Robyn Story Designs and Horse Shows??

Blogs can be about anything we choose, right?  So I'm taking a few minutes to brag about another member of my staff.  Scotty, has been with me for many years and is an incredibly talented Floral Designer and one of my Painters Extraordinaire, but his talent is far beyond these two things!

Scott has been through all of Robyn Story Designs transitions.  I started my business ten years ago in my garage.  I grew out of that garage and decided to work in a rented space and sold to the trade only.  My inventory and clientele grew and I converted that warehouse space to my retail store.  Slowly it has evolved into this magical space Robyn Story Designs, tucked away in Tampa.  

Scott moved to Florida from Cleveland, Ohio after working 21 years in fresh florals and moved onto Silk Florals.  He came into my store to buy stems since he was in the trade and we just hit it off. I knew that Scott and I would have a great time working together.  He was and still is an incredible floral designer.  Scott was instrumental from the beginning.  Always there for support and an opinion.  Customers love him, my staff loves him and he's just an all around terrific person.

One of our agreements from the beginning is that he would still have the ability to partake in his other profession.  Scott has held the much respected job of dressing equestrian events.  We've all seen horse shows and all of those gorgeous jumps that the horses leap over so gracefully.  Well, somebody actually orchestrates the production of those jumps and all the florals at these events.  One of those talented individuals is our Scott.

Scotty assisting with the Annie Sloan Workshop

He has designed shows in nine states and the District of Columbia and has done over 85 shows in his 28 year career! His repertoire includes Equestrian Shows in Traverse City, Michigan, The Vermont Summer Festival, The Capital Challenge in Upper Marlborough, Maryland,  and Washington International Horse Show as well as designing/ordering/building the florals for the The Senior Open Golf Tournament in Traverse City and Cleveland, Ohio.  His most notable accomplishments are Five World Cup events in Las Vegas, Olympic Trials in San Juan Capistrano and San Deigo, as well as the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Whew!!!  He's been around!  We are so proud of him.  He just returned from Michigan and Vermont and brought home some great pictures that I thought I'd share.

Here's the product just ready for 'beautification'!

Getting Organized and Ready for their debut!

So many gorgeous flowers in luscious colors!

Organized and moving outside to their gate

One AMAZING example of all the planning, organizing and incredibly long days to make these events beautiful. 

Keep checking back for the final details of the "So You Think You Can Create" contest!
Click HERE to check out the post and see what its all about!

Announcing "So You Think You Can Create" Contest and Giveway!

  The Holidays are coming......fast!! 
ROBYN STORY DESIGNS is already getting dressed for the holidays!!  Just take a peak at some of the beautiful things that have just arrived!

 

 Our trees each have their own personalities and are a work of art!

 

Wreaths and garlands are filled with the most luscious trims, ribbons, ornaments and found objects.

Little Fairies seem to be spying on us from every nook and cranny!

And of course there's good ol' Santa!  He's made his appearance and is watching over my little elves as we orchestrate a gorgeous holiday for our customers and friends.

Even Annie Sloan Chalk Paint has it's own special edition Christmas Tree...  click HERE to check out all the great colors and products available!

.

Okay, so I think this is one of my personal  favorite Christmas creations.  Chalk Paint isn't just for furniture, look how decorative a few used brushes and pots of paint can be!! How fun!! Stick in some gift certificates from your favorite stockist and we're good to go!

In the spirit of the season,we're going to launch our first in a series of contests called...


Robyn Story Designs & Boutique 
Presents


"So You Think You Can Create?"

Series 1 Category: Holiday Creations

Using my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Christmas Tree as your muse - your inspiration - think outside the box and produce an
INSPIRED Holiday Decoration or accent!

...An ornament

...A holiday tablescape
...A gift idea

...Any decoration...

Let your imagination soar!

Here's the catch:  You must incorporate a found item(s) that you have repurposed... like our wonderful used brushes and old pots of paint!

"Goodness Gracious! The possibilities are unlimited!!  What a great contest!"

So here are the rules:  Use any product you like or any materials you like, but of course, we always like to see how you might put Annie Sloan Paint into your projects!  Be SUPER creative!!

"Seriously?  You're making me think about the holidays already?"

  

Then, send us a photo of your fabulous creation complete with a description of how you made it and what products you used.

Winner of this contest will receive a $250.00 American Express Gift Card to use as you see fit!

"Wow! $250.00?? Mommie needs a SPA day!"

 
 The details will be announced in the next couple of days, so please help us share the news about this new and exciting adventure from Robyn Story Designs and Boutique.  We would love, love, love if you would share this post with a friend, link it in your Facebook or Tweet about it, or blog about us!  


This series, "So You Think You Can Create?" is going to be tons of fun and you're gonna want to be a part of it! 

AND 

In the spirit of the holiday and the spirit of giving, for each entry received I am going to personally make a donation to a foundation that is NEAR and DEAR to the heart of my family.

My brother, who is a Chicago area policeman, was injured on duty and while being treated for his injury, almost lost his life and eyesight to a devastating disease called Steven Johnson's Syndrome.  His condition was caused by a severe reaction to antibiotics.
  
It was through the love and support of friends and family and the expertise of his doctors that he survived.  My heart goes out to Dr. Steven Maskin, here in Tampa, Florida, who through his incredible knowledge and research allowed my brother a second chance at life and our family to continue to be blessed by his presence.  



Dr. Maskin's passion in caring for his patients and his all his hard work is incredible. I want to continue to help support his efforts to help others with this devastating disease as well as the other diseases he researches.  

All my contributions will go to the Ocular Research and Education Foundation. This is my PERSONAL way of thanking him for his expertise, support and diligence!! 

Soooo.... get your creative juices flowing, share this blog and check back in a day or two for final entry details!

"I may look like a princess now, but wait 'till I put on my Craft Clothes!"

ANNOUNCING the EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN GIVEAWAY WINNER

OH MY GOODNESS, it's been an exciting three weeks around here.  

We would really like to THANK three amazing women with three FANTASTIC blogs!!

They were kind enough to  post our giveaway on their blog, share their followers and friends and help us spread the news and excitement over Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Thanks to

Kim with Savvy Southern Style
Courtney with French Country Cottage

and

Kristin with My Uncommon Slice of  Suburbia

 And now, the news you've been waiting for.  

Our EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN GIVEAWAY WINNER IS:

ELIZABETH
her blog is PEAS and QUIET
Elizabeth, for some reason I was having trouble contacting you and blogger will not allow me to post a comment.  Please contact us ASAP to claim your prize.  Call or email us.  Our contact info is on our blog or our website!  Please make sure to leave us your phone number so we can get in touch with you!!

CONGRATULATIONS FROM
ROBYN STORY DESIGNS!!!

NOW, pay attention to our blog for a HUGE announcement from
Robyn Story Designs!

We're onto BIG things and EXCITING NEWS!

FUN AT OUR CHALK PAINT WORKSHOP

TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
DON'T FORGET ABOUT OUT AMAZING

EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN GIVEAWAY!!

 CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DETAILS

***********************************************

We had another fabulous ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT WORKSHOP with yet another amazing group of people.  Here are a few pictures of our fun day.

When we say "lunch is included", we're not talking about a little spread!  Look at all these yummy treats!

Our FANTASTIC group of women!!  You girls ROCK!

We supplied bare wood picture frames to be personalized by each participant!  Fabulous!

A cup of Starbucks coffee and a little instruction!!

Our VERY full class!

Ahhh, the magic of CRACKLE!

Another whimsy inspired piece by ME!!  Don't ya love it!!

Our next workshop date is Thursday August 25.  Our fall schedule has been updated on our Online Store!   Be sure to.....

 ENTER our 
GIVEAWAY HERE!!

What's More Exciting than WINNING 28 Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Colors???

DON'T FORGET OUR

EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN GIVEAWAY!!
 We're giving away 28 mini pots of paint!!!! 
One in EVERY color 
Even the 4 yet-to-be-released colors!

 CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DETAILS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What more can I say?  There are days in the life of a retail store owner that are exhausting.  Dealing with vendors, waiting for merchandise to arrive, making sure that what I like my customers are going to like, bills, broken air-conditioning......you know, all that stuff called "LIFE". 

THEN, you have days like this past Thursday that just make it all worthwhile.  Fortunately, for me I get a lot of these days but Thursday may have been an exceptionally GREAT day.

The whole Gang!!!

In this wonderful world of social media you can meet the most amazing people.  I say that regularly.  Not long ago I met the sweetest, most adorable woman via Facebook.  Her name is Jessica and she has her own blog called STELLAR JUNK.  She "liked" me on Facebook, follows our BLOG and, of course, I "liked" her on Facebook as well.  Conversations happened and she decided she wanted to just drop into the store and wanted to bring several of her blogging friends.  

Jessica from Stellar Junk!

And her adorable son who played with Ellen, one of my staff members

Jonah sat and colored for three hours while mom painted

. 

 The date was decided and Thursday was the day.  What a hoot!!!  All of these amazing, talented and fun women came through our doors.  Of course, I knew ahead of time so I was able to prepare some yummy treats for our JUNKIN' LUNCHEON and organize our "EVERYTHING ANNIE ROOM" where we all congregated, chatted and painted.

Suzie from Le Chein da Creme

 The BEST part was putting faces to names.  After weeks of  talking to all of these wonderful women it was a sweet treat to actually meet them in person.  We were ALL fast friends.

Susie and Christine

 My good friends and amazing artists from Clearwater, Michelle and Ken from Stiltskin Studios came as well!  Thanks to Michelle for her hands-on time spent with the girls.

Michelle from Stiltskin Studios

Ken was there sharing stories and didn't seem to mind all the female attention!!

Ken from Stiltskin Studios with his parakeet Pierre who makes the trip to see us regularly!

Thank you to all of you for making my day, coming and enjoying the paints, sharing your stories and spending the day with all of us at the store.

Elizabeth found time to shop the 'bling'!

And paint....

 THESE EXPERIENCES ARE WHY I LOVE MY STORE...each day I meet a new face and make a new friend.  Life is good.......

Oh,  keep an eye on the post for a FABULOUS ANNOUNCEMENT from Robyn Story Designs

"EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN" GIVEAWAY

As Promised.....ANOTHER GIVEAWAY IS HERE!!!

It's"TIME" for
EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN
GIVEAWAY

And we're going to give you EVERYTHING, EVERY color that Annie has!!





ALL 28 COLORS FOR YOU TO PLAY WITH!!!
That's right - I'm including the  
FOUR BRAND NEW FABULOUS COLORS  
In Mini Pots/Sample Size
from 
ROBYN STORY DESIGNS and BOUTIQUE


Every color is amazing, from the Greek Blue of the Aegean Sea to the Scandinavian Pink of Denmark.  All of Annie's Colors tell a story about a place or a thing that she has seen on her journey's.

French Linen
A cool neutral khaki grey inspired by the bleached, deep neutral of old pieces of French and Italian furniture.

 Coco
A warm greyed brown, the color found on old French woodwork.
 

Pure White
Quite simply a pure clean white

Barcelona
An older color brought back by popular demand

AND

Also included with this wonderful selection of paints is:

Annie Sloan Work Apron

A Set of 6 our GORGEOUS, FUNKY KNOBS

and

Annie Sloan's Creating the French Look book

How's that for EVERYTHING ANNIE SLOAN???

What do you NEED to do to win this FABULOUS package of Annie Sloan Goodies??!
There are THREE ways to enter:

Become a FOLLOWER on our BLOG
and COMMENT on the blog using the words
"IT'S TIME FOR ANNIE SLOAN GIVEAWAY"

"LIKE" me on FACEBOOK
If you've done one or all three, be sure to comment each time on the BLOG!!

AND

If you have a blog please take our button (located top right of our sidebar) and post it on your blog for an Additional Entry into the Giveaway!


If you're already a FOLLOWER and you've already LIKED me, THAT'S OKAY.  You still MUST comment on the BLOG and you can still take our Giveaway Button.

This GIVEAWAY ends on Wednesday, August 24th.  Winner announced on August 25th so

"TIME is of the Essence!"