at the Louisville Slugger Museum). I miss my Flower Power college days, wearing bandanas on my head and big dangly earings. Even my shabby chic pieces are conservative colors. I just saw this gypsy chest of drawers on line in wild combo of colors. I'm thinking about new color combos and experimentation....This should be interesting....

Number 5: Become a follower of my blog, visit Annie Sloan American Tour, check out my Dec 5 blog -- win chances for the gift basket and potential chance at a spot at one of Annie's American Tour workshops!

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get Chalk Painting! 2012 Annie Sloan American Tour

Photo from Modern Country Style blogspot

I don't know about you, but I cannot wait to meet Annie Sloan in person! Already my favorite photos of this designer/inventor/artist of great paint are with her sleeves rolled up, doing what she loves to do -- share her knowledge of color!


I've found that the ease of working with this paint has proven to be an addiction! A few days without paint on my hands and without wearing my "paint clothes" and I am eager to clear the schedule and just paint! Which I did yesterday and ta-da!

This little table had languished at the mall with its original wood finish while other of my little painted tables found new homes! So I gave it the Annie treatment with "Cream" (the color I remember of real farm fresh cream!) and a stencil of ivy using "Versailles". Some distressing and clear and a tad of dark wax. All dressed up and back up for sale at the mall in one day.....but that was not all.

This little gal was also not selling with her dark brown color. Sooo...home she came for a treatment of "Duck Egg" and a touch of silver gilt wax along the edges. Nothing fancy, but oh so pretty. All in one day, PLUS I painted a Christmas present for someone -- but that is a secret!

Hmmm.....there is that curio cabinet calling out to me. Guess I need to roll up my sleeves. Meanwhile, go to my Dec 5 blog for rules to enter the Great Iowa Chalk Paint Giveaway! Love all your entries!

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!" What Thoreau might say about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint -- LOL

Okay, taking quite a bit of literary license here, but were he alive today I am thinking Thoreau might just be interested in re-doing some old decor with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The cans themselves say a lot. Simple and to the point!

Here is Annie's own lis about why Chalk Paint is a very special paint!

1. It's the BEST paint for painting furniture by a long way
2. You can use the paint by diluting it with water to make a wash to show the wood grain
3. You can use it as an impasto ( thickly) - leave the lid off to thicken
4. You can use it on any surface, indoors and out!
5. No need to prime or prepare
6. The colours are mixed intelligently and can be adapted and mixed into other colours for your use
7. It's a girls' paint, but boys can use it too.
8. It's flexible so you can be creative and change your mind
9. It allows your walls to breathe so it is perfect for cottage walls
10. Extremely low VOCs so it is good for the environment

And these are my additions:

11. Clean up with water, or soap and water!

12. Even a novice can produce something incredible

13. Dries quickly

14. Can do a major piece in one day -- do you hear me? one day -- Not a week!

So follow my December 5 blog to enter our Giveaway contest. If you can't wait to see if you win, shop Chalk Paint by calling me, visiting the Brass Armadillo in Des Moines or shopping at my website (button on right). Then check out and sign up for your space at the Annie Sloan American Tour in March 2012.

What's so Awesome about 2012 Annie Sloan American Tour?

Here's what!

The paint and Annie's own techniques! And that is what you will learn about. Above are just a couple of my clients wonderful pieces of furniture they did with Annie's Chalk Paint! I'm impressed. We are not talking professional decorators here......we are talking about people who just like old furniture and the chance to wield a paint brush and show some creativity!

You can do it too! Learn from the pro -- Annie Sloan who for over 25 years was a well guarded British secret! Annie's Chalk Paint first landed on these shores via Lisa Rickert who was looking for an easier way to restore the woodwork in a great old home after New Orleans was trying to recover from Hurrican Katrina! Lisa somehow discovered Annie Sloan and her paint and imported the paint at some cost just for her makeover project.

Well, the two decided North America needed Chalk Paint. As I understand it, the first retail paint hit the streets in mid 2010. Eighteen months later Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is taking the U.S. and Canada by storm. We have stockists and retailers in 35 states and 3 Canadian provinces. The paint is produced according to Annie's formula here in the U.S.

I can't tell you how much paint we have out there -- but I will tell you that since my inventory first arrived on August 27, 2011, I have re-ordered 3 times!

Scroll down to my December 5 blog and get signed up for our Great Iowa Paint Giveaway. Then get registered for the 2012 Annie Sloan American Tour at her closest stop to us -- a suburb of Chicago in March!