Example of faux painting by done by a customer

Well, gotta be quick cause I gotta get to bed. Not late at all but I need to get back into the habit of spending some quiet time with the Lord and more time reading the bible. God's been too good to me to stray from seeking Him.

Anyway, tonight I was blessed to see that I got a lot of visits to my website and was particularly curious about a referred site I didn't recognize. So I went to visit it and I was pleasantly surprised to see that a customer had posted some pictures of her faux painting project on her site. I needed to put her pictures on my testimonies' page but haven't the chance yet. I was working on new tools and new faux painting techniques most of the day in addition to giving a quote for a big job.

So I decided to quickly post my customer's picture on this blog so that I can get others to see it. Her walls came out gorgeous and especially the ones I am including on this post. I am including a bit of her letter, too. It's customers like Amanda that make it all worth while and the Lord uses people like her to encourage me to keep going. He knows I would rather be sharing a bible study or visiting orphans and widows but for now, until the time is right, I will stay with the talent He has blessed me with. I love art and I love seeing others succeed in their quest to learn how to faux finish. I hope you like the pictures of Amanda's faux painted walls. Here's a few words she wrote me:

Hi! I emailed you way back about those annoying knockdown walls that are all through my house, and I subsequently bought rather a lot of faux painting supplies from you to take care of that little problem. I thought I would show you that I've been putting them to great use! It's been slow but sure progress, and it's turned out beautifully. I still have three rooms left to do, but I can't wait to show you any longer.

Just today I finished my studio. It's my favorite so far and I HAD to email you and show you that I really have the hang of it now. I know there are a lot of pictures, but I think you'll agree it looks lovely.

If you want to put any of these up on your site, please, feel free! I AM an artist, but I'll tell you that the only time my artistic talent ever came into play was in choosing colors. That was the hardest part. Everything else was so EASY. I think most anyone could pick up the knockdown technique in about twenty minutes. Even painting the ferns was simple. (I did that with a brush, but I gently went over them with a small poofy pad to blur them and break up darker blobs of paint. Not a perfect job, because I was learning as I went, but let me tell you, you step back three feet and any "mistakes" do not show at all.)

I am so happy, and so grateful for your wonderful inventions. This would not have been possible without them, and without you. Everyone who sees what I have done asks how I did it, and everyone who asks gets pointed straight at your site. It's the least I can do.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Best always,

-- Amanda Gannon

Changes to shipping on faux painting tools

Well here I am again. Finally! I admit I am not too good at posting blogs. Partly cause I don't know if people really read them. Being busy with a website, teaching faux painting classes, answering calls from customers, faux painting homes and experimenting with new ideas for faux painting tools, I rarely have time to post anything. The first few months of this year have already been interesting. It's amazing how the Lord guides me thru the comments made by my customers or visitors to the faux painting website I have. There's tons of them out there by the way. I'm sure if you happen to be reading this post, you know. I recently got a few comments on how my videos say "free shipping" and now I am charging for ground shipping. My response is that I did say "for a limited time" and the first faux painting videos I posted are almost 2 years old. I think 2 years is enough time to be considered "limited", don't you. The U.S. Post office just went up on shipping charges but I am only charging $3.00 for ground for up to 1 pound. I am charged average $6.50, so you figure I am paying for half. Well enough of trying to defend my prices for shipping. lol With a lot of people out of work, I would like to write and produce a "start a faux painting business" E-Book myself. I have sold one as an affiliate but I had one customer tell me she wasn't pleased with it. Things have changed and I would like to include how to start your own website in your city, too. If it were not for the internet, I would have no sales. Praise God, I finally got the patent to the Triple S Faux Painting system! Now I have been getting so many letters from companies wanted to help me market the system or manufacture them. I already have them manufactured, I just need to let the masses know. I believe in the system myself. I have told many, "I can't faux paint without my tools myself." I mean that, too. Every time I teach a faux painting class to a student and see how well their boards come out, I am convinced so much more that the Holy Spirit really gave me the idea for the tools. I am aware of one thing, though. You still have to practice with the different tools to get the system down pat. It's like playing a piano. It's easy to hit the keys with your fingers. Anyone can do that. But to make it sound good, you have to practice and learn a few things. So if you're reading this blog (please let me know, too) then you don't have anything to lose by trying it out. Right now I have a sale on a Faux Painting Combo which includes the new Faux Marble DVD that I produced. That includes a Free Faux Painting Color Suggestions and Idea E-book, too. One day faux painting will be just like regular painting in the sense that millions will know how to do it. My aim is to see the prices for the labor go down and see many companies offer it so that all homes can have the beauty of faux painted walls in them. God bless!

Faux Painting glazes

I would like to discuss the multitude of faux painting glazes on the market. After 10 years of literally painting hundreds of walls, I am convinced that water based(acrylic) glazes are the best. The oil based ones have a strong odor. I personally use paint conditioner mixed with acrylic paints and make my own glazes. I have read message boards that say the finish is not durable but I beg to differ. In ten years, I have never had any of my past customers complain about that. Even when I have made a mistake (dark lap lines or missed feathering out section) and I want to take off the glaze, it's not easy. I usually have to use some kind of paint thinner and lots of elbow grease. I am talking about just an hour or so when the glaze has dried. So try mixing your own glazes. Read some faux painting articles concerning how to choose your colors for your faux painting projects before you start. Planning is very important before starting anything.

Faux Painting Plans for 2008

Well, it's a new year. Where did 2007 go? One desire I have is to be better at posting new blogs regularly. Since I do not merely run a faux painting business which sells tools and gives classes but I also continue to faux paint myself, it is difficult to do everything with the excellence with which I love to do so. I don't want to be critical but I do notice that some faux finishing sites that are just pages with articles written by other faux painters and filled with google ads. There are some who just want to sell tools and don't really care if they work well. That's not my intention. I use my own tools and quite honestly, I can't faux paint any other way! Believe me, I have tried. There's so much to consider in choosing tools besides cost. I plan, God willing, to tape some audio podcasts to cover some critical areas in the faux painting business.

For anyone who is reading this blog, please help a sister out...lol Please let my company know of any glitches on my site and any suggestions to make it easier to navigate.

Faux Painting Wood and Knockdown
I painted (to the glory of Jesus) some nice jobs right before the holidays in 2007 that I want to be able to share. Two of them are pictured in this blog. Faux painting on knockdown is so easy and I have a free video showing how to add a color wash to the texture in multiple colors.
Can you believe that the door is made out of cardboard? I plan by the grace of the Lord to tape a video showing how to faux paint a wood finish. Sure would love to be able to see a camera that will do the painting justice.

Happy New Year to all and may Christ show you personally how much He and our heavenly Father love you and are crazy about you. May their plans for you be fulfilled.

If you are reading this blog and need someone to pray for you, don't hesitate to write me here or at support@muralsandfauxpainting.com. I love bringing others to the throne of God cause it brings Him great joy to intervene on behalf of those He is drawing...which is everyone!

Faux Painting Marble

There are many different types of marble that one can try to imitate with faux painting. But I have found that on walls, the best type are the simple ones without heavy, numerous viens. It's not because that's the type of marble I prefer, but the kind that has lots of veins just looks too busy when used on large walls. I have one board I show all the time and 9 times out of 10 the customers that want that finish say to me, "Oh, I like that. But without the heavy viens." I guess if I were doing the top of a vanity chest, I would opt for a busy look because you want it to look just like marble. Besides everyone knows that only in king's palaces would one find whole rooms with marble walls. Without the fine grout lines, no one will ever think it's real marble, anyway. So I just use the look as a decorative plus for enhancing the walls of the rooms. Visit my website to see samples of some of the walls I faux painted with a marble look. Bookmark my site as in the near future I plan to make a video showing how to faux paint the walls the way I did. Visit my Faux Painting site and click on gallery at the top. My address is listed in my bio page, too; click on the link.

Fast and Easy Faux Painting Brick

There are many methods to faux painting your walls to look like brick. However, many require a lot of time consuming steps. To demonstrate what I believe is the fastest and easiest way to achieve this faux painting technique, I have filmed my 16 year old niece trying her hand at faux painting brick for the first time. She had never used my DVD faux painting kit before and I figured if you can see how easy it was for her to do a faux brick board, you will be convinced that you can do it, also. Keep in mind that this is her first time using the tools, so she did paint a lot slower than you can actually paint. Check it out today. My site has a variety of faux painting videos that will show you other faux painting techniques that you can achieve, too.

New website design for Murals and Faux Painting

I've worked many hours on a new and better website design for MuralsandFauxPainting.com. I wanted the navigation to be easier for my visitors. My plans are to have pages that are dedicated to different color schemes. It seems that many people who are desiring to delve into the beautiful art of faux painting are not comfortable with making the decision of what colors to use. The website has lots of faux painting articles and tips but I realize I need to address the area of choosing colors and eventually have the actual colors I use in order to facilitate the jump that many need to make in order to get going in starting their own faux painting business. So if you are reading this blog, check out the new site. It should be upoaded today or tomorrow.

It's not a scam!

Boy, I got a call from a gentleman who viewed my website and the Faux Painting System that the Lord gave me and he wanted to know if it REALLY was that easy?! I responding excitedly..."Yes!" He told me that he and his wife had been online for 3 hours looking for faux painting tools or DVDs to buy so that he could learn the art and begin to do some work on the side. Well, we talked for quite a time and I'm writing this post for anyone out there who might go to my website and ask the same thing. Next time I hope to discuss the amount of salary one can expect from this growing form of decorative painting.