Custom Cufflink Box

I have partially shown off my husband's awesome Christmas gift that I built, but haven't shared much else. 

My husband works in the business world and at times wears cufflinks.  It's not easy to find a good looking jewelry box for a guy that is under a couple hundred dollars.  I set myself up with the task to build him a box (my first box ever) to house some of his cufflinks.

The top, bottom, front and back are birdseye maple and the sides are bloodwood.  I also burned a small blue jay feather in the top for decoration and as a nod to how awesomely supportive my husband is in all my creative pursuits.  He has shown off my blue jay and feather burnings to so many people, he's my number one fan and supporter. 

I didn't follow any plans for this piece as I couldn't find one that suited what I wanted to do.  I had to custom build the insert where they cufflinks sit.  I used wooden dowels, wrapped foam around them and adhered crushed velvet on top. 

I am extremely happy with how this turned out and my husband loves it!  I learned quite a great deal just from figuring it all out as I went.  I think I learn best that way. 

So, did anyone else make any awesome Christmas presents this year?  Comment below and include a link, I would love to see them!

Art at Vintage Park

I am so super excited to announce that I have donated two pieces for auction to help support the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Houston.  It's a really awesome event called Art at Vintage Park. 

The TWRC is a really cool place that rehabs injured wild animals in the Houston area.  So, that bird that has a broken wing hopping around the yard, yup, they take them and nurse them back to health in hopes of releasing them back into the wild.  If they cannot, they might use the animal as an educational animal to teach people/children about local wildlife.  I have heard that they also do an amazing summer camp for kids. 

So, when presented with the opportunity I did two pieces to donate.  The first one is called, "Backyard Birding."  These are three feathers that I found in my yard. 

I'm not 100% sure what the feather on the left is, I am guessing either a dove or mockingbird, the center feather is a blue jay and the one on the right is a cardinal.

I used the same technique that I have been developing where I am woodburning and painting with wood dyes. 

"Backyard Birding," is on a raised basswood panel that is 12x12 inches.  I love it and hope you do too. 

The next piece I donated is, "Blue Morpho Butterfly."

This piece is an 8x8 inch woodburning on a curly maple panel and framed. 

I love curly maple.  It gives such a cool illusion.  If you have never seen/worked with it, I highly recommend it.

So, if you are in the Houston area and want to help out a good cause while buying some cool artwork, stop on by Vintage Park this Saturday night.  I know I will be there!  If you come, please come introduce yourself.

Wish Me Luck

I have entered one of my newest pyrography/wood dyed pieces into an art contest being held by my local Jerry's Artarama store.  I was so excited to make the cut and my piece will be on display and this weekend I will find out if I place!!!

This is a red-bellied woodpecker on the side of a tree trunk.  It's quite large, 16x20 inches.  Below is a close up view of the feathers so you can see just how much detail I put into it.

Build Me Up

Being skilled in many different mediums sometimes leaves me feeling fractured at times.  It's hard to know what to do and what to further pursue.  I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I can combine many of my talents and passions.

Woodworking and watercolor painting are my two biggest creative passions.  I did this as an homage to them.  I am currently working on expanding and playing more with the pyrography (wood burning) and painting on wood with wood dyes.  I also need to build a frame for my blue jay feather.  I plan on dying the frame as well.  

Once I have honed this skill a bit, I will give some insight on the process.  Since I am still learning and playing with it, I need to figure out what works and what doesn't.  I am currently in the process of doing a butterfly.  I need to get rid of this cold before I can continue on it since I need to sand it down and I don't want to do that when I can barely breathe. 

HTML is Going to Kill Me

So, I have been giving myself a crash course in HTML so I can put together a project gallery to help make my blog easier to navigate for older posts.  I am failing miserably right now, even when it comes down to using the HTML that other bloggers have graciously offered up.  I will figure this out!  This Labor Day weekend, I will not be relaxing, I will be laboring over my blog. 

In the meantime, not all my creativity has been stifled by my agonizing over HTML.  I have been practicing some wood burning and painting with wood dyes.  I showed this off over at my facebook page but I love it so much I need to show it here too.

Curly Maple board and I used Mixol wood dyes. 

Any link that takes you to Amazon is an affiliate link, like the one above. 

Experimenting

Have you ever had an amazing creative idea that you wanted to try? 

Something that just came to you and you haven't seen anyone else do it? 

Something that in your head looks so amazing that you are afraid to try it because it won't live up to the image in your head? 

Yeah, me too. 

I have been mulling over an idea for months.  Seriously months.  I wanted to do something that combined a number of my creative talents. 

This past weekend I sat down and tried my idea.  What do you think of it?  I am SO IN LOVE WITH IT!!!

I took a reference photo of mine of a blue jay.  I free hand drew it onto my board which is 5x8 inches.  I then took my pyrography tools and did a simple outline and details on the feathers.  I then took some wood stains and painted layers on it like a watercolor. 

I wanted this to turn out well, but since I had built it up so big in my head, I honestly thought it would fail.  I am so glad that I was wrong. 

Can't wait to show it off at my Woodworkers Guild meeting tonight.  I am eager to hear what the old guys have to say about it.  I am also eager to hear what you have to say about it. 

So, what do you think?