Often times my finishes start from inspiration... this time I saw this incredible new color from Wise Owl and this new ReDesign Transfer and I knew they both needed to share a finish together. But the color is a bit outside my normal, and a finish like this a bit outside my comfort zone honestly. But as it is, sometimes you just gotta try new things to see where it leads you. I had the finish in my head, knew what I'd be doing, I just needed to take the plunge. Now seeing it all done, I'm nervous and excited to finally share it after LOTS of sneak peeks, but hoping y'all like it. As you can see in the pics, I decided to share a bit of Maddy's earlier days with y'all for staging and hopefully show the new potential owners a way in which this can be used. Maddy's first year was full of Pooh Bear, Mickey Mouse and tiny shoes. She was a preemie, lil feet, lil clothes and adorable lil blankets. Such great memories in these things... I can only hope another family uses it to share newborn memories of their own. This new finish was started with Wise Owl Clear Primer, knowing I'd be doing distressing later. And knowing I'd be painting over the hardware, I needed to ensure the paint would adhere with no issues. Next came the base coat of Wise Owl "Isles Ave". Then this amazing new color from Wise Owl, "1987". The large flat areas on the top and side needed something extra, so I decided to add a Redesign with Prima stencil called, Italian Flourish". I Used a sea sponge and another layer of "Isles Ave" to tie it all together once the distressing started. Then next was that distressing, which brought back the "Isles Ave" in spots. Then!!! This amazing Redesign Transfer called, "Hello Baby". I cut it up into pieces and found just the right spots for each. For a top coat I decided to mix Wise Owl Matte & Satin Varnish to get just a bit more sheen, seal my paint and protect the transfers. Then came the bling! For this I used Rub & Buff "Antique Gold", brushed on gently to allow for some transparency. This gave the gold a more rose gold look and paired amazingly well with the overall finish. In the end, I'm very happy with how this turned out, although I was a bit worried thru each step... But again, sometimes you just gotta try new things! This Blog will walk through a bit more of the specifics of how, including lots of behind the scenes pics.
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Products Used;
Wise Owl Primer - Clear
Wise Owl Paint - Isles Ave & 1976
Wise Owl Varnish - Matte & Satin 50/50 mix
Cling On Brush for paint - S50 "shorty"
Cling On Brush for Varnish - F50
Redesign Transfer - Hello Baby
Redesign Stencil - Italian Flourish
Rub & Buff - Antique Gold gilding wax
If you’re interested in trying any of the Re•Design products you can find your local or online retailers here;
LOCAL https://www.redesignwithprima.com/retail-stores/
ONLINE https://www.redesignwithprima.com/online-all/
The Before
This is what I was thinking from the start... I knew layers of paint and then the something special on top of that... just glad it all came together.
Prep Work
First, Wise Owl Clear Primer. I knew I'd be distressing later in the finish and wanted only the wood and paint to come through. Their Primer is perfect for BOTH Adhesion AND Stain Blocking. For this piece I was primarily concerned with adherence since I would be painting over the hardware and hinges along with the rest of the piece.
Base Coat - Isles Ave
The base coat for this new finish is Wise Owl Isles Ave. It's a warm off white color that compliments the new warm pink/blush color for the main color of the finish, 1987. Over the darker wood I elected to do two coats, with my Cling On S50, to ensure it was complete coverage. And even though I'd be covering it up with 1987, when I did distress, I wanted to ensure the Isles Ave peeked thru. As you'll see, I painted the hinges, knobs and pulls to keep that color throughout.
Main Coat - 1987
I painted on Wise Owl 1987, again using my Cling On S50, not concerning myself with brush strokes, but not trying to go to heavy either. I painted two coats to ensure complete coverage before moving on to the next step. Again, painting over all the knobs, pulls and hinges for one complete layer of coverage for all.
ReDesign Stencil - Italian Flourish
I used a Sea Sponge for the next step adding a stencil to the larger flat areas. To tie in the base coat of Wise Owl Isles Ave, I decided to use it again for the stenciling. First I dampened the Sea Sponge to ensure it was wet, but not dripping wet. Then using a paper plate I watered down a lil of the Isles Ave and dabbed the Sea Sponge into it. Using an additive stippling technique I added the Isles Ave through the stencil. Using a Sea Sponge makes the stencil a bit less imperfect, although still showing the shapes. I like doing it this way to give the stencil a more rough look. After the stenciling is complete, I take the stencil off and go back over the covered areas gently with the Sea Sponge to fill in all those covered areas just so. I'll be adding a video to my YouTube Channel showing you exactly how I do this process. When it's complete I'll add it to the blog for you.
Distressing
Better safe the sorry, I always take my pieces outside to do the distressing. This time of year has been tricky tho here in IL... I needed a snow free warmer day to get out there and thankfully we had two where I was able to sneak this in. As you'll see in the close up pictures, the wood, brass of the hardware and the Isles Ave all got to peek back through in the end. But... I have to say, Wise Owl's Primer almost worked too good. Since i had to wait for more then a week to do the distressing the Primer had set and wasn't easy to sand through. But in the end, that's what you truly want from a good Primer when using it for adhesion.
ReDesign Transfer - Hello Baby
Oh this Transfer!!! Such an adorable set and I really couldn't wait to try it. I knew paired with Wise Owl 1987 would be great! So first I had to cut it up... took some time but worth it to have it in pieces and allow myself the opportunity to place them in spots and see what they'd look like. Initially I had them on the top too, but decided to leave it as-is with just the paint and stencil. Blue tape is great for testing out spots, allows you to move them around until you get just the right place. Since I did this before distressing, I took a picture of the final placement to look back on later when it was time to put them back on. Applying the transfer is super simple. You simply peel off the front side plastic to expose the sticky side and place it where you want. Just be sure it's the right spot as when you place it and start rubbing, it's there for good. With the backing still in place, you rub the transfer on. It takes a bit of rubbing and scratching and elbow grease sometimes... so you want take it slow. Once you've rubbed the transfer off the backing you'll want to burnish it. This means you rub it on further without the plastic backing. Some folks use super fine grade sandpaper, like a 600-800 OR I've also seen some folks use a brown paper bag. This is a key step to ensure adhesion before top coating. If you have any issues with the Transfer, where it rips a piece doesn't adhere, remember you can always paint in the missing spot. I had this happen on the Bunny for this piece and painted it in, and I doubt you could even tell if you go look. All and all Transfers are an amazing additive to a finish and ReDesign has A LOT of them to choose from, this Hello Baby is only one.
Now all attached and ready for top coat... I just love the transformation adding these made!
Top Coat - Wise Owl Varnishes
Unfortunately I didn't grab any pics of this step, but I basically mixed Wise Owl Matte & Satin Varnish to get a sheen somewhere in-between. I painted on three coats of Varnish using the mixture using a Cling On f50 brush. I normally would only do two coats to ensure the best overall coverage, but I like to add more when I have Transfers. When you add a top coat, you should do it in light coats and with that, adding an additional coat or two to ensure everything stays where they need to. I top coated the entire piece, including the hardware, paint and hinges to keep a consistent look to the finish throughout. As you'll see in the final pictures, the top coating really gave life to this amazing new Wise Owl color.
Rub & Buff - Antique Gold
Then came the BLING! This time around I tested a bunch to get the right color to go with the 1987 goodness! In the end, the Rub & Buff Antique Gold won. I just felt as tho that particular color over the 1987 gave a really beautiful Rose Gold-like look to the finish on the hardware and details carvings. My usual method is my good ole finger... but this time I decided to use a small detail art brush to get it on just right. I just felt the extra bit of control allowed me to lay the gilding wax on better. Using the same method as a finger, squirt a lil onto a blue shop towel, then brush through it until you only have a thin, small amount on your brush. then gently brush on and across the raised areas as wanted. And as you use it, the more comes off the harder you can brush. Then reapply and continue until complete.
I'm attaching a video below to help walk through how I apply Gilding Waxes.
Final Pictures - Golden Blush
2 Comments
Feb 13, 2020 8:08:50 AM
Mark DeRemer - thabk you!!! ☺️
Feb 12, 2020 8:50:55 PM
Marcy - Absolutely Stunning work !!!!