November | 2014 | ferpie and fray

There was lots of fun painting for me this week. A few weeks back I did a huge order with Spoonflower with loads of great projects in mind. I love to use paper to accent my furniture by lining the drawers but sometimes the paper is too fun to hide inside. It’s a fine line for me when I do this, I always want to make sure that it makes sense for that piece and that the paper I chose is not too busy. I want it to go with the design rather than be distracting. I could have spent at lot more time and money …paper is such a huge weakness for me!

If you follow me on Instagram (username: ferpieandfray) Then you saw some of the great prints I ordered!

Here is a dresser I finished using the cross paper…

With this guy I wanted to do something fun with the inlay squares on the drawer fronts, this pattern by Pencilmein on Spoonflower is perfect! I love the simplicity of her modern design. The milk paint from Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company adds to the character with the chippy goodness. I love milk paint, it’s so fun to work with, and black is easy! It paints so smoothly with great coverage. I got a lot of emails after this piece asking my process so I thought I would break it down here for anyone that is curious.

With a piece like this where the squares are inside I measured the retangle within the drawer and measured the amount of space between my cuts and the pattern, so the design was centered with retangle where I placed my paper. I then brushed a very thin coat of Mod Podge on the drawer making sure not add to much and smooth as much as possible. A foam roller works best. Then I placed the paper from one side of the drawer pressing hard and smoothing as I went. Your goal is to avoid air bubbles under the paper. I used a credit card to smooth out any that snuck through. This part is very important. If you do not get them out the bubbles will harden and stay that way. Eek! I then brushed another thin layer of Mod Podge over the paper. One trick is to wait until that layer is almost dry and smooth out any imperfections with the tip of your finger. I wait until it’s completely dry and then do 2-3 coats of Country Chic Tough Coat. Here’s another piece I did yesterday…

It’s such a fun way to add character and play with furniture a little bit. I’m off to paint a black empire today…I love empires.

Amanda

First let me begin by saying that I have missed so many great posts lately! The beginning of the school year was beyond busy for me and I was really focusing on settling into a new routine, preparing my oldest for Kindergarten and keeping up with the new pace of furniture demands. All wonderful exciting steps in great directions, but it took a lot of focus on my end. I’m finally wrapping my head around my work load… most days.

This piece came with a matching dining set that was a really fun project that I used Antique White by General Finishes with a mix of solid and dry brushing (one of my favorite things to do). It creates so much character without mixing the busyness of other colors. I’m not awesome at tutorials, I get to excited about my project to stop and take photos! I did grab this for a progress shot on my Instagram.

I drew an arrow pattern on thick craft paper and then cut it out to the length that I needed for the table top. I used spray adhesive to hold the arrows in place. Then I did the dry brush technique over the paper arrows, when the paint was dry I pulled the paper away and did a pretty heavy sand to blend the stencil pattern. I wanted it to be a very faded and subtle image.

Next up was the matching buffet. I have to admit this piece was one of those pieces that had everything go wrong, that could. I could have finished 3 in the time it took to complete this guy. But like anything, Im glad I stuck it out. It always feels good to get to the finished product. This one is painted in Driftwood by Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. one of my all time favorite go-to colors.