Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Magic of Texture Paste


I love Texture Paste!!! It is one of my signature elements on just about any decorative wood project. I saw it several years ago displayed as a class project at the best craft store in the world, Provo Craft. I quickly signed up for that class and fell head-over-heals! So, Texture Paste is what made that embossed design on the clock above, the grapevine and berries on the sign below, as well as on the baby cradle I made down there even farther. You too can add an incredible accent to your wood projects and you won't believe how simple it is to use.


As a matter of fact, I even used the texture paste and embossed each of my 30-something kitchen cabinets back in my Minnesota farm house.



Start with a clean dry area. You will need, texture paste, a stencil, masking or painter's tape, a putty knife, and something to scoop the paste out of the jar.

Tape the stencil down where you want your design. You can tape off any areas of the stencil that you don't want. Scoop out some paste and smear it on the stencil.

Run a putty knife across the design, using medium pressure. You can actually press too hard and not have much of a design showing. You also don't want to have it too thick, then it will look all gloppy. Just pull the putty knife along nice and easy. Try to only pass through once. The more times you go over the design, the more paste gets squished underneath the stencil, leaving a mess to clean up later.

Scrap the excess paste back into the jar. Slowly pull up the stencil, in one direction. The design will be left on the project. This paste goes a long way. One jar will last for many, many projects. It also dries rather fast. Once it no longer looks wet, touch lightly to ensure it is dry. When fully dry, sand lightly (I usually forget to and it looks just fine). If you would like to add more of a design in another area, do that now. When you are all finished with your design, paint, sand lightly, and stain if desired. My favorite is to paint it one color, like black, then white, then when you sand it the bottom color comes through. With a little texture paste, even the most plain project will really *POP*

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