RIP

 I guess it's time to say good-bye to my trusty friend. We have been together so long and have shared so many adventures. But, alas, today she died. I should have seen-or heard-it coming. Today I must say good-bye to my beloved miter saw. I can't even remember when we got it but I have used it so many times and I know I will have a hard time facing life without her. 

Today I was still kind of looking for potential crafts to do with the kids when I realized that I had not made a wood Valentine tag for myself. And, since I had loaded up on wood the last time I did one, I decided to go ahead and cut enough for anyone who might be here times two. I figured I could be ready for St. Patrick's Day as well. And so, I got her down. As I was putting her on my garage floor-which is where I work these days since our woodworking area is now enclosed as a real room in the house-I wondered about how much more I could do with her if I had a legit work area...and I put it in the back of my brain to see if I couldn't find a place the next time I needed her.

Now, cutting these tags is not an easy-or safe-process because the smallest cuts are done on the diagonal with really nowhere to push the wood against at that point so I am used to the saw sounding a bit different. But, this time was really different. It was making the loudest screeching noise. I checked to see if the blade was rubbing but it wasn't. I diddled with all sorts of other things and couldn't find a cause so I persisted. Just when I got down to three left, the blade continued spinning even when I was no longer pulling the trigger. I figured I could use it to my advantage with just six short cuts to go but, as soon as the blade hit the wood, it stopped. Yet, the minute I lifted it, it started spinning again with no trigger. At that point I decided that this might be beyond my control any more and I pulled the plug-both figuratively and literally! Lol

You would think that the last thing a woman of my age needs is another miter saw but, if you do, you would be wrong. As soon as I find one I like on sale, I will be on my way to bring it home. In the meantime, here is what I am up to.

Usually when I do something like this, I cut a pattern out of Contact paper and adhere it to the surface before painting.

That leaves me a nice, crisp outline that I can paint in without one color over lapping the other.

Then, it's a simple matter of just filling in the shape.

In this case, it was a little too much of a contrast for me so I did a bit of distressing and then a bit of a once over with the antique wax. I like using the wax more than stain because it is water based and, if you get a bit too much on, you can wash it off.

Here is where this one ended up. I love the little pops of color and design these things bring to my large pots and urns. I think they will be another perfect project for the kids because now that I have the shapes cut, the rest of the design can be up to each crafter...some can choose to go basic as I did, while others can embellish with as much as they want. And, they can be hung from pots as I so often do or from wreaths or coat hooks or even just sitting as a shelf leaner. Our goal is to always try to make things that will be kept and used.

Then, I was on to St. Patrick's Day. My goal was, once again, to keep it basic and simple. I also planned to do the green shamrock on the wood "stained" tag. But, when I got that done, I didn't think the shape of the shamrock stood out enough so I went back and dry brushed on some white. In doing that, I had to go up to and over a bit of the edge of the shamrock which then necessitated me re-painting the shamrock...and, I had to make it ever so slightly bigger to cover the edges. In doing so, I lost a bit of the shape but, since this is just a wooden tag, I am not going to stress over it. Luckily I love things kind of shabby and grunged up. Lol

I'm not sure where this one will go but you'll probably be amongst the first to know. 

So those were my adventures for today. I'll be back soon with more of the tour. Stay safe and stay tuned.