Embossed Cabinet

What's better than thrift store finds? Those from the streetcorner! I was driving to Lala's house last autumn and found an '80's Southwest pickled oak style record cabinet exactly like what I'd been trolling thrift stores for. Free! I put it in the back of the Corolla Wagon and took it home. Many hours of sanding later I was ready to stain the thing. I used some Pthylo Green and Prussian Blue watercolors, mixed with water, and washed the outside of the cabinet until I was satisfied with the color. After drying, I took my embossing pen (filled with the ink that people could also use for rubber stamping) and free-handed a school of fish on the side, then shook embossing powder onto it and heat-set per instructions. You couldn't do this on a painted cabinet because the heat gun would blister the paint. I clear-coated x3 with an oil varnish and voila!