Category Archives: wood burning

Mar24

Wow, I completely stink at this!!

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TWO YEARS!!!! Two stinking years and I haven’t written anything here!!!

Well, it’s been pretty crazy.

Basically, my back injury ended my Air Force career and I was medically retired last year… and I’m still pretty sad about it. I miss my friends so much it’s ridiculous. Call out to the Air Force and the VA, they have taken very good care of me and I have no complaints.

Secondly, on a whim brought on by boredom, I decided to use my GI Bill and go back to college. Since I retained my GI Bill from my active duty time, I began my first “brick and mortar” college career at Cape Cod Community College, which has an adorable campus and the most amazing staff. I’m really having a wonderful time and making some amazing friends while I’m doing it. Granted, I’m old enough to be their mother but I don’t think it really matters. They probably think I’m a crazy old lady since I normally wear my old sage green combat boots (believe it or not, they’re extremely comfy!!) and the old Harley Davidson hoody that I acquired from my husband (about 2 sizes too big for me but I practically live in it). The craziest thing of all was I was invited to become a member of the National Honor Society for academic excellence… ME!?!?! The one that has stood steadfast that a higher education is a worthless expenditure of time and money?!?!

Yep. Me…

Apparently all of the classes I’ve been taking over the years had an accrued GPA of 3.85 and somehow I became an academic person. I’m still kind of puzzled about that one.

Anyway, I’m still having a ball with college and will keep going as long as I can. I’ve gotten a few art and computer based graphic design under my belt and I’ve become pretty good at it but wondering what I’m going to do with it.

*transition to applicable subject matter…

So now for the big news! Hubby and I just bought laser engravers!!! He bought a more powerful one for engraving metal and relief carving wood. I bought one that can help me with the outlines of my wood projects (I hate starting and outlining a new project!!!). The BEST part is that both run on computer based graphics!!! The magic is coming!

We haven’t gotten them yet but I’m just throwing it out there that this blog will be coming alive again!!!

I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long but I’m back 🙂

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Jan18

Pyrography and painted trinket box

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Busy busy busy….

So this past Christmas, my Hubby gave me the most amazing present I think I’ve ever gotten; a work bench in my craft room!!  Craftsman to be exact!  It’s got the awesome magnifier light and the comfy swivel seat that has the footrest bar along the bottom.  The best part is that there are bunch of drawers along the side that I absolutely love!!

Anyway, this is another box that looked absolutely beautiful without the color added to it.  I was pleasantly surprised when I was finished and it seemed to work out.  I wanted the color to stand out with bold colors and then the outside “leaves” to be more subdued.  I think it worked out pretty well.

Again, thanks for looking!!!

Jan16

Pyrography and painted flower trinket box

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Well, I’m back…

I know I haven’t posted in a while.  Between work and sort of being on a knitting kick lately, I finally sat down and did a few more jewelry boxes with the wood burning and paint.

I actually did this one a few months ago.  After I finished wood burning the image onto the box, I was almost tempted not to paint it.  However, I found that there is an amazing assortment of metallic paints that are readily available at my local craft store (yep, Michaels) and once I really started looking at the shelves and shelves of different paint, there is quite the variety available.

After randomly selecting the colors, as they felt right, I painted.

The only thing I’m disappointed with is that I’m having a really hard time getting the picture quality I like.  It’s very hard to see the metallic effects from this one.  I’ll actually try again when I seal it and see if it helps.

Thanks for looking!!!

Jun15

The other jewelry box…finally done!!

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I know that I’ve been saying, for quite some time now, that I was working on a second jewelry box for my sister’s birthday present.  The reality of the situation is that lately, it seems that I’ve only been working and sleeping.  I haven’t been as productive as I normally would be.  HOWEVER…I took this week off from work and am catching up on things around the house.  So,  Sis….happy birthday!!!!

To start with, I went to Michael’s and purchased an unfinished cigar box with hinges and a clasp in the front already installed.  Then I went through all of my clip art books and found the perfect one!  This image shows that print out of the pattern taped to graphite paper and then the graphite paper is taped to the box.  I traced it.

This image shows the graphite transfer on the box.  Nothing too special or difficult at this point.

Then I used the sharpest point on my wood burner and outlined the pattern on the box.

Then added a little shading with the wood burner.  This was my own touch to add.  I just kept shading it until it felt right.

Then I added a little color….

I have to admit, I didn’t think that I’d like this one as much as I liked the other one but I think it’s a toss up.

Again; thank you to everyone for checking out my blog!!  I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoy putting it together.

As always, comments are always welcomed!!!


Jun2

Latest project…a box

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First off….WOW!!!  The response to my lost blog entry was unbelievable!!  Who would have thought that eggs would be so interesting?  I’m still thinking that I need to start working on another one sometime soon but since I’m still working the night shift, it’s out of the question; way to noisy.

This is a “quiet” project that I’ve recently done.  My niece (my clone, actually…) has a birthday coming up this month and I thought she’d like it.  We have a little thing that we do since I live here on Cape Cod and she lives in Michigan…we actually write letters to each other!!  No, not emails or tweets or Facebook entries…write with a writing instrument and paper.  When I get a letter from her, I normally send her some homemade little jewelry thing, mostly necklaces.  So I figured that she needed a box to put them in.  I showed my sister (her Mom) these pics and she decided that she wanted it instead.  Ummm…no.  I’m making one for her too.  That will probably be the next entry.

Anyway, it was really easy to do and this is how I did it:

First off, I think I need to explain something.  I absolutely LOVE the Michael’s craft store!!  There are two of them sort of close to where I live (but they’re bringing one to Hyannis this summer so I’m very happy) and I go there whenever I can.  There are two places that I normally get my craft supplies; Ebay, if it’s for eggs and Michael’s if it’s for everything else.  This box falls into the “everything else” category.

1.  Go to Michael’s, in the unfinished wood section, and buy a box.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  Some even have the hinges and closures already there (like this one).  The best part is that they are very inexpensive (I think I paid 3 dollars for this one) and the possibilities are endless with a little imagination.

2.  Find some clip art that you like and trace it onto tracing paper.  This came from a clip art book I have with a bunch of mandala’s in it.  If you don’t know what a mandala is, I highly suggest you Google it…the images will blow your mind!!  I don’t use the originals from the book because they’re so pretty,  I don’t want to ruin them and may want to use them again.

3.  Take some regular graphite paper and trace the image onto the box.

4.  This is where it starts to get fun, at least for me.  The darkened areas that create the outlines isn’t paint…it’s wood burned.  Otherwise known as “pyrography”.  Again, Google if you want to get a little more info on it.  The applications are endless with the multiple tips that you can get for the wood burning tool.  And yes; you can buy them at Michael’s.  I like using the wood burning technique because I think it adds a beautiful, rustic feel to the piece.

5.  Once the wood burning is finished, I had to decide how I was going to paint it.  But I didn’t use regular paint.  I don’t think you can tell from these pics but the inside of the flower petals are bronze leafing (real metal).  The same as gold or silver leaf.  But, this stuff is called “Rubb ‘n Buff”.  It’s real metal leaf but it’s suspended in sort of a wax and can be applied with a paint brush.  It comes in about 15 different finishes and adds a very nice touch.  The rest of the “paint” is actually pigment that…I bought at Michael’s.  I didn’t want an opaque finish because I didn’t want to overwhelm the wood burning.  I watered it down until is was very thin, brushed it on and wiped the excess off with a paper towel.  I’m not sure but regular craft paint should work the same way.

6.  On the bottom of the box I glued 4 wooden balls to the bottom to act as legs.  Yep…got them at Michael’s!  The balls have one flat side to them so they can be glued on easily.

7.  Once everything is dry, I sealed the whole thing with a matte finish sealant.  Hubby thought a shiny finish would look good too.  I may have to try that with the next one.

Anyway, there you go.  One beautiful jewelry/trinket box!!  Quick, inexpensive and most importantly for me…quiet to make! LOL!!

Thank you all that have been following my blog!!  I’m humbled by the encouragement and kind remarks that I’ve received!!