Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Do-overs and Done!

UGH! Once again, after sanding, priming, painstakingly painting and adding a protective coating to a project (a bookcase this time), I returned to the warehouse to find out that the polywhey coating I used has yellowed the surface. So, instead of baby-blue and white bookcases, I have a dirty white and barely blue bookcase. I had this problem before with my dragonfly mirror and I wrote the company, Vermont Natural Coatings. The company was very concerned, helpful and understanding. They even sent me a new batch (along with a complimentary bottle of Vermont syrup) and assured me that it wouldn't happen again. So, I coated my beachy chairs with the new stuff and they looked fantastic. After that, I didn't hesitate to coat the bookshelves. It looked fine until it dried. The only thing I can think of is that the color of the paint must have something to do with it...everything that I coat that has a light color turns yellow. I'm so frustrated and feel bad because I can't reccomend this product for light-colored, hand-painted objects even though they are environmentally friendly and were very customer-friendly. I can, however, recommend it for coating plain wood and dark painted objects. So, I've been busy re-sanding and re-sanding. If anyone has any suggestions as to what type of protective coating to use, please send them along!!!

On a good note, I finished this whimsical mirror (above) that I think it would be at home in a country style foyer or a little girl's room. It was relatively easy to complete. After sanding and priming, I painted the frame and hand-painted some wood cutouts from the craft store.  Then I glued them on with something called "Liquid Fusion." The wood glue that I was using worked well, however it dried an ugly dark yellow (what's with this yellowing stuff?) and if it seeped out, it took away from the finished piece.

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