I thought I would be fine with a living room chair that swiveled, but didn’t rock. I was wrong. To make the chair rock, I cut a 1.25 inch dowel in half and put it under the base to make it unstable. Just behind the center line gives me an easily obtained balance point when I sit in the chair, allowing a small rocking motion.
Even this small amount of movement helps to keep my muscles from setting up when I sit too long.
In August 2023 I painted several rocks using a line painting tool, then finished them with a clear UV spray coat. One of the rocks I put out in the garden with a collection of other painted rocks. A year and a half later, this is the only rock that looks as good as new. The others’ designs cracked and flaked off since they had layers of paint, sometimes quite thick.
My takeaway for this is that if you make or find a rock completely covered in paint, keep it inside. If you want to be super clever and hide your rock in a place it might take someone years to find, apply the paint sparingly. I think some of my planted painted rocks may have returned to their natural color waiting to be found. Those freeze thaw cycles and UV rays are hard on paint.
My folks gave me a laser engraver, because I spent so much time at their house playing with their laser. My level of craft ability has now reached dangerous (on a scale of “beginner”, “how cute”, “nice”, “wow”, “dangerous”, “how?”, “mastery”). I started with my business logo on rock, painted brass, and a thin slice of purple heart wood that I sliced on my band saw.
The rock ended up with a mottled white design that does not wash off. It has a pleasant texture but probably won’t survive a sealant (testing on that later).
I’m still experimenting with settings. The purple heart with logo was a little too intense and the burn carried outside the design.
I tried a circle of brass (I used a jeweler’s saw to cut it, the blue diode laser won’t cut brass). I originally did clean brass, but it only made a ghost image, so I spray painted the blank with black primer paint, let it dry, and ran it again. I quite like the result.
My head is swimming with all the possibilities.
One of my friends enjoys painting and has quite a flair for it. She had painted rocks at the chorus craft fair and I just had to buy the one that looked like Wing Ding! And then take a picture of Wing Ding with her effigy.
We hid all our painted rocks at a local park, so we came home and painted some more. I’d seen some face rocks on Pinterest that were painted with just shades of black and white, using the natural rock as the skin tone. I tried one, but I like painting eyes better. I may try the whole face again if the right rock rolls in. I will coat these in Helmsman before we hide them.
Critters and Craft 