Dry Brushing Technique

Today I would like to just walk you through the process of how I paint on metal and do dry brushing.  There are a few folks I know that just cringe when they know I am going to paint on an old silver plated tray or other item. Then, there are those that do it all the time and wonder why they were not doing it sooner.  So..if you cringe, just hang in there and see the difference that a bit of paint can make and see if you feel the same.  Let me start by saying that I have a source that I go to and if an item really is worth something, I do NOT paint on it.

This is my latest thrift store find, it does have quite a bit of wear and tear damage, but I just loved the lines and the raised design on it.

When I want to paint a metal object...first, give it a good wipe down with a baby wipe and dry it off really well.  Secondly, I take it out to the garage and give it a couple light coats of Rustoleum Primer, two light coats are better than one heavy.  Walk away and let it dry overnight, just seals best when you wait.  Then, I take whatever color I want my item basecoated in and put on a couple thin coats.  In this case, I used Black Plum by Americana for my basecoat color.  While we are on color, I am also using Folk Art Aqua and Americana Titanium White (I could have used any brand for the white).

The next part will be all about the process to get the look that I want for this particular piece.  I get a really stiff brush (this one is Papillion by Artist Club and I got it online from their website) to do my dry brushing.  The brush is stiff, almost like a stenciling brush but with rounded edges, and you do NOT dip it into water before you use it.  I fill my brush with the first color, Aqua, and really work it into the brush.  Then, take it and swirl it into a circular motion on a clean paper towel and get most of the paint off.  Yes, that is what I said, take most of the paint back off.  You have to do it this way to get a nice even coat when dry brushing.   You can always add more paint, you can't take it back off.  Now, I go to the piece and start lightly, very lightly (you can get harder as you run out of color) go in a small circular motion and go over the high parts of the piece.  Now, I went ahead and went over the entire outside of this piece, it just depends on each piece as to how much I do.  As your brush gets really dry and you are not getting any paint off, go back and do the process all over again with the Aqua.

Look at all that gorgeous detail that just pops with the Teal on it!!!  I hope that yo are starting to understand why I paint silver plated stuff that really is not worth much at all.  Now, the next thing I did, was to mix a bit of white to the teal, just to come up a little lighter.  Do the entire process like you did with the Teal.  

Then, I am going to take that mix that I just used and add some white to it, and do the entire process again.  Be sure that you are letting the paint dry between each coat.

Now, I like the results that I have and will find a place for it next to my tray.  

When looking at the piece now, I really don't like the way that the base came out.  I think that I might go back in and dry brush the base with some of the Black Plum.  Then, I am going to do some of the same style stroke work that is on the tray on the inside of this piece too.  Anyway, isn't it all pretty!!!  Now, do you see why I paint on pieces that have a lot of detail?  Oh, the tray in the back was $1 at a garage sale, and the little sugar bowl was $7 at a thrift store.  Who would have thought!!!

See ya in a couple of weeks.  Hope that you all have a very blessed Christmas!!!

From Carpet to Tile

Today, I would like to show you what I have been doing in my new dining room with the floors.  This will be almost a review of a past post, but I think that you will find it useful.  Let me begin by saying that if I were a couple years older, I would not be doing this...at fifty, my body is beginning to feel the aftereffects of some of the activities that I do from day to day.

This is what my dining room looked like before, not bad, but you also are not seeing the carpet up close!

Ripping up the carpet in strips and what did I find underneath but linoleum.  So, I got to yank that up too!  Of course they had nails holding it down. so that meant more nails to pull up and more holes to fill later.

And, the backing from the old floor was glued down, so I had to peel it up.

I have blogged before about this Dawn Power Dissolver, and here I am using it again.  Water soaking the paper backing was just not doing the trick.  But spray this Dawn and wait five minutes, came right up.  Then, I just had to wet mop the chemical up.

That mess in the center, is all the backing paper that I got off the floor.  Into the trash can it goes!  Oh, let me insert a comment here real quick... Put ALL the tack strips and nails into a trash bag and then into your trash can.  If the city dumps that can and some lose nail falls out, you know it is YOUR tire that it will find.  Save yourself some time and money and just trash bag everything.  Now, my city does a front pick up every week, so the carpet and pad all went out there.  Ok, let's keep going.

See all those little white dots on the front left of the photo?  That is where they had nails before, so they had to be filled.

Failure to fill ALL holes means that your new flooring can dip down into those areas and crack over time.  Again, save yourself some time and money and just fill them now.

 They are filled, sanded, and then the entire floor gets another wet mopping to get everything up!  Then, before I lay each tile, I brush the area off with my hand.  Be sure to lotion your hands later, the brushing over the concrete will dry them out.  Oh, just to let you know, I am doing the same peel and stick tiles that I did in the art room a few months ago.  This room and that room do meet up and it makes a nice flow now.  I still have a small hall and the kitchen to go, and then it will all be finished and look much larger!!!

I bought these to go on the bottom of the table legs and the bottoms of the chair legs.  The package on the right is just some peel and stick pads, and that works fine for the table.  Those pads are not so great for chairs, they start to slide around and fall off over time.  I like the ones on the left for chairs, just hammer them in and they are fabric bottoms.  Everything now glides across the floor instead of scraping! 

Doesn't that table look small on my new floor?  Love it!!!!  And the rooms just flow together with the floors all matching.  Spills are so much easier than with that old carpet.

I have to say that I am very pleased with the results!  I am keeping an extra case of these tiles in case I should have to replace tiles down the road.  One case for three rooms and a hall should be enough.  I started with 21 cases, so I think I better get off here and go get the hall done.  See ya in a couple of weeks!!!