Chalk Paint and Silver Leaf

chalk paint antiqued and silver leaf

I know some of you out there might have a little "issue" with me that I am just too feminine. Well I am happy to present this macho (mascile) dark red and silver leaf piece.  I like how it came out.  Even certain people close to me who will remain nameless were shocked it looked so good and confessed (later) to intentionally staying quiet for much of the project.

It was not hard to do, patience is always the problem around here, so grab some patience and a paint brush and here we go.

I first mixed this dark red flat paint with a tablespoon or two of powdered stucco to make a light version of Chalk paint, sprinkling in the stucco with a metal strainer.  I mixed it well.   Here is the before shot.

I sanded the piece all over not too much because the chalk paint ad heads well.

I painted the whole piece red three times.  Yes I drank some cappuccinos in the middle and I did not clean the house.

painting with chalk paint

how to chalk paint - make your own

I taped out the drawers, leaving the part exposed I wanted silver and put the glue down for the silver leaf.  I wait about 20-30 minutes or until it is tacky.  I work in sections

I put the silver leaf on with a soft brush and my hands.

how to silver leaf

I put a clear coat of polyurethane over the whole piece lightly over the silver leaf to not dull the gleam too much.

I let it sit a day to make sure everything was dry.

Then I took oil color raw umber (my favorite) and mixed it with turpentine and a dry brush to lightly brush over the commode to darken it up and make it look more used and antique.

When I silver leafed the drawer pulls I intentionally used the glue only in parts to make it irregular.

What do you think?  Isn't SHE a pretty macho girl?

Natalie

I'm linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
French Country Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed
http://romantichome.blogspot.com

Serious Fixer- Upper and Villa Dreaming

villa in Umbria

Here goes Nat again dreaming of a Fixer-Upper.  I don’t really want this house because if it were mine I would have to become a soccer Mom.  One of those Moms that has to drive the kids to all parts of the world.  I’m much better on my bike for the quick drop off.

But wait... there is so much potential in this house and it wants to be loved.   Dream along with me just for the moment … because it is SUMMER and summer is for dreaming.

potential like crazy

In the garden I would have a ladder garden with Morning Glories, and Sweet Peas, climbing all over seven ladders painted in shades of blue and purple.  Then in the winter it would just be the structures.  A simple stone maze laid out on the ground in a design of river stones and Lobelia.  In the center of the maze there would be a French set of curvy metal garden chairs and a table to have a cappuccino or 2.

Inside – oh my I always had the dream to have different rooms designated for different activities.  There would be a studio for me (certainly with southern access light) a music, art and study room for the girls.  We would have two guest rooms for the endless flow of guests and family.  There would be a movie room.  There would be a library room with wall to wall books and a cozy couch and big chair in velvet and linen slip covers for the summer and spring.  The kitchen would be intimate enough to hang out in and bake all the time.

pink, gray. red- what color is it?

Elisa would get a puppy.

I might even have a small room with lock and key with gorgeous painted walls in motif and some splendid photographs in black and white.  Then at times I would go in that room with a cup of something steamy hot or icy cold and I would sit in the a big chair and stare at the walls and photographs and then when I came back out I would be recharged and ready to kick it!!  The girls would say yah we have a new Mama and Alfredo might even at times beg me to go to the lock and key room.  He would say “dai solo dieci mininuti vai!”

or is this villa orange?

wine cellar or work shop or
retail shop filled with gorgeous furniture?

The walls I would do in hot colors, oranges, pinks, kiwi greens, shades of blue, Venetian stucco with motif, gold leaf, tinted waxes, pearl and bronze, rich brown.  Then there would also be a section of the house that was white and grey for a simple refreshing contrast.  I would go crazy painting and restoring the old doors.

for sitting under the rain

The terrace would be crawling with Bougainvilleas and Hydrangeas in vases.  I would have parties where we served cocktails or mulled wine or even just hot tea.

color inspiration red-orange with ochre and pink

here's a lesion for you shabby chic freakers study up!

Then I would have enough money so that once a week a little team of MEN would come and clean the whole house in two hours flat “in out no one gets hurt”.

hangin out on the steps..  wait are we in Brooklyn?

If you had a fixer-upper what strange dreamy space would you create?  I give you permission to think out of the box, because it is SUMMERTIME.

dreaming

With affection

Natalie

Chalk Painted Chest

chalk painted chest

Hello everyone!  I disappeared because my computer stopped working or letting me work.  Having a Macintosh computer in Italy is like… well it is like being a barefoot California girl in cut-off Levis, when everyone else is in 3-inch heels and has straightened hair.  The fight between Mac and PC, it’s going on over here too, isn’t that insane except no one has Mac unless it is a phone.

I learned something fun recently from a very lovely stylish client of mine who owns one of my favorite café’s in town.  She taught me, you can just buy the metal bolts that go on to furniture in stripes.  This is what they look like.

distressed faux finish

Nailhead Trim

Then you just line up the stripe and hammer in a bolt every 5^th bolt and thus pinning the stripe down.  It makes me think there are so many other projects I could use these for, upholstering a chair, making numbers on a door inside or out, one big SEVEN for example could be way cool, because seven is hip.  Man, I think they would be fun to do on a wall also.  Does anyone out there know what these bolts are really called in English, it isn’t rivet is it? (the answer seems to be nailhead trim)

Here’s what the chest looked like before.  I made my own chalk paint by adding powdered stucco sifted into a small bucket of taupe colored flat paint. I used about two tablespoons of stucco and mixed it really well.  It thickened up very quickly so I am thinking that the Plaster of Paris homemade chalk paint recipe might work better.  I haven’t found Plaster of Paris over here in Italy yet.

the before shot

The good thing about Chalk Paint is it covers everything and it was easy to sponge off in areas to antique the chest and let the wood come through.  After it was painted I wiped over it with a hard dried out sponge to make the surfaces smooth.

The ball gown was one of my mother’s that she wore when she was 18.  It has a twelve ft. long satin shall that goes with it.  When I was young I used to put it on and stand over the kitchen heater that was on the floor and blew up warm air, the gown became huge like a hoop skirt.  I am slowly doing a photo essay of photographing all the girls in the family in this dress.  It is quite lovely.

chalk paint and satin gotta love it!

Cheers,

Natalie

I'm linking with:

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com

French Country Cottage

Romantic Home

Miss Mustard Seed

Between Naps on the Porch

Gold and Silver Leaf Tutorial

This is a really fun post because there are so many phases of this little table project that I feel are nice just left where they are.  Knowing when to stop is key for whatever you are doing.  When I was in Art School in NYC I was the one others came to, for me to critique their artwork and to tell them when to stop working.

My plan here and remember plans make us happy, was to do some silver leaf and then distress it.  Leaf comes in silver, gold and copper.

I started by painting this table gray with acrylic paint.  I already liked it simple as it is here, 2 coats, I let it dry many hours.

Then I painted on the silver leaf glue (water-based mission) you can get it at the art store along with the leaf packets, here in Europe they cost about 5 euros for 20 sheets.  So it is not as expensive as everyone thinks.  The glue costs about double that, but can last for years and many projects.  With the glue you must let it dry about 20-30 minutes.  It should be tacky to the touch.  You want to get the whole surface covered.  I work fast, but if you feel nervous I suggest you just do a section at a time.

I put the leaf on with an old make-up brush.  It must be a very light soft brush or it will break the leaf of silver.  I also suggest you do it outside in a non-windy place because the silver leaf gets all over and this drives me crazy.  It is impossible to clean up because it flies away and if there is a little bit of glue on it can stick to your floors.

press on with soft brush

piece them together

If the gray paint surface coming threw bugs you, just add more leaf on top, either right away or with more glue and time.

I think it looks gorgeous without the distressing, modern and clean.

silver leaf modern look

Then I mixed raw-umber oil paint with a tiny bit of flax oil (olio di lino). But you can also dilute it with turpentine, just a tiny bit either way.  I used a dry brush and first brushed off the oil paint on a piece of wood.  

don't get too much on the brush

Then I brush it on the silver leaf and wipe it off (soft cotton cloth) where it is too much.  The more you work the surface the less brilliant the leaf will be.   I brushed over the legs of the table too.

antiquing - dry brush in oil paint

In theory I should have waited a few days for the oil color to dry.  I put on a coat of clear finish, water-based polyurethane soon after, before the oil paint had dried.  I’m not too good about having patience and I like a little risk, if it was a big piece or for a client I wouldn’t have risked it.

So I styled the photo of this table bold and intellectual and feminine and romantic.  Which way do you like it best? 

This book is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
it is supposed to be great

silver leaf table

Sweet regards,

Natalie 

I'm linking with these lovely parties:

Romantic Home

French Country Cottage

Miss Mustard Seed

Between Naps on the Porch

The Shabby Creek Cottage

               

Painting A Shutter

outside my balcony is a river the flows to Rome

I wanted to change the space by my balcony now that it is spring.  It has been a long rainy winter here in Umbria and the humidity was too much in the space.  I had to take everything away from the wall.  I live in a Gothic Palazzo with two feet thick stone walls, many of which are facing north and get little direct sun.  Plus there was no sun!

I had a lot of fun these days, because I cut loose and painted a woman in vines on this inner shutter.  Recently I am really caught up in vines.  Anyone out there feel like they are interlaced in vines?  It isn’t a good feeling, but I will spare you the difficulties of my life.  I wanted to make my woman in vines seem like she was hidden behind an old Venetian stucco wall.

here' my girl in vines

Here is the space before and also the shutter before.

the space before

the inner shutter before

Now I can use the space, have a cup of tea and write in my diary, breath in the smell of the spring flowers and rest assured that I will work my way out of the vines and into the garden of my future.

I love the roses with the mixed motif

detail

Cheers.

Natalie

I am linking to:

Between Naps on the Porch
Mod Vintage Life
Sumos Sweet Stuff
Cozy Little House