Bar stool- Reverse Stenciling

Hello again, Froggers. The title of my post was going to be "stool", but being a nurse, it just didn't look right, so I changed it.
I started out with a plain oak stool that I bought at a yard sale for about $2. It just needed a few minor adjustments by tightening the screws.
I didn't get a full before pic but you've all seen them.
I wanted to do a pattern on the top, and as usual, I just designed a pattern, cut it out with vinyl, and painted over it.
I started out with a black base coat, because that's what color I wanted the design to be (you almost have to think backwards). I used granite chalk paint for this.

I tried to cheat and use contact paper instead of vinyl to increase my profit margin. The contact paper was a little too flimsy. It did work, but it required some more fussing than I wanted to engage in.

Then I painted over the contact paper with old white chalk paint.

Because I was working on a circle, and my design wasn't perfectly symmetrical, I forgot to "square it off" with the legs, resulting in some (*#$@Y#)%   words (or at least thinking about them). So, I painted over it with black and started all over.
It's important to know that I always pull my vinyl up when the paint is slightly wet. The danger in doing this is risking letting go of your vinyl, having it flop back on your design and smudging it. However, those of us who make these kinds of mistakes just call them "new techniques" and call it a day.

Here's what the final looks like:

I'm kinda tickled with it.

Here it is after a light sanding, some clear Briwax, and some buffing.

Yeah. Pretty pleased here.
And, stay tuned for my tutorial on how to use vinyl with your subway art, replete with tips and tricks that I learned after making uber numbers of mistakes!
Fondly, Tami
I'm linking to:
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