Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2013

DIY: Wood Burned Drumsticks

Hello, friends!

I am back with another wood burning post. As you may have read from my previous posts about the wood burned storage box and my calendar journal, I really enjoy pyrography. I've only been dabbling in it for about a year and a half. There's still a lot to learn and practice! For example, I have yet to try to transfer my drawing skills (like shading, crosshatch, etc.) to wood burning like some have done to create beautiful artwork. That is on the to do list, though. I'm thinking that this coming year of life, I'll take a stab at burning a plaque in place of drawing with graphite, you know what I mean? I think that will be quite the adventure! :)

Anyway!

For a best friend's birthday, I decided to do a wood burn project. I have found that these projects really go over well. They're unique and often have a practical use - like the storage boxes. This friend of mine plays the drums and, in my opinion, is really great at it. I've seen him play just for kicks as well as on stage and it's quite a thrill to watch. I'm not sure if I've ever told him so, but I admire his talent quite a bit. Heh, maybe he'll stumble on this post one day. :) I decided to wood burn a pair of drumsticks for him - I know that drumming is one of his passions and thought that this would be a great gift.


You'll have to forgive the picture quality - I worked on these during the evenings after work, so natural lighting was not available and I was in a bit of a hurry, hence my cluttered desk in the background. :P

Above is a photo of the drumsticks as they were when I bought them, save for the pencil line.
I wanted to keep the design simple. The thought of doing a collage of graffiti-esque images all over crossed my mind, but as I mentioned before, I have not honed my wood burning skills and that would have been quite the undertaking. O.o

So clean and simple it was!
Below are some shots after I was finished.





And a bow to top it off!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the drumsticks took really well to wood burning. I was afraid that they wouldn't take the color well. I decided to leave the drumsticks raw, without any stain or lacquer. One of my favorite things about picking up a pair of drumsticks is the feel of the bare wood grain; my favorite thing about picking up a pair of used drumsticks (before they are broken) is the feel of the wear - It's like you can feel the beat and rhythm in them. Maybe that's just me though... I am a little mad, not quite as mad as a hatter... but still. ;) 

For those interested, I used a mini flow point for the outlining, the name, and my initials on the end of the sticks. I used a shading point for the solid fill on the ends and for the triangle pattern. 

Until next time! 

Stay excellent!

- Jenny - 

Friday, March 1, 2013

9 in 5 by 23

I follow a blog called Wit & Whistle. I love this blog. In fact, it was after discovering this blog and reading all of the posts that I realized that I would love to blog and that I could do it. She is so creative and fun, but also so accessible. I could totally relate, even if I was a little jealous of her life. ;)

Anyway, she posted about this idea of writing a list of things that you would like to do within a year of a single age. The lists contain a number of tasks that matches your current age and you are to finish them before your next birthday. She just finished her first list and had her birthday and has begun another. It's like a "bucket list" for a single year of life. I love this idea. I have loved reading the various posts about her progress and I've been inspired to do my own.

I, however, am just under 5 months from my next birthday. I turn 23.

So I have started working on my "23 by 24" list. While I was thinking of tasks, I had a lot come up that I wanted to get started on (and could even finish) before my next birthday. These obviously either couldn't or shouldn't be on my 23 by 24 list so I got to thinking, maybe I should start a shorter list right now!

I thought of this idea on February 26, 2013, which is exactly five months from my 23rd birthday (can anyone say "destiny!"). So, here was my train of thought:
I have exactly 5 months til I turn 23. I would have had a "22 by 23" list had I started one this past birthday. Here's what I figure: 
(22 tasks / 12 months) = 1.833 tasks/month
1.833 tasks/month x 5 months = 9.166 tasks ~ 9 tasks.
So I will write a "9 in 5 by 23" list!! 
(Talk about nerding out and using unit analysis on this computation - such an engineer... O.o) 

  1. Become proficient at driving a manual transmission.
  2. Turn the Magic Tree tea shop box into a jewelry box.
  3. Go through and organize all of my old 35mm prints.
  4. Take couple's photos with Kyle throughout the Palouse.
  5. Go through the books in the garage: donate vs. keep.
  6. Do Wild at Art in Moscow, ID. 
  7. Take a trip (not including to Seattle or to anywhere in eastern WA)
  8. Do at least 30 min of cardio 3 times weekly.
  9. Go through my closet: donate vs. keep and determine at least 3 common traits of my favorite items, try to buy more items that suit my personal style instead of items bought on a whim. 
I'm starting off this habit of a year of life to do list, taking it a little easy. I expect a lot of changes between now and my birthday. With these changes and other things, I want to keep my goals pliable to ensure that I maintain one of my favorite personal character traits - flexibility. 

But my "23 by 24 list" is going to be even more awesome, I can already tell! ;) You'll just have to wait until my birthday to hear what I've got planned for the year! 

What do you think? 
What would you do? :D

Even if you don't make a list or need a list - I hope you are constantly looking to do things that you want to do and not always the things you have to do. ;) 

Stay excellent! 

- Jenny -