Fauxology: Studying the Visual Magic of Faux Finishing and Interior Design (brought to you by Garay Artisans)

As you may or may not recall, we started the Mailbag section of our blog last month with a question received about stripes.  Check it out if you are thinking about doing stripes (horizontal or vertical) — I put some of my best tips in there.  This month, we have a question that came in directly from our You Tube section.  In addition to our first How-To Video, the section has our Company Promo and an About Us interview by WFTV ABC-9.  The Mailbag question was prompted after watching the how-to on a Glazed and Gold Powder Bath finish.

Dawn from New York writes: I watched your video about gold leafing and it was really informative.  I just wanted to ask you about the imitation gold leaf shabin.  I have never heard of that before and I wanted to find out first of all how to spell it correctly and also where you would purchase this product.  Thank you so much.

From Regina: Hello!  Thank you for e-mailing us on the instructional video…I had so much fun creating it with WFTV and it’s nice to hear from those who have seen it.  I love gold leaf schaibin — I try to use it whenever possible.  It is irregular sheets of imitation metal leaf and comes in gold, aluminum/silver and copper.

I’m going to recommend three separate locations to purchase it: (1) Orlando (my supplier): Star Scenic, (407) 246-5118; (2) New York: Sepp Leaf, (800) 971-7377 or (212) 683-2840, and (3) Mail Order only: Gold Leaf Company.  Schaibin is sold by weight and prices can fluctuate.  The most popular size sold here in Orlando by Star Scenic looks like a regular shoe box but you can order more by the kilo.  In case you’d like the recipe written out (with a few more details), please click on our previous blog post link.  Have a great day!

Here are a few shots of schaibin in action.  Hope you enjoy!