Gilding

Yesterday, my husband and I went over to a friend's house to learn how to gild. It was a lot of fun. I got there a bit early and just relaxed in their yard and back porch. It was really nice.

After toughing it out on the back porch, my husband and I went in and started learning how to gild. First you brush the sizing on. Be careful not to get any on the wall. Use a piece of plastic to hold up against the wall and protect it. Then you put the gold sheets on and tap them down with a brush. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of that part! But the end result is this:

After you get to this stage, you go over it with a cotton ball to get rid of excess gold and then go over that with a bit of varnish, to take the edge off. Otherwise, it's too bright. And you're done!

I also took the opportunity to take pictures of Bumper, but both times he just shook his head at me. "Hell no, you're not taking a picture of me!" you can almost hear him say...

But that's okay because he's the cutest and sweetest bulldog I've ever met! :)