Harlequin Romance Table

Good morning Folks!

It is definitely feeling like fall now. We turned the heat on a little bit, to take the chill out of the air, it's raining and the wind is blowing, bringing down a considerable amount of leaves with it. Time to put the flip flops away and start wearing long pants, sigh! (On the plus side, I don't have to shave my legs so often, teehee!)

I found this little art deco demi-lune table at a garage sale for a song:

I painted it with ASCP Country Grey, followed by the clear wax, but I thought it needed a little something something. I had just found this Inka Gold gilding wax at a local craft store, which I bought in three colours: Old Silver, Gold and Old Gold. I was dying to try it and I had to think of a way to make this little table a little more glam.

This is what I came up with, diamonds set in a harlequin pattern:

It was easy to do. I started by putting one piece of tape in a carefully angled way, then I used another piece of tape as a spacer between each piece of tape. Then, I crisscrossed the other way.

I applied the wax with a soft cloth. I used the Old Silver, which has a gold undertone that makes it rich looking. This wax is like any other wax: you let it dry and then you buff with a soft cloth. Easy peasy and the results are beautiful! I like the fact that it offers a nice, subtle contrast.

This table is now for sale at Rustic and Refined Interiors.

*******

P.S. - Stay tuned: I will be having my first giveaway shortly! It's a good one!

********

Linking up to the following parties:



Ivy and Elephants




Potpourri Friday at 2805

Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Petite table demi-lune de Paris de couleur Versailles

Most of you don't speak French. At least you don't think you do, but I bet you can make out what my title says!

I bought this little demi-lune table at a garage sale. It was wobbly and blah. I forgot to take a before picture, but trust me, it was blah. I used Gorilla glue to stabilize it, then painted it with ASCP Versailles. Such a lovely cottage chic colour, I love it!

I really wanted a graphic on it. Something French. We are going to Paris in a few weeks, so I'm really in a Paris state of mind. I picked this lovely design from The Graphic Fairy and tried to transfer it using the wax paper method.

It failed. Miserably. Everybody else on the blogosphere has used this method successfully, except me it seems. It got all smeared.

I painted over it.

I then tried the CitraSolv method. Found some CitraSolv by miracle at my local grocery store. The @*$*&@ spray nozzle on the bottle broke. Had to use a paper towel to apply. That method too failed miserably. It just made a mess. Gaaaah.

I painted over it.

I then decided to just use the tried and true graphite transfer method and then going over with a Sharpie.  I opted for a different, less detailed graphic. A laurel wreath with the word Paris in the centre. Lovely. I copy the image with the graphite paper, go over it with my Sharpie. Success, it looks lovely!! At that point, I'm really tired, it's late at night, I go to bed.

The next day I look at it. It's totally off centre. Duuuh. For a split second, I think to myself, just leave it, nobody will notice. As if on cue, my husband walks in, looks at it and says "It's off centre." Thanks honey. Captain Obvious. Meh, who am I kidding, I can't live with it.

Soooooo, I sanded it down and, you guessed it, I painted over it.

This time, I redo my transfer being careful to centre it well. And it works. It pays to be persistent and pig-headed. I distress it and seal it with clear and dark waxes. I tell you, the road to beauty is paved with all sorts of obstacles, but I'm finally happy with it:

See? Well centered graphic.

I should really sell this table $500 just to make up for my labour, but it's not fair to charge people for my, hum, shall we say, lack of savoir-faire? I'm learning, folks, I'm learning!


Nicole



I'm linking up to:

http://missmustardseed.com/2012/07/furniture-feature-friday-link-party-favorites-3/