Potter's Hours

My mom is an amazingly talented artist. Her passion? Pottery. Over the past few months, she and my stepdad have been building a pottery studio on their property where a wood "shed" once stood. It has been an amazing transformation! The studio opening was held on December 18, 2011. I knew I wanted to make something for the studio for my mom's gift this year. But what should it be? Then, I was inspired. An "Hours" sign! Perfect!

SAVI Clayworks

As with my other projects, once I have an inspiration, I put my imagination to work to implement. Here's the story of "Potter's Hours."

Inspiration:
"Potter's Hours: When Creativity Strikes"

Imagination:
Getting my imagination going needed little more than a walk around the craft store. I knew what I wanted to make, a sign or plaque with a saying. Ideally, it would hang underneath the porch light....outside. Could I make that happen?

Implementation:
Wandering through the craft store, thinking and looking, I'm hit with it! A piece of wood, nice paper, an embellishment or two, paint and sealer. I perused the wood pieces and found a great size and shape. Next up was looking at paint. I found a set of 16 outdoor paints. In the scrapbook section, I found a set of 3 adorable key embellishments that I just "had" to use and a beautiful decorative paper. So, with my arms loaded up I headed to the check-out.

Once I got home, it was time to prep the board. A little bit of sanding the rough spots, wiping clean, primer, spray paint and a few hours, this was what I was looking at.

Ready!

Remember that set of outdoor paints I bought? Well, they turned out to be a great return item! I ended up using an antique bronze color spray paint I had left over from another project. The color is just perfect...you'll see. :)


So, I have this great start...what next?! Yikes!! While I let my imagination work, I set to cutting out the saying using my Cricut.

The letters turned out just like I pictured. 

That was enough time for my brain to work its magic and I knew what to do next. I wanted to add the beautiful decorative paper to the plaque but didn't know if I wanted the entire surface covered. So, where better to start than covering the entire piece right? I didn't want any straight finished edges on the paper though but I knew just tearing the paper would run the risk of damaging the paper. Okay, maybe it has less control than I like, who knows. ;) To get the effect I wanted, I placed the decorative paper over top the plaque. Then, I smoothed down the edges around the entire thing, just like in the picture but with the deco paper.

I later use this paper for another purpose.

Then, I made sure to crease the edges of the plaque shape really well. Very carefully, I ran the creased edges under a small stream of water to moisten the crease just enough. I used the crease and water to help make a "controlled" tear of the paper. Here is the result.

The deco paper fits perfectly and so easy to make happen!

See the tattered, yet controlled, edges? ;)

Okay, so now I have this piece of paper...do I want to cover the entire surface? It'll cover up the amazing paint color if I do and I'm not sure how well all that paper will hold up outside. So I started experimenting. Remember those little key embellishments? They are perfect when paired with the deco paper. So, what if the deco paper is an accent.....like an edge. Hmmm.....let me start playing with that idea. This is where the piece of plain, printer paper came in handy. I creased it in the same way and then tried laying out the design to see if it would work. (The more crafting I do, the more I realize how valuable taking your time, planning, measuring and thinking really do help!)

We're getting there...

Using a scrap of the deco paper...not liking the angles at the top and bottom....

The keys are just perfect!

Checking that the letters do in fact fit on the plaque and experimenting with placement.

The experimenting paid off. I knew right away that I did not like the angles at the top and bottom of the deco paper so they would have to go. It looks too "new" so some distressing will be needed (on the letters too). 

A little distressing and adjusting and we're ready!

Before I glue the paper and hang the keys, I sanded the edges to distress the plaque just a bit.

Sanding

Just the right effect

I wanted to ensure the deco paper would stay put so I enlisted the help of my trusted, super sticky tape. You know, the"red" stuff? I lined the edges and put a strip down the center then on the plaque it went.

The "red" stuff

Perfect!

Mod Podge was the next step. I like the ease of adjusting placement it allowed when placing the saying on the plaque. After it dried, I applied ump-teen-million more coats and used a spray paint sealer as the final layer.

Dry faster! :)

So...it appears I've done it again....wrapped it up and given the gift without taking final pictures. "Shoot!" I'll be back......