EXCITING HAPPENINGS AT ROBYN STORY DESIGNS

Where have we been?

We've been so incredibly busy there's hardly been time for Facebook or Blogging!!  And I've missed it!!

Our OPEN HOUSE was a HUGE success and such a wonderful way to start the HOLIDAY season!!
For those of you that attended and helped make it so successful
THANK YOU!!
I know, and never take for granted, that I wouldn't still be in this business without YOU!
Let me fill you in on some of the wonderful things going on here at
Robyn Story Designs.

We have had several fun workshops in September and October.  Here are just a couple of pictures.

We always have a full house for our workshops.  During these workshops in September and October we had lots of laughs, great stories and several people that came from the East Coast of Florida to spend the day with us as well as an adorable woman from Paris, France.  Okay, okay...so she didn't fly from Paris to take our class but I have to tell you I tried to soak up as much of her Paris as I could!!  It is my dream destination...

Homemade roasted veggies are always on the lunch "menu", a customer favorite!

I love this...people come in and meet new friends and exchange numbers!!

Our Annie Sloan Chalk Paint workshops are too much fun!  Everyone leaves totally empowered after an afternoon of fun and instruction with the paint!  We have several more dates for workshops, be sure to check it out online!

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After our few workshops we had to scurry and get ready for the  
FAUX EXPO in Orlando!
Now that was a BLAST!!!!
We were there representing our WONDERFUL Robyn Story Designs and Boutique as well as Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and our other product line that we'll be carrying in the near future,  
Amy Howard.
We did mini demo's throughout the day, chatted with the MOST AMAZINGLY TALENTED artists and soaked up some of that talent!

All of our menagerie before it was staged!

It's getting there, bare bones but shaping up!!

Our finished booth!!!  Complete with a vintage desk, found objects mounted on reclaimed wood with a back drop of vintage bread boards from a bread bakery in Ybor City!  A touch of glam with our Mac Sculpture candelabra's  and a few treasures from our boutique!

Our mini demo area, complete with an Annie Sloan Chalk Painted canvas as our 'rug'

One of our ASCP sample color displays

We had a 'full house' of demo's every 30 minutes and they all left LOVING the paint!!

Another picture of our completed booth!

One of the many things that I love about my store is that my customer's want and expect something different all the time.  I pride myself on never letting things get stale, always changing venues around and ALWAYS thinking outside the proverbial box!  Take a look at our latest creation, we affectionately call her Antoinette!

She is a wonderful seamstress mannequin that we covered with a vintage wedding dress with layers of tulle and a gorgeous boa.  We finished her with a vintage corset and she's actually electrified with a chandelier.  Is she not the MOST luxurious piece of work.  Vintage clothing, a crystal chandelier, a vintage mannequin and voila~ an amazing 'floor lamp' that any woman would love in her dressing room, bathroom or a perfect feminine touch for her office!!

Here she is posing in front of a mural that upon our entrance to the expo was just a large blank canvas.  As the two days progressed the artist painted this masterpiece before our very eyes!  Take a look at Joel Cook's portfolio.  Thanks Joel for allowing us to use your art as Antoinette's background!

My staff that helped pull off this amazing feat!! We were proud of our booth and our three days of fun!

 

I also need to thank four very important people for ALL of their help as well.  Three of our Florida Annie Sloan mini stockists met us in Orlando and were instrumental in helping us pull the whole thing together.  So thanks, Denna, Carmella (and her friend Caryl) and Lorna.  You girls ROCK!!!
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Once we returned from the Expo we had to hit the ground running and get the store ready for our Holiday Open House.

We also transformed our workshop into our Untold Stories Warehouse Sale.  It was filled to the rafters with amazing deals on Christmas ribbons, ornaments, greens and a some home decor objects.

We had so much fun and everyone enjoyed it so much that we've extended it through this weekend.  My staff has been as busy as Santa's elves adding more to Untold Stories and revamping the showroom.  As always, I like to keep it fresh and new.  Many garlands and trees sold during our Holiday Open House that we need to fill those empty spaces!

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I hope this explains where we've been lately!  As if the above isn't enough I'm heading to Market in North Carolina next week to purchase some WONDERFUL, NEW and EXCITING products to the store!!

Robyn Story Designs and Boutique

IT'S HERE

THREE DAYS ONLY

ROBYN STORY DESIGNS

Holiday Open House!!

 

 

Holiday Open House Specials!

  Thursday!  Friday!  Saturday!

 October 6th, 7th, & 8th 

(Thurs/Fri 10 -5  Sat 10/4)

 

20% off 

YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE* 

 

As Always Great Food... Great Finds...
...And New Inspirations For Your Mind
And For The Artful Soul!  

Plus...

We've Made A Special Purchase of  

Exquisite Christmas Ribbon And Other
Holiday Decor And We Are Passing The
Savings On To Our Valued Customers! 

Daily Doorbusters!!

Unadvertised daily specials in all departments!

Spin the wheel for free gifts and special discounts!

Check out a very special trunk show with Stella and Dot 

 

It Will Be So Much Fun You Won't

Want To Leave! Ridiculous Pricing On

Designer Ribbon As Low As $1 Per Bolt!

 

 

*  Not good with any other offers, custom or special orders.  Does not include any discount off of Robyn's Untold Stories. Offer expires October 9, 2011.  Certain restrictions may apply.  See store for details.

Castles, Cork, Land and Sea...and a CONTEST

One of my other staff members, Lori, has been away for two weeks on her annual vacation with her husband and two friends.  Each year they pick a country to visit and hit the road!  This year was Portugal and what follows are from her words and her experiences.  Enjoy the trip!

Traveling is one of our favorite things to do.  There's nothing like visiting a foreign place, so far removed from our everyday life and habits.  Going to a foreign land and experiencing life as a local is one of our greatest treasures.  It is what we love to do and delve into each culture for the two weeks that we're there with gusto!

We landed in Lisbon, Portugal and hit the ground running.  I knew from the first moment that we got to the airport and grabbed a cup of coffee (even better than Italy!!)  that we would fall in love.  Lisbon is a gorgeous and amazingly clean city and has so much to offer a tourist.  It was a veritable feast for the eyes.  Everything in Europe is so old and has great history associated with it.  The architecture in Portugal was just stunning and I found myself snapping hundreds of pictures each day.  Around every corner there was a treasure to behold.

This trip we traveled by foot 

We covered many miles on foot!

By funicular up some of the toughest hills!!

By train

By bus

By cable car throughout the city

And of course, by car.  This route was what we covered by car, over 1200 miles.  It does not take into account any of the other means of transportation!! 

One of the things that impressed us the most were the sidewalks throughout the city.

These sidewalks are made up of three inch cubes of cream colored limestone and dark grey basalt stones. The black represents the holy attire worn by the Lisbon's patron Saint Vincent, while the white represents the white outfits of the Christian Crusaders who vanquished the Moors. Each sidewalk throughout Lisbon (as well as other areas of Portugal) were works of art.  Some were done intricately, others were simple but just as elegant.  I took several pictures of my favorites.

 

Even if the sidewalks aren't a mosaic of black and white, they're still little squares of white

Robyn has me seeing McKenzie-Childs influence everywhere!!!

We found ourselves traversing the country in search of castles.  We were not disappointed.  We found MANY.  One of the most beautiful and picturesque was in a town called Sintra.  Sintra and its mystical hills dotted with fairtytale palaces and extravagant villas are a true sight to behold.  The Romans made it a place of cult moon worshiping and named it "Cynthia" after the goddess of the moon. They were followed by the Moors who also fell in love with the lush vegetation and built a hilltop castle, a palace, and several fountains around the town. Later it became the summer residence of the Portuguese royal family and attracted a number of wealthy aristocrats who built huge mansions and villas. 

We found a castle in Tomar, Portugal in the process of renovation.  It was originally built somewhere around 1160 - can you believe it still stands!  It was just amazing as the pictures will show you.  The original detail is still so evident, it's already a beauty.  It has been in the process of renovation for centuries already and it's still incredibly rustic.  We found many castles to investigate but these were our two favorite.

A hidden doorway underneath the castle

This castle, like most that we saw on our trip, housed a chapel.  It is here that I saw the most amazing faux finish on the wall.  Look at these pictures.  If you look closely enough you will see that one side is an actual pulpit that protrudes from the wall.  On the other side of the hallway about four hundred years ago they realized that they should have placed a matching pulpit on the other side but since they couldn't rebuild they painted a matching one!  Unbelievable! 

The real pulpit with real marble and green onyx

The faux pulpit - pretty amazing.

Shopping.  Oh how I wish my pocketbook was bottomless!  I could have spent a fortune on many of the countries unique products.  Portugal is the second largest producer of cork.  Yes, cork, like cork for wine bottles.  However, don't let that fool you.  The Portugese make hundreds of products with cork.  Purses, ties, books, jewelry, lamps, lampshades.....it was limitless and beautiful.  

The Portugese are also very well respected for their pottery, everything from traditional to contemporary was displayed and just beautiful.  

Ceramic, Iron and Pottery were at every turn

 

A more contemporary flair of pottery

Traditional Portugese Pottery

We drank wine like it was water - another of Portugal's gems.  And I discovered Port.  Liquid gold that you savor a sip at a time.  Vineyards lined the roads and we felt compelled to take a peak and a taste.

That's $166 euro or $232 American!!

We just missed the crush, a few lonely grapes left hanging

This was a gorgeous fountain at one of the winery's we visited

An entrance to one of the winery's we visited

The coastline was yet another stop along our journey.  Here every morning you could watch local fisherman set their traps for all sea creatures and at night when we went out to eat, nothing but the freshest of seafood was ever offered.  Some of the largest fish, shrimp, crabs and lobster I've ever seen!

 

Fishing boats

Fishing gear on the coast

This crab was over 5 pounds!!!

Goodness, after reliving my vacation as I wrote this I'm thinking I need another vacation!!!  I guess I'm going to have to wait another year!!  However, now that I'm home I'm thrilled to hear about all the new and exciting things going on at Robyn Story Designs.

There's a FANTASTIC contest brewing.  Get your creative MoJo going for Christmas.  Anything goes, as long as it's an inspired decoration, it's unique and you tell us how you created it.  Two hundred and fifty dollar gift certificate is waiting for the most creative idea.  We will feature the entries on the blog and we'll have the rules posted next week. Good Luck.  Oh, if you're looking for some kind of inspiration, check out a fellow blogger's post for Halloween.  This was so creative and so adorable I had to share.

Cynthia Keenan nailed the idea for inspired design using simple pumpkins for her Halloween Decorations.  Think Christmas!  Thanks Cynthia for such great Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Pumpkins!!!  Hope this helps get those thoughts and ideas flowing!