Getting Frenchy Again

I just love The Graphics Fairy. As stated in an earlier post, I have several images that I'm going to post in the future- ones from post cards that I received from my mom. As in keeping with the early 1900's, people wrote all the time since it was the primary form of long distance communication. It cracks me up when I read them. Some of them say practically nothing at all, but it's the idea that they were committed to keeping in touch. Stay tuned.

Here's the latest project:

I just love it. I made it to sell, but like so many of you, I also have a hard time getting rid of my creations. I will be opening an Etsy store soon, so stay tuned.

Here's a close-up:

It started out as a plain cabinet door. I painted the interior with Old White chalk paint and the frame the Louis Blue. I printed out the saying from the internet and traced it onto the center using Saral paper.

There were so many intricate lines, that instead of painting it, I used a black sharpie marker. Since I was planning on distressing it, I thought it would work out OK, and it did. After I distressed it, I waxed it with clear Briwax.

Let me say a little bit about waxing since there's a lot of buzz about it in Blogland.
I have not personally used Hennant's wax, but I've seen that it is highly regarded by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint users. I personally love my Briwax. When I started painting furniture and projects such as this one, I gathered my dusty supplies from the bowels of the garage. Imagine my surprise when I found not one, but three cans of Briwax. Needless to say, I was uber excited. Oak, mahogany, and clear waxes were the new items in my arsenal. I now mainly use clear, with oak coming in second, and mahogany a respectable third. They truly add a lovely patina to the chalk paint, as well as durability. I would never use chalk paint without it unless I really liked the "dry" look (which I sometimes do) and the piece wasn't going to get any wear (like a heavily used piece of furniture).
Now on to brushes.
Again, the Blogland Froggers (friends who are bloggers) often tout the miraculous coverage one can get with an expensive Italian brush like this:

Sorry for the crooked view. I think I was trying to be artistic. Anyway, you get the idea. I do like this brush but it's not as fantastic as it's purported to be. It does shed whiskers which you have to pick off on occasion. However, it does get a lot of coverage. I do like it for large surface areas.
But...I used this el cheapo brush (part of a large set of brushes from AC Moore for about $2.00).

Just like the bigger, more expensive brush, this one sheds whiskers as well. But, with only costing less than $1, I'm down with that. This one is truly better than the larger one for smaller, intricate areas.

Cleaning: I hate using mineral spirits, which is what is recommended for cleaning wax from brushes. I did read that one could just soak the brush in plain cooking oil and then wash it out with Dawn dishwashing liquid. So, being the adventurous one that I am, I tried it. Let's just say that I think it works. I've used my brushes about 5-6 times, and so far, I haven't had any build up or clumping. I'll let you know if there's a problem down the road.
So, those are my little tidbits for the day. Stay tuned when HubbyDoc (aka Renaissance Man) lets me know his recipe for chalk paint.
And... I'll leave you with this Frenchy flowery goodness:

Thanks for stopping by, and as always, feel free to leave a message!
Fondly, Tami
And, today I'm linking back to Today's Creative Blog and French Country Cottage
and The Thrifty Home