Aged paint finish on the salon walls

7 days and 7 coats of paint later, including several washes and some sponging, I think the salon walls are pretty much as they need to be although I might try an almost transparent wash of gloss medium and light green to counter the slightly too flat/chalky finish. The variations are fairly subtle so I hope you can see they actually are there, but then that is the idea really, if they were too obvious I would have totally failed. It should look aged but not like several different painters, all with different paint pots, have been let loose after entirely too much red wine! 

Next step is reconstructing the room and decorating it - yay! the fun bit at last - I can get all sorts of delicious bits and pieces out of their boxes and into their 'home'.  

Sharing the Facebook 5 day Art Challenge - Day 2

I've been nominated by Frederica @ Frederica's Little World and Lorraine @ Fairy Meadow Miniatures to participate in the Facebook Art Challenge showing 3 pictures each day for 5 days and in turn nominate another artist to do the same - today I nominate Mely Giunta.

Paint, patina and ageing isn't just for furniture,

it's also for old Parisian kitchens 

and hallways that are having problems with damp

...

and flower pots, and angels, and old bistro chairs

Basket by Lidi Stroud

French kitchen and dining reveal

At last!!  The light was bright but not direct sun this afternoon so at last I had the right conditions for a photo shoot, and a working internet connection to share the results - yipee!

There are still some small details (including lighting) to complete but this is pretty much how la cuisine and la salle a manger will look when completely finished. 

la cuisine

 

 



 



 

 la salle à manger

 

 

 

 

These two rooms are full of wonderful gifts and purchases from fabulous friends in the miniature blogging world, specifically:

 

Kitchen

Apron - Frederica

Canisters, white jug and tiny whisk - Carrie Lavender

Floral plates in kitchen and dining - Carolyn

Colourful French jug (top shelf) - Ana

Tiny plant in yellow pot - Mercedes

Tray - Rosanna Rolla - sorry Rosanna for turning it upside-down and not noticing!

 

The retro style fridge is by Dolls House Emporium (I think no longer available). It was originally a pale peppermint green, my thanks to my son who spray painted it for me - who would have thought that Warhammer paints would be so useful for a French kitchen!.  The badge is an old Frigidaire one found on the internet.

 

Dining

 

Basket - Lidi

Table - Mercedes

Cushion - Margaret

Cafe sign - Wanda

Vintage French postcards, mail and pretty box on the floor beside the table - Linda Carswell

Chair made by me but inspiration and pattern by  Lea Frisoni

 

Many thanks to all of the above miniaturists for their special contribution to this project, and to miniature bloggers everywhere for your constant inspiration with special thanks to Lea Frisoni, the Queen of Miniature Shabby French.  

 

 

Progress in the French apartment

Making cabinets is definitely not my favourite mini activity but in order to make Emily a home I had to make her a kitchen.  Although I suspect she will spend very little time in here I decided to give her a full size cooker rather than the little bench top hotplate I was planning on. 

The cooker is made from Lea's instructions in her book Le Grand Livre de la Maison Miniature - it's inclined to be slightly too big for this tiny kitchen so I may eventually remake it downsizing it slightly.  However it doesn't look quite as large in reality as it does in this photo, I think it's 'grown' slightly because it's closest to the camera.

You might recognise the flooring - it was originally in the hallway (see post of 8 May below) but I decided it was too 'informal' for that space, after all this hallway provides access to the salon - so it now has a slightly more formal looking floor ...

I probably would have left the wooden flooring had this been a country house but although this is an unpretentious and very time worn property it is still Parisian and there are some standards which one must uphold ;)

By the way, that door is not the salon entrance, it is a linen storage cupboard, or perhaps a doorway to a secret room, whatever your imagination desires.

I've been playing in the French house

Part of the first floor hallway

By the end of the month Emily may actually have somewhere to live!

Pretty skirt by Susanne at Miniature Dreams

click here to visit her online boutique

 'Petite Brocante'

and here to visit her Etsy Store

'Petite Brocante Minis' 

My giveaway surprise prizes revealed

This is the 'surprise package' that the winner of my recent giveaway, Jennybee, received: an aged table and cupid with a little set of mini mail as well as the set of doilies.  

The mini mail was included for everyone who won the doiley sets (I didn't realise until I saw this photo that I'd forgotten to 'age' the edges of the envelope and postcards!).  The tiny photo in the envelope is of my mother as a young girl.  She's now becoming a bit famous in the mini world - oh how she would blush at the thought.

A few of you have noticed that I haven't been very active around Blogland for a while - I've got quite a lot of non-mini projects going on at the moment which are taking my time and attention but I hope to see more of what you're all doing soon - as well as get back to doing some mini work myself!

My 'guilty secret' is that the dollhouse for the little girls hasn't progressed beyond what you see on the post of 25 January :(   If I don't get busy on that again very soon it'll be lucky to be delivered by NEXT Christmas!  I hope I'll be back shortly with some progress to show you :)

And lastly a note to say 'HI' to new Followers, thanks for dropping by!  

Have I lost my mind? (This post now has an unfortunate postscript)

This isn't a mini, it's a "standard human size" old, battered cabinet with a bin. Clearly it's seen better days but I love it. It was rescued from the workshop of an old house that my cousin has just bought. She was with me when I bought the old sideboard (below) that is now in the New Zealand cottage bathroom after some repair and painting so she knew that it would appeal to me.

I won't be painting the old green cabinet though, it's great just as it is, well I think so anyway although there are others, perhaps saner than I, who do not agree. 

The green cabinet isn't the only thing she rescued from the old house - she just managed to get this old chest of drawers out of the clutches of her husband who was going to chop it up for firewood!

There will definitely be some 'upcycling' work to do here - for a start only two of the handles are intact, but it's generally in good condition (look at the beautifully shaped kickboard!) and it looks to be just the right size for the cottage upstairs bedroom, perhaps replacing the bookshelf in the corner...

Thank you Dot for coming to the rescue and saving these beauties for your perhaps slightly insane cousin :)  I won't get to see them 'in the flesh' until our summer visit which is some months away - I hope she can keep Trevor and his axe away from them until then!!

Postscript

I just heard that the old bin is no more :( 

It disintegrated when it was moved so my love affair with it has been somewhat shortlived.  It wasn't in the dry workshop with the chest of drawers but in a laundry and had been damaged by the damp, unfortunately that didn't become apparent until they went to move it.  Oh well, it is the demise of many of these old pieces that makes the ones that survive all the more valuable - there must be another one out there somewhere...

Creating a weathered look on exterior paintwork

No pretty pictures for this post which is an extract from the "Complete Dollhouse Building Book" published in 1982. 

I made these notes many years ago from a copy in the public library of my hometown in New Zealand and they've been tucked away in the back of one of my dollhouse 'how-to' books ever since.  Susan's (Tabitha Corsica) recent comment about removing coats of acrylic  from painted miniatures using acetone reminded me about it and I thought some of you may find it useful. Please note that I've never tried it so I don't guarantee the results nor recommend the method as such - I'm just sharing the information as I have it.

FOR "WEATHERED" PAINTWORK

Materials: water based house paint (NOT artist acrylic), linseed oil, buffing cloths, extra fine black sandpaper, paste wax, oil based wood stains (grey, blue and brown), brushes.

1   Paint house, including doors and windows (these may be stained).  Allow to dry completely.

2  Rub a small amount of linseed oil over the entire surface using the buffing cloth - some painted surfaces may fade a little.

3  Decide on areas to be weathered.  Apply grey stain with same buffing cloth. Rub into wood.  Follow with brown and blue stains - overlap in some areas to create intensity and visual dimension.

4  As stains soak in lightly rub some areas (eg sections of window frames and doors - as well as walls themselves) with slightly wet sandpaper so portions of original wood show through.  Apply another light coat of oil over exposed areas and reapply small amount of stain, rubbing well into wood.  ALLOW TO DRY THOROUGHLY - BEST TO LEAVE IT FOR A FEW DAYS.

5  Repeat process in areas where not enough.  In areas where too much sand lightly and start again, beginning by painting raw wood.

6  As a final step apply paste wax to areas chosen for greatest weathering.  Now buff smooth, will look as if wind has worn away some of the wood. 

If anyone tries it maybe you could let me know what you think.

Source acknowledgement: "Complete Dollhouse Building Book" (1982), Faulk and Griek (ISBN 0-672-52339-6).  (I did email Kathryn Faulk who I believe many be one of the authors seeking permission to publish this extract about 10 days ago.  I have had no reply as at the date of publishing this post.  This post will be removed if any objection from either the authors or publishers is received).

Playing with patina "DIY" from ultra grunge to prettyish

The finish on these doors is my attempt at patina similar to the real cabinet in a previous post (two below this one).  Reproducing the aged finish on these doors was a bit of a challenge as they'd already been painted - originally dark green and then repainted in dark French grey.  The first challenge was to cover the grey with a colour resembling raw wood, that was achieved with a mix of acrylic paint and wood stain.  After that was dry it was covered with a thick coat of crackle medium which was left overnight to dry thoroughly.  The top coat is a very pale grey, almost white.  When that was dry on the surface, but not thoroughly right through, it was rubbed over with a damp cloth.  In some cases the paint was almost removed, in others just the surface, and some places not at all.  The same technique was used on the bench plus a coat of 'dirty wash' (a mix of mostly water with a little black acrylic paint added). The staining on the 'plaster' wall was done with fairly strong coffee - you might recognise the wall and floor- it's the brocante, but not as clean looking as you've seen it before :)

 

Like most budget 'ready-made' furniture this chair started life stained and varnished.  OK for some settings but of course I couldn't resist getting out the paint brush and giving it a bit of grunge/age.  It was first sanded a bit then had a couple of coats of gesso followed by a few coats of light cream and then a thinnish grey wash.  Wear spots were sanded then it got a 'dirty wash' made from a little dark brown stain and lots of water.

The cutlery tray is balsa lightly stained with a thin solution of a water based wood stain (before putting a water based stain onto a piece that has been glued together with a water based adhesive wait until the glue is well and truly dry or it will fall to pieces!  -  I found that out the hard way). This does raise the grain a bit but since we're looking for an aged look, not perfection, I don't think it matters.  I guess you could give it a light sand if you want. It was then painted with French grey acrylic paint thinned with quite a bit of water (which will tend to raise the grain again so I suggest you just relax and live with it). A slightly thicker coat was added here and there to get 'grading' of colour which imitates uneven wear of the painted finish. 

The stain on the back is fairly random. Extra dirty wash was 'painted' along the top where it settles into the valleys and then runs out and down the back.

Something a little prettier, the desk is another piece purchased already stained and varnished, it was treated in a similar way to the chair above but without the grey wash.  This chair originally had a pine-look seat and dark green back.  After a light sanding it was painted with a 2-3 of coats of dark brown followed by several coats of light green, each one a slightly different shade, then sanded at wear points and finished with the dark wood stain 'dirty wash'.  I'm not sure if it will stay this colour or get a few coats of grey wash.  

The roses are cheap ribbon roses, I'm sure you've seen bunches of them in craft supply stores.  The original colour was a very bright pink.  They've been painted with a thick coat of gesso, it soaks into the ribbon in a random way giving nice uneven shading.  I think these make nice big shabby roses to add a little colour here and there. The basket was a natural colour that I covered with gesso.   You've probably guessed by now that gesso is a favourite of mine! 

I hope this will encourage a few of you to play with some 'cheap and cheerful' purchased or handmade pieces to create an individual look.  They don't have to be grunged/aged as much as some of these, just go for colours and finishes that will suit your settings.  Most of all just have fun! 

~left click the pics to enlarge ~

The white journal on the desk is by Glenda at Peppercorn Minis - she makes them in various sizes and colours to suit different settings and scales, she sells them in her Etsy store (linked on her blog) for a very reasonable price.

The portrait on the desk is one of my maternal great grandfathers, 'keeping it in the family as usual :)