Shop Series:Training Day 2, Inventory Mess, Signage & Stress

 The rules apply to store openings too~
things look worse before they are going to look better.

I'll confess that yesterday took me by surprise~I hit the wall.  
After spending last week away being trained as an Annie Sloan
 Chalk Paint specialist, I returned feeling under the gun 
to complete pressing tasks.

There was still sections of unpainted walls, and half 
the floors to do, and yet the shop was 

quickly filling up with inventory (look behind Mr. MD)...
By 3:30 PM yesterday I was frantically texting

hubby to come quickly as I might have a panic attack!! 
He arrived in short order and gallantly agreed

to finish the Portland Grey (lavender) paint on the walls for
 me while I was consumed with 

technically crap that is not my forte.

 Sometimes a girl would rather see her hubby

 do this than hand her a bouquet of roses~

you get it, right?

 I was stuck in my office figuring out my new wireless 
color copier fax machine. UGH~

but I did figure it out, all except why it refused to spit out the UPS label 
I was trying to print. I has just opened a new UPS business account
 and the UPS guy was coming to pick up my first shipment~
this was supposed to be easy, right?? Well it wouldn't print the label 
at all~so armed with my receipt for $97 (yes it was an expensive package),
 the UPS guy came in and told me he was new, and he didn't
 know anything about it...and was about to walk out the door
 without my package! I asked him to call his boss~and just like that
 there was a solution....phew! The mystery of why it wouldn't print 
remains, but the package was on its way...and I was completely spent! 
 I couldn't wait to get home and vegitate on the couch~
oh., right after I made dinner and cleaned up of course...
*wink* so my days of domesticity at a speed I 
could master seemed to be in my rear view mirror, a
nd I had my first set of doubts...would I like my new life?? 
Well, just being completely honest here~it was a rough day.

The shop is not looking pretty~yet.  But I know most
 are curious to take a peek, so here it is this morning. 
 Today I will be filing my sign application and shipping
 clocks and then painting clocks~ and before I know it
 I am guessing it will be 5 o'clock....
and so it goes~for a while anyway.

The other aggravating factor for me yesterday was I waited 
forever to get my sign guy to complete a proposed rendering 
for the store so I can file my sign application. 
 This is the basic idea without any changes to paint colors 
on the facade~he finally sent it to me at 8:30 pm after
 I complained that I didn't feel very important to him (!)~
I have worked with this sign guy for years starting back ten years ago
 when I was the chairman of the sign board in Woburn, Mass~
sometimes working with friends can have a 
relaxed effect on productivity!!
 But I needed this thing~and I just hope its not to late to 
get on the May docket~otherwise I won't have a sign til 
after my opening. UGH~double UGH!! So all in all,
 it was a stressful day....but here we are today~
I really have a lot of photos I want to share with you 
from my last training day in NJ~so the text will be minimal...

 These pretty photos came from the shop 

Magnolia Lane in Point Pleasant New Jersey.

Stephanie, an Annie Sloan stockist, owns this shop 

and it has a European elegance to it that I loved~

 Her displays were visually exciting~

 Beautiful vintage pieces~

 Mixed with grand modern glamour~

 I was envious of her auction find~an antique cash wrap station!

 We headed out to dinner, fast friends, and as all GFs 

do stopped for a little fun in front of the bathroom mirror!

 We channeled our inner Charlies Angels!! 
Stephanie kept shutting her eyes~lol! But we
 laughed hard that night~and it was nice to meet a 
generous Annie Sloan compatriot
 as I would be in her shoes shortly.

 Bedtime at the hotel was heaven~I would be
 headed to training class early the next day.

This blogger says good night all~!

Morning came and I was at Patty Seaman's house in Silver Springs. 

What a pretty town and what a lovely home she had~

the grounds were littered with old cast iron gates and 

gazebos and all the kinds of things that make me

 want to go home and spruce up my surroundings~

 Day two~like a kid in a candy shop! 
Look at my mess work area!

 I was joined by Esther, who is going to 

be a stockist in Greenwich Connecticut, 
at a cooperative artists shop called the Gifted Hand.

 If you don't get a chance to take a workshop, 
you should buy this $19.99 book~

it shows off so many ways to use Annie's paint
 in an easy to follow manner.

 Patty's sister Diane, assisted in the class~

here she shows the color chart for the paints.

 And Patty showed off the table in the book, 
Creating the French Look, 

that she said first inspired her 

to try the paints!  Funny, 'cuz that same project 

inspired me to do my coffee table last year~

I bought some of my first paint from Patty, and I 

bought the paint to do my kitchen cabs from her as well.

She is an incredible resource~ Classic Wall Finishes  if you 

want great advice, check her out!

I called it my French-Boho coffee table~

you can see how I did it here.

 So that is the gist of my training class. 

We had a field trip which I will share on another day 

as this post is too long already.

The other thing is that today is my 2 year blogging anniversary!!

 I completely forgot~my sister,Susan,

my mid-west Etsy picker, reminded me!! 

Oh man! How could I forget?

So I have a little something planned for that tomorrow~

as a thank you for supporting my blog.  

See you then~and lets hope I get 

on the sign board docket for May...fingers crossed!!