Painter Girl

Sherwin Williams Play Day

I recently attended a hands on workshop at the Boston Design Center Sherwin Williams showroom.  The day was broken up into two parts.  In the morning, we played with Sherwin Williams Metallics.  Here is a video from the SW website that is good for DIYers:

Brushed Metallic How-To Video - Sherwin-Williams.

 

Rare Gray Metallic SWF 320

I did like this line of metallics. They have a fine, allover subtle sparkle.  I will be experimenting more with the Faux ™ Impressions Metallic line in my studio.

The afternoon session was an introduction to the Faux™ Impressions Dimensional Basecoat. 

This photo above, from the SW website, shows one of the many techniques that can be achieved using the Dimensional Basecoat.  I found this product also able to offer a wide variety possibilities.  For decorative painters in the New England area, it's great to have another product line that can be purchased locally.  Most of us have to have our products shipped from Chicago, New York, Califorinia, Florida, etc., which is costly and inconvenient.  The reps from Sherwin Williams are more than willing to work with contractors to educate them about their Faux Impressions line and how they can be used, offering free workshops in many of the Sherwin Williams stores.   They are eager and open to having those of us who are familar with faux products, show them what we can do with their line and just as eager to introduce the inexperienced to new possibilities. 

 

I'd like to thank Heather Bourgeois, Design Account Executive of the the Sherwin-Williams Showroom at the Boston Design Center, for organizing this day, as well as SW reps, John Overy and Kevin Kiley for their input. Pictured left,  Kevin Kiley, Heather Bourgeois, and fellow decorative painter, Rima Bechara.

 

 

iPhone and Lusterstone

A few months ago, I told you how happy I was that I finally made the leap from my antiquated cell phone to an iPhone.  Gee, I'm still in the honeymoon stage with this wonderful little piece of technology and what do I do?  I drop in right into an almost full gallon of Snowflake White Lusterstone!  For those of you unfamiliar with this product, it is a synthetic plaster-like material that can be troweled and rolled on surfaces.  Tomorrow, I'll feature the job where I used the Lusterstone and had this little mishap.

Lucky for me and my iPhone, I practice safe iPhoning and had my beloved well protected with this great case you may recall I purchased from Incipio.  I also had a screen protector over the front glass.  As soon as I could compose myself after seeing my iPhone slightly sinking into the vat of Lusterstone, I plucked it out and started performing mouth to mouth quickly began wiping it off.   I was shocked and amazed to see how covered in Lusterstone it was.  I gently wiped it off and then removed the case to clean further.  This little episode was inevitable and my worst fear, which is why I held off on buying a good cell phone for such a long time. 

Let me tell you what a great little phone this iPhone is!  It cleaned up 100% and instantly worked without a hitch.  It's the perfect phone for anyone who has a messy job and needs to answer the phone with less than pristine hands.  Since the screen is flat, there are no keys or buttons to collect paint, plaster, whatever.  There are very few "openings" where anything can get in.  Once home, I cleaned both the phone and cover again... and it looks just like new!

The case comes in two parts.  The back has this sturdy plastic piece that snaps right on and protects the four corners, as well as cushions the phone when it is dropped.  And yes, I have dropped it a few times already... from my ladder, getting out of the car, from the shelf I keep it on in my kitchen, etc.  This case has definitely helped to prolong my iPhone's life!  And no, Icipio does not pay me to endorse their products, nor do they give me any free products.  Of course, if they happen to be reading this and want to send me a little "thank you" gift, I'd love this case in another color. ;-)

Traveling Wunda Size

I love using this water based sizing for leafing and when I use foils. The only problem I seem to have with this product is obtaining it in the Winter months.  It cannot freeze and it is nowhere to be found in the Boston/metro Boston area, so I have to have it shipped from other sources.  That works fine during the warmer months, but now we are into Winter here in Massachusetts and the distributors of Wunda Size cannot guarantee that it will not freeze, even if shipped overnight.  I can't blame them.  Who knows where it will sit during its' travel? 

I have a dining room ceiling to silver leaf the week between Christmas and New Years and I only have a small amount of Wunda Size left. This past weekend I knew I was traveling to New York City, so decided to see where I could obtain Wunda Size there.  I found the best source to be Sepp Leaf Products, which was very close to where I was staying.  I bought 2 gallons, one for the job and one to get me through any other jobs I may have during the Winter months. 

First, let me tell you about Sepp.  It is located in a beautiful building in the heart of NYC and you are buzzed in, like a fine jewelery store.  All the leaf samples are on display, hanging on the walls, like fine pieces of art, and they are truly breath taking.  The staff is very friendly more than happy to answer any and all questions.   I could not linger because the BF was double parked out front, since we were just arriving in the city and had not yet ditched our car in a lot.  I was so thrilled to have these 2 gallons in tow, saving me further aggravation trying to figure out how I would obtain this sizing for my job.  The gallons sat proudly on the bureau in our hotel room throughout the weekend.  

In case you did not hear, there was a blizzard in NYC over the weekend, so by the time we were to depart on Sunday we were faced with some travel challenges.  I was taking the train back to Boston, while the BF was continuing on to Montreal to pick up his daughter at McGill.  Being very protective of my Wunda Size, I decided I would put 1 gallon in my suitcase and the other would travel to Montreal in the car, with strict instructions that it must not be left in the car! I originally packed both of the gallons in my suitcase and was having my clothes go via Montreal, but I could not lift the suitcase with the 2 gallons over my head and knew I would have to do this on the train.  (Even the one gallon in the suitcase was a struggle, but some nice man gave me a hand.)  Due to the storm, I had to wait 4 hrs for my train to leave Penn Station.  Like everyone else in the station, I had to use my suitcase for a seat and found my gallon of Wunda Size made for a sturdy platform!  I was a bit worried that it would open and I'd have one heck of a mess in my suitcase, but I put it in a plastic bag first and luckily, no unhappy incident occurred, other than a permanent dent from my butt sitting on it for so long!

Susan Siefer and I will be on the ceiling job shortly with lots of pics to show. :-)

Great New Product Lines

I have to admit, about six months ago I was thinking I was really burnt out with the same old tired finishes I've been doing year after year.  Of course, I've changed it up a bit with the trends and new products, but there just were not any new products out there that were getting me excited.  I was tiring of the plasters fast.  What WAS keeping me going was the introduction of the Stencil Library's Big and Bold series and Melanie Royals BoHo finishes  and creative use of Modellos. This was a fresh look at stencil use that I could wrap my head around quickly! 

Now, Modern Masters and Magic Metallics are promoting a great line of oxidizing products and showing some creative ways to use these products.  Also, Golden's has their Proceed line,  which I am just delving into.  I have also been using their Interference colors.  Then when you add in such fun materials as the metallic foils, foil flakes, and gel beads, the finishes really start to get interesting!  It's a great time for decorative painters right now, with a plethora of products to play with!

DuRock Finishes at McCollum Booth

One of my favorite booths at the Decorative Arts Show/Faux Event in Atlantic City was the DuRock booth staffed by a husband and wife team who own McCollum Interiors in NYC.  Cynthia McCollum is an incredible artist/faux finisher in her own right and was extremely helpful and friendly answering the many questions Chris and I had about all the beautiful finishes on display.  Her husband, and I am sorry to say, I cannot find his first name anywhere in the materials I brought home with me, was also equally friendly and helpful.  This booth, by far, had the best product and literature giveaways.  We were given a box with good sized sample jars of product to take home and experiment with in our studios, a great instructional DVD, and a very helpful packet that contained color charts and actual samples of some of the finishes.  These samples were not your typical 1" x 1" square, they are a good 3" x 6", so you really get a sense of what the product looks like.  For those of you not in this business, we typically have to pay for color charts of product lines and if the company does bother to offer real samples of their products, vs. a printed chart, we pay dearly for those.  It is also very difficult to get a small sample jar of a plaster type product to play with, so Chris and I were just thrilled to hang out at this booth for a bit! DuRock manufactures a variety of decorative coatings.  I have not used these products yet, but plan to experiment with my samples soon and learn more about creating the amazing finishes you see here on the samples boards displayed at this booth.  Thanks Cynthia and husband! :-)

I may have some of the product lines mixed up, but I think this one is Indiana Limestone.

There were quite a few rusted iron finishes at this show, but this sample was one of my favorites!

Below, Chris, peeking out from behind what I believe is a Jewelstone finish.

I have no idea what DuRock product was used to create this last board, but I absolutely love it!  I will contact Cynthia to see if she can set me straight about the products used for each of these samples.

Note:  sorry for the sloppy layout of this post today.  I struggled to have all of the text line up properly with the photos, but it would just not happen today!  It's my ongoing problem with TypePad. :-(