Feature Faux - This Week: Heavily Weathered

I've decided to start running a new feature here at the blog called Featured Faux.  (Can't guarantee how often it'll go up but hopefully weekly!)

Our first ever Featured finish option is the one in the picture (as well, it can be found on the right under the heading 'In the Studio') and I've named it Heavily Weathered.  Now some of you may be familiar with crackle finish where a crackle medium is applied to base paint and then another paint is applied on top of that.  When the cracks start to appear and spread out it really is like magic isn't it?

Well this finish option takes your standard crackle a few steps further. I add marks, mars and scars plus an overlay of glazing and scrapes and scratches to give an even more aged appearance.  Then I top it off with a finish coat of low VOC, waterborne varnish and give you a high five for making your home look so cool!

I just caught a finisher doing something similar the other night to a desk on HGTV's new show Cash & Cari and I was impressed that its apparently a finish in fashion because I've been doing it for years and love it!

A lot of you are probably looking at my sample board up there at the top of this post and thinking 'But Jenn does walls, I don't want that all over my walls its too much!' and in many instances (not all mind you!) you're probably right.  So where do I alternately suggest putting a finish like this?

How about on a smaller, more commercially accessible piece like a headboard, picture frame, bookshelf, stepstool, wall hanging or memory trunk?  Or why not let me do the trim in one room of your house where you are trying to get that cottage feel?  Even more fun, I'll tape off stripes and paint shadow lines to make this look like individual wainscot planks.

Okay, all that is great but what if you don't like this antique white over brown look and want something softer, or brighter even?  What if you're starting to gather concepts for your soon-to-be-here little girl's nursery and want something, well, girlie?  Folks, the color options are quite literally endless!  I can do a pink on pink using a soft pink overlay on a baby pink base.  Or maybe your daughter is older and wants fluorescent popping off fuchsia (like these gorgeous flowers inspire!)?  Let's talk about doing up some custom picture frames to house photos of all her best friends.

But finishes aren't just for girls!  Maybe you're a sports guy rooting for the Green Bay Packers in this year's Super Bowl and looking to get a one of a kind "mancave".  Why not have me apply this to a couple small tables where everyone puts their drinks on game day, only I'll do it in gold over green like any Cheesehead would insist on having!

Endless opportunities exist for the color and location options of this treatment!

Where would you like to see me put this in your house?  Feel free to get in touch to discuss custom orders today, all initial consultations are free and I'd be happy to work with shipping needs for any clients out of state!

Business Networking -- My New Favorite Activity!

A semi quick update today because it is already snowing and I want to try to stay ahead of the storm as much as possible where shoveling is concerned.  Not that I have a clue in hell where I'll put it all considering the mounds on our front "lawn" are already above the bottom sill of our front windows but you know, I'm giving it my best shot! 

Maybe I could faux it with my new paint sprayer to look like big mounds of sand...That's my husband in the photo tossing a shovel full of the stuff two storms ago.  Note the height of the mounds then, we have about another 6" compacted on top of them since.  We'll be buried inside pretty soon so I'm getting out while I still can!

Last night my mom, the uber talented owner of Judi FitzPatrick Studio (who by the way created my current company logo/avatar, isn't it awesome?!?) and I attended the Arlington Entrepreneurs meeting to discuss how to expand and / or increase our business lead potential by using LinkedIn.  Now I had heard of the popular networking site but didn't create a company profile until I registered for the AE seminar so it was all pretty new to me but with the help of Andy Winig and his engaging presentation we both left a little more knowledgeable about not only LinkedIn but initiating a pitch face to face!

Oh and I'd like to thank Margy from AE for pulling my name as one of the prize winners of the night.  The information is just waiting for me to dive into as soon as I'm done with this update!  Hooray for winning, i feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now to have won two great prizes in the same week!

So of course because of the meeting I've now joined LinkedIn as Chucka Stone Designs so if you're over there and want to see some more of my work or just connect business to business I'd love that!

I met some truly fantastic people last night and may even end up booking a couple jobs (and vice versa!) from the meeting, I handed out a number of business cards and received as many interesting and unique people's ventures from Life Coaching to Nutritionists and everything in between! 

Anyway, that's about the long and short of the night.  The cool thing about the AE group is you don't have to be an Arlington resident to join, you just have to run your own business and have an entrepreneurial spirit!  So if you're in the area I recommend checking them out.  I'd love to run into you at the next meeting!

Benjamin Moore Knows How to Party!

Not too long ago I professed my love for the 128 year old paint retailer Benjamin Moore.  Well after last night's Contractor Expo I think we might have a problem, I've fallen head over heels in love!  *swoon*

Last night's event, held at the Peabody Marriott, was my first ever Expo and what a grand way to enter into the world of Contractor networking, I won the grand prize raffle!  But that comes later, first let me back up and give a little more of my overall take on the good times we all shared.

I flew solo on this one and considering its just me running and working for my company that was just fine.  There were plenty of others who brought associates, friends or maybe even clients so they would have someone to talk to but I've always been comfortable enough in my own skin that I don't need a wingman for this type of stuff.  Well not when it comes to business anyway!

At first it was looking like I would be the only girl in the place but in short order a few more women filtered in.  Most were with other women so I didn't expect they would sit at my table, that was cool, I was really there for the information not to make life long friends.  Although the networking was great!  Within five minutes I learned that we got dinner and an opportunity to see the latest and greatest, not to mention a brief history on the company as well as another brief seminar on building our business for profit.

A few people came to sit up front with this shorty, and I spent most of the night talking to a couple north shore contractors and one from a little further west of the city.  All great people, and all kind of slow in their business presently.  I'm in the same boat but it is winter, traditionally a tough time for painters to source new business.  It was just comforting to know I wasn't alone.  The presentations were fantastic and we were given a booklet with specs on every type of paint or covering/coating the company offers.  THIS will come in very handy (not to mention the pen we got with it and the coupons for free product woo hoo!).

I was excited to learn so many of the paints they offer make use of the Benjamin Moore GENNEX® technology now.  As a brief on what this is -- they have patented a formula that allows their paint and tints to claim no or low VOC based on this waterborne colorant.  From their newest paint offering, Advance® (a waterborne alkyd -- no that isn't an oxymoron, I'll talk more on this another time) to their Greenest option Natura® (a virtually odorless, zero VOC paint), many of their cans fit the bill of low/no VOC and I could not be more excited!

As a finisher it is really important that the base paint be a high quality but also something that allows for proper adhesion and flow of my glazes, etc.  I have never been let down.

When we first got there we all got red tickets for the raffle and owners (like me!) got yellow tickets.  The grand prize of the night was a Graco® Airless Electric Paint Sprayer (linked below if you want to check out the specs and value) and holy crow, I WON!!  I don't know what I'll do with it but it sure opens up worlds of opportunities for different & new business that I didn't have before.

I was already loving Benny before last night but now that I'm armed with an arsenal of information to offer all kinds of different options to my clients I'm even more enamored.  Not to mention they gave us a free tee shirt, baseball cap, paint brush and access to their new painter/contractor referral program online.

Thanks for what proved to be a wonderful evening and a wealth of useful information; watch out Benjamin, I might be forced to stalk you now!

Faux for Real

Lately this has been a very difficult thing for me to come to grips with -- my lack of direction and/or focus in one true area.  There are days when I feel like I should be sewing items for my shop while others I just want to abandon the sewing machine altogether in favor of paint, plaster, stencils and the cabinets full of faux tools I own.

But then I start to wonder, how the heck does the decorative treatment I apply to a whole room translate into not only something small enough to put in my shop but also environmentally responsible enough that my teammates in EcoEtsy won't chase me down the street like an angry mob carrying torches?  With LED lights attached, not burning materials of course.

The Real and the Faux

The type of products I use in my paint treatments are all, let me repeat that, all, water based.  I have actually turned down work because they desired an oil based finish and although the paycheck would have been nice it would have been hard to justify sleeping at night after releasing that much VOC into the atmosphere.

In case you're not up to speed on what VOC's are feel free to check out this article I wrote up a little less than a week ago:
What the Heck Is With A VOC Anyway?

For the smaller more accesible items I do tend to source materials from stuff I already have on hand and my inspiration comes from just about everywhere!  Just the other night my husband and I were doing our evening workout and all of a sudden I noticed the "metal" panels behind the participants in the video. 

I had seen them a million times before but it suddenly hit me that they were rusted.  Yet the impression was that they were steel.  Steel doesn't really rust so I knew it was a finish and all at once I was doing my moves by rote while I tried to envision what paints I already had on hand to mix up a batch and try to recreate the effect.

That's the other thing, if I can help it I don't buy new products when there are perfectly good paints in multiple colors, and low VOC tints, in my back hall cabinets that I can use to mix up whatever shade I need.  Not to mention with a house full of random bits and pieces, sometimes its fun to freshen them up with a new and fun finish.

Yeah, But Is It Attractive?

The really great thing about faux, decorative treatments, standard paint is that the beauty is in the eye of the homeowner!  I have done some stuff that would never (and I mean never) grace my own home yet I still enjoyed completing the finish because the satisfaction of the client was the single most important thing at the end of the day.

Want an example?  Well I thought you'd never ask!

I had a straight up paint job last summer where I worked as a Sub-Contractor for a General Contractor who was renovating a home to rent.  He wanted a good solid return on his investment and didn't want to put in more effort or money than the area called for.  A reasonable business practice and one that worked out in his favor.  Yet I (internally of course) shook my head at him when he asked me to paint the somewhat beat up hardwood floors throughout the house in brown.

Bottom line was I really didn't think it added much to the look and feel of the space but I wasn't living with it!  In the end he wasn't either but, since he was the one who hired me, I simply made sure it was a water based paint, grabbed a roller and a tray then got to work.

For Sale: Your Old For Sale Sign

With all of my soul searching I decided on (or, probably more appropriately accepted as truths) a few things:

• I really enjoy painting and conceiving of interesting finishes.
• Faux kind of comes naturally to me; even if I've never done it before I can probably figure it out.
• I am far more apt to get frustrated while sewing than while fauxing items I plan to sell.
• The very nature of faux means I never screw up, its just becomes a different finish.
• Materials can come from anywhere and they don't need to cost a million dollars.

That last point is really important because I've made some things out of items that people would have never believed.  A good example is my small sample boards.

Most finishers use a product called Mighty Boards to work up a sample.  They are a heavy weight plastic based material that are waterproof and pretty much indestructable but can be cut to any size or shape with a regular old pair of good weight household scissors.  With the correct primer, a finish will stick to them forever without chipping or peeling off.

The real issue is they are expensive as all get out for those of us who only do a few big jobs a year so I started looking for alternatives.  Enter the For Sale sign.  Made of a similar material (albeit much lighter weight) these signs come in a couple different sizes and I can pick them up at my local hardware store.  Which means no cost to ship.  And the cost to purchase is reasonable.  The smaller signs run me about $0.49.  They are great for working up samples that I plan to either cover over or may need to rework to meet a client's needs.

Plus I can find them for free or cheap on sites like craigslist or Freecycle if I spend a little time researching.

The Big Idea

So the other night when I was putting the second coat of primer on a couple of these boards I had a brainstorm.  It came to me as a result of having recently started a decorative wall hanging that I intend to put in my shop for sale a little later this week when I get the kinks worked out on how I want to finish the edges.

The wall hanging is a khaki sage green color wash with raised roses that I accented in pearl paint.  It is shaping up really nicely and those of you who follow me on Facebook have already seen the sneak peek but for those who haven't:

The roses are made from dragging joint compound through a stencil and it hit me that I could do just about anything in this manner.  Some of the items I've considered might be words (like LOVE, CHOCOLATE or PRINCESS).  Or perhaps just a few more of these pretty roses or other fun shapes.  I have a folder full of stencils and buckets full of joint compound so I might as well put them to good use right?!

In the next few weeks I'll be cutting up my For Sale signs, painting them, finishing them and then scrounging around the basement for some leftover wood shims that I can glue together to act as frames.

Stay tuned for pictures and info on these new items as I complete them.  And who knows, maybe some of them will even have a rusted steel background...

No Before, but Here's the After!

I have this little superstition in me that comes from creating things for a while.  It is that every time I decide to take before photos so I can share the transformation of something, I mess up the whole project and don't end up with an after.  It has been the case more times than I can count so with this particular project I decided to leave well enough alone and just finish it so I could share the after photos with you.

But there's no harm in telling you what I did...

My husband recently got rid of a lot of old pants that were either completely worn at the ankle, too big, too small or simply no longer his style.  Because we both have close to the same waist dimensions I had this great idea that I could make use of all these little treasures and create myself a bunch of pocketed skirts for this upcoming summer!  (The one that I pray every day is right around the corner!)

This first little number used to be a pair of shorts.  The material is kind of a heavy seersucker type cotton and it fits me great now! 

The waist may be a teeny bit too big but I can take that in as the warmer months get closer.  What do you think?  In life the fabric is baby blue & navy and I already have the perfect white hoodie to create a preppy little sailor outfit.

Now if only it would stop snowing around here!

I hope everyone gets a chance to swing by Harvest Moon By Hand to check out the Mid Week Motivation posts, some fantastic artisans over there!  Now I need to think of what next week's motivation will be!