Friday, September 24, 2010

And the crackling continues.....

Sorry I've been a little MIA this week...... I have lots of excuses.... Wanna hear them?? ......No?? LOL...... Me either.......... Let's talk about fun stuff, ok!! I have my other blog for all the nonsense....

So....... I made some shutters. Actually I just needed an excuse to play with the crackle some more, And I thought they'd make a cute backdrop some where in The Painted Lady (the glass house).

A couple of people had asked about the crackle finish.... So I thought I'd give a few tips. First.... Practice makes perfect. I have crackled A lot of things, and those first few things weren't the best! It is hard, but once you know how...You'll be like me, And Crackle everything!! LOL

First paint your base coat color, and let dry! (I use a cheap brown paint)
Next paint a thick coat of crackle finish on, and let that dry!
Then.... Using a Good acrylic paint ( I used FolkArt brand), load your brush up really good....
Start in a corner and work you way up. You can NOT paint more than one or two strokes, or the crackle finish will smear!! That's the trick really.... Putting a thick enough coat of paint brush and only painting it once. As the top coat dries, the crackle will being to appear. Let this dry before you do anything else with it. (I sand the edges down at this point, and then go back over those edges with a brown stamp pad) I hope this helps..... :)


...... I was trying to find more word stamps in my stash....And came across this:
Wouldn't it be cute in a Halloween house??

Then I made some of these:

These will be perfect in a cake shop, kitchen...... Thought they were supper cute!! (This stamp came from AC Moore's)

And while I'm here.... Here's what the stamps look like that I used on all the other sticks.... I've had it for awhile, so I'm not too sure where they came from, but thought a picture would help. You can use any words really, well anything that is small enough to stamp onto a Popsicle stick anyways. I used single letters to make some Cupcake signs, but it's a little tricky to get the words straight.


And before I leave I thought I'd share a pic of Freddy..... It cracks me up when they sleep like this!!!


......Mom just called to tell me that they're coming down for the weekend!! :)
And my first thought was 'Ohh Sh*t!! I gotta clean this house! Doesn't she know that I've been sitting/laying on the couch all week painting Popsicle sticks!!' lol

Until Next Time.........

13 comments:

Ascension said...

Gracias por las instrucciones, asi sera mas facil realizar el craquelado.
Estas haciendo un trabajo maravillosa.
Simpatica foto.
Las mamas lo perdonan todo jejeje
Feliz fin de semana.
besitos ascension

Caseymini said...

Katie, just hand your mom a popsicle stick the says "I love my Mom!" and she won't notice the dust! Goos tips on crackle! Love the way Freddy catnaps....LOL

Kim said...

oh how I love that cupcake sign! Freddy is super cute♥ Awesome crackle tips- I'm going to have to try it out on some of my candy house furniture.

Heather said...

I've tried to crackle only once and it was a disaster. I'll have to keep on practicing! Your things look great.

The only time my house is really clean is right before my mother visits! Maybe she should visit more often.

Marisa said...

hehehe, thats exactly what I way when my inlaws come to visit

Unknown said...

Ahora te toca limpiar, pero nadie te quita haber disfrutado con los palitos y además enseñar tus prácticas que ya dominas.
Esconde todo por los armarios, la semana próxima menos palitos y un poco de orden.
Buen fin de semana.
Besos Clara.

Lataina said...

Katie you're killing me with the popsicle sticks. I L-O-V-E LOOOOVVEEEEEE them. The signs, the shutters.......what's next!? They've all turned out so pretty. =)

Kim Gillian said...

Freddy looks like he knows it's Friday...Love the crackle finish!
-Kim :)

Sans! said...

What should I name our new black cat, Katie? It just walked into our house yesterday.

Thanks for the crackle tip and I think Casey's suggestion might work :). Freddy crackle me up! tee hee.

Wendie-kins said...

I love the shutters! crackled to perfection :o) Freddy's catnap pic made me smile, cats always seem to be most comfy in the most uncomfortable looking positions!

Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor said...

Love the signs and the fences Katie!! Also love the affirmation stamps. Have some similar sets of stamps, only the sayings aren't quite so sweet. Nothing says it better than "maybe a cupcake will help?" :-)

Tallulah Belle said...

Wow you do crackle really well...I can never get ti to work no matter what brand I try. I'll use your tips :-)

I hear it is your birthday...hope you have a great one xxx

Norma Bennett said...

Thanks for the crackle tips, I love the effect but never seem to be able to get it quite right - I'm going to try again with a THICK coating of the cracking medium.

I really like the idea of using the stamps for the signs.