How to turn your Stash into Cash with the help of Frenchic Browning Wax
I have a huge stash of all kinds of things that I have waiting to be turned back into cash. I have never been very business minded at all - well not the financial side - and it was my husband who pointed out the number of pound notes in the form of chairs, cupboards, drawers, trays, pots, hanky boxes.... just sitting around the house, garage, barns, my studio and in many other places, rather than sitting in my bank account. I hate to admit he's right and the only way to sort out my collection of stuff is to transform it with the products I use every day.
Frenchic Paint
As you know, I've been a Frenchic Stockist for ages and I am still as passionate about it now as I was when I first started using their fabulous products nearly seven years ago. They're easy to use, no added baddies, safe for kids and one tin goes a really long way! With the recent introduction of fifty wall colours and one hundred more on the way, Frenchic has become a real force to be reckoned with in the chalk painting world.
Iron Orchid Designs
Working very nicely alongside my Frenchic supplies is my addiction to Iron Orchid Designs. Oh my goodness!! I cannot sing their praises loudly enough. Offering beautiful designs in the form of moulds, stamps, transfers and the new and innovative paint inlays, IOD takes home decor embellishments to the next level.
A Match made in Heaven
As an official UK stockist for both companies, I can see why I've accumulated so much stuff - I look at some tatty old thing and know that I can transform it into something snazzy. Over the years I've always considered myself to be purely a furniture painter. However, in reality, I realise that I'm actually a crafter too. Now that's a term that I used to absolutely hate but I have seen such amazing talented 'crafters' designing and decorating some really incredible stuff recently. I'm using the term 'crafter' as someone who excels at their chosen craft: a craftsperson.
Decorating your Stash for Cash
To get to the crux of the matter, this snippet is to show you the first of many ways to add that special finishing touch to your projects - be it on furniture or craft. This is to demonstrate just how easy it is to create an absolutely fabulous aged finish on your products; this is an effect that I have found to be always popular with my customers. Adding age can make your projects so much more desirable. So let's get started turning your - and mine - stash into cash!!
Sunflower Flower Pot
I bought a whole boatload of wooden flowerpots online a while ago. They are pine, well made, with flat sides. They arrived unfinished so were in need of a good sand before I could start to paint. As luck would have it, I discovered that the largest castings made from my IOD Sunflowers Mould fit the side of the pot perfectly. How lucky was that?! I had a few castings that I had already made so I glued them onto one side of the pot. I left the pot for a few hours to ensure that the glue was completely dry. Then I painted the pot, three coats in Frenchic Al Fresco Cream Dream.
Here is how it looks after painting. I absolutely love this casting - I have used this IOD mould so much. It looks lovely - close up we can see all of the details on the sunflower but I think it looks a bit flat.
We need some of this:
Frenchic Browning Wax is bloomin good stuff! It adds age and definition - it doesn't contain solvents so can be used without having to open windows and doors.
I used an old stencil brush to apply the wax. I wiped off the excess as I went along. If you have some Frenchic Clear Wax, use that first before applying your Browning Wax as it helps to move the darker wax around and makes it easy to remove.
This is how it looks:
I think that looks much better. The Browning Wax has defined the details of the beautiful sunflower making them standout. Plus it's added age and depth. The pot doesn't look like a clean and shiny brand new pot anymore - it has age and, in my opinion, looks far more interesting now.
But what if you don't have any pots like mine in your stash?
Don't worry about that at all! You can use this technique on anything that you have available. DO NOT BUY SOMETHING NEW TO USE!! Sorry I'm shouting at you there because adding to your stash is not the idea here!!
Let's take a look at the finished article:
This is easy - you can do it! Trust me when I tell you that using this aging technique will help to turn your stash into cash!!
Written with love and humour,
Yorkshire Sitting Pretty