The Best of Backwoods 2011

As this year is winding down to its final hurrah I am attempting to get a list compiled of what I need to accomplish (or would like to accomplish) in the coming months. 
This month marked the 1st anniversary of this blog.  My how time flies!  And do you know the most popular post of all here? 

The building of my studio..



It has been so popular that we posted the plans as others wish to build one for themselves.  These are not your run of the mill plans but a step by step for the novice builder. 

Plans

Many of you also enjoyed the inside look at my studio.  This is the tidied up version.  The before shot of this post is what it looks like a good portion of the time.



In third place was the building of the potting bench..



Not far behind was the transformation of a plain piece of linoleum into a Tuscan Floor cloth.



But my favorite (which did not make it even into the top ten of my readers picks) is my Pottery Barn Clock knockoff..



I am currently working on some Farmhouse sign designs, it seems Farmhouse style is all the rage this year.  I have some vintage type fruit signs rattling around in my head and other farmhouse staples like Fresh Eggs, Farmers Market and all that..I need to get them painted up and listed on my website. 

  If you have any suggestions of what would you would like to see or may be a good one just let me know, I am all ears. 

Until next time…ta ta

Defining Backwoods Cottage the Blog!

(click on a photo to go to that post)


I am not sure where to begin.  This blog is definitely all over the place.  I hop from one project to another, one day I am posting about gardening projects, like this straw bale raised bed.



Then the next I may have a post about my beloved greenhouse and all I have going on in there.



My studio and painting is another thing I can’t post enough about!



I love decorative painting, nothing is safe from me, not even a piece of scrap linoleum.



  I love to build things and refurbish others.  I love to sew and cook from scratch.  (I promise to share our homemade pizza dough recipe that is killer very soon)

When I first looked into blogging and researched what it was about many said blog about your passion.  Great, I have TONS! Though they also recommended finding your niche and stick with it.   I don’t have a niche per se.  I enjoy too many things, sticking to one is not my way, I am too ADD.

For example, during a  particular day my main focus would be to finish a sign that has been ordered from my website, but between coats of paint drying I will zip into the greenhouse and pot up some seedlings, water a few others, then check on my chickens, toss them some straw to scratch and peck and collect the eggs.



I will come back into the house toss on some laundry, sweep the floor and unload the dishwasher. Back out to the studio and check on the sign, if the paint is dry I will do the next task on the sign, it may be adding a border, sketching and painting part of the design, or laying out the lettering.  I may head out to the garage while letting that part dry and cut some more boards for other signs, sweep the porch and do a bit of bookkeeping for the small sign business.  You get the drift.

One thing is for sure, you are never sure of what you will get here!  Maybe even a walk through one the loveliest places with flowers around here…



One reader said it seemed like I had a charmed life.  Oh how I can gloss things over! I have a tendency to be cheerful in the face of adversity, I shall not allow circumstances to dictate my happiness. 

So you want reality!  Today I have the flu, my handsome hubby decided to share his cooties and now I feel like I have been run over by a truck.  Despite my crumminess I was determined to get the wording put on a special order sign then found out that I had not even base painted the board completely.  So I based it.  I so wanted to get that completed and it was a bummer not to at least accomplish my main goal today.  The sun is shining, it is a decent temperature out after the longest winter in history (or so it has seemed) and I cannot enjoy it.  That is just today…I have a boat load of reality for you if you can take it.

There is no real definition for this blog that I can pin down.  But I hope you enjoy it and my adventures in this crazy life!

Tuscan Floor Cloth

Do you have a kitchen floor that needs some help?  Maybe it is drab, beat up or just plain ugly. 

Mine is not bad, just dark and to lighten it up I decided to paint up a floor cloth.  The beauty of floor cloths is you can change them out with ease.  I like to change the color scheme in my kitchen seasonally.  I like the Tuscan colors of golden yellow, ruby red and burnt sienna for the Fall and Winter and switch out to some more beachy colors such as aqua, some soft greens etc in the Spring and Summer.

This project is fairly inexpensive.  I picked up a remnant piece of linoleum from Home Depot.  They sell them in various sizes.  Measure your kitchen floor and cut to size.  Or if you have a large kitchen leave it as it.  I have a rather small kitchen so I did have to trim down the piece I bought but is was not hard.  A good straight edge comes in handy along with a sharp pair of scissors.

  My goal was to paint a floor cloth to match my Bon Appetit sign:

You are going to work on the back of the linoleum.

First thing is base coating.  I had read somewhere that using an exterior latex was best as it has more flexibility when dried.  So that is what I went with.  I had some exterior in a white color and I rolled it on with a large roller. 



I had set up my work table (sawhorses and a sheet of plywood which was not quite wide enough so I had to slide the linoleum back and forth to paint it) under a canopy on my back deck.  Yes, this was done in the summer and right now this deck is loaded down with 4 feet of snow.  (if you want to see what it looks like around here read my post here and add a couple feet of snow) : Snowed In

With my trusty dusty ruler and straight edge I penciled my border line, laid my painters tape along it and rolled on the yellow paint.  Once dry, I penciled and taped the red inner border and painted in the red acrylic craft paint.  Red has less pigment so it may take a few coats to get the depth and coverage you need.  (this project is going to take some time as each layer needs to dry before proceeding, time frames will vary depending on conditions so set up in a area you can walk away from it for periods of time)

I then sketched up the fruit and veggies and painted them in one layer at a time. I did not even try to keep to scale, I just painted what I wanted.  I have been into Pears for some reason so I chose those as the main focal point.



I added the veggies, shadowed then highlighted until I was satisfied. 

.

 But it still needed something so I added a few vines and leaves..



Ah, yes…now it is just right.   I finish it off with an exterior Varathane in Semi-Gloss (gloss and semi gloss are more water resistant than a Satin or Matte finish) so it is easily mopped clean from time to time.   I recoat it once a year with more Varathane and it is easy to touch up any areas that may get damaged from, oh I don’t know, like dropping a knife on it, point down.

Now to paint one for summer.    Enjoy your new floor!

Pamela