Daisy Do...

This will be a short post. I have so many thoughts running wild through my spaghetti brain that I can't seem to decide on what to write about. That goes along with my low production this summer. Usually I am out working in the garage everyday. The last few months have been too hot and I can't seem to gather the energy necessary to be creative.

That being said, I have found a new type of creation that I thoroughly enjoy making!

Painting with stain on a wood canvas. It is so fun to see an idea come to fruition! Do things always work out how I see them in my mind? Definitely not. But I am just a beginner when it comes to painting with stain. There are a lot of techniques I want to try. 

This daisy and the carnation I posted last time, were drawn freehand. I found pictures I liked and then drew them out on a wood "pallet." 

I used a fine tip brush to outline the flower. In places I wanted darker, I added more stain. This can be time consuming, but it allows me to work on other things in between drying.

To shade the daisy petals, I used a cloth and very lightly dabbed the open lid of the can of stain. I then rubbed the cloth over the petal until it had the look I wanted.

I love it! Wouldn't this piece of art look fabulous on a gallery wall? (Not an art gallery, a home gallery. You know, the type with family pictures and the like?) Actually, it would look good anywhere! Maybe that's why I haven't taken my creations to my booth to sell yet...

Carnation for Mom...

On August 15, 2015, I lost my sweet, beautiful Mother to a horrible disease. Pancreatic cancer. No cure. No mercy. It struck fast and hard. She was only 69 years old. She had so much more living to do. Cancer sucks. 

I meant to post this yesterday, but my emotions were too raw and tender. Not to mention my eyes were too puffy to look at the computer screen. The night before last was a doozy of a cry-fest!

On my journey of the last 2 years without my best friend, I have come to terms with my Mother's passing. It wasn't an easy road. For the first year, I cried every day. I then tapered off to crying several times a week, once a week, and then only on important dates or holidays. I can now talk about her without crying. I still can't say, "she died." I have to say, "she passed away." Sometimes I forget she is gone. I think of something funny, an accomplishment, or needed advice. When I remember I can't tell her any of those things, I feel like I've been sucker punched and had my heart squeezed in a vice. Some days are better than others. 

Not a single day goes by that I don't think of my Mother. Whenever I cook, I remember that she taught me how to do it. Whenever I watch a British show, I wish she was watching it with me. Whenever I see the mountains (which is daily), I think of how much she loved the view out of her front window. Whenever I see the color blue, I think of how pretty she looked wearing it. Whenever I watch America's Funniest Home Videos with the family, I wish I could hear her giggle again. Whenever I see a carnation flower, I remember how much she loved their beauty. Whenever I think of our last conversation, I am so thankful it was about how very much we loved each other.

They say time heals all wounds. Maybe, but I think time lessens wounds to still-tender bruises. 

This carnation is for you, Mom.

{Carnation was "painted" with Minwax Jacobean wood stain.}

Shading...

I don't have a tutorial for this creation...yet. This was my first attempt at shading with wood stain, and I really didn't know how it would turn out. Or how I would finish it. Or if I would do it again.

I've been drooling over some gorgeous flower table tops done with stain. They are so beautiful! I don't pretend to be an artist, but I'm willing to try something at least once. I knew I needed to test my ability on something smaller than a table, however.

My super sweet aunt asked me to come up with something for her dinning room. She told me it needed to be the size of an open calendar and have the colors of rust and tan. Okay...That leaves the field of ideas WIDE open! 

Enter: wood stain flower art! I cut some wood scraps to about 17" long. I laid 3 side by side, which came out to close to 11". That's about the size of a calendar, right? I lightly painted the wood with rust colored paint. I knew I wanted some of the natural wood to show. 

Next, I stared looked at a picture of a dahlia. It looked simple, but I didn't want to mess it up! I free-handed the petals and got out my stain. I used a very small sponge brush to apply the stain. Next time, I will use a detail bristle brush for better control to paint the stain. That, and a different type of wood.

This process is time consuming, but hey, I happen to love the smell of wood stain. Like, if it tasted as good as it smells, I would probably try to drink it. I know. I'm strange, weird, crazy, etc. Yes, I know it's not good for you to inhale. No, I don't "huff" the stuff. I just really enjoy using stain. 

(Side-note: if someone really smart could pretty please develop air freshener or perfume that is non-toxic and smells like wood stain, I would be so very grateful!)

Anyhoo, once the stain was good and dry, I painted the petal outlines with a sand color paint. I also added more rust color to the base of the petals to give them depth. 

I cut some 1 x 2"s to frame up the finished art and stained them. After the framing was done, it still didn't look right, so I lightly sanded the edges for that ever popular "worn" look. 

It still didn't look done, so I looked through my treasure box and found some corner protectors. That's what was missing. Perfect! 

Sooo... it looks more like a chrysanthemum than a dahlia, but that's okay. It looks like a flower, which was the point. FYI, I know it looks like a flower because I asked my kiddos what it was and they responded, "a flower." Score!

I kinda' like it. More importantly, my aunt liked it! I will definitely be making more of these types of wood art. The possibilities are endless!  

I Finally Did It...

Welcome to my new blog!

I know, I know. It's 2017 and I'm just now starting a blog! Why, you ask, did I wait so long? A few reasons. 1. I was scared. Who is going to want to read what little ol' me has to say? 2. I thought I'd be fine without a blog of my very own. 3. What if I didn't have enough "content" to justify a blog?

Well, I am still scared, a certain event proved I did need my own blog, and we'll just have to see if I can come up with enough content.

Anyhoo, back to that certain event I mentioned. Some of you know I have been making "creations" with wood stuff for a few years now. (How and Why will be a later post.) I have been "pinning" photos of my creations on Pinterest and Facebook. When I pin to Pinterest, there is no way to link to a source, so my photos are out there with no way to be attributed to me. This wasn't a really big deal to me, I just thought it was cool if people liked and repinned things I had done.

That is, until, I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day and saw one of my pictures on a design website's post entitled,

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL 101 DIY PALLET PROJECTS TO TAKE ON.

http://homesthetics.net/beautiful-101-pallet-projects-take/

(My creation is #80.)

I was stunned, elated, excited and flattered! Something I made was recognized! BUT, who would ever know it was MINE? Now, I'm not saying that the website did a bad thing. They did try to site the source. If you click on the source link, it takes you right to the picture. If they could have given me credit, they would have. Lesson learned. Point taken. Live and learn. Hindsight. My bad.

Well world, I am giving you a source from now on! I am taking credit for my mistakes hard work! Here it is:

I call it, "The Beginning."