Decoupage and Craqueleur!!

This post combines two of my favourite crafts...

You might remember decoupage was my craft for 2013. Remember the eggs and the birdhouses?

2014's craft is Craqueleur, it started with the egg box and I'm loving it. I haven't perfected it but I'm loving it!

 Last weekend I combined the two! My mother had put these lovely papier-mâché letters into my Christmas stocking a couple of years back.

 I bought some beautiful Italian decoupage paper on eBay and started with the vintage hot air balloon paper. I liked the end result but didn't love it. As a result I didn't start the second letter until this year. When I discovered Craqueleur I knew it would be the answer.

 This time I went for the old map paper and 'decoupaged' like I was gift wrapping - much easier than all that cutting and I prefer the result. On went the Craqueleur in two stages (see here for details) followed by some dark wax. Quite a bit of dark wax actually but I like the really 'aged' effect it gives.

The J is a little 'mucky' in places but the M is good, I'm learning! Overall, I like the end result. Once again, dirty and aged fits in better at ours, noticing a trend?