"Carving" Wooden Furniture

The old piece of furniture that I wanted to use in the FAME club vignette was rather plain and boring, and my shabby chic vignette needed something a little more elaborate. (Click on the photos for a larger view.)

I decided to try to add some detail, using some of my punches, stiffened embroidery thread, file folder and cereal box cardboard, and am very pleased indeed with the results. Above you can see the various pieces layered and glued on, but still raw. I painted over them with light grey paint when they were dry, and followed that with some dry-brushing in darker grey. That was in turn highlighted with rub-on gold Treasure Wax.

Above is the detail on the vanity table. I used three sizes of flower punch, a fig leaf, a tiny ivy leaf, a 1/16" circle (about 1.5 mm, I think!), and the petals from the tiny daisy visible in the top photo. The table has more gold detail than I really like, but it was my practice piece, and much of the detail will be hidden by plants etc. on top of it when I do the interior of the shop.

The detail on the mirror turned out better; unfortunately, the photo has odd reflections in the mirror portion of this piece! The gold highlighting is much more subtle than on the table.

And this is what the combination looks like. I'm thinking of a shabby chic crate with a pastel label under this table, loaded with plants in pots, to fill up the space. The "stone" cherub  figure sits front and centre in this photo. There will be plenty of room for more shallow pieces of furniture and all sorts of clutter on the floor.

I'm happy with it! So far my "cold" colour scheme is working just as I hoped.

Now I am going to add a couple of beams, partially to hold up the transparent ceiling piece, and also to give me a place to hang things from hooks, like a nice wind chime in brass that was a Camp MiniHaHa gift some years back, a creamy white macrame plant hanger with a plant, perhaps a bird cage, who knows what I can fit in here....