One of the best things about being crafty is that I can create one of kind items for people and of course my family and myself. Recently I took on a project that had me going back to one of my favorite mediums. You see I have this knock for wood signs but I am not a huge fan of the vinyl letters or the "manufactured" look. I am big about handcrafted as I feel for me it shows my heart and passion for art much more. I love aging furniture and adding character to pieces that most of the time if you buy it from the conventional big box store it just lacks that character or even the story of where it came from. Well I guess that is my way of restoring things to new.
Well one of my awesome brides came to recently with a request for a few signs for her upcoming wedding so of course I said sure I have a ton of scrap wood in my garage that my husband has been bugging me to do something with it. So I saw this as a perfect chance. Now I am sure many of you have gone onto all the get ideas websites where you save tons of ideas but never do them. I am an addict truthfully so I know how you can get sucked right into it. So I was looking for a quicker way to transfer my handwritten  or even my artwork onto the wood on a larger scale without having to re draw it all over again. I was really looking for the outline at least so that it would be easier to proceed with the rest.
Well while on these idea sites I discovered using chalk was a great way to erase mess up etc. So bam perfect all I needed to do was get the wood together and draw out everything with chalk and no problem. Sounds simple right? Nope not at all. So I just wanted to share how I ended up with the amazing end results that I totally expected to go the other way but actually turned out much much better then I expected.  

First, find either used wood or new, you can always age it to make it look more used (that's for another blog). Sanding your wood is the key to excellence! I use a really rough high grain sandpaper on a sander (I am not wanting to do this all day so get a sander, you will thank me later). Always run the sander with the grain lines of the wood, literally do not go against the grain. Once you are happy with your sanding results be sure to clean off any dust from sanding. I usually have a shop vac that I use to suck up all the dust.

From there I will pick out a stain that will work for whatever project I am working on. Be sure not to get a stain and sealer in one. You want just a straight stain. I love using honey and espresso for furniture. For this particular project I used and espresso stain. To apply the stain use foam brushes instead of the conventional brushes. Depending on how dark you want the wood be ready to wipe off excess with a paper towel that is super absorbent. I usually do a small amount at a time and that way its easier for me to not miss any excess stain. Once I have made my way down the entire board I will access whether I am happy with the color and if I want to add a bit more I will continue to proceed and starting back at the top I will go back over the wood. Proceed to repeat as necessary.

Now you have the base for your sign. Now here starts the real challenge. If you like my idea of using chalk then you will need to paint over the board with clear chalk paint. I use a spray that I get from our local home improvement store. By the way I am in that store every day. Allow for the stain to fully dry before adding the chalk paint. Once everything is dry you can proceed with your sign. So for this one I was working on wedding signs. so my calligraphy skills come out. Before I begin to write out anything I look over tons of fonts to find ones that stand out to me or scream wedding. Once the font is determined I will practice a bit to get the right flow and then proceed to write it out on the sign with chalk. I use first a regular piece of chalkboard chalk and come back over it with a chalk marker to make it look flawless. As for the floral additives I use an awesome medium of chalk pastels that allow for me to blend and create a more realistic product. The last step once you have everything completed is to seal it. Remember this is chalk so if you don't seal it, you can experience smudges. Now for certain signs that I re use but just change the names I still seal everything else but the names and dates.
I have more signs to create so I am sure I will be posting more photos of them but I just wanted to share how this one came out.
I hope this was helpful and I wish you luck on your next project.
-SK