Saturday 6 April 2013

I know, I know, it's been a while.....

I know it's been a little while since my last post....

Let me start by saying, I had been waiting forever and a day (or so it seems) for the 50% off Michaels coupons to appear in the weekly flier.  My dad used to have a wood burner and I have really wanted one for a while now.  The kit I wanted was normally $44 (with tax) and had 11 different ends with it.  Plus, I had read good reviews about it online.  So imagine the grin on my face this morning when I noticed the 50% off coupon! Score!  I quickly went on the Michaels website, found the coupon, and sent it as a text to my phone (p.s. I love this feature!).  As soon as I heard my phone ring as confirmation, I threw on a hoodie, grabbed my purse, hopped in my car, and drove to Michaels.  Thank goodness it's so close to my house! The anticipation was killing me (patience is not one of my finer points).

I dashed to the back of the store where my future purchase was awaiting and calling out my name, picked it up in my hand, went to the front, and paid.  Twenty-two dollars including tax! SWEET!  Now I really couldn't wait to get home!

So I decided for my first shot at using this tool, I was going to work on a sign.  I wanted to design a little sign for the new little critters I now have in my library (hermit crabs - I put in a pic below of the really active one named Sebastian).  The kids have been excited about them, but I needed a little reminder sign for my new little friends.  And, the other day when I was at Dollartree, I picked up a small, blank, wooden sign for the perfect price of $1.

My cute little friend named Sebastian. Coral didn't want to play for the camera.

So I got to work and I sketched my little sign out...


Then I let the wood burner warm up and got to work (I LOVE the smell of burning wood!)...



After it was done, I added a little spray varnish to it.  Not much to the whole process!  However, I will admit, it can be a little hard on the hands!  Make sure you take a lot of breaks!

Not too shabby for the first time using a wood burner, right?  Now I'm excited about all the other little projects I can create with this bad boy!



Enjoy the rest of the weekend friends!  I'm doing a detox from coffee starting tomorrow.  I think I need to lay off the caffeine...so tomorrow and the next few days could be quite painful....wish me luck!

A.A.