Soap resist antiqueing

I went to the thrift store last week. The kids were all back in school and it was calling to me. Expecting to pick up a few books, I was excited to find this pretty frame. A lot of the detail work had come off and it was obviously going to happen again at some point, but the dollar price tag was too good to pass up.

When I brought it home the first thing Evan noticed was the roses cut out of a magazine and taped to black velvet artwork inside. I hurried and ripped that out and said, "No, look at the frame." So then he noticed the pieces of exposed wood where the little detailing had come off. Someday he'll see my vision.
I have found quite a few pieces like this at the thrift store, mostly large, gilded mirrors. One was even painted red over the gold. I wanted some of the gilding to show through whatever color I painted them, but sand paper proved to be too rough and removed everything. I tried using a candle to leave a wax resist for the paint, but it was too hard and removed some of the detailing on one of the mirrors. So I tried soap and it was just the right softness to glide over the frame and leave behind a residue without removing any of the original finish. (I'm sure I'm not the first person to use soap, but here's what I do.)
I gently rubbed the soap over the frame,leaving a soapy residue. It helps if you use soap that is a different color than your paint, which I didn't. Sorry.
I try not to get any on the places where there is already wear, unless I want that to show too.
Then spray paint. I did three or four light coats, letting them dry. Once the paint is dry, get a soft rag quite wet with warm water and go over the frame to get rid of the soap.
And that's it. If you "over-soaped " you can re-spray in some areas.
The little bit of gold shows through as if it were an old finish with wear.