Stain Art Coffee Table

 Hello there! I've been wanting to do a post about this little beauty for a while but you know, life.... It happened. When I did this piece I wasn't really sure it was going to sell but boy was I wrong! I had it gone in minutes. Which left me feeling like I WAY under priced it but oh well. Live and learn.. 

I knew I wanted something other than a rose. NO MORE ROSES. So I got to thinking a bit and I thought... we live on a lake that is infested with lily pads (and big jerk bull frogs that keep you up all night)... Maybe I should do a water lily? I was struck with inspiration! A water lily seemed like a good idea. I was kind of skeptical at first but after selling it and getting all that feedback I am confident that it was a good decision. I'm always doubting my work. Truth is, I don't think I'm any good at this stuff but all I hear from others is that I am so I guess I'll keep on trucking.

  After my decision was made I ran to my craft hutch, pulled out my watercolor paper and got to work. My kids have annihilated every other kind of paper in the house so it was this or toilet paper. With a family of six toilet paper is like gold. I'm not kidding!  

My pretty little flower. Normally I do a big sketch with a whole lot of detail and shading, but I was just anxious to get this on to some wood. 

Here's the table we built all ready to get prettyfied! It was just a standard farmhouse coffee table made using pine boards and some turned legs. We built everything with the pocket hole jig and screws. It's a cutie! 

I got everything sketched onto the wood ( so sorry I didn't take a picture of that. I suck...) and I tweaked a few things with the design. Then I went to town! I used a dark walnut stain as the main color and ebony for the shading. Still it felt somewhat lacking and I just couldn't let it go... So I broke out my aqua stain and gave it some color. 

I mean it just makes all the difference in the world. That tiny bit of color makes it more realistic. I don't like my art to look too cartoon-ish so I was really happy when it started to look like a REAL flower. 

I had Jordan add a border of 1 x 2's and stained them with the same aqua. 3 coats of polycrylic later... There she is looking all purty. 

Thanks for stopping by guys! I'm enjoying this technique. Cant wait to do another!!!! **Spoiler Alert** I'm working on one now!