Tutorial - Miniature Faux Carved Gilded Frames

 Many years ago I purchased a collection of framed prints in an auction.  They were nicely scaled and finished, even covered on the back with nice wallpaper and signed “Bob von Fliss”.  Much later I learned Bob von Fliss was one of the original founders of NAME and the first Editor of the N.A.M.E. Gazette (so this is part tutorial, part miniatures history lesson!).  You can download the first issue of the Gazette from the NAME website and see him listed there.

I loved the antique carved ‘gilded’ look and wondered how he did it.  The faux carved look is from embossed foil called “Dresden” foil which you can find on Etsy. [click the keyword "faux carving" in the sidebar for my other posts on that topic]. The trim I used to replicate the Von Fliss frame (Napoleon, upper right of photo above) has a grape leaf or grapevine design but there are lots of Dresden foil borders which would work well for miniature frames.

To find the foil trim, search the words "Dresden foil border" on Etsy or Ebay.

Supplies:

• Wood trim for frame, 1/16th  inch thick by ¼ inch wide – or however wide you want your frame
• Wood trim narrower than frame, also 1/16th inch thick or thinner
• Index card
• Dresden Foil Border trim –see photo below for the designs I used
• Picture or art piece to frame
• Gold acrylic paint (I used DecoArt Dazzling Metallics “Splendid Gold”)
• Antiquing Medium (I used Plaid brand Antiquing Medium in “Cocoa Bean”)
• Paintbrush and paper towels
• X-Acto knife
• Wood glue

Close up of Foil Border Grapevine Leaf Pattern and Scallop

Here are the instructions for making your own faux gilded frame.

1. Cut main frame pieces to fit your art piece.  I didn’t miter the wood since the foil will cover it but Bob probably mitered his.  I just butted the pieces together.  Glue them together with wood glue
   
   
   
2. For extra support, trace around the frame on index card.  Cut out and glue it to the back of the frame.  The photo below shows the back with the index card and the art piece I wanted to frame. Below I am tracing around the art piece so I know how big to make my liner frame (step 7).
   
   
   
   
3. Paint the front wood and edges with gold acrylic paint making sure to paint the raw edges of the index card too (I forgot to do this before I glued the first 2 pieces of foil on but it will help if you do it before gluing on the foil).
4. Line up the outer edge of the foil border with the outer edge of the frame.  Use the X-acto to miter the corners of the foil at the corners of the frame.
   
   
   
5. Glue foil piece to frame.  Flip frame over and trim off gold foil from the back where it extends to the center of the frame. 
   

   
   
   
   
6. Repeat for the other three frame sides so you have all 4 sides covered with the foil.
   
   
   
7. If desired, add another narrow edge of trim to finish the inside edge of the frame.  I trimmed a very tiny edge off of a different border, a scalloped border.
   
   
   
8. Cut another 4 wood strips, (narrower strips this time) to support the back of the frame.  These should be set back from the inside edge of the frame and should be the right size to fit whatever art piece you want to frame.  Again, these don’t have to be mitered.
   
   
   
9. Paint the entire front and back of the frame with the gold metallic paint.
   
   
   
10. Add a hanging cord made from thread.  I just cut a piece of thread and glued it against the narrow trim on the back of the frame, let it drape across the opening and glue it again to the opposite side.  Allow enough slack so it will be above the center of the frame when hung.  This makes it easy to hang on a small sequin pin pushed into your wall with very tiny hole and makes it removable.   The thread is kind of hard to see in this photo.
    
    
    
11. When dry, brush on some Antiquing Glaze then wipe off immediately for an antique look.
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Let dry and slip your art work between the frame and thread hanger.  Here are both the new frame (left) and the original by Bob von Fliss (right). The painting I framed was by Lynn Trenary.
    

Below is my finished frame hung above a fireplace.  Sometime in a later blog I will finish that room (I call it the "Guys from Texas Room").  I think the gold foil makes a very nice hand-made frame and nicely scaled.  It amazes me sometimes what nicely scaled items those early miniaturists could make by hand without access to Ebay,  miniature shops and the abundance of commercially made items available to us now.  There is a lot of charm in those vintage 1970s miniatures and we can learn a lot from them!

Until next month...Yikes!  Christmas is almost here!

Faux Carving (Method 2!) - Embellished Lower Kitchen Cabinets

This is the fourth in a series of blogs describing a kitchen project.  The first blog started in March (click the archive link at the side to go back). Two blogs ago, I shared a method of simulating carving using nail jewels, wood scraps and hand fan blades (for link click here). In this blog I will share my favorite technique for faux-finishing – using embossed gold foil shapes to simulate carving.

Before I get to the cabinet doors, I want to make mention of another (similar) embellishment technique – metal stampings (like jewelry findings).  The fluted posts shown with the lower cabinets are actually laser cut wood.  They were provided with the kitchen kits. Here is what they looked like before adding the jewelry finding and faux finish:

Brass finding for embellishment

I cut the metal finding apart then glued the pieces on then faux finished them in antique pine as was done for the upper cabinets in the previous blog.  You can find these by searching Ebay for "victorian brass stamping".  See the photo below for "after" faux finish.  This idea was inspired by Sandra Manring's kitchen (see her full kitchen photo in this blog post)

Now for the foil paper embellishment technique.  The lower cabinets are non-functional.  The project kit included a backing board which I painted a pale green (photo above).  The wooden trim pieces and finished doors were glued to the backing board.  The entire board was not glued in but I made it to fit tightly so it could be removed to hide the wiring (a later blog).

The laser cut doors and drawers had an etched center frame.  I removed a tiny sliver – a couple of layers of paper – from the inner frame to give it a little depth.

After removing the layers just in the etched crack, I burnished it with the edge of a cardboard – so it would be a little smoother when painted.

This is my favorite embellishment hint – foil applique’s!  The gold foil shapes are called “Dresden foil”.  I cut them apart and used small pieces to fit into the inner rectangle of the doors.  The very narrow foil trim strips (bottom of photo below) I mitered and used around the center rectangle.  On the narrow ‘drawers’ I just used the narrow trim.

Supplies Used:
Gold foil appliques - "Dresden Foil" (Ebay, Etsy)
Gesso base coat - white
Light base coat acrylic paint (Americana Hauser Green mixed with white)
Darker color for glaze (Americana Hauser Green)
Plaid/Folk Art (brand) Extender - allows mixing paints without drying out quickly
Small paintbrush, preferably the width of the door frames

After gluing on the foil, the next steps are shown in photo below, but to summarize:

• Base coat over the foil and cardboard with Gesso
• Base coat over the Gesso with light green (same color used for the base that the doors will be glued to)
• Glaze with a darker green mixed with “Extender” letting it puddle in the carved areas and wiping off the higher areas with a paper towel.

Let dry – extender takes a while and stays tacky for a while.

Finished cupboard doors.

Across the bottom of the cabinet base I put a narrow strip for a “toe kick” painted the same light green base coat.

Below is a photo of the finished doors with the wood trim pieces mentioned before. The area below the sink would later be covered with a skirt.  Green may not be everyone’s cup of tea for a kitchen but I happen to love the green/lavender combination!

Next month  I will cover some of the lighting I used in this project.  You can't see it in the photo but the entire lower front cabinet section is a removable panel (one piece).  Behind this panel I hid the wiring and 9 volt battery for the lights.  See you next month!

Mini Kitchen - Cabinet Doors - Faux Carved Embellishments

My goal for this kitchen project was to simulate the finish in the photo above, an antique French pine look. The photo is a magazine clipping of a cabinet.  Below the photo are my trial and error paint attempts to mimic the French pine colors. (paint finish will be covered in the next blog).  What is harder to see in the photo are the carved trim details.

In this blog I will explain how I embellished the cabinet doors to look like faux carving using pieces of wood, a fan blade and nail jewels.

You will need:
Cabinet doors to embellish
laser cut oriental hand fan blades
Half round trim – such as dollhouse chair rail molding (small piece)
Tiny nail jewels in different shapes
Coffee stirrers or thin scrap wood, about 1/16th or 1/32nd inch thick
Tools (X-Acto knife, wood glue or white glue, razor saw and miter box to cut molding)
Gesso paint primer
Emery board or sanding stick

Fan Blade Trim
The cabinet doors for the project were one piece, not separated in the middle.  I didn’t cut them apart and just glued the trim across the entire top.  The trim is a single blade from an oriental hand fan – these are sometimes sold as wedding favors and made of sandalwood.  Try the oriental grocery stores or gift shops or on Ebay.

Laser cut fretwork hand fan - used one blade for trim

1. First, separate one blade from the fan - there will be an almost invisible knot of clear thread holding the blades together.  Just gently slide your #11 pointed knife blade under the knot and cut it.  There may be two knots.
2. Cut the fan down the middle lengthwise to get two pieces that are mirror images (photo below).  Press the X-acto knife along the middle – don’t drag it.  If you drag the knife across the fretwork the small pieces will break.
3. You may have to trim off some of the border also.  It won’t be exactly square but you are only using part of the design, that won’t be noticeable.  Use a straight edge and your X-Acto to trim the border (area with no fretwork).

4.  Glue fretwork trim across top of doors.  Use tiny little dots of glue on the fretwork so it doesn’t seep into the open spaces. Let it dry.  Trim any that extends above the door with scissors or X-acto knife.

Tiny dots of glue on back of fretwork

Corner Trim
You will use these pieces: piece of coffee stirrer, piece of half-round (or chair rail), nail jewels.

1. Cut the half round trim into small pieces wide enough to match the width of the cabinet frame.
2. Cut the coffee stirrers into small pieces, about 5/8 inch long.  Round two corners as in the photo.
3. Glue the half round to the top end of the rounded coffee stirrer piece.
4. Glue on the nail jewels like the photo.  Glue the stack at the top corners of the door frame below the fretwork (photo below).
5. When dry, base coat the entire piece with Gesso to prep for the faux paint technique.

Next time I will describe how to create the faux antique pine paint effect.  Here is a preview of what the cardboard cabinet doors look like after the faux finish.