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Wall Stamping over Venetian Plaster

By Stephanie Loomis
Crafty Cruisers
Intermediate Stamping Team Designer

Supplies:

• Designer Diamonds background stamp (TAC retired)
• Grand Medallions stamp set (TAC)
• Mini Grand Medallions stamp set (TAC limited edition)     
• Primed and prepared wall
• Behr Venetian Plaster (Home Depot)
• Behr Venetian Plaster Top Coat
• Gloves
• Flexible trowel
• Paint tray
• Sandpaper in 100 and 400 grit
• Bucket of water
• Clean rags
• Behr Decorative finishes CD Rom—optional
• Paper plates
• Foam stencil roller and/or foam brushes
• Wooden skewer sticks
• Acrylic paints (Plaid Folk Art)

• Ivory
• Hunter Green
• Pure Gold

• Luna Lights Acrylic Paint (Stamp Oasis)

• Metallic Gold

• Pearl Ex (Jacquard)

• Super Bronze

Instructions:

This is a great project for a long snowed-in weekend. It takes two or three days to complete with drying times.

1. Prime the wall you are going to decorate with a flat finish primer. If you plan to cover over wallpaper, you’ll need to use an oil based primer/sealer.
    
2. Following the directions on the CD Rom (or the written version on the plaster can or at the paint store).  Apply two layers of Venetian Plaster to the wall.  Essentially, this process involves thin layers of the plaster applied to the wall with a trowel until full coverage is achieved.  Be sure to keep the plaster in the paint tray or can covered with a damp rag.
    
3. Once the final coat of plaster is fully dried, the fun begins.  Actually, the plastering is fun, too!
    
4. Combine a few drops of ivory paint with a couple drops of hunter green paint on a paper plate. Add a drop or so of Luna Lights gold paint. Stir with a skewer stick. The amounts will vary…combine according to your eye. Do not over blend. The idea is to have a variegated pattern on the plate.
    
5. Roll a small amount of paint onto the Designer Diamonds background stamp.
    
6. Stamp onto the wall about 4 inches from the ceiling. Use your hand instead of an acrylic mount; you’ll get a better impression over the texture.
   
7. Stamp the next background about 1 ½ inches to the side of the first without reapplying paint.
    
8. Apply a thin coat of paint to the stamp and repeat steps 6 and 7.
    
9. With the corner of a foam brush, pick up a small amount of Pearl Ex and dot it randomly on portions of the image you want to highlight. Once all four images have been “dotted”, gently burnish in using the foam brush so that all the powder is worked into the paint.
    
10. Repeat steps 5-9 until the border is complete.
     
11. As you repeat the steps, add a drop or two of paint onto your plate and blend as needed. Rather than try and match the colors every time, alternate the additional paint color drops with each new application. For example, you begin with 5 drops of ivory, 3 drops of hunter, and two drops of Luna gold. Before you move to step 8, add one drop of pure gold. As you work through, add a drop or two of hunter or either gold. Use ivory infrequently.
     
12. You may choose to repeat steps 4-11 using a darker palette to add some dimension. If so, skip the Pearl Ex (step 9) the second time.
     
13. Using the darker palette of green and gold, brush a THIN layer of paint onto the mini round medallion and stamp in the center of each background image as shown. You will need to reapply a THIN layer of paint each time you stamp this time.
     
14. Mix about 1/8 teaspoon of Super Bronze Pearl Ex with about 6-8 drops of ivory and 4 drops of hunter green. It should make a thin paste, so adjust accordingly.
     
15. Use the foam brush to apply the paint to the square Grand Medallion image in a thin layer.
     
16. Stamp on the wall as an accent to the border.
     
17. Reapply paint and continue until you’re satisfied with the accenting.
     
18. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, apply the Venetian Plaster Top Coat, and allow to dry.

OPTIONAL: Using 400-grit sandpaper, burnish the walls to a soft sheen prior to stamping. I chose not to do this, as I prefer the rougher texture.

Put the room back together and enjoy your art!

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