Sometimes I feel I'll never get this table done! Here is the final step before I can call it done and set it on the ground (off the card table it is currently elevated on so I can work on it eye level) and use it for breakfast, reading or more likely, a cat perch in the window. Gold leaf details. I bought the faux nailhead trim from doityourselfchic.com - it comes white, flexible and ready to mold on to your project. Zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it and then glue it on. I first painted the areas to be gilded with a yellow ochre primer used in gold leafing. The gold leaf I am using is the composite leaf which is more affordable. But since it is not all gold, it will tarnish over time unless coated with a lacquer. All you do is coat the surface you want gold leafed with a quick sizing glue - let it dry for an hour or so and then apply the leaf. The photo I took was before I had a chance to smooth the leaf out so it looks rough. Once dry, take a brush and gently sweep away the loose gold that did not adhere to sizing and smooth down what is left and you're left with a little gilded glam on your piece. I love Swedish Gustavian design and a piece of white furniture with a little gilded detail on it speaks to me and I offer it up as my own version of Gustavian.
I am in the mood for Christmas and the handmade gift making has begun. I promised I'd post a free template Thursday of this week - well, I'm a day early because the potluck I thought I was going to this Friday was actually for Thursday. So here it is, a day early. I included a couple of free patterned cones too in case you liked them. Simply download the template I provide here, copying it off to a size you prefer. Print it on to a piece of patterned paper you buy from a craft/art shop or add your own pattern if you are more graphically inclined. I use 80# silk laid card stock from Wausau Paper in bright white - but you can print it on to anything you can get to go through your own printer. There are very faint scoring guidelines outside the main blue dieline from the bottom point going up to the left and right. Score these two lines and fold outward - it forms a flap which you can either hole punch and tie together for a looser cone or glue first, then hole punch and tie a ribbon through for a tighter hold. I edged mine in a gold pen - use silver, bronze, colored or none - whatever you prefer. You might even want to glitter part of your image if you print the template on to your own patterned paper. Fill them with candies, small gifts or whatever you prefer. The template can be used for other holidays and occasions too such as birthdays, Valentines Day, wedding showers, Halloween, etc. Have fun with it!!
I haven't had much time to finish and post updates of some projects I have been working on. With most my coworkers now laid off and myself taking over several jobs, glad to still be employed but also down in the dumps about all my friends and their uncertain fates, (and mine as well) has kind of zapped my energy for awhile. Rain and cooler weather has moved into Seattle - fall is here. I am happy about that because I love to nest and nothing is more comforting to me then a warm fire, hot tea and a good book or decorating magazine in the evening. But that meant my work canopy outside has had to come down until next spring.
I have been continuing work on my painted furniture. I had posted my round breakfast table earlier in the summer season. It was pretty unexciting and drab, although the perfect size for where I wanted to use it. It had to have a make-over in order to live in Elinor Cottage.
It's not quite there yet but here it is, mid-stage. I base coated it "Cottage Linen White" by Waverly and then added some color with "Atmosphere Blue" by Restoration Hardware.
Here it is, sitting atop my work table in the corner of the LR where it will eventually sit once done. I do not have a garage to work in and my art studio is up a narrow 30" stair so taking the table up there is not an option. It will have to be finished in place, I'm afraid!
Now the time consuming part begins - gold leaf detailing.
I have red arrowed the areas that will receive gold leaf. The beaded detail is a flexible plastic accent you can find at doityourselfchic.com The architectural accents just glue on and are ready to be primed/painted. In this case I am priming the trim with an ochre tinted base and will then gold leaf over that.
The gold leaf is actually a composite because it's more affordable at $7 per pack of 5" sheets then real gold leaf at $38 per 3" pack. As long as I lacquer over it, it will not tarnish. I use a water-based lacquer called "Crystalfin" which I buy at Dalys here in Seattle. It wears hard as nails. I already base coated most of the table with it except for the areas I have to add gold leaf. They will get a coat after I'm done with them. "Crystalfin" comes in matte, satin, semi-gloss or hi-gloss. It's a wonderful product. I first saw it used to protect a hardwood floor.
Stay tuned later on for the finished project!
