Annie Sloan's home store in Oxford

About one block from the Oxford Print Cooperative, which I went to visit yesterday, is the home store of the world famous Annie Sloan! How lucky am I to live so close to Oxford?Did I hear someone say, "Who is Annie Sloan?"She is the creator of the absolutely fantastic chalk paint and is one of the main forces behind the painted furniture revolution and the atomic rise of shabby chic.Her charming, tiny hole-in-the-wall shop sells her line of paints, her line of fabrics, and found objects (like these giant French grain sacks, which only cost £10)Just now her store is filled with treasures from a recent buying trip to France. There are little jars, and plates, and drawer pulls, and tea towels, and all sorts of charming little French home accents.One wall is dedicated to huge swatches of paint. You can come feel the paint, look at it from all directions, hold samples up against it, play with your ideas.Although I'm not in the market for Annie's chalk paint just now, and since there are stockists in Vancouver, I'm not going to buy any this summer, but I can't get these beautiful grain sacks out of my thoughts.I love that they're darned with heavy wool and large, course stitches.Hmm, what can I do with rustic, printed and darned fabric? I'm really tempted to buy one and think about it later.I'm also tempted by these buttons. Chloe has been making beautiful owls filled with lavender and using large vintage buttons for the eyes. Maybe some owl eyes. :)Any way, I hope to go back to the Printmakers guild on Tuesday and I'll stop in at Annie Sloan's shop again. I wanted to check out her work book but was too rushed for time last Saturday.Linking with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. :)