Transferring An Image To Wood - French Typography

Transferring an image to wood is a lot easier than it looks.  With the help of The Graphics Fairy and her fabulous ready to use pdf graphics, this project was a no brainer.   I found a pre-cut round board at Lowes and decided to paint some harlequin diamonds on it to spice it up.

Use a ruler to map out the diamond height you want and then use half of that for the width. Once you get your first diamond you can use a ruler to map out diagonal lines across the board.

I used the wax paper Transfer Method.  This was a bit tricky.  My printer kept wanting to eat the wax paper until I realized that I needed to tape the wax paper to an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper at the top and bottom corners. Then it rolled right through the printer.

I chose two graphics; the Vins and Spiritueux and the French Crown.  I took a damp paper towel to my board (not wet!) just enough to ensure the graphic would come off the paper and then laid the graphic against my wood.  If your board is too damp the ink will smear and you will need to start over.

I held the wax paper still and used a credit card to rub off the graphic.

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This is the board above before the clear and dark wax.

This is the board after.  Not bad for an afternoon project right?   Find a neat graphic and transfer it to a piece of wood to create your own image.  It's that easy.

Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Tuesday!

Paula


Linking with:

Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style

Perfectly Imperfect

One of the things I love about refinishing old furniture is that I get to decide what a piece will look like. And sometimes, I don't know what that will be until I get started. Once I put that first layer of paint on a piece it begins to have a mind of its own.  The best part about vintage or old pieces, is that the piece doesn't have to be perfect.  In a world of perfection and beauty, I find this in the worn edges, cracks and chips that are in old pieces.  Those imperfections tell a story.  A woman sent me an email asking me how to get her paint to look perfectly smooth without imperfections.  If you want perfectly painted pieces,  I can tell you how to achieve this but then I ask why?  Let your old pieces tell a story and free yourself from feeling like your piece has to be perfect.  I was in Celadon the other day, a neat home furnishing store here in Mt. Pleasant, SC and was looking at this fabulous white hutch.

It was beautiful and new and made to look old and worn.  The inside had a finish that you can easily achieve with a dark wax or a glaze using heavy brush strokes.  

The edges were heavily distressed so you can see the wood through the paint.

The distressing and glaze gives the piece character and makes you feel like it has been moved around and opened a thousand times.  Is it perfect?  Yes. It is perfectly imperfect!  And that is what is great about refinishing old furniture - or, in this case, buying new furniture that looks old.  

Embrace imperfection!  

Happy Wednesday.

Paula