Let's talk Bricks

I've had Katie's Corner in a few houses over the years, and I always seem to outgrow it..

And then we got our hands on a fish tank.... and I sat for a looooong time trying to figure out how I wanted to do the walls. And then it came to me.... (That happens a lot! I'll feel completely clueless on how I want to tackle a project and it will sit for months, and then one day- It just makes sense:)

 

So....Katie's Corner was getting a brick wall. But not just any brick wall.....one that had been around for years. And one that someone had plastered over....but over the years that plaster had started to come off.....Am I making sense? I wanted an old wall! So.....

 

I used a piece of self-sticking- cork- scrapbook paper (well, I used 2 sheets) ...and began cutting out bricks. At this point the kids came in and saw what I was doing and asked me if I had lost my mind...lol....and actually after getting only this far- I was beginning to ask myself the same question- I needed a lot of bricks!

 But I had help:) Of course they are only good at keeping my lap warm and making sure nothing gets away, but Hey.....at least I don't get lonely- Cause you know the kids were Not sticking around to watch Mom glue bricks down.....lol

 This is really an easy process- It just takes ForEver!

I drew out lines where I wanted the bricks to be- this also helped me stretch out those 2 sheets of cork paper.

 After all the bricks were stuck in I went back in and painted the cracks gray. I wasn't careful about staying in the lines- this all seemed to blend together to make it look more like a whole piece in the end.

 I had a few bricks left over and decided I wanted some bricks to peek out from the stucco... so I used the same lines from before and added a few areas of bricks here and there.

 These bricks got 'stucco-ed' over. I am also starting to build up the layers of stucco to try and get it level with the bricks. This is the undercoat.

I have also went back and used watercolors to brighten up some of the bricks.

And then I did a light white wash over everything.

 OK...If you look closely at the next picture you can see there's different layers of blue stucco. I started with the white one the bottom......and let it dry. Then I added the next layer with a little bit of blue paint...and stucco-ed over the areas where the white was- but not overlapping, just slightly inside the white.....The I let that dry...then I added more stucco with more blue and did the whole thing over again. I did this process several times until I ended up with a texture I liked. I really hope I making sense here.

-This is where my two big frames are going to live- I was just making sure they were going to fit and that everything looked good together:)

 The last thing I did was dirty it up a little. Seems stupid after just doing the whitewash- but all these layers do show through- and make all the difference in the world.

I am so pleased with how this turned out:)

 I think it's perfect for a back wall in an old vintage store:)

 

Until Next Time...