words to live by

The last few weeks I've been busy with a new project: making a painting for the conservatory. I knew I wanted it to be reclaimed wood and a quote of some sort, but I didn't know it would involve that many steps! I'm pretty pleased that it's finally done. Pleased with the result also. ;)

 Like I said, I took scrap pieces of wood (some green, some white and some raw) and lined them up in some sort of disorderly order, and had my hubby help me screw them together. It ended up almost 170 cm long.
Then the hard work began.

To make the wood look really old and shabby I sanded, brushed with a wire brush and stained with a very strange and kinda nasty smelling concoction of steel wool, white vinegar and coffee grounds (wich by the way gave exactly the worn look I was after, great!!).

When it looked aged enough, I covered it with a thin layer of white paint, and once dry I started over from the top: sanding, brushing and staining. And some more sanding. Pew.

Finally time for the quote! I printed out the "enjoy life" and cut each letter out to make a stencil. For the rest of the quote I traced letters from another stencil and then filled every letter by hand with an itty-bitty brush... wich is, by the way, not the very best thing to do on the hottest summer day this year. I believe the paint dried already on the brush...

Then I sanded again.

I did it, and I like it! :)



 I also made two mini-paintings with parts of the stencil, one joy

...and one life.

I had a lot of fun making these and I'll be making more, soon.

Enjoy life!