Project designed by Betty Auth.
Materials:
Walnut Hollow cutouts
- Folk Art Hand Applique heart in hand - #16900
- self adhesive wood shape small wide heart - #14340
Walnut Hollow creative woodburner - #5567
- woodburning points including flow - #5592, mini-flow - #5593, shading - #5594
Walnut Hollow oil color pencils, set of 12 - #9912, or set of 24 - #9924, or set of 36 - #9936
Walnut Hollow graphite (transfer) paper - #1095
Plaid Enterprises, Inc. paint products
- neutral glazing medium
- burnt sienna acrylic paint
- satin acrylic varnish
Toner Plastics Inc., 24-gauge Fun Wire - assortment - #84492
Blue Moon beads - assorted pink glass, clear or white
wire clippers
round nose pliers
needle nose pliers
scissors
drill with 3/32-inch drill bit and wooden block to drill on
hot glue gun - optional
number 2 pencil
white eraser
jewelry pin back
soft paintbrush
lint-free rag
Steps:
1. Drill holes in all the fingertips of the heart in hand cutout about 1/4 inch from the ends of the thumb and fingers. Be certain not to drill too close to the edge or the wood could split. Sand excess wood off the front and back of the hand.
2. Transfer the patterns onto the hand and the heart, or lightly pencil in some freeform designs. If desired, write a name on the heart.
3. Go over the pencil lines with the wood burner, following the tips listed below (figure A). Add some texture to the background, with short parallel lines or by scribbling over the area to darken it (figure B).
4. Erase the entire surface of the hand and the heart to remove all the pencil lines or graphite.
5. Glue the small heart on the lower portion of the hand, not covering any of the drilled holes (figure C).
6. Color the heart or the flowers with oil pencils.
7. Mix equal amounts of gel medium and brown paint, then paint the non-colored areas of the wood with the mixture and wipe off excess. If too dark, wet the rag and rub vigorously.
8. Varnish the front, back and edges of the wood.
9. Glue the pin back high on the back of the hand.
10. Cut a piece of wire eight to 10 inches long and use round nose pliers to bend a curlicue in one end.
11. String on a bead and insert the wire from back to front through the thumbhole. Pull the wire all the way through and add two or three more beads (figure D).
12. Go down into the next hole from the front or the back, whichever works best with the beads you are using. Add some more beads and continue "sewing" the wire into and around the fingertips, bending as needed. Be careful not to wrap the wire around the pin back on the back of the hand. If you run out of wire, bend another curlicue in the end and start over with another piece, first bending its end to keep it from raveling out (figure E).
13. When you're all finished adding beads, clip the final wire end to about an inch and bend it into a curlicue.
14. Bend all the wires securely to the front of the pin so they won't snag clothing.
Tips:
- Never touch any of the metal parts of the wood burner or the points. Always use plastic-handled pliers when changing or cleaning points. The points reach a temperature of 950 degrees.
- Before beginning, tape the wire holder (which comes with the woodburner) to a piece of foil or other protective covering that you have taped to the work surface. You can also tape it to a ceramic tile, a ceramic or glass plate or other heat-resistant surface.
- While burning, occasionally clean the point by rubbing it across a piece of sandpaper.
- The darkness of the burn is controlled by the length of time the point rests on the wood, not by pushing down. The longer it rests on the wood, the darker the burn will be.
- Burn by moving the point very slowly across the surface of the wood, and lift the point at the beginning and ending of each line, in order to avoid large dots and blobs. The trick is to move slowly and evenly and to turn the wood as you go in order to get the best angle.
- Try out the technique by turning the wood over and burning your name and date on the back.
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