Harvinaisen Kaunis Elämä: Altered Wooden Panel for Finnabair and Re•design with Prima

Hi darlings,

I promised to write a blogpost about my Facebook livestream for Finnabair and Re•design with Prima.

During the livestream, I turned a blank, wooden panel into my new working surface, using Re•design Décor stamps and Finnabair mixed media products – the full material list is at the end of this post.

The size of the panel is relatively large; 80cm x 55 cm (34.5” x 21.6”). I wanted this size, as it’d be large enough for my crafting projects, but also because the scale will be perfect proportion for photographing and making videos.

I wanted something vintage looking, tattered, old, worn out, loved; something charmingly imperfect, like old wall paintings. I also wanted it to fit into my studio colour palette of soft, faded dusty purples and softest of moss green and sea glass colour.

PRIMING

First, of course, I kindly asked my hubby to cut me a panel. It was 4mm thick plywood in the end, as we happen to have that in masses at the moment, for our family model railway project.

Then, I primed the panel, three times actually. First, I used chalk paint (leftovers from our upstairs stair renovation project) as I was running out of gesso, but after using chalk paint, I realised it’s quite not perfect for m purposes, the extremely porous surface. So, I gessoed the whole thing with white Finnabair Heavy Gesso, and added another layer, just to be sure I had the base I would be easy to work with.

STENCILING WITH PAPER EFFECT PASTE & ICING PASTE

I wanted some dimensional effect to the sides of my panel to add interest. (The middle part of the panel I will use as my working surface, so I left it without 3D-effetcs, to get an even working surface.) And as I was aiming for vintage wall painting look, I wanted some rough effect, nothing too tidy. Hence, I picked Finnabair Paper Effect Paste for it, as it is a bit rougher than for example smooth Modeling Paste I usually use in my canvas projects. The stencil I used was Finnabair Vintage Wallpaper.

I tested if I could get some metallic shimmer to the paste if I used Finnabair Icing Paste (White Gold) mixed into the Paper Effect Paste, but I should have added it much more generously, as the light shimmer didn’t get through enough. But next time I know!

After making sure the stenciled patterns were completely dry, I started painting the panel.

IMPASTO ACRYLICS WITH TEXTURE EFFECT POWDER

I wanted a softest of sea glass green, something between duck egg and Nile green, maybe you know what I mean, a kind of soft, faded, dusty mint maybe? I added a mix of these Finnabair acrylic Impasto paints (and again, the whole list with links at the end of this blogpost): Snow White, Pitch Black, Victorian Green, Linen, Dark Chocolate, and Mint.

I mixed them well and added enough water to the mix, so it’d be easy to work with, and as I wanted the wall painting effect, I didn’t want the surface to be smooth, but something resembling concrete. So, I added white Finnabair Texture Powder into the mix.

Then, I sprayed the panel with water, so that it’d be easier to work with as the paints would not get dry or absorbed immediately. With a largeish brush and baby wipes, I spread and blended the paint into the panel evenly uneven way, making sure to be careful around the stenciled patterns, just in case they weren’t completely dry yet.

CLOUDING THE SIDES

After painting the whole panel, I wanted the sides to get a bit more structured effect, so I mixed a bit darker shade of paint mix and with brush and baby wipes, clouded the sides and blended them to the lighter colour.

STAMPING

For the already darker paint mix, I added a bit of golden acrylic paint, Finnabair Sparks Dragon’s Eye, to get the stamping image to shimmer a bit. I mixed the paints and used my tiny roller for spreading the paint, I wanted only a trace of paint to my panel, as it was the tattered, worn out wall painting effect I was aiming for, so I needed to be extra careful not to add too much paint into my roller or stamp. I soon realized that adding the paint to the stamp was better to do with a brush than with a roller, when you are aiming for this kind of effect.

I actually double tested this after the live stream was over and yes, came into the conclusion that it’s best to use only the light consistency metallic paint or then just a tiniest trace of Impastos that are quite heavy consistency paints – and with a brush. Or, with a roller if there isn’t much paint in it. I also realized the stamp images get much clearer image and result without the acrylic block I used for the first stamps. Just so you know not to repeat my mistakes. (I did not have Re•Design stamp ink at hand as it’s not available in Finland, so I needed to figure out another way of using my gorgeous stamps. It’s a bit of a trial-and-error process for me, who is used to use water-based inks in art journals...)

First, I used Re•design Décor Stamp Sweet Blossoms, to get some greenery to border my panel with leaf and peony stamps.

Then, I wanted some crackling effect. Finnabair Crackle Paste (clear or white) would have been ideal, but I had only one hour for my live stream and could not wait for the crackling to dry and do its magic, so I used Re•design Décor Stamp Imperial Crackle for it, and added light traces of crackle here and there, on the edges of my panel.

And finally, I added Re•design Décor Stamp Floral Script to bring the crackle and floral patterns together with a handwriting pattern stamp.

And as the finishing touch, I added a hint of Finnabair metallic wax to highlight the the stenciled dimensional patterns. I used the shades White Gold and Vintage Gold.

That was it. I love how it came out, the perfect shade of soft, faded sea glass colour and the tattered wall painting effect did come out nicely, too. You can re-watch my livestream video HERE.