What I did with Larry's wood

[scrolling_grandma]

I ordered some of the wood from Larry the Wood Guy and was very fascinated with the variety and colors of the wood I received. I spent many hours spreading the wood out over the floor and exploring, grouping, regrouping, sorting, etc. Thanks to Larry many of the types of wood were labeled, but many more were what I termed "mystery wood."

Anyway, to make a long story short, I finally determined what I wanted to make first from this wide assortment of wood. I chose a project from the Summer 2007 SSWW&C magazine (issue 27). The pattern is called Rustic Windmill and was designed by Gary Sherrodd. It was a design contest finalist.

What I really liked about this project was the freedom to be creative and to add my own unique touches. The individual layers or canvas was created from wood I had available around the house. The finer details of this project were completed with Larry's wood. Overall, I am very pleased with the final project and liked it so much that it will hang on my own wall. I fully plan to create more projects using this technique.

A special thank you to Gary for a great pattern and to Larry for the large variety of wood that he sent me.

[Jan]

Way cool, Tammy! Very nice.

Jan

[sappy]

This project shows that you really enjoyed doing it and that is very neat! Very nice job!

[guitarman]

very nice Tammy. great work
David

[Trout]

WOW, that's looks great Tammy....
I would say that one would be my pride and joy too...

Trout

[Fran1942]

Tammy, good job, I really like it. I would hang it on my wall to.
Fran

[jjt25320]

very nice, I like it

[wood-n-things]

Very well done.

[JimSawyer]

There's so much to look at, and the depth of it is beautiful...!!!!!
Love the frame..!!!
And I would keep it for myself too...!!!

[rippersmom]

That is WAY cool!!!

[Sally]

Very nice workmanship and so unique. Tell us about making the frame.

[Bill Wilson]

Nicely done! I like it!

[Rolf]

You really did a great job with that!!

[oily]

Very nice. ............... I love the frame

[scrolling_grandma]

Very nice workmanship and so unique. Tell us about making the frame.

The frame was a challenge due to the thickness of the bottom end. The first thing I did was contour the bottom so that it was beveled inward toward the picture. This was the hardest part because I cut it on the scroll saw very slowly with the table tilted as far as it would go. This left me with a very rough edge which I then sanded on the belt sander. Once that was completed I could proceed to framing the piece.

I bought some cheap mailing twine from the dollar store. Using nine strands of the twine, I braided for about 2 hours. Loads of fun! LOL. Then I cut the braid to lengths that would wrap the bottom edge starting from the far back and working toward the front of the picture. I glued mutiple layers of braid to the bottom edge building my way to the front edge. When close to the front edge I wraped two strands of the braid all the way around the edge of the entire project, covering and sealing in the ends of the lower braids. Voila, a rustic frame.

I have to say that this was a really fun project to make. I just loved the freedom that it gave me to use some smaller pieces of wood and to be free to design as I went along. No real set pattern, just a general guideline and idea to follow. I am thinking that this same concept could be used for almost any outdoor scene.

Thnaks for all of your comments.