Mother's Day......isn't Mother's Day really EVERYDAY?

I've already posted my Mother's Day tribute.....but I'd like to address the
job description of a "MOM"....maybe I can't though because what doesn't a MOM/MOTHER/MA do, I couldn't possibly remember everything that a Mom does or doesn't do and is remembered for it.  Hats off to Mothers and their many talents.

I miss my mom ...she's been gone almost 9 years now, and I still find myself going for the phone to just say "hi". My mom and I clashed big time, but on the flip side of the coin, my mom and I had an underlying quiet truce....I knew she loved me, but I also knew she loved my brother more, don't we all think that about our siblings?  I knew she loved me and confided in me like she couldn't confide in any one else. If it wasn't for my mom, I wouldn't have the drive today to just "get out there and do what you feel like doing". Thank you MOM!

I love you Mom.....I still pick up the phone to just talk.....but, no answer....it's ok, I know you are there

Happy Mother's Day everyone

Happy Mother's Day weekend ......

A personal post to share with all of you Mothers and Grandmothers.

Years ago I wrote a little "something" after my children had grown up and ventured out into their own paths of life. I guess I was feeling a little sorry for myself, as Mother's Day came around and no one was close by to bring me the bagels and cream cheese, sour cream, brown sugar and strawberries and of course in my case anyway, champagne.  I missed their giggles and whispers as they walked down the hall with their "morning surprise", belting out "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY"

This digital greeting card generated with Smilebox

If any of you are in this position this year or the years to follow, maybe you'll appreciate what I was feeling. Hang in there with me, I am far from a poet:

Mothers respond not to gift wrap and bows,
All it takes is a "hi mom" to set her aglow


It takes "come and sit down, let's have a talk"
It takes just a touch or even a walk


It takes very little, just time on their part
To make her feel wanted and warm up her heart


Mothers are human and full of emotion
They need reassurance of her children's devotion


Time goes so fast as children grow old
That mothers are suddenly left out in the cold


Cold from the fact her children need peers
They no longer need "mom" to wipe away tears


Where are the children she held and she rocked
Oh if she only could turn back the clock


Her arms are now empty yet longings are there
To tickle and cuddle and tousle their hair


To tell them stories of castles and Kings
To create some magic from Crackerjack rings


To give them cookies and bandage their knees
To teach them respect and thank you's and please


So long they depended on her wisdom and smiles
They are products of love and made life all worth while


She knows they are grown with lives of their own
She knows they are hers but only on loan


She knows that soon their day will come
For they too will have daughters and sons


She now has to settle for that Sunday in May
When her children come home to "honor" her day


Memories are plentiful yet feelings grow strong
Time with her children is what she does long


As mothers respond not to gift wrap and bows
It takes just a "hi mom" to set her aglow........



There you have it....and after typing it again, my feelings haven't changed one bit.
My children do have families of their own and live thousands of miles from me coast to coast. I love them with all my heart and soul and I so enjoy watching my little kids turn into responsible adults and beautiful parents themselves.

Happy Mothers Day again to everyone.

Are you ready to be updated on everything that is happening?

Last week I had a wonderful time in Tampa, Fla. assisting Robyn Story of Robyn Story Designs teach and kick off three all day Annie Sloan Workshops. Robyn was on top of everything and the classes were first class. I am going to show you the class room where it all took place and tell you the people I met were absolutely wonderful. They made a West Coast girl feel right at home. We had a mixture of backgrounds and yes, even two men. Remember, our paint isn't just for girls, we let boys use it too. Not only boys but a dog.
Ole spent most of the day by his master under the table but still took in all the techniques and play time.

Ole a seeing eye wonder

Class 1

Class 2

Class 3

Thank you Robyn and staff....you were great and together we made a lot of memories!

My friends picked me up at the airport and whisked me away to San Luis Obispo where Vicki (Northern California Stockist) joined us for a Coastal event, Remnants of the Past. There were so many people,
so many elbows, so many things to try and see, it was crazy and I guess a big thank you goes to the feature Country Living did for the show. I did come away with 24 pickets from an old fence, a funky hanging thing that I will hang paint brushes from as a prop and a cool old three tiered shelf. We had so much fun and we shared many bursts of laughter. We stayed at a great B&B that I would recommend to everyone.

It has taken me until today to get caught up around my home, introduce myself to my patient husband, ship paint orders and answer tons of emails. Whew, I can breathe again.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Kari Saupstad, So. California Mini-Stockist and Melanie Royals from Modello Design Studios in Chula Vista, CA. I took down all 24 pots of paint colors and observed Kari and Melanie play with paint and product.
On June 11th, Melanie is hosting an all day Annie Sloan Event for Kari and myself.
What a fun time it's going to be and you are inivited. We'll be teaching six techniques as well as adding two wall finishes. Sign up now as the class will be
limited. Go to my web site, www.houseofanne.net and click on June 11 Workshop in the header. I will be sending out an e-blast talking about this wonderful event as well as a workshop proceeding ours hosted by Ayn Riggs featuring Debra Campbell from Wallartistry.  Here's a special invitation just for you.

This free slideshow design customized with Smilebox

I know I'm sharing a lot but I have a lot to share. You know I'm usually not this wordy.

Remember the pickets I mentioned I bought....well I have also been painting them all 24 colors, who says pickets have to be white? Vicki and I are getting ready
to debut Annie Sloan Chalk Paints at The Three Speckled Hens show in Paso Robles on the 21st and 22nd....I invite everyone to come find us....we are in booth 11. Paint will be flying and "playing with the colors" will be a highlight. So why the pickets? They will be one of our many props of course.

24 lush colors

Oooops, I think I just deleted the "cheers" I always sign off with, oh well, now I have to do it by hand, and it was so pretty too.

I have many workshops and events that will be taking place so take a look at my web site. I want to thank all of you for following along and I want to thank all of my customers for their patients in regards to the paint deliveries and wax problems clearing Customs. I guess we are the Ipod of paints but I also want us to be the
Nordstrom in Customer Service. Our Distributor is gearing up with products and shipping and our paint manufacturer has added a new machine. Soon all of these issues will be history. Wahoooooo.

I wish you a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, treat her special and treat yourself special too.

CHEERS..........Anne
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm going to miss the pretty CHEERS.

I am getting there....or am I getting here?

I really am going to sit down and post what's been happening,  Tampa, Remnants of the Past, Three Speckled Hens show coming up plus all the workshops and events that are being scheduled with Vicki Shoemaker and Kari Saupstad, California Stockist and Mini Stockist.  Exciting times.  I also want to share the UK trip in September that everyone is invited to attend and the 2012 Cruise for Annie Sloan "fans".  If you want to know about these trips before I can post later in the week...please contact Barbara Gonzales at barbaragnz@gmail.com and her blog at barbaragnz-fourseasontravel.blogspot.com/.  Now I have to sign off, but I promise, my next post will have great photo's of where I've been and what I've been doing.  So I leave you with this beautiful "May" floral photo.

My favorite flowers that I not only want to share with you but I would give you a plant if I could so we could grow together in this life full of surprises

Have a great Wednesday and "happy painting".

I'm back from Tampa and a customer from Remnants of the Past

Hi......Just give me today to unpack and get settled in and I will fill you in
on my Tampa adventure as well as the latest road trip to San Luis Obispo.

Mean while....here is a before and after of a carved chair I did in Tampa. I even
paited the fabric.

BEFORE

AFTER

I will sit myself down later today and really give you an update on what's happening in the House of Anne. Trips....events....workshops and you got it, PAINT.

I'm off to Tampa.....Three Workshops and precious time with Robyn Story

My favorite things to do.....travel, PAINT, meet people and teach beautiful techniques to others interested in learning Annie Sloan Chalk Paint applications.
I get to do all of  these things for the next 5 days and when I return my friends will
pick me up at the airport and we will head north up the California Coast to Paso Robles where I will (we will) enjoy the Remnants of the Past Event. I will hook up with the 3 Speckled Hens to pick up information for their show in May, which Vicki, the other California Stockist, and I will be demonstrating and introducing the Chalk Paint and all the magic it lets us create. Who knows, we may even invite attendee's to come "play with the product" and just let the paint flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

So.....until I return...I wish you all a wonderful Easter and week. Don't forget to learn a new word and learn something new that's out there in this world.

WORKSHOP TECHNIQUES:

Crackle

A lime wash for a weathered look

A two color

A beautiful antiquing look

A 'clouded/stipple' look

I want to send my love to my husband and my boys, Gus and Amos....it's hard to
leave them as often as I have been lately and I know it isn't easy for them for me to be away as much as I have been either. I am so lucky to have their love and support.

A wonderful time of the year.....

This time of the year I seem to reflect a lot on family and past celebrations. (It is said one does this at the end of one's life, oh please, let this not be so).

I love Easter although this year I will miss it completely as far as ham, chocolate eggs,family time and even coloring eggs for a "hunt". I leave Easter morning for Tampa to join Robyn Story of Robyn Story Designs in her debut of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Workshops. I already know it will be a hoot and very successful because that is who Robyn is. A hoot.....very successful and a true delight and woman. I am so privileged to have met her in New Orleans at Annie's workshop and also to be a "team" Stockist and cultivate a "bi-coastal" working relationship as well as a new friend and "sista".

Robyn Story

I have been asked how I got into paint and design and I have to say, I owe it all to my mother and grandmothers. With Spring cleaning came new wallpaper and fresh applications of paint. The wallpaper in my room would have to last 3-4 years but the wallpaper usually had several colors to choose from for a freshly painted bedroom. We would look at paint strips and then I'd come home from school and there waiting for me were paint, brush and rollers. I learned at a very early age how to cut in and how to sew new bedding and curtains.

My mother and my grandmothers encouraged me always to go for the "brass rings" and to always dream big. I was given a note from my mother on my birthday one year, I want to share it with you and then add in a "smile box" with a very special song and pictures of all my "mothers" that have impacted my life and encouraged me to be the person only I can be, myself.   You'll also see at the end some photo's of furniture that depict our beautiful colors.

"once there was a girl, and she was unique and talented and interesting and amazing and unforgettable....and real. She knew, deep down, that if she tried something and it didn't go as she had hoped or wanted or dreamed or planned, she could just try something different - or try the same thing again but approach it in a new or different way - and one day her greatest hopes and dreams could actually come true.

and so her life was full of all these amazing and unforgettable moments, events, and circumstance: incredible wins, of course, but also equally incredible - and worth it - losses. No matter what happened, she learned from everything around her and everything she went through. Yes, she fell sometimes (like everybody else does), but she got up and moved forward by always being true to herself. She hoped that maybe one day she could even make a path for others to follow.....until they each could make their own paths, too.

you see, it's not that she was never frightened or sad or even knew when she woke up each day what to do, it was simply that she believed in herself and always shined on like a star because she was a STAR, whether alone or among others shining too in the Universe."

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I wish you all a very beautiful Easter and the next time I post I will have photo's from Tampa as well as photo's from an event up the coast, Remnants of the Past, which I hope to purchase lots of goodies for my much neglected paint brushes that need to be picked up and start creating.

House of Anne and world of PAINT