New! Artisan Enhancements® stencils & samples… plus fun with Fine Stone

We promised you in our Painting Fabric post that we’d be expanding our stencil offerings – and they’re now in stock! We’ve been having so much fun playing around with them, we can’t decide which is our favorite… maybe the Fleur & Laurel?

Or the Paris, France stamp?

Or…coming soon from Royal Design Studio Stencils… these fantastic geometric designs?! Check out the sample boards, courtesy of Amanda & Corina’s trip to the Unfolded Studio… (I think these might be my new fave!)

Stop by our Huntington or Brooklyn shop or head over to the DIY Boutique section of our website to browse before you buy ; )

Equally exciting news – we are now carrying 8oz. sample pots of the Artisan Enhancements® line! Now you can play around with these amazing paint mediums without as much commitment… they’re great for transforming smaller decor items into something really impressive and unique.

Take this boring blue planter, for instance…

I never took the time to buy a planter I really liked or that matched the rest of the room, because honestly – I never thought this plant would survive that long! (I have a poor track record with indoor plants…) Well, nearly a decade later, I figured it was time to give the old spider plant a home it could be proud of!

I started off by mixing equal parts Antibes, Paris Grey, and Chateau Grey to create a pale, almost pistachio green… By the way, if you want to play around with color mixing, but don’t feel like opening all your paint, bookmark this amazing online Chalk Paint® mixing tool, courtesy of fellow stockist The Purple Painted Lady. It gives you an amazingly close representation of what your custom color will look like. Fab!

So anyway, back to the project… I added some Fine Stone to my custom color… I wanted a thicker application so I went with a 3:1 ratio of paint to medium (a 5:1 ratio will give you a more subtle texture).

(Side of sour cream in guacamole soup…?)

Alright, I admit it… it’s looking a little like sludge! Stay with me, though…

I applied the mixture directly onto my planter – the only thing I did to prep the surface was to wash and dry it beforehand. I knew I wanted a thick texture, and I was hoping to get some cracks in the surface as it dried (spoiler alert! it worked!)…

And yes, I even painted inside – of course!

Because I had really painted it on thick, it took a little over an hour to dry. I started to get impatient, so I took out my hairdryer and that helped speed things along. Once it was dry, I broke out the Paris Grey and Old White and dry brushed the raised areas that the Fine Stone had created…

I was really going for a weathered look, and I think I hit the mark! My husband made reference to the Incredible Hulk, but I chalked it up to creative differences ; )

Here’s a final shot of plant in his new home… What do you think? Which Artisan Enhancement product are you going to play around with first?!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mary