This has been one of my favorite pieces I’ve painted.  I really wish I would have had room in my house to keep it, but it sold very quickly.  I’m so happy it sold to a family who had adopted several kids and wanted it to put in a bedroom, but once the lady saw it, she was going to display it in one of her main rooms instead to show it off.  Here it is in all its glory but since I recently was asked how I did this, I am going to show you some steps on how it came to be.  

I put off doing anything with it for months because I wasn’t looking forward to trying to paint inside those little cubbies on the hutch.  I even sold it to a painting friend because I wanted it out of my living room.  But then….I ran across a post from a lady describing how she had painted a desk using the dry brush technique.  And, wow!!!! It was the same exact desk I had.  They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but I did show her what I had done when finished.  She loved it!  She laughed and said she thought it was her piece at first.  So I thank her sincerely for the inspiration to try something like this as I never had attempted anything like it.  It was time I bought my desk and hutch back from my friend. I was sure glad she still had it. : )

Here you have the original desk and hutch.

As you can see, it is your standard oak.  The desk even had a hard laminate type top.  No problem.  It was time to start.

Proper preparation is very important.  I cleaned the whole thing thoroughly.  We usually use a spray container of a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water or 50/50 alcohol and water then clean and rinse well and let dry.  I then scuffed up the whole thing by hand with just 220 sandpaper, just to rough it up a little.  No major sanding need.  Cleaned again.

I took out the drawers and decided it would be easier to take the back off the hutch to paint it.  When we did, what do you know?  All those little cubbie slats came out!  The hutch ended up being a breeze to paint, too.

The drawers I painted with a couple of coats of a light turquoise with the paint we sell and use called Missouri Limestone Paint Company and the color is “Front Porch”.  Love the name.  Doesn’t it remind you of the color of the slats on the ceilings of the old farmhouse porches?  I distressed the drawers a little, too.  I even painted the cute little knobs I found at a yard sale and the wooden part of the handle with the color “Harvest Pumpkin”.  I did seal those with poly. The drawers have a slightly gray shading to them.  I did that by rubbing them with very fine steel wool.  That really makes a nice look.

I did a little video at the time to show how to dry brush, using the color “January”.  In this case, I wanted some of the oak showing through.  The big thing is not to have too much paint on your brush and then dab most of it off.  Fair warning – this video is in no way professional.  And yes, I sometimes paint in my dining room.  I have severe garage envy.

This hutch also had a corkboard.  I painted it with a coat of Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac first to keep the paint from soaking in too much, then painted a couple of coats of “Front Porch”.  I used a little of the “Front Porch” to get into the grooves of the detail on the top of the hutch.

I painted a chair with “Front Porch” and distressed it after the paint dried with a slightly damp scrubber sponge.  Used the scrubber to distress, then the sponge to wipe clean.

I sealed the whole piece with several coats of wax.  We use toulene-free Briwax.

I hope this tutorial inspires you to dry dry brushing.  It is very easy to do, and the results can be spectacular.  I have a few more photos of the process for you to enjoy.

Painting the corkboard

Painting the cubbie slats and bottom

Hutch without the back

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Today I found out that maybe, just maybe, I might become an artist after all.  You know…kind of like Grandma Moses who started painting in earnest at the age of 78. The month I go on Medicare I find out I can actually come up with a piece of art on my own….visualizing something in my head and having it actually become a piece of art before my eyes.  What a rush!  But, before I quit my day job (retirement)….ok and teaching online part time and painting and selling furniture and pieces of art I create, I confess I was inspired by a technique I learned from an excellent video I saw in one of my painting groups. But, hey! Let me have my moment.  I usually have to see something someone else does and be inspired by it and then create what I’ve seen done. Yes, I am usually a follower.  Today, I “moved to the front of the line”, if only for a moment, and it felt great!

Now that you know I am this famous artist, I’m going to show you how I learned this awesome technique of creating rust with paint and cinnamon. Yes, cinnamon!  It is really pretty amazing and so much fun to do.

First things first:  You have to watch this awesome, awesome, awesome video tutorial on how to create rust by Fiona Debell.  This lady is very talented and I love that she shares her talent.  Otherwise, I would have never known I could be an artist, even if it is for just one project.  So, here is the video, linked here with Fiona’s permission.  https://www.facebook.com/fiona.marie21/videos/10155133360103787/ 

So how did I become an artist today?  It was an accident.  After watching Fiona’s video, I thought I would practice her technique.   I was also inspired by a wonderful lady who is on several of my painting groups and uses this technique on clocks she makes.  Thank you Carla Abbie Shaw of Catalyst Creations!

I was in Dollar Tree and I saw these neat square pictures labeled Wall Art on the back and all encased in plastic.  I thought the art must be a thin piece of wood or heavy cardboard so thought that would be good for practice, so I bought one.  When I got home and removed the plastic, I saw it was actually a picture frame and the wall art was a piece of paper.  Hmmm…I wondered if it would be possible to use this technique on glass?  Now, I know that glass is a pretty slick surface for paint, but Fiona did show that once dry, the paint she used was hard as a rock and didn’t scratch off, but still, I wasn’t sure about glass. Since I was experimenting, 
I decided to give the glass a little grip and sprayed it with Zinsser spray shellac.  I honestly don’t know if the shellac made a difference or not, but the paint I used became as hard as a rock on the glass and doesn’t scratch off, so I’m not taking any chances and will use Zinsser on future pieces.  

Supplies:

*Square Picture frame (Wall Art) from Dollar Tree – Size 10″ x 10″

*Chalk paint – I sell a brand of chalk paint so naturally I used my brand which is Missouri Limestone Paint.  I used “Coal Shovel” (black), “River Bottom Dirt” (brown) and “January” (white).

*The magic ingredient to get good texture – I used a powdered limestone I bought on Amazon. See photo in the Step Section below.

*Cinnamon – yes, the kind you use in your food.  The plus side of this is your project starts smelling really nice.  You might get hungry at this point.

*Stencil of Missouri – I found a free Silhouette cut file online.  I resized it to about 6.5 W and 7.75 H.  Here’s the link to the state file.  They have one for every state.

*220 Sandpaper for very, very light sanding on the map

*Furniture Wax – clear and dark

Process:

Step 1:  Mix the powdered limestone with the black and brown paint until you get it so thick you can put it on the glass pane with the stir sticks.  I know it is hard to see but the pane of glass is lying on the tablecloth with some of the paint on it.  

Step 2:  Add a little black and then a little brown and blend them together.  You’ll still want some of the brown showing but you don’t want to see two distinct colors, you want them to blend.  Dab around until you like the look you get.  Save any leftovers of this and some “January” to dry brush the frame later.

Step 3: You are now going to sprinkle a little cinnamon over your wet textured paint, probably a little more on the edges, where you would see more rust. Kind of stand the pane of glass up and tap the back so any loose cinnamon will fall off.  Don’t disturb the rest.

Step 4:  Let dry.  The drying process will take awhile as your paint is so thick.  I let mine dry overnight.  Just like with Fiona’s brand of paint and texture medium, mine was as hard as a rock when dry.

Step 6:  I also dry brushed the picture frame with the white and left over black and brown texture material until I got the look I wanted.

Step 7: I used a little 220 sandpaper and lightly distressed the map a bit…Very light.

Step 8:  I used clear wax over the whole thing, and then the dark wax.  The dark wax is what gives the map that rustic look.  It really is hard to remember this beautiful piece of art started out as a pane of glass in a picture frame.

My experiment became my first piece of art I created. If you make one, please add a photo of your project to the Comments below.  I’d love to see how others turn out. Thanks!

Final Reveal:  Rusty Missouri Glass

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Sweet Serendipity is one of my favorite sites to follow. She is always creating beautiful one of a kind pieces of furniture. Most of all, she is so good at sharing techniques of how she does it. This is one of my favorite pieces she’s done lately. She based it on the children’s book, “Alice in Wonderland” and as I teacher, it really spoke to me. She was kind enough to share in this tutorial how she created it. Enjoy!

You’re not mad, you say??? “You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”……  Click on the link below to view the tutorial.

Source: We’re All A Little Mad…

Sweet Serendipity can also be found on Facebook

See previous Tips of the Week here.

TIP OF THE WEEK:  April 28, 2017 –  Did you know?  You can make your own drawer knobs.

It has been awhile since my last tip.  Sorry.  I’ve been a little busy with Easter, grands, and painting.  But this tip got me back in the saddle again, so to speak.

I have pretty much been obsessing all day today about drawer knobs.  I started my latest painting project last night – a 13 drawer chest.  Yes 13 drawers!  I couldn’t wait to start on this and have been thinking about drawer knobs and pulls for several weeks now.

Here’s a little sneak peek of my beauty in progress.

Before:

Stain/Painted Drawers:  Different pastel hues

But back to my obsession.  13 drawer = 23 knobs.  I thought at first I would like handles, but that just didn’t seem right, plus I didn’t want plugged holes and didn’t want to drill new ones.  So, then I moved onto – glass knobs.  I wanted something light and possibly beachy looking (rather than boring old wooden knobs).  However, I’m cheap and didn’t want to pay more than $1 for them and I wanted them NOW.  Did I also mention I’m IMPATIENT when I want something?

So, I went to my friendly facebook group on painting furniture (Painted Furniture Before and After Questions and Answers).  That name about says it all, doesn’t it?  If you are a painter of furniture, you really should join this group.  It is very helpful.  I think there were over 50 posts back and forth over my question on where to buy cheap glass knobs.  Lots of ideas and inspiration was shared – so much so I started rethinking what I wanted.  Someone mentioned Sea Glass spray paint.  That was a great idea.  I’ve heard of that.  Then I wondered if it would work on porcelain knobs because I had quite a few of them.  Not enough, but could get more cheaper than glass.  But I still wasn’t entirely sold on that idea.  In the back of my mind, I’m thinking that I’ve seen actual (or fake) sea glass pieces.  So now my obsession is moving toward that idea.  I couldn’t see myself gluing sea glass to the top of a wooden knob, though.  So, I was stuck there for awhile.

I went back to painting drawers and all the while I’m looking around the shop area thinking what could you use for a bottom so that a screw would go into it.  Of course, nothing jumped out at me.  So, it was back to Google.

I think I started searching using sea glass spray paint on porcelain knobs and saw a link that said “make your own drawer knobs” so I tried that.  The big Pinterest pic showed a decoupage look on a wooden knob so I didn’t go there (yet).  I just started scrolling down.  Wow!  I hit the drawer knob jackpot.  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/527413806331630014/

But there it was – Make your own Drawer Knobs.  I clicked on the link and what do you know…..you can use something to make the bottom of a drawer pull. Here’s the link to the website:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/337840409518371097/

The piece you need is called in hardware terms, a connector nut or connector cap.  Who knew?

So, for now, my obsession is on finding these connector caps and seeing how expensive they are and maybe buying some pieces of real (or fake) sea glass.  Or maybe check more into the sea glass spray paint.

Decisions.  Does everyone obsess over something so simple as drawer knobs when painting?  If so, I hope I have helped you in your search.  I saw this meme the other day in one of my groups.  I’m sorry I don’t know if the person cited is the original creator or not, but it is perfect.  I think it sums up my feelings about all this redefining furniture and turning it into one of a kind “masterpieces.”