It was one of those days where you feel like you have won the jackpot with a great haul - until you get it all home and stacked to roof in the garage and you suddenly remember to ask yourself "WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU WILL EVER GET TIME TO DO ALL THESE THINGS...."

I had been dying to try stamping on tiles with our Iron Orchid Stamps, so this was the perfect project. You can watch this fab You Tube video of these clever ladies using these stamps on tiles here.

​Our step by step process:

What you need:
- regular paint brush
-Vintage Paints Bondcoat Primer
-Vintage Paints Powder Blue
-Vintage Paints Antique White
-Vintage Paints Old Linen
-Vintage Paints Low Sheen Clearcoat
-Antiquing medium
-IOD Pastoral Toile Stamp
-IOD Decor Ink Provence
-new moulding SW9
-gorilla glue
-sandpaper 180 and 240

Because I  wanted a chippy shabby chic effect, we didn't spend too much time sanding.  A good scrub with Sugar soap and light stand. 
We applied our moulding to the center panel, by first tracing around moulding, then we applied contact adhesive to the back of moulding and inbetween our trace lines on the cabinet.  Once the glue was dry, we attached the moulding to the cabinet.  No need to wait any longer - start painting.

We applied our first coat of Powder blue.  We used rough criss cross strokes to create a texture effect.  We applied 2 coats of Powder Blue.

Next we applied a coat of Antique white again in criss cross strokes.

On the tiled splash back, I applied a coat of Vintage Paints Bondcoat Primer - a primer to allow for best adhesion, especially in a wet areas.  Once dried I applied  2 coats of Old Linen.  Once dry I used the Toile stamp with Provence decor ink.  I could have used a paint instead of an ink, but really enjoy using the inks.  I use a foam stamp pad to apply the ink to the stamps.
*important tip to remember with these stamps is to condition them before use - which means giving them a light sand with a 180 sandpaper.

It took several goes to get the stamps right.  The surface area of the tiles was textured, so the stamps "missed" in areas, which is also part of it.  It did my head in for a bit, until I got the pressure right.  If I didn't like the effect I simply wiped off ink straight away and applied another coat of the Old Linen, gave it blow dry with the hair dryer and stamped again.  

The base of the wash stand was then sanded with a 240 grit sand paper to reveal the blue beneath.  Getting this just right, takes a bit of practice, always be aware of what goes with what, and make sure you don't over work the drawers and not the door or table top.

​

I then had a crisis of what to do next - do we use an antique medium or leave as is......
In the end we watered down our antique medium and made a very light wash.  It was painted over the cracks then wiped off.  How to water down the antique medium - A half cup of water with a half teaspoon of antique medium maybe enough.  Not sure whether it needed it or not, but I think it did take the edge off, mostly around the tiles and highlights the moulding.

We finished with 2 coats of Low sheen clearcoat.   Now all it needs is a lovely shinny new basin.

You know when you dying to try something and have so many ideas you don't know where to start, you eventually have to pick something, anything to satisfy your crafting itch....

Our new fitting room curtains where just thing.  Determined to use what I had, I made something that should have been a 10 min job, into a 1 week long affair....

I had a roll of Jute/hessian fabric and rolls of this beautiful embriodered cotton I had been storing(hoarding), neither of which where suitable on their own as curtains - a little see through and the hessian was too plain and stiff...so along came the roller stamp.

After allowing the paint to dry, the cut pieces of hessian were then washed to soften the hessian (makes a real mess of your washing machine!).  

USING the roller like anything took a few goes to get the right feel, having enough paint on the sponge was a big part, it does take a lot of paint to soak the roller.

Worked really well on wood and so easy, would love to have a wall to try it on, so many things you can do, create your own printed fabric, your own wrapping paper, costom made timber pieces which you could turn into anything.

Finding time to play with all these wonderful new products is half the battle - the other half of the battle is the part of me that expects to know everything and create the perfect uncomplicated easy and speedy project the FIRST TIME....no suffering, fiddling, researching or start overs....

However the course of true love never did run smoothly.  I LOVE mouldings, love their character, shape, detail, their patina and how they transform...so I had to figure out these new silicon moulds and the various different mediums.

I had to research, fiddle, start over, rethink and learn from others.....

Hear is what I have learnt and important to remember:

Application
There isn't much info on what glue to use, but I have been using a wood glue as suggested.  I prefer applying the moulds when they are still wet. You need to remember that as your moulding dries it will shrink slightly.  It pays to be near by during this process unless you too impatient like me and use a hair dryer.  As it dries it will lift off your surface, but gently keep tapping it down and pressing the edges to allow it to bond to surface, Again don't be too fussy as the gaps will disappear under the paint.  
If you wait until the moulds are dry, you need to remember that they will no longer be flexible, but hard and more delicate.  Think about how you want to use them or where you want to apply them.  
I also painted them while they were still wet, which seemed to be fine, I used a hair dryer inbetween coats.

Cleaning
Easy clean up with water.  I used an old toothbrush to get into the little cracks, works really well

why use these moulds 
Well its slightly addictive....but really satisfying making the moulds from scratch.  Once you get going, you suddenly realise the endless possibilities.  These moulds are so cost effective when you need a few moulds, great for gift making and framing.  If you have a girlfriend, why not each buy one, you can share them around as they wear really well.  

If you are on facebook, I recommend following the Iron Orchid Designs, they really do some wonderful things and not too "crafty" - wait until you see their stamps....the other thing I have been playing with....the trick to all of this is to actually do the things you love, not just pin them to your board or save them for "when you have time" - there is NO time for anything anymore - you have to carve out time to refresh your soul and do the things you love....