Just a quickie since I have to do some serious cleaning and tidying…. and work for that matter.

From my previous blog this morning, I was scared of using my dark wax and have finally bitten the bullet by using an easy technique (I like simple and easy= less daunting) which I saw only a few pages in of my bedtime reading material: Quick and Easy Transformations by Annie Sloan.

I believe it is a dark wax glaze.  Just mix a small amount of 50/50 dark wax & white spiirit and mix in a bowl (mixing with the paintbrush is easy) – I used 1 tablespoon of dark wax (I ended up making two lot, but this way I prevented less waste).

I brushed it over an antique mantle mirror that I already had clear waxed and just wiped off the excess and leave it… it came up amazing on intricate detail and crevices.

By this point, I had been stressing out, trying to get the perfect brushstroke and when I got to the dark wax, I ended up having a “f*ck it, I don’t care anymore” approach… as I had no idea what to expect.  After remembering a quote from the book about how Annie doesn’t plan on what look she’s going for, she just goes with the flow with each piece and see how it reacts to the paint etc and that’s what I did.  And I have to say, I absolutely love it!  I am so effing impressed… my Fiance will probably say I’ve ruined it when he gets home but I again… absolutely love it!

I am yet to use just dark wax alone, but at this stage, I am perfectly happy using this technique alone.

I am no longer a dark wax virgin.. It was quite funny when my fiance rang me up asking what I was up to… “I’m just waxing me’ piece”… “Is that a euthanism?” he asked, chuckled… sadly no, but I’m glad it made him laugh, particularly when I brought it home secretly without telling him.. we’re meant to be downsizing.  I won’t tell him about the little stool I got for free then that’s hiding in my cupboard 😐

So what have I learnt?

-Stop worrying about which way the brushstrokes go and how neat and tidy
-Who cares if the clear wax makes the paint layers slightly semi transparent or take paint of the edges slightly?
-No need to sand the little blobs that you may get… it’s extra texture (I saw little blobs in Annie’s close up projects, so thought, if she can have little blobs, so can I!

Here are the photos:

BEFORE:

AFTER: