Upcycled blues.....

Oak House Studio are starting their "Take 5" summer challenge with "Something Blue".  For one of my projects I decorated a large jar candle with some homemade stickers. (details on the Oak House  Studio blog this month).

While I was making the stickers for my candle I decided to make myself a little tea light jar with the spare stickers and to hold the candle in place I used some of the Oak House Colour Chemistry (Jubilee blue) ink to dye some rice (a few drops mixed into the rice, then left to dry).

The jar was the finishing touch to a much larger upcycled project....for months I have been searching for a suitable vintage style, large mirror that had a shelf attached, but just couldn't find what I wanted. In the end Steve sanded our old mirror and attached a little shelf, this looked amazing but the two woods were very different....so out came the Colour Chemistry Inks and I very quickly painted/dyed both parts with Vintage Blue.To soften and create a distressed look I painted over with white eggshell. Although I made sure the ink was very dry I did spray a light coat of matt varnish to try and seal the blue as I think it would have bled into the wet paint. After sanding the paint back I sealed the whole thing properly with waterbased varnish.

I was so pleased with the finished mirror, I also upcycled an old stool for the bathroom (a handy hop up for my granddaughter) ..... I used the ink very diluted on this project and kept the wood more natural....I didn't want the stool to completely match plus there were so many layers of paint to strip back...each one leaving a hint of colour etc. and I loved the effect this created. The ink gave it a new look without spoiling the aged effect.....I really am a big fan of these amazing inks......now looking for more things to use them on!!!

Thanks for popping by and don't forget to check out Oak House Studio blog (for my jar candle) and shop......well worth a browse for some unique and fab products.

....and I would love to join in with my jar candle with some of the challenges

simplycreatetoo.blogspot.co.uk - with their "stitching" challenge

and

Notjustcards - April challenge 

thank you both for the fun challenges!!