New 1 Day Classes

While you are waiting out SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011, check out our new series of One Day Classes.  Our Sandstone, Palette Deco, Venetian Gem, and Lusterstone classes have proven very popular with seasoned professionals, new decorative painters and homeowners.  We cover 1 product in 7 hours and show you 7 different ways to use it alone or in combination with other products. $250 for the class includes sample boards, products, and a written Step-by-Step curriculum.  Most of the finishes are production oriented-less steps and better product management = more room sales and increased profit.



Mitch did this beautiful dining room in a finish from the One Day Palette Deco Class

New: One Day Luna for Walls

Monday, April 18th or Monday, August 8th

Learn Faux Effect’s new production product, Luna, a brilliant and easy to apply plaster.  Most of the finishes take 3 steps or less to achieve the look found in very expensive designer wallcoverings. Some of the class samples:

I have used Luna in my own home to get a better feel for tinting, coverage, and durability.



Our front entry...for now.



New: One Day Super Hide Metallic for Walls

Tuesday, April 19th or Tuesday, August 9th

What if you could combine a real metallic with water-based products? You can with Faux Effects' new Super-Hide Metallic. The luminous colors may be used straight out of the bottle or as an additive to many plasters, glazes, and waxes.

Just like the Luna, I tested the Super Hide Metallic in my own house for this finish. 
These walls were Sandstone and then Lusterstone and now this.  Who needs insulation when you have Faux Finishing?

(If you would like to learn the Luna and Super Hide Metallic for unusual surface applications, such as tile and counter tops, take the 2-day ReNew, Reuse, and Recycle Class.  We show you how to use these products with Stone Decor and the Rock-Kote product line and give you in-depth instruction on surface specific prep and application techniques that are different from wall applications.)

In addition to the One Day Product, we also teach One Day Concept Classes in Foil and Waxes. This year we added the new Paper, Patina, Metallic, Bling, and Skins One Day Classes.

New:  One Day Patina Finishes

Wednesday, April 20th or Wednesday, August 10th

We will show you how to create realistic reactive finishes on a variety of products from the new Luna to foil.  From the palest smoked creams to the richest rusted irons, we cover a diversity of techniques to complete 7 samples suitable for walls, ceilings, and many home fixtures.

I love Patina Finishes so much, I did a whole counter top and sink:

New: One Day Paper Finishes

Thursday, April 21th or Thursday, August 11th

All I had to do was jot down some ideas, hand them to Ashley, and let her go to town.  She came up with beautiful finishes using minimal product and easy application techniques.  Create the paper in your home and spend a day installing at your clients.  The best place for a new paper finish is over an outdated wallpaper-no stripping required.

My Master bathroom is covered in a Putty Metallic Vinyl Wallpaper-that sounds hip but is really hideous. And it is stuck directly to the wall!  Ashley designed this paper for me:

She is such a clever girl.

New: One Day Bling with Guest Instructor Sue Hon

Monday, May 23rd

I admit to wearing frosted eyeshadow (what else would go with a Wham! big t-shirt?).  And like a bird, I am attracted to glittery jewels on occasion. But when it comes to wall finishes, I have little experience with assorted bling.  So I am turning this one over to Sue, who has done lovely finishes and developed several techniques for working with powders, glitters, beads, and leaf. Sue is working on 7 new samples but here are a few she has taught at Surfaces in the past:





New: One Day Skins with Sue Hon

Tuesday, May 24th

Sue's samples put a new spin on skins (and she sells sea shells at the sea shore).  She will show you how everyday inexpensive household items become faux finishing tools. The class covers Croc, Lizard, Dragon, Ostrich, Goat, Snake, and Toad. One is a new stencilwith new products. Two are old stencil favorites with a easy application technique and 4 samples require no sample at all.

I have the Lizard Finish on my Coffee Bar Counter Top.

New: One Day Mastering Metallics

Wednesday, May 25th

Metallics are the easiest way to update any interior.  In this one-day class, we will work with powders, foil, metallic plasters, waxes, and metallic colorant to complete 7 finishes pulled from our popular collection classes.  We’ve reworked the finishes to bring you the latest colors in the fewest steps.

 

One Day Color Theory with Brenda McPeek

Monday, May 9th

 

Brenda taught this wonderful class for years at Faux Masters and here at Surfaces in late 2009. We are excited that she will be offering it again before she teaches her 3-day RS class (May 10th -12th).  Brenda will lead you in multiple hands-on exercises.

Ashley and I are working hard to complete our final samples for 1 Day Cabinets and 1 Day Naturally Neutral Plasters.  Let us know what 1 Day Classes you would like to see in the future.  All One Day Classes are scheduled in clusters for the comfort of our out-of-town guests. Don't forget to ask about lodging at Casa Slaton-don't you want to see in person the crazy stuff I've put in our house?

Hope to see you in 2011!

Three Color Lusterstone

Happy 2011!  Since the Mayan Calendar stops in 2012, I may only have 2 years to get my kitchen done.  We will either have a big celebration because California didn't fall into the sea or welcome Armageddon knowing we didn't go down with popcorn ceilings and orange oak cabinets.

2010, Columbia Pictures 2009

Thank goodness Bruce has a pilot's licence-Now we just need a plane.

So while we prepare ourselves for the multiple Lifetime Channel Doomsday Romance Movies starring former actors on Full House, let's talk about the Lusterstone finish in my kitchen. 

My walls started out with Sherwin Williams Paint and a tri-color wash done with Aquaglaze.  Here is the before:

The soffitt is Black Onyx Venetian Gem with popcorn on the underside. Since the wall tone is similar to the Lusterstone I am using, I didn't need to paint a new base color. Lusterstone is consistently our biggest selling product. I've worked with it in on almost every wall commission project I've done and have seen numerous local jobs and projects on the net done with Lusterstone.  The 2 biggest problems I've seen with Lusterstone application are: 1) Not using enough product and 2) Creating blotches when applying 2 or more colors at a time.

I wet and scrapped off the popcorn. Wipe off the dust and prime the surface (with primer and not some cheap ceiling paint).  This is a major pet peeve of mine-cheap prep.  If you don't seal a surface properly this is what will happen.  Your paint is sitting on the drywall/plaster surface.  You put a wet plaster on your paint.  The plaster slowly dries sucking up moisture and trying to find a surface to grip into.  As this happens, your plaster bonds to your paint and pulls it off the wall. This may take a day or it may take months.  If your product falls off with dry wall dust on the back-it is a prep issue and not product failure. Man Up and do the best prep-whomever touches the wall last always gets the blame!

In the traditional trowel method, which I am using for this finish, Lusterstone is meant to be applied in 3 steps.  Step 1 is rolling on 1 color for a scratch coat.  I used Brown Suede and a fluffy Whizz Roller to create a layer that looks like suede. This is a low build but you want to avoid roller lines because it will show through your finish.  This is a fast but important step and is one many people try to skip.  It gives your next layer some grip, builds color, and will reveal possible wall problems.  As this layer dries, you will often see where the dry wall seams are going to show. Pulling Lusterstone (or any plaster with a sheen) will only make these WORSE.  If you get horizontal seams, roll more Lusterstone at a diagonal across the seam breaking the plane. The tape in the picture below is the seam.

If the seam runs vertical, the same concept applies. Roll more Lusterstone at an angle to the seam line.  If a nail pop shows, you should fix it but at the very least roll more product over the area before you begin troweling. You can proceed to your trowel layer usually within an hour of the rolled coat.

I am applying three colors of Lusterstone: Brown Suede (my base color), Champagne Mist, and a Custom Antique Gold.  The Antique Gold is a mix of 2 parts Brown Suede, 1 part Champagne Mist, and 1/2 part Medallion Gold.  For my kitchen the ratio was 1 pint Brown Suede + 1 Cup Champagne Mix + 4oz Medallion Gold. Since we (Surfaces) have always sold 4oz and 8oz Lusterstone samples, custom mixing is easy and inexpensive for most projects.

I put each color on the trowel separately and "pop" it on the surface. I do this with each color without over thinking what % of each color I am going to use. It will look messy and that is OK.



This is the "Smacking" technique. 
Something I would like to practice on the kids that always end up next to my booth at Red Robin.

Once I get an area covered (2' x 2'), I lightly knock the peaks down and slightly blend the colors. The trowel is almost flat to the surface and the pressure is like buttering toast.  Don't over blend-think Marble and not Mush.

Use a Japan Blade to keep your trowel clean.  Lusterstone dries fast on the blade and these pieces will create lines in your finish.  Stopping and starting doesn't matter in this technique because you should have enough movement to hide this. If you see Stop/Start trowel lines then you are pulling too tight or not using enough product.

 This layer will have highs and lows and will look patchy.10% or less of the base rolled coat will show through. For the final layer, I work again with all 3 colors but this time I pull them tightly across the surface and let them blend more. The trowel is more on edge and should make a scrapping sound. Because the Brown Suede is much darker then the other shades, I do apply this first and work the other two colors into it.

I started the final layer working to my left and moving right. You can see how the finish is now more blended.  Using the metal blade on the surface is what produces the "luster" of the Lusterstone.  I always think it looks like the sheen of linen.  For corners and edges, I just brush the colors with a damp chip brush.

The wall space in our kitchen is broken up and small-about 300 square feet. I opened 1 gallon of Brown Suede (base rolled coat, mid layer, final layer, and 1 pint to mix for Antique Gold) and have 1/2 gallon left.  I also used 1 quart of Champagne Mist (mid layer, final layer, and 1 cup for the Antique Gold) and 4oz of Medallion Gold to make the Antique Gold.

It took me 1 hour to roll the base coat and 2 hours to trowel each of the the mid and final layers.  So my total time was about 5 hours.  I had $108.20 invested in product and that comes out to a whopping .36 cents a square foot and I still have half a gallon of the Brown Suede for another project.

 Next time a client gripes about product costs break it down for them by price for square foot. And remind them that it's time to get a better attitude. Because....

The Mayans are taking names and checking them twice.