Painted cabinet

Finished

Video of finished cabinet

The moment I saw this old cabinet I knew this wold be my new project.  Its octagonal shape reminded me of Moorish architecture; hot nights in Morocco or Andalusia. I decided to paint it in bright colours with stylised oriental ornaments.

This is the cabinet before:

Old cabinet

Demaged surface

I followed the curves and lines of the cabinet and painted it with blocks of colors. Masking tape was used to make lines. Paint wasn’t applied very neatly, becuse I wanted to show that it was handpainted. It also looks a bit shabby, like it is the old piece of furniture.

Blocks of color and lines

Masking tape

When the background was completely dry, I used the template to make the ornaments. I made template by printing the ornament on the transparent foil and cutting it with scissors. I’ve traced the tamplate with the pencil to the cabinet, and paited with the acrylic paint and brush.

Painted background

Template

When dry, I used 2 coats of mat finish. This is final result:

Cabinet

Detail

Detail

 

Cottage in the woods (painted tree stump)

I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.

– Friedrich Nietzsche

Music theme: Cry of the Forest – Forest Elves

This is tree stump I found with several other pieces rot in the rain and sun and open sky. This is pine or spruce, I’m not sure, and still smells beautiful. My association was instant: deep forest and small secluded cottage. I always dreamed of having such small getaway from everyday life.

I removed all the debris, resin, cleaned the stump  well with water and left it to dry. Than I baked it in the oven to kill the microorganisms. When dry I applied some fungicide liquid.

I used acrylic paint and  waterproof wood varnish.

I’m quite happy how it looks in the garden. I think the dog likes it, too. J

Found

In the oven

Process of making

Varnish

Closer look

Dog is posing

Owl – reused wood and stone

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me

This piece is made of pine stump, bark and twig. I’ve used that to make a base. I didn’t polish the surface, because I really like the texture of the wood itself as well as the traces of the saw. Bark removal revealed smooth silky wood side, as the contrast to the rough front and back surface. I’ve applied “foresty” colours (shades of green, brown and yellow) on the front and back.

Than it was time for the owl. I had one stone I picked up in my walk. The moment I saw that stone I knew it was going to be the owl one day. So, I grabbed my acrylics and the owl was born!

Finally, I glued on bark, owl, and twig on my base wood and put on some varnish.

Et vóila!  My recycled wood sculpture is here.

Photo gallery of materials and finish piece:

Wood and stone and some

Front

Bottom

Side

Back

()()

Bottles reused

There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane, sometimes they barely fan one’s cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.

-Message in a Bottle, Nicholas Sparks

Music theme: Time in a bottle – Jim Croce

Days of Christmas and New Year celebrations are over. What is left are some good memories and few empty bottles of sparkling wine.
It would be such a pity to throw those beautiful bottles away, so I decided to upcycle them and make some decorative items with them. Well, a vase was obvious choice.
Materials: empty bottles, bamboo sticks, hot glue gun, spray paint and acrylic paint in tubes.

Painted bottles

Materials

I applied hot glue on the bottles, sprayed them and then put on some paint on the embellishments with my fingers.

Hot glue

Spray

I painted bamboo sticks with matching colours, and my vases were born.

Vases with baboo sticks

Vase