Possibilities

So by the time my breakfast ended up in my lap the second time this morning, I decided I needed to plan my day v-e-r-y carefully! I didn't sleep well last night and my lack of coordination showed it, so it didn't seem like the right day to continue working on my latest painting. I am putting the finishing touches on my woodpecker feather painting. Click the link here to see a photo of what it looked like at the end of the day yesterday. It is so close to being finished.

I had an order to mail this morning and then I decided I would take advantage of the beautiful light today and retake some photos for my Etsy shop. The beauty of digital photography is you get to see what you took right away, so I figured I would just get rid of anything that didn't turn out. This morning, I wasn't convinced that anything was going to turn out right.

A few weeks ago, I went to our local home renovation store and bought two pieces of plywood that measure four feet by two feet. I paid about $5 a piece for them. I wanted to whitewash them to use them as backdrops for my Etsy photos. Previously, I had just used an extra sheet of watercolour paper underneath anything I was photographing but I wanted something with a bit more character. I had also seen a method online of making new wood look like old barnboard and I was intrigued to try it. It occurred to me that I could do the white treatment on one side of the plywood and the aged barnboard treatment on the other. Two in one. Less to store and less to carry.  I do my photography in our dining room so need to clear away my things regularly (although probably not as frequently as my family would like).

The white sides were easy enough. With a damp brush, I painted on a thin coat of a creamy white latex paint I had on hand. The effect is nice. It still allows the grain and character of the wood to show through.

For the barnboard effect, I consulted these two sources: Snovej and The Friendly Home. Both include good information and were very helpful.

First you put some extra-fine steel wool (#OOOO) in a jar of vinegar, put the lid on it and let it sit at least overnight. This will create an oxidizing solution.

As a first coat, you 'paint' the unfinished wood with strong black tea. This lays down tannins which allow the oxidizing solution to work. Once that has dried, you 'paint' on the vinegar solution.

For the barnboard effect, I treated the back side of the plywood as it was rougher. I didn't get the weathered grey initially that's in the source blog photos. My first attempt went quite chocolate brown (a pretty colour but not what I was aiming for). I put two coats of tea on the second piece before adding the vinegar solution. It went a better colour, kind of a brown-grey, but in the end I sanded back the surface of both pieces slightly and put watered down grey latex paint on top, wiping it with a wet cloth so that it was as transparent as possible and still allowed the grey-brown tones of the tea-vinegar stain through. I really like how they turned out.

I later read that if I had diluted my vinegar solution with the same amount of water, it might have given a more grey rather than brown effect. I can try that another time. You can read that advice here. I also read that different types of wood react differently to the stain so it could be worth experimenting.

The photos I took today were all on the white wood background. I've included photos I've taken recently on the darker 'barn board' side as well. Because I made two pieces of each, I can prop up one to use as my 'wall' and use the other as the 'table'.

For a day that I wasn't expecting to turn out that well, it was pretty good. I really like the photos I took. The light was beautiful. I bought fresh flowers on my way back from the post office and they definitely helped. I am enjoying how the wood backdrops are giving me more possibilities with my photos.

Oh and did I mention that the snow is melting outside? Things are definitely looking up!

❤  ❤  ❤

The Comfort of Cards

The past few days I have been working hard on a custom order of over 100 cards with my painting of the chickadee on them. I'm very touched by the order as it came from a friend who needed them for a special family mailing.

So I feel like I've been a card manufacturer this week more than anything else. It's been oddly comforting work. I've mentioned before that I ran my own wholesale card company full-time for about 7 years. I still have some of my inventory downstairs. Running a card company was wonderful in many ways but in the end I painted less and less as the administrative side of of my business grew.  Doing this order brought me back to the things I loved about my card business. First of all, I adore paper. I've printed the cards this week on actual watercolour paper and it's been a pleasure handling it. When I did my big card runs, I relied on a commercial printer. This week, I cut the paper myself with a Fiscars paper trimmer I bought years ago at Costco, printed it on my Epson R1900, scored it with a Cutterpede Straight Edge Trimmer (a nifty tool I just purchased) and folded it with a bone folder. I didn't have my bone folder until late yesterday so I folded some of my first samples out of the printer with the end of a wooden spoon! (It worked.) I learned through trial and error to use the bone folder on the back of cards when I am folding them just in case there are burnishing marks on the paper which happen every now and then. (I've just read about teflon folders and may order one for future projects as they apparently don't leave any marks at all.)

I used to make jokes when my girls were little that they would show up at school knowing not only how to count to ten but to twelve--because they were always around me when I was counting out dozens of cards to send to my retail customers. I find the task of repetitive counting, sorting and packaging to be very soothing. It allows time for thinking.

One thing I've thought about this week:  I sit on the floor a lot! With many of the flat surfaces covered with equipment (computer, printer, etc.), I put my paper trimmer on the floor and have cut the paper there. It's funny, I've often done crafts on the floor in the past. (When I paint, however, I do sit at a table!) I can remember when Emma and Chloé were babies, I'd be down on the floor or playground surface playing with them and look over and notice that other parents were sitting on benches or standing and talking together. I'm sure that says something odd about me.

This week has made me think that I may introduce more cards to my shop, both from my previous inventory as well cards created from my newest work. I think the chickadee card could work very well as a holiday card.

Breathe

I can breathe again. I've just come back from delivering my merchandise to the arts and crafts show that I do each year.  I delivered 374 items including packaged notecards, boxed gift cards, Christmas cards and my new framed reproductions. Phew!

Usually I am pretty much a one-person factory.  I also would ordinarily try to have the bulk of my preparations ready before our Thanksgiving weekend (it took place this past weekend in Canada).  This time, with all of the production and computer troubles I had (including my C drive failing on Friday), I ended up having a ton of preparations still to do over the holiday weekend.  My parents and sister Karen drove eight hours from Ontario to spend Thanksgiving with us.  I'm not sure how much fun I was.  They say that they still had a good time. :) At one point, I had both my mom and dad sitting at the dining table helping me with price tags!  My husband took over all of the chef duties for our guests.  I missed going to the apple orchard with everyone, but made good use of the quiet time I had in the house. The dinners each night with everyone around the table were wonderful.  I am thankful that I have an understanding and helpful family.

I'm so relieved that I made my delivery deadline.  I came so close to cancelling my participation on Friday.  I am really proud of how the framed reproductions look.  It is so important to me to be proud of what I produce. Next step is getting my Etsy shop up and off the ground. I am also looking forward to going back into my studio and working on a painting--it's been days since I've done anything except computer repair and product packaging!

For those of you who live in the Montreal area, the arts and crafts show is called Boîte de Noël.  It is a juried show that has been held annually since 1977.  I've been a participant for over 16 years.  The women who run it put a huge amount of energy and time into it.  The whole show is set up like a boutique.  It's at the Royal St-Lawrence Yacht Club at 1350 bord du lac in Dorval, Quebec on October 13 (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.), October 14 (10 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.), October 15 (10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) and October 16 (11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).