T.G.I.F. everybody!

It has been another crazy week for me at the day job, to the point where I almost didn’t have a post again today.  But I managed to crank out this one little project to share with you guys.

This sign was the result of experimenting with a couple of different products.

But let’s start at the beginning.  One of my regular readers contacted me recently and offered me a whole bunch of old cupboard doors.  She was cleaning out her house and workshop in preparation for a move and decided she wasn’t ever going to get around to turning them into signs herself so she brought a bunch over for me.

Now I’m fully stocked for creating some more signs for the holiday season this year.  But the thing about these cupboard doors (and most of the ones that I find at the ReStore) is that they are usually new.  And that tends to make them just a little bit too pristine for my taste.  So I wanted to experiment with aging them up a bit.

Unfortunately, I totally neglected to take any photos of the process.  But perhaps I can explain what I did.  I started out mixing some of Dixie Belle’s Mint Julep paint with some of their Sea Spray additive.  The purpose of the Sea Spray is simply to add some texture to your paint.  Once I had mixed those to a brownie batter like consistency, I used a cheap chip brush to apply it to my door in a few spots.  I did not put it all over, just dabbed it on here and there.  Once that was dry, I added some swipes of Dixie Belle’s Rebel Yellow here and there (without Sea Spray).  Once that dried, I painted a couple of quick coats of Drop Cloth over everything.  Finally, again once dry, I sanded over the entire thing.

As you sand, that Mint Julep with Sea Spray texture really comes through the top coat of Drop Cloth.  You can also see bits of the Rebel Yellow here and there.

Next up I pulled out some leftover scraps from the Cosmic Roses transfer from re.design with prima and added them to the door.

Finally I pulled out the Laundry & Co stencil from Maison de Stencils.  I originally thought it would look great to just add the stencil in a dark blue paint color.  However, after I had it stenciled, it really just looked flat and one dimensional.

So I grabbed my Dixie Belle Gemstone Mousse in Golden Gem.

Then I used my trick of placing the stencil just up and to the left a tad so that a slight shadow would be left behind by the dark blue paint.  I used a stencil brush to add the Gemstone Mousse right over the dark blue.

The mousse was the perfect consistency for stenciling and the metallic Golden Gem color helps tie in the gold wording from the transfer.

Once the stencil paint was dry, I added a quick coat of clear wax over everything.

This was such a fun project to work on.  I tested out a couple of techniques that I’ve been wanting to try, using the Sea Spray and the Gemstone Mousse.  I’m definitely going to continue using that Sea Spray to add some texture, a.k.a. some faux age, to pieces going forward.  And I’m also sure to get lots of use out of that fabulous gold.

How about you?  Have you tried any of these products?  If so, how did you like them?  And what do you think of my sign?  Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know.

As for you locals, this laundry co sign is for sale.  Be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page to see more details.