Busy week before Christmas

BEFORE

This week has been a busy one for me. This is a piece we just finished. Another Armoire This one needed a new back because the back had been cut out for a TV to fit through. Then we added a shelf to make it a nice linen press, or maybe a sweater cabinet.

AFTER

This is also the week that I took a class in Cabinet Finishes meaning mostly Kitchen cabinets, but furniture can't be that much different can it?

We did 5 different samples in one Day it wasn't a nice day here in Atlanta either so the products didn't dry as they should you will see what I mean in a couple of the samples.

The first one here is a metallic base which is very popular now. We put foil on the piece then put on crackle size waited for that to get tacky, then put on the crackle clear coat, this is where the humid misty day didn't help cause we couldn't put them out in the sun and it took a really long time to dry. After it was as dry as we could get it we put on a stain and rubbed it off. The parts that weren't quite dry rubbed off as well. boo.... lower left corner you can see what I am talking about, not much definition. Oh well you get the idea.

This next piece is very similar I tried to do a random crackle so I didn't put the crackle size all over. we let that get tacky then put the crackle medium all over it was clear and as it dried the cracks appeared. We then applied a stain different color from above. and wiped it off. Again the dry time was a problem. When I took it home there were no white areas around the crackle it was just two shades of brown. When it got home and really dried it continued to crack and the base coat which was off white came through. Not a look I like but interesting and it would be different if I would have been able to let it dry before I put the stain on it.


The one below is a sand stone finish. Could be used on columns or on a fireplace surround to get a stone look. It goes on in an almost white color when it is dry you sand it a bit to take off the sharp pieces. It gets a soft almost fur like feel. Also it is textured with pecan shells and the dark brown shells appear when you sand it, pretty cool. The instructor believed that we should stain this as well so this piece has two colors of stain. I would have left it the natural color.
The piece below is called embossed wood. We took a stencil and layed some Palette Deco in the stencil areas. Let that dry and then stained over it. I really liked the stain mixture we used for this piece the color was nice and the working time was great. I do believe I will be using this product again. The stain didn't really stick to the Palette Deco so it appears much lighter.The last piece we did was putting tissue paper over the wood then painting over that. Then when it was dry we dry brushed a silver over the top to catch in the folds of the paper. I had a bit of trouble understanding the instructions for the DRY brushing and made a few mistakes, in trying to fix them it just got worse!!! I get the idea but the sample is a bit of a mess. I will have to try it again and maybe stain over the top. I think it could look like leather. The top strip is painted red over the black and then silver dry brushed over that the next line is black with silver, the next one is plain red the next row is black with silver drybrushed over just the left side.



Perhaps the lunch I had with the other students was just as in lightening as the class. Two of the girls had their own business doing Faux Finishes. One does primarily murals and the other was doing kitchen Cabinets. Another gal did this as a hobby but had taken more classes and all were a wealth of information for internet sites to check out and places to buy things. I just learned so much. Thank you girls for all your sharing I spent the whole next day reading forums. I can't wait to get back to the shop and start using some of my new knowledge!!! It was a great early Christmas present !!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!!

twas just before christmas so the furniture had to be RED

My piece of the week. It is an old pine hutch two pieces. We did a bit of distressing before we even started. It had some nics and dings so a few more were called for, nothing like swinging a hammer to get the frustrations out!

As I stated its just before Christmas and the piece I did this week needed to be red. It seems to sell very well also. Heres hoping.

AFTER

We took the doors off of the top part it seemed a little dated with them on there. It really is a beautiful piece. Its painted red then we distressed it some more with sandpaper. Put a dark brown glaze over the red to tone down the brightness of the red, this also highlighted the sanded areas making them very dark almost black. We also painted the hardware to a dark oil rubbed bronze finish.

I am excited and I have to share.... as a Christmas present to myself, I am taking a faux painting class here in Atlanta this coming Friday. We are to learn different finishing techniques such as French antiquing, distressing and random crackle. I am looking forward to learning new things that I can bring back to the shop and to my clients.

Post Thanksgiving

This is the week after thanksgiving and I have a piece to show that was commissioned by a client :) Thats a good thing!
She had a mirror and a small bombay chest that she had found and wanted it to look like a picture she had found in a magazine. So with picture in hand I set out to make the change.

Before

Very Cute But not what she wanted.


After:

It was painted black and then tan at the corners sponge painted with two more colors a carmel and brown then I glazed the tan part. The mirror was black when I got it so I took the carved part and painted it tan and sponged and glazed the same as the chest.

Another piece that was finished is this one. It is a little hard to see cause it is wrapped in plastic. Thats how it arrived in the shop. But it is quite modern and in a blond finish.

Here is the after.

It is a very striking piece, painted brown then stenciled with pale blue up one side across the top and down the other side. Then the drawers have a raised center so we started the stencil on the raised part of the top drawer and moved it down at each raised part. the two doors used only the center of the stencil. The outer edge of the drawers were painted with the blue then glazed with a brown.

Thats it for this week. Enjoy!