If you look at antique furniture you'll see that most of it isn't one flat colour. It's normally waxed or varnished and where the product collects in the corners and the mouldings you get darker shades.
Glaze helps you to replicate this beautifully and in any new colour you choose!
Glaze has this gorgeous translucent quality which allows the layer beneath to shine through and accentuates it. It adds depth which is so interesting and authentic. On some pieces of furniture a flat paint finish is perfect, those pieces with clean lines and flat panels... mid century modern pieces are a perfect example of this. Other pieces look dull and flat with a one colour finish, paint is the perfect base coat but they need a little more.
Glaze takes your piece from nice...to incredible!
This month's tutorial over in our Fusionistas Nottingham Facebook group was all about glaze, head over to the group to watch it on replay. Just select the 'tutorials' topic at the top of the group and you'll find all our past tutorials.
Left - This piece is a darker Taupe shade mixed from the recipes on the Fusion Fan Deck with a lighter Taupe shade blended into the centre of the panels. Antiquing Glaze has been applied to give it an aged industrial look
Right - Here an Ash glaze has been applied over Lamp White, the piece has then been lightly sanded back to remove the glaze from the high points and reveal tiny peaks of the wood beneath
Firstly you take the Clear Glaze and mix in a tiny bit of paint to colour it. You only need a small amount, it shouldn't thicken the glaze much just add colour.
Once it's evenly mixed apply it over your piece of furniture. Work in sections and ensure you get the glaze into all of the details of the mouldings and the grain as these are the areas which would be a deeper shade on furniture, they are the shadows and are in the background.
Glaze has a longer open time than paint, this means it will take longer to dry and that you will have much longer to manipulate it to get the effect that you're after.
Now you can wipe away the excess. Use a rag and wipe away the glaze from the raised areas until you get the desired effect. This will leave the glaze in all those recesses and you'll notice those beautiful details have now come to life!
You can wipe gently to leave a little glaze behind and tint your entire piece.
You can wipe harder to remove more glaze and just leave it in the deep crevices.
You can use a damp rag or a spray mister to remove completely from the raised areas, if your don't want to contaminate your flat panels at all.
The techniques that you choose to wipe off your excess glaze will affect the texture that is left behind.
If you wipe in the direction of the grain you can create a linear effect that mimics and accentuates the grain.
If you screw up your rag and dab the glaze off you can create a mottled texture like I did on this lamp shade. This was create by applying a Renfrew Blue glaze over Brook.
You can create all sorts of different textures by using different applicators and different wiping methods. This is the fun of painting, you can let your creativity go wild!
You can create metallic glazes by mixing any of our Fusion Metallics with the Clear Glaze. This is great for creating a sheen over your furniture or for replicating metal like I have done on this lamp base.
This lamp base has been painted in Algonquin, then I experimented by layering a chocolate glaze, then a champagne glaze, then a bronze glaze
The wonderful Jennylynn, creator of Fusion Mineral Paint has done an awesome tutorial on layering Glazes of you fancy seeing more. Doesn't that door have the most incredible colours and textures!
I'm sure you're ready to get glazing...be warned its mega satisfying and addictive!
Happy painting guys xxx
]]>I get asked so many questions about furniture preparation, there seems to be this crazy myth that it's difficult and complicated and I wanted to correct that.
You can do this easily... I promise!
I get so much joy from painting furniture and I want everyone to have that feeling. My teaching method is about building confidence and empowering my customers. With this in mind, I decided to create a flow chart walking you through the four steps of preparation and helping you assess your furniture at each stage. This way you'll feel amazing when you know exactly what prep you need to do for each individual piece and you'll understand exactly why.
As I started creating this flow chart I realised how much information I wanted to share... it turned into a 16 page reference guide to help you with all your furniture prep questions.
You're going to love it!
Send me your email address and I'll get your FREE download straight over to you
I've designed this guide to be your easy quick reference when you’re prepping a piece of furniture.
In April's live tutorial we talked through the full guide, plus I walked you through using it to assess your furniture on a few examples in the studio.
Pop over to our Fusionistas Nottingham UK fb group and watch on replay if you fancy
Is Your Surface Sound?
Step One - Clean
Step Two - Is There Wax?
Step Three - Fill & Repair
Step Four - Do You Need to Prime?
What Are The Different Types of Primer?
Adhesion
Colour Blocking
The Products I Use
I hope this helps!
I'd love to hear from you...any feedback, thoughts, experiences using the guide on your furniture.
I'm planning more guides, I'll let you know as soon as they're ready! xxx
]]>Each month I do an online tutorial in my Fusionistas Nottingham UK Facebook group. March 21st I asked the wonderful Jackie from A Cupboard Less Ordinary to join me and share with you all the wonders of Milk Paint. Jackie has been painting with Milk Paint for 8 years and is an expert! The blue dresser above is one of her pieces...isn't it stunning!
Replay the tutorial to watch the demonstrations, below are the highlights of what we talked about...welcome to the first step on your incredible Milk Paint journey!
This depends on the finish that you're looking to achieve.
Option 1 - Solid Finish
Fully prep to achieve a smooth finish, so thoroughly clean and scuff sand. If your surface is shiny and you want to guarantee no chipping you can prime with Ultra Grip or mix 1 part ultra grip (also known as bonding agent), 1 part powder, 1 part water
Option 2 - Serendipity
Don't do any prep to let the Milk Paint surprise you. Most of the time if your Milk Paint is going to chip and crack this will happen on your second coat
Option 3 - Chipping
Apply resists to make sure you get crackle and chipping
A resist is something that you apply underneath your Milk Paint to repel the paint. Here’s a couple of resist examples -
🖤 You can rub your beeswax block against the edges of your piece to make it easier to distress
🖤 You can apply Hemp Oil and paint over it whilst it's still wet to create a really cool chippy effect
🖤 You can apply wax and paint over it wet to create a slightly different cool chippy effect
🖤 Applying a resist is a great way to control where your chipping will occur. It works great to apply resists between layers of paint so when it chips the layer underneath is revealed.
You should then lightly sand your project to remove the flakes and reveal the final effect...this is so amazing! I honestly get little flutters and get completely lost in the beautiful serendipity of this process. You can sand harder to get a higher level of distressing, or more softly with finer sandpaper to get less distressing. Why not try a scraper on the edges to get more chipping.
The way Milk Paint distresses is completely authentic and believable, your piece will look like it's slowly aged over years and years... no other paint can do that.
I'm sure you've guessed by now that I'm in love with Milk Paint. I can't wait to hear from you after you fall in love with this paint too!
Lets start with the colour wheel. Understanding the colour wheel can really help you when planning your project and also when you're mixing custom shades
In this video I walk you through the range of neutrals in the Fusion Mineral Paint collection to help you find the perfect neutral for your project.
Greys are a huge favourite in interior design and it can be difficult to choose the perfect shade from our range... this video should help you
I love blue! This video talks you through the different shades to help you choose the perfect one for you
Greens are my favourite shades! We've got some beauties!
This video shows you the beautiful warm shades in the Fusion range...all those yellows, pinks, purples and reds
I really hope you've found this helpful! Please do leave a comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this blog and if there's anything else you'd like me to write a blog on xxx
]]>So this is the amazing effect you create using this technique. Imagine it on a table top, it looks like beautiful marble.
Now you can set you canvas aside to dry... make sure you leave it somewhere perfectly flat. It needs to be left overnight and will be hard and glossy in the morning.
I used this technique to upcycle this table, its on display at the studio if you'd like to see it in person.
This technique gives that wow factor!
So with this one we're going to introduce the cell enhancer, it makes the resin separate to create those awesome little circular cells.
March is going to be so exciting!
We're going to be launching the new Milk Paint by Fusion and showing you all the insanely amazing different styles and techniques it can be used for.
You can subscribe to my newsletter if you'd like updates direct to your inbox.
I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment below! Was this blog helpful? Are you excited to try your first resin pour?
See you soon! xxx
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I love this industry!Its full of so much talent, so much creativity and inspiration.
This blog post is to celebrate our differences. It's to encourage you to be authentic, to be true to yourself, I promise that this is the way to success! Customers can smell a fake a mile off, trying to force a certain style or a certain business plan won't make you happy, it won't make you get up on the difficult days.
You need to be doing something you love.
There's room for everyone, we're all so different! We can raise the profile of the furniture refinishing industry together and all revel in each other’s successes.