Simple Leather Skin Faux Finish

I am falling behind on my blog duties. Last week we spent preparing for a week of classes and our Artistic Plasters class at the end of the month. This week we had three different cabinet classes and this weekend we have Krystiano and his airbrush class! But I need to revisit the girls in the OC.

Lynne is our only brunette so she lets people know she is a true California Girl by her devotion to working out and tanning. Entrepreneurial inspiration struck while looking at her own parched arm one day and she thought, “I am going to make cuffs…big leather cuffs with lots of bedazzled crosses and fleur de lyses.” What better finish then one that looks like a big cuff unfurled on the wall?
(Photo: Bravo TV)

Step 1: Base paint the surface in Camel Setcoat or other dark Setcoat color.

Step 2: Mix 1/2 cup Camel Setcoat into 1 gallon of FE Venetian Gem Base Coat. Whip with a drill to evenly mix the two colors together. Trowel the plaster 100% over the surface working out from a corner. Delicate trowel lines are part of this finish. Some of the base color may shadow through. By the time you make it around the room, the first wall should be dry.

Step 3: Take the same tinted Venetian Gem Base Coat and tightly pull it over the first layer. The trowel lines of the first layer should show through this thin second coat.

Step 4A: Mix 1 Pint FE Aquacreme with ½ cup American Walnut Stain and Seal. Brush on the surface and soften with a damp cloth. (More glaze may be added to increase open time). Venetian Gem is absorbent-keep glaze edges soft and feathered out to avoid heavy lap lines.

Step 4B: Use a rubber trowel to pull the glaze into the Venetian Gem texture. Soften with your damp cloth. Continue operations A and B all around the room.

Step 5 (Optional) When the glaze is dry, use painters tape to mark off panels using a level. Tightly pull more of the tinted Venetian Base Coat plaster in the taped off areas.

Step 6: When the plaster is dry, glaze the panels with ½ cup Antique Cherry Stain mixed with 1 pint of Aquacreme. Pull the blue tape.

Step 7: (Optional) Normally we would use real tacks (Vahallan Papers is a great source).  But the budget is tight in the Curtain Home and a faux income calls for faux details. We added a center piece and “tacks” using stencils and Venetian Gem Plaster in Tiger’s Eye. When the designs were dry, we highlighted them with Bronze Stain.


We know that Lynne's family "moves" a lot.  Maybe it would be better to complete our leather on a canvas for fast removal as she works her way through luxury rentals along the Pacific Coast?