Renew, Redo....Getting a little more brave!

Last week, I dipped my toe into the Ocean of Chalk Painting as I am renovating my bedroom.

This fine gem of a mirror definitely doesn't meet the "Coastal" Theme.  It did however, look quite nice over my green Formica Vanity. That was in 1997!  I would say that I had invested around 40 hours into tole painting this frame. My initial thought was to put it in the next yard sale, but then my not only lovely, but bright mother mentioned that I should repaint it! Well of COURSE! Renew, Redo! Also,  the pittance that I might receive for the clearly dated mirror wouldn't amount to the cost to replace the beautiful bevelled mirror that I had installed into the frame.

Last weeks project, the chair was all about playing around with the paint and getting the "feel for it". Funny, I've always felt that there is a distinct feeling when applying paint and knowing that you are going to have success with it. That may sound weird, but in my Tole Painting days I knew that a shadow that I was laying down would be perfect, because I felt it!

Anyway, I keeping with my Coastal Theme, I felt that I would try to get a look of Weathered Wood..think Barn Board. I was a little nervous as again, but on that note, I also know that if it didn't work, I could paint it over~

I started by applying French Linen and Duck Egg Blue wet into wet, using two brushes.

For this technique, I didn't paint right out of the can, but rather poured some paint onto plastic plates as I didn't want to contaminate my lovely paint! I have much more in store for it!

After cleaning my brushes well, I made wash out of Graphite Paint. I added about a Tablespoon of Paint into a paper cup and about 2-3 tsp of water. I went over the frame here and there to add some dark texture in.

I found it a touch dark and so after letting it dry, I dry brushed in a little more Duck Egg Blue....DELICIOUS!!!

My next step- To sand and distress it up a touch. There are a couple of places in which the "Old" Paint showed through. I was initially going to go back in and try to cover it up, but then I thought I kind of liked the look and decided to let "nostalgia" shine through. In fact I then got a little more aggressive with the sandpaper and removed more paint in several places.

It's still looking a little rough pre wax, but I had faith that it would turn out.

I wanted to have a little darker look, so I mixed my wax at a ratio of one tablespoon of clear wax, with a smidgen of dark wax!

I'm actually VERY pleased with the final project! Must apologize for the picture, but I couldn't find a bare space to take it, with all the reno's going on~ When it makes it to it's proper place, It will warrant another share!

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more  projects!

--Vicki~~