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My son is signed up. This will be his third year playing. Haven't heard anything about practice though. Thank goodness since all the kid wants to do right now is ski!

Gorgeous, Sherri! I love the frame. Definitely worth the challenge! Cool about that finish. IF, big IF, I ever do something like this again, I'll have to give it a try.

Uh, Sherri, your post didn't come through. I got the next project part, but can't read the rest. Must be cosmic interference or some kind of weird Internet twilight zone thing going. Anyway, surely you know there won't be any next projects. I'm never touching that wood burner again. I'd blow it up but hubby won't let me since it was so expensive. I'm thinking I can probably sell it on ebay. It's a nice one. Dual pins with temperature control

Sobo, I was thinking the climbing equivalent to my woodworking undertaking would be attempting to climb Hood wearing Tevas, jeans and a sweatshirt, with no compass, map or food, and a yip-yap ankle biter dog with bows on her ears and a diamond studded collar as my climbing partner. In January. I would have taken a pic of the blood, but hubby was out of town and the kids were totally freaked and grossed out by the amount that was there. A little scared, too. I didn't think it right to ask one to take a picture first when they thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, a self-portrait wasn't possible.

Thanks Sherri and DeC! :kisss:

Okay, here it is. I made a couple mistakes with the staining, but quickly figured out what I did so didn't repeat it elsewhere. The back was easy since there was no painting. The front was not fun and I had to go back to do some paint touchups. I deliver the frame to the guy who's going to but the finishing coats on it tomorrow. All that will be left after that is the mirror installation and hardware to hang it installation, neither of which I have to do! Thanks for all the help and suggestions! I sure needed it. You all are great :kisss: Fingers crossed someone will want to buy it at the auction in two weeks! But I'm not going to worry about that now. It's time for a

Nevermind.

Aw, thanks Sherri! I'm taking a break and calling it a night. I was trying to get some of the paint that had gotten into the wood burned squares out with a razor blade. It was my first time ever using a razor blade and lets just say it worked, but there was blood. Lots and lots of blood. At least I didn't get any on the frame. So far the count is two burns, two sliced fingertips with the burner knife pen and one cut finger. The things we do for our kiddos!

Tauntauns are only good if it's cold. I'd rather have one of these with me.

Thanks, Thadsboner. The dad who constructed the frame has a shop with a sprayer so he's going to put the final coat on it. I'm so glad because what you just described sounds totally beyond my skill level. I'm just psyched that Sherri told me she would have sanded out the mistake. It's helped me clean up some of the letters in the words beneath the kids pictures. Burning curved letters is really hard!

Thank you! :kisss:

Okay, the can says Water-Based Pre-stain Wood Conditioner. Assure Color Uniformity of Water-Based Stains. For Use on All Types of Wood. The frame is made of poplar.

Thanks! The top came out beautiful. The mom, who majored in fine arts, ended up painting the banner with the "p" I'd corrected with wood filler with an ivory/antique white, then painted on a new tail in the right place. It looks great! I'm touching up the remaining of the kids pictures and will stain tomorrow. They sold me a wood sealer or conditioner. Something like that to put on before staining. Do I do that after pre-raising the grain?

Looks like fun even with the weather. at your camp! Tell Kelly great job! I sure wish I was going with you guys in March.

Thanks Sherri. I don't have a Dremel and sanding never even occurred to me. Oh, well. I pick up the frame this afternoon. Another mom painted the top for me while I was skiing. So can anyone provide any staining advice? Any do's/don'ts/tips? I bought a water-based stain since it looked easier and more forgiving than than the oil. I thought it might be a smart idea to stain the back first to get some practice.

That's so awesome, Bug! I have my girls looking over my shoulder asking who is that. How old is she. Etc, etc. etc.

Sure. I'll post a pic when it's all done. It'll probably be another week or so with all the painting that still needs to be done. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you about homeschooling once I'm not so tired and overwhelmed

Thanks again all. I got the spot filled. It wasn't hard to put on. Really appreciate all the advice. I'm exhausted from working on it all this week and can barely keep my eyes open let alone think straight. The last two years, the class project has sold for $5K so I'm feeling a bit of pressure to get something that will start a bidding war. The kids want to be homeschooled next year and I'm thinking that might not be such a bad idea. At least I get to ski the next two days.

SnailEye - I've already got seventeen pictures woodburned and painted by the kids in the class around the sides and bottom of the darn thing. I've spent the entire week in the class having them do it. No way can I go through that again. I have to use this side. I'll test it Spotly and OW to see if staining is possible. Thanks for the warning. If I can't stain it, I'll just paint the banner where the words are. The mirror that fits inside is 28 x 29. I decided to have that professionally installed. The less I have to worry about screwing up that better.

Thanks so much all. I went to a local hardware store this morning. When I explained the project and the mistake (I put the tail on the "p" wrong), he said if I used a wood filler I could still use stain if I wanted. I decided to do that since that left more options for finishing. Plus it seemed pretty simple to do and the other seemed more complicated leaving more room for error. Fingers crossed! Here's a picture of it before attempting to fix it.

Thanks Mark :kisss: Not sure what skim the area means (I know nothing about this stuff, just learned to woodburn for the project) but I'll ask at Home Depot.

I'm in charge of my oldest's class art project for the school's upcoming auction. I took on something I thought would look cool but is so totally above me it's frightening. Tonight, I made a mistake on one of the letters in a word I was woodburning into a huge poplar frame. I'm going to be painting it rather than staining so I'm wondering if I can use some kind of wood filler to hide the mistake and then paint over it so know one would be able to tell the difference. If so, is there something you'd recommend and please be as specific as possible. Thanks!

Congrats CP! That's fantastic.

I guess I'm the oddity since I started climbing after kids. Being new to climbing (started this summer), scared of heights and very cautious in general means I haven't really worried about not coming home to the family. Everything I've done has been a day trip or a few hours somewhere. And very easy. Top roping. I've only been rock climbing, but plan to give Alpine a try this spring. My hubby climbed Hood in the Spring. I'll be honest though, I'd rock climb with him, just the two of us, but wouldn't Alpine climb with him due to the kids. It just seems to me with Alpine there are more variables and things that could go wrong, especially when you don't have a lot of experience. As for climbing w/kids, I took mine (9, 7 and then 4) to Smith twice this summer (with guides.) We also do family climb nights at a local rec center's indoor wall. My oldest's birthday falls on Easter this year so we've got Spring Break right after that. I asked what she wanted to do...ski and climb. So we're skiing four days in Hood and then heading to Smith. We'll use the same guide again. I feel that's the safest way to go with the kids right now. My younger two aren't as sure about climbing yet, but they're pretty much up for anything we do as a family. But right now, their entire focus is on skiing and the next time we can go. Love those Fusion passes! As for climbing time, I don't do a lot on my own outside of the family (we keep busy) so hubby has been very encouraging to let me have whatever time I need to pursue this new passion. Right now, I gym climb two to three times a week. Either when the kids are all at school or if the hubby can watch them. He's been working from home a lot when he's not traveling which has been great! I'm hoping that will translate to two to three times outside a week once the weather gets better and if I can find a rope gun or two! I know hubby wants to do more Alpine and really wanted to try ice climbing this winter and I've told him to go for it and I'll hang with the kids, but he hasn't so far. I gave him a gift certificate at the rock gym I belong to for his birthday for an introductory class, so I'm hoping he does that soon. I've been getting the time to climb and he needs the same opportunities. As for the risks. I've done a one-eighty from where I was this time last year with that. Hubby told someone at work during that December 06 Hood tragedy that for every minute I watched TV coverage about it, that was one more year he wouldn't be able to climb Hood. That was true. I'd asked my hubby not to climb after we got married. He'd told me enough stories about his epics with his idiot climbing partner when we were hiking buddies and not dating that once we were seriously involved, I didn't want him to put himself in those situations again. He said that was fine, even though he really wanted to climb Hood after we moved up here. But after I learned more about climbing last year for a project I was working on and got to know a PMR guy and John Frieh they helped me get past my fears so I could give hubby a TMG gift certificate for a Hood climb for our anniversary. And even try climbing myself.

Hugs, Minx. We have a cat, Spirit, with Hyper-T. The I-130 treatment in April was $975. Add in all the vet visits, testing before hand and after and it was close to if not over $2K. She has cost us money before (about $1500) with MRI, xrays and stuff when she got sick five years ago. I'd do it all over again. I probably will sooner rather than later. Her brother has the same problem. I'm trying to save enough money so he can have the same treatment this year. Hubby said no to it last year. Good luck!