Crafting Post: Burned Heart Wood Plaque

One day, I'll get a hang of this taking pictures business. One day.

Good evening, Fanatics!

The other day I was playing around with a wood burning kit that Aaron found among our combined crafting supplies. First off, let's celebrate the fact that I didn't burn myself! Almost, but I didn't! Yay!

Instead of poking just everything with the burning tip like I did at my old apartment (with age comes wisdom), I stuck with one of the unfinished wooden plaques that we had lying around. I had been speaking with my sister recently about Edgar Allen Poe because frankly, I can't make her stop, and pulled some inspiration from the Telltale Heart for a few concept craft projects I've been working on.


 I sketched a heart directly on the wood using an anatomical map as a reference, and decided to go with a simple design as opposed to including all the valves and muscle-y bits. The original complex design was a little cluttered and horrifying. After burning the design in with the blunt tool tip, I stained the plaque with a double coat of dark walnut varnish.

While the varnish was drying, I was trying to come up with a pattern to bring a little color to the piece and gave up and decided to some stylistic triangles in gold. This called for taping over the plaque and painting over the uncovered parts.

I'll be frank with you, my dear Fanatics. I am not a patient person. And this project called for lots of drying time. The two separate coats of varnish, the gold paint, and the dark red to accent the heart. I don't think I have ever done a project that couldn't be finished in one day, which really, is a fault on me. "Oh, this just has fingerprints now, I guess,"is how most of my wet media projects have ended.

Anyway, this really lead to the ruin of this project which would have otherwise turned out nicely.

I learned a few things during this project, which I really feel I should share.

• When wood burning, make sure you are working in an area with plenty of space, ideally on the ground. Or make sure that the outlet you are plugged in to is table level. Because the cords on that wood burning tool like to drag the tool around. Nothing bad happened this time, but I'll be taking extra precautions the next time I use it.
• The wire stand that you let the burning tool heat up on WILL get nearly as hot as the tool itself. Move it out of your workspace carefully and before you start working. I didn't get burned THIS TIME.
• Varnish takes forever to dry. Let it dry COMPLETELY before doing anything else, or you'll get sticky fingers. I really shouldn't have been surprised, considering I do a bit of wood staining for props.
• Painter's tape ONLY. Use only painter's tape for any painting project ever. Don't be impatient like me, and use clear tape when you can't find the painter's tape. Clear tape makes it hard to see where you're putting the lines and wrinkles easier, letting paint get underneath and ruining your clean lines. This is actually what messed up my project and rendered it unsellable, which I was hoping to do with the plaque.

All in all, this is a fun project to do if you have a bit of time to spare for a few days, and in the end you have a nice home decoration.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh