Daphne III: Sexy Stencilling

I’m not sure whether Daphne’s namesake, Daphne Du Maurier wore sexy lingerie, one thing is for certain – this Daphne does! Some well placed stencilling can often add that final je ne sais quoi to big projects like this. Secret designs which only reveal themselves once a drawer is opened or you peek behind a door, are what add whimsy to projects like these. Luckily, we have over 30 Posh Chalk stencils designs to choose from so there’ll always be something which is just right for whichever project you’re working on.

This time around I opted for the Kaleidoscope design, at 50x50cms it’s usually better suited for stencilling on walls. Where there is a will, there is a way, it might take a bit of gentle persuasion to get the stencil into the tighter spaces you’re working on, but as it’s a repeating pattern, you’ll always be able to find a bit of the pattern which will fit perfectly.

So, how did Daphne take to the stencilling? Really well! I started at the top where the wood was still bare and had only been sanded back a little. With furniture art, it is often really easy to get carried away, but I think it’s often a nice nod to the original design to see some of the wood peeking through. I mixed up some of the Red Magenta and Green Fhthalo pigments, my scroll-stopping, head-turning boho colour scheme ran from pinks into greens and my stencilling would follow suit.

The pigments can be mixed together to create a new shade or hue, however, I wanted to avoid any yellows across the top so I started off with the Red Magenta, give it a quick blast with the heat gun and applied the same technique to the other side, just overlapping the colours a little. Once the green had dried I just toned it down a little with a fine grit sandpaper and voila…Daphne had her hat!

Now, when stencilling I always like to use some spray mount to keep the stencil in place, tape works well too but I feel it’s just a little more secure with the spray. After all, you don’t want all your hard work being in vain by some less than stellar stencilling!

Now they say beauty isn’t skin deep and this certainly is the case with Daphne.

With it being a writers desk the front folds down and I wanted to incorporate some script raised stencilling, tying in with the literary nature of the whole project. So I taped off a border around the edge and got to work with the Black Carbon Posh Chalk Metallic Paste. We don’t currently carry a script stencil, so this took a good rummage around the workshop and a laissez-faire attitude to what products I was going to use.

Posh Chalk Pastes are perfect for raised stencilling, so once I had my stencil selected I knew I was in good hands! Once the raised stencilling was down, I gave it another quick, but careful, blast with the heat gun to dry it off; careful being the operative word, I didn’t want to pop any of the paste. I wanted good, clean lines. Again, I had not painted the wood, just a gentle sand – I was looking for a heady fusion of boho and traditional.

The inside had been painted however, I pre-painted this in a Kelp from Cornish Milk Mineral Paints. It needed a little more though…it needed stencilling.

Keeping the theme going I stuck with the Kaleidoscope stencil, this time opting for the Byzantine gold pigments – what’s life without a little bling? Once the stencilling had dried I used a little of Dixie Belle’s Big Mamma’s Butta to seal everything. Posh Chalk Pigments are self sealing by their nature as you mix them with a sealer and the Pastes are an all-in-one product, but as this was likely to be a high traffic area of the furniture, I wanted that added protection.

Daphne had her brassiere…now it was onto the stockings!

Where the writer’s table rests there are two pull out lengths of wood. It would be a case of a job half done if I didn’t finish off Daphne with a pair of sumptuous stencilling stockings! Like the table and the top of the piece, I wanted to keep the bare wood and stick to the Kaleidoscope stencil, so it was a case of just lightly sanding it down and adding some more of the Byzantine Gold Posh Chalk Pigments along with the Big Mamma’s Butta.

All that was left was to add the hardware on, painted with more Byzantine Gold, before bringing out some detailing in the mouldings using the Aqua Patinas – they come in a fantastic bohemian range of colours!