Amy Howard Cracked Patina

Amy Howard has a super fun product called Cracked Patina.  It will give you the look of something that's been painted with a couple coats of paint and it started to crack and chip away.  I haven't ever been a fan of the crackle finish that was popular a few year ago but with a little research and Amy Howard's product I'm sold. 

The first thing you do is paint a first coat of Amy Howard, I chose Charm School on this medallion.  It's best to chose the darker color to go on the bottom.  

After the 1st coat of paint is dried you apply a coat of Cracked Patina.  It goes on like a sticky clear layer of paint.

You wait for the cracked patina to dry and then paint the lighter color and it will start to crack.  You'll want to not paint over areas so try to paint in sections being careful to only get the paint in the section you are painting.  I would have tried to get a photo of it before it cracked but it's a fast process and there was no time for photos.  

When you would see items from old houses with chippy paint there were areas that were missing the paint totally and some that were just cracked apart.  To get the missing paint you'll want to wait for the paint to dry a bit and then take your hand and press it on top of the paint and pull it away, some of the paint will stick to your hand and create the missing paint areas.  This is really messy but totally worth it and it washes off with water so that's even better.  

I did a clear Amy Howard clear wax (right side) and Amy Howard antique wax (left side)

This piece I put Amy Howard wax on like I do with all my other waxes and it was totally wrong.  I got it to turn out good in the end but it was pretty iffy there for awhile.  

Here I am working really hard to save this piece. 

Note to self (and you) - Read the directions and follow them.  

I am the type of person that does not read direction first, I jump right in and then when it goes wrong I'll resort to reading the directions.  John is the total opposite he'll read directions before doing anything and then he follows them step by step..... me I skip around and make up some of my own steps.  

Here is the finished medallion.

I'll talk about the correct way to wax with Amy Howard waxes in another post.  After I read the direction and did it her way I LOVE this wax.  It would be my first choice in wax.

Another cracked patina project.  I won't walk you through all the steps since they are all the same as above.  

I bought a crate from a second hand store for part of the Amy Howard display.  It's the perfect size for holding paint cans but it's a bit dated.

Spa White with Tick Tock over the top.  

Raised stencil is another fun project I do to give flat surfaces a fun twist.  I'm sure I'll post that process someday if you beg me to.  

I liked the look but didn't love it.

Now with another layer of cracked patina and Charm School I love it.

I have another example of cracked patina but I'll share that with you in a few days.  

Tomorrow is Trash to Treasure Tuesday so be sure to come back and check out what project I have going on for that.  

You'll love the cracked patina so head on up to ACE Hardware located within County Market and pick up a couple cans of paint and patina.     Later......