Birds nests

In Spring when I was working in the vineyard,sadly we had to remove the bird nests out of the vines.

 Of course I had to take a few home and the eggs and nests preserved really well.

The only thing I did was using a hairspray to keep all the straw together.

A few weeks ago I found some old picture frames with glass at the Sallies for a few dollars and decided to paint a picture of the birds nests in Shabby chic style.

I distressed and crackled the frame and let some of the colours of the frame come back in the back ground of the painting and in the eggs.

Finished painting

Details of the nest

The under painting

I found a dried up rose and I liked to put something of the end of the summer into the picture as well, so the image of the rose went into the bottom corner of the painting.
All the beginnings will end in time and then start again, the circle of life.

Little French table

This little table was bought in a second hand shop and after cleaning and sanding I painted the table white.

Next I used blue paint and mixed it with a little grey for the second colour.

When dry I sanded the table back to reveal the white colour underneath.

Most of the furniture I distress and decorate have three different layers of paint, so my last layer was grey, but I painted crackle medium on first and finished with the grey paint on top.

After the paint was dry I sanded the table and used a waterbase varnish to protect the crackled paint. The image used for the center of the table is from the Graphics Fairy website and I used the modpodge method to transfer the image onto the table.
Full instructions how to transfer images onto furniture are on the Graphics Fairy website,you will find a link to the website on my blog.
 I hand painted the flowers on the sides of the table.

The table is protected with a satin water base varnish.

I took the table to the Shabby Chic market at Beacon Hill and sold it on the market.

Shabby chic course

Terracotta pots finished with chalk paint made with plaster of paris.

Metal finished with chalk paint made with plaster of paris

Distressed paint finish.

Green paint over blue under coat and sanded back

Crackled finish
The course at Waimea is well on the way and I took some photographs of some of pieces the ladies are working on.
Chalk paint pieces, a beautiful distressed chair and crackle finish.

Gilding or applying gold leaf

Crackled heart

Wooden candle stick gilded

Gilding in progress

Partly gilded frame

Finished candle sticks

Furniture in progress

All photographs are projects done in the Shabby Chic class at Waimea College,Nelson.
Last week we tried gilding or using imitation gold leaf, by mistake I bought copper gold leaf instead of the gold. The ladies liked the copper and I must say I love the finished work.
Also the crackled wooden heart as part of a Christmas decoration looks great..

Shabby chic Crackle

The shabby chic course is well on its way. Tomorrow night I will teach how to  apply gold leaf  on smaller items or furniture pieces.
Last week the ladies tried to crackle frames and furniture. There are many products on the market, but we used PVA glue to achieve bigger cracks. The secret is not to let the glue  dry and apply the second coat of paint when the glue is tacky. Also a contrasting colour works better.
Experimenting is the key. The ladies found the process a bit scary, because you don't really know the results, but thats the exciting part.
To achieve a very fine crackling effect I like to use the Jo Sonja crackle medium brand.
You have to apply a few coats of paint and than apply the crackle medium while the paint is not cured.
Very fine cracks appear and will show up more by rubbing a darker glaze into the cracks.
The Jo Sonja product is waterbase, so no yukky fumes to inhale.
The crackled pieces can be waxed or varnished to protect.
The chair has a "shabby chic" finish and will be protected with a matt varnish.
 Again I use a waterbase varnish and let it cure well.
Tomorrow I will photograph results of the gilded items done in the course.