FAT Paint Workshop @ HUE

Today I got to go to a workshop in Halifax.  Nothing too crazy about that, really.  But….it was a workshop that came out of the BlogJam indirectly.  AND it was FAT Paint, which I hadn’t used before.  AND it was Hue Design Studio, which I was excited to check out.  So, all in all, the potential to be a fun day.  And it didn’t disappoint!

I convinced….okay, arm-twisted, really….Jennifer into coming to the workshop, too.  Once I had her on board, we made plans to meet before hand.  We wanted to stick to something in the area of Hue and something tasty.  Jennifer suggested Lion & Bright, so I googled them and quickly agreed.  It was a tasty place to meet and eat, and it was a neat restaurant with the live-edge tables, locally supplied menu and family friendly atmosphere.  { One thing that struck me as genius was the tables that would normally be the most unused were designated as work stations and thus busy, leaving the other tables open for people who were just there to eat. }

Then it was time to get to Hue to attend the workshop.  I walked in and was smitten.  Farrow & Ball, Robert Allen fabric, Kravet fabric, painted furniture, blind samples, pillows…..sigh – my kind of place.  Michelle had everything all set up for us, all our supplies and tasty treats, too.  We couldn’t wait to get started on our projects!

We were using stencils, so we needed to decide on stencils, board size and then paint colours.  So many choices!  I had made up my mind about 3 different times and then changed it at the last minute… So many possibilities!  I settled on the Apothecary stencil and some Sea Glass Green for the base coat.  Two coats gave great coverage, actually one coat even covered the accidental spot of Indigo that I got on the board.  Then it was time to stencil and I used the Bitter Chocolate for that.  A quick sand to weather the lettering and then it was time to wax.  I used a first coat of the clear wax and then a coat of the antique wax to add some age to my sign.

That’s the how-to of the workshop, but that does not cover the laughter and conversation around the table today.  It doesn’t cover the conversations about who broke what bone and how { Colleen….} the college debate, the when to start your children in school debate or what to do with your biggest fan and the possible sponsored post….  When you gather a group of people in one room, linked first only by the fact we blog and get them painting together, fun things happen and hopefully networking takes place and a support system is started.  I was thankful to be invited to attend this workshop but I’m more thankful for the connections of real, live people behind the blogs, Facebook pages and Instagram accounts.  Sure it’s fun to get out and make something, but for me, it’s more fun to connect with people, especially over a painted project.

So, a huge thank you to Michelle for hosting us today and to the fine folks behind East Coast Mom Media for putting the invitation out there!  It was well worth the drive down to the city!

To be continued,

Lori