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!!