Annie Sloan used Chalk Paint® and the free stencil included with every issue of The Colourist Issue 6 to create this retro floral tray design. Annie painted random, overlapping flowers to give an exuberant, joyful, naturalistic effect suggesting the abundance of wildflowers.

First Annie painted the tray using Chalk Paint® in Antoinette. This makes a wonderful base coat for the tonal complementaries of Chalk Paint® in Capri Pink and Pure. As is Annie’s signature style, she rounded out this harmonious colour palette with tonal opposite Antibes Green for contrast.

Annie free-painted the tray base using a small flat brush. The shape of this brush makes it perfect for achieving straight lines. If you are less confident in your brushwork, you can always mask the sides of the tray to keep them clean. Annie used two coats of this soft pastel pink as the wood of the tray was quite dark.

Once your base coat is dried you can begin stencilling, using the roller. Pour Chalk Paint® in Pure onto your MixMat and run your roller back and forth through the paint to pick up enough product to render your design –  but not so much that paint will “squidge” out from under the stencil and affect the outline. Several thin coats are better than one thick coat. Repeat at random over the base of the tray and then do the same using Chalk Paint® in Antibes Green and Capri Pink. Once the designs are dry apply two coats of Matt or Gloss Chalk Paint® Lacquer using a Small Flat Brush. This will give a robust finish.

You’ll need to pick up a copy of The Colourist, Issue 6 before you can try this stencil for yourselves as it’s exclusively available as a free gift with the bookazine.