Redefining C: It takes courage...

After looking through a recent Lowe's Creative Ideas catalog...I convinced my hubby to take me to Lowe's. I liked a wood project that was featured but I thought I could come up with something more "me." So off we went! I had the nice gentleman there cut down a piece of plywood for me. I ended up with (3) 2' x 3' and (2) 2' x 2'.

I took a 2' x 3' and sanded it. The wood does have some knots in it but I decided to work around/with them. Hoping that somehow I could weave my way in and out, adding character along the way.

Once sanded, I used Rust Oleum's Ultimate Wood Stain in Kona and gave it a quick coat of stain.When the stain was dry, I used painter's tape and taped off a 2" boarder around the whole board. I created an Up Words & On Words vinyl design and used my Silhouette Cameo to cut it out. I placed the lettering directly on the stain.

(isn't that stain AMAZING?)

Once the vinyl was in place, I painted over it with Dark Taupe. I made sure to stay inside the

tape lines. After all...I was going for the framed/border look.

I let the paint dry and then sanded the entire painted area, vinyl included, with 220 grit sand paper. I wanted to expose some of the stain as well as the grain and knots of the wood. Not too much, but just enough. I wiped away the sandy residue and peeled the vinyl lettering and painter's tape off. This really exposed the great stain and wood grain combination. Then I added a decorative vinyl embellishment to give it a pop of color and add a little texture and uniqueness. A way to soften it up just a little.

Here it is:

IT TAKES courage TO GROW UP AND BECOME WHO YOU REALLY ARE.

I love love love this quote. And my 33 year old self can't help but wish I had stumbled across it in my 20's. It is absolutely true. And although I never did declare a word of the year or post about declaring my word~

courage is a word that I cling to. I hold on to it as if it has the power to take me through whatever seems to create worry and consume my thoughts unnecessarily.

Courage.

Yep, I think that's my word.

Maya Angelou has said this about Courage:

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage."

~Maya Angelou

And after all, we as adults know far too well how hard it is to grow up.

And looking back, it does take a lot of courage to become who you really are.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carri