Never Say No to Coffee

I think I must have a thing for wood. I love the smell, the grain, the colors, and the many different things you can do with it! Today I met with some ladies from my church at a Coffee and Canvas they had planned. One of the ladies has a daughter who owns a side business called Top Notchery. She custom makes wooden signs or goes to different places hosting painting parties. I used to go to school with the owner, but hadn't seen her in years! She originally had started Top Notchery to raise funds for the adoption process of one of their children. But she enjoyed it so much she kept it going. :)

She began by having us pick out the wood we wanted. She had some barn wood left with its original patina, some were stained red, espresso, or white. Some were made from reclaimed wood that had weathered paint left on it. I chose the espresso and, or course chose a stencil about coffee! (I love coffee!) She had several stencils that were simply printed on copy paper. When we sat down she explained that the process was simple and any of us could accomplish this craft! We turned the stencil over and rubbed the back of the page with chalk. We then turned it to the front again and placed it on our wood plank and centered it. With a pen we traced around the outside of the letters. When we took the page off the chalk had left an outline where we had traced. All that was left was to paint inside the lines! (Something that sounded easy, but at times was quite difficult.) With a good bit of patience I painted the design I had chosen going with only white paint as the color contrasted well with the espresso stain of the wood.

It was a lot of fun painting and sitting with friends as we fellowshipped together!