Wood stains.
I got these designs cut and etched and they turned out awesome. I will be turning them into brooches and selling them at Patchwork, and eventually on etsy. My original plan was to stain them, but looking at the stain, I think I like them plain better. Maybe it's the wood - it seems to be taking the stain unevenly. I like the look of wood grain, so it's okay to me that grain is showing through, but it looks a little blotchy to me. Or maybe it's just that the stain is too dark and I need to go buy a lighter stain. The fangs turned out better with the stain than the ice cream guy.
Here's another thing - at work, I have a really rad boss who is super supportive of my outside-of-work artistic endeavors. He mentioned that the wood as it is, with no stain or painting, is kind of plain and unfinished-looking. I value his opinion a lot, but he's also not exactly my target market. So I'm not sure if I agree.
What do you think? Comments welcome!
13 comments:
Ohh! I didn't realize that these were what you posted a picture of recently. (I couldn't tell they were wood.) They look great. Very exciting.
Can you use multi-colored stain? Like color the different individual areas?
what about a beeswax finish? it gives a nice colour and patina. i am not partial to the dark stain. you want your design to shine through. i like the lighter one better.
That would be really cool, but the stain is super thin and watery and i think it would spread. I did think about taking the dark one and maybe trying to paint it with acrylic paint. Maybe keep the cone as stained wood, and then paint the ice cream white, but paint around the eyes and mouth. Time consuming, yes, but if it looks really cool then it would be worth it.
Is there a such thing as like pink stain? Or some other unnatural color? I LOVE dark wood stains, but I agree they look a little blotchy. Maybe you could use a varnish type product on the plain wood to make it look finished up still that lovely light color?
Erin - that is a really good idea! I've never used a beeswax finish. Does it just kind of bring the grain out a little, make it a tad darker, and protect it?
Amber - there ARE different colors of stains! That could be cool too, because it would be colorful but still have the look of the wood, which is what I really like. I looked at some at Lowe's last week and almost bought one. Great minds, gurrrlll. Maybe I will buy a little can and test it out.
it brings it out a little, but not too much. it's not a dull waxy finish almost. think, baby wooden toys? my father in law uses it on the toys & trucks he makes for my kids. love it.
i meant it IS a dull waxy finish. duh.
I am going to look for that at the hardware store. That sounds perfect. Not too plain, right?
I like the lighter, but totally agree different colours would be rad. And when I think of you I think of colour!
Though the dark stain next to the light stain has me thinking about chocolate and vanilla ice cream cones!
I like that when you think of me you think of color!
That dark stain is just toooooo dark. All these other suggestions sound great though! I think trying a bunch of stuff until you find THE most awesome thing ever is gonna be what you have to do. If you want to keep it "woody" a clear gloss poly coat would make it look finished!
i like the beeswax idea. really i think that stain is just too dark and unforgiving. can you lighten it or cut it with something? make it more of a wash? that also might help it go on smoother. painting them with colors would be AMAZING but impractically time consuming i think.
re colors: you can stain with kool aid! just a thought.
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