Raised Stencil

Is it really August 19th? Really?? I can't believe it. Where does the time go? I have to admit though I have been day dreaming of fall. Maybe because it's been in the 90's this last week. I am looking forward to that moment when I walk outside and smell fall for the first time. You know the smell right? Crisp, clean, I can't really even describe it in words. It always takes me back to being a kid walking to the bus stop in my crunchy new school clothes so excited to be back to school. Hmmmm. Anyways we are not quite there yet now are we?

Today I am sharing my latest piece a Secretary Desk. I painted it first with Old Violet Annie Sloan chalk paint then top coated it with a homemade chalk paint. The color is an oops paint I picked up the other day. Of course they spread paint all over the color name so I don't know what it is. It's my new favorite color. (I say that about every color don't I?).

I painted the inside a mix of three parts Old White & one part French Linen Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The French Linen made the Old White less yellow.

So now for the fun part. I felt like the front needed a little something and was thinking about a stencil. Then I saw a piece of furniture at a local antique store with a raised stencil. Perfect, I copied it.

I decided to use Plastic Wood because I have a can from a previous project. It worked great. It dries very hard but it smells horrible (not good like fall). Above you can see the Old Violet coming through after distressing.

I used a stencil that I purchased from Home Depot in the paint department. I taped the stencil to the secretary and spread a thin even coat of Plastic Wood over the stencil. If you've ever used this stuff you know when you open the can it's kinda separated. I made sure to mix up the liquid and the solids so that it was creamy. I spread it on and tried not to go back over it too much (or it will start pulling off in random places) then removed the stencil.