Paint and Pain

This week I continue to play with texture on canvas.  For this project I picked up some 6 x 8 panels.  I applied the texture:

And then some paint:

Then I took some sandpaper to the finish to add a little distressed contrasting to the canvas:

I really like this look.

Then I tried several things that totally failed, which I did not take photos of.  In order to try to salvage the project, used more paint and sandpaper to get back to my project base:

And then I was stuck.  I looked at these canvases and had absolutely no idea what to do with them.  Just when I was about to put them into my unfinished project box,  I found these:

And a light bulb went off.

You'll have to wait for another day to see what that light bulb was.  Partially because my day is filled with several appointments that will limit my craftiness.  And partially because of this little fellow:

This is Phil, my dog's new chew toy. 

Dakota likes to shred stuffed animals.  She doesn't steal them and shred them, but when we give her one she spends quite a while ripping their faces off and then pulling the stuffing bit by bit out of the toy.  I know that sounds kind of gruesome, but really its just pretty messy.  And if the stuff animal is a cheap one, it will only entertain her for a few minutes.  The ones that really last are the Build a Bear animals.  We discovered this because she used to steal animals and once got a hold of a BB bear.  It gave her many, many hours of enjoyment. 

Since I don't want to give her BB toys to shred, I am always on the look out of durable doggie toys.  Last week we found this guy at PetCo.  They claimed it was extremely durable, and although it was way more than I ever dreamed I'd spend on a dog toy, I bought it--hoping it would last longer than a stuffed animal.  And guess what?  It does!  Dakota loves Phil, and he is so durable she hasn't even managed to put a hole in him yet--even after several hours of play.

Now you may be wondering what Phil has to do with me finishing a craft project.  You see, Dakota loves to play with Phil on the stairs.

This morning when I went upstairs to wake up my baby, I saw that Dakota had left Phil there.

For an instant I thought about picking him up, but I dismissed it.  You see, I was tired.  Usually I call my daughter to wake her up, but she hadn't felt well last night so I thought I should go check on her and see if she was feeling good enough to go to school.  I'm sure you know what is coming next.  I walked past this little guy on my way up, only to step on him on my way back down.  My foot slipped and down I went.  Major OUCH!  And now my back is sore and I'm moving slowly, and getting through just my scheduled events may be all I can manage today. 

But even with the pain I am excited about the idea I have for at least one of these canvases.  I'll let you know when I make some more progress.

I am also keeping my eyes open for Phil.  After our morning encounter I put him on top of Dakota's kennel, just so I'd know where he was.  I just walked by there, and he is gone.  Apparently he was still within Dakota's reach.  

Like I said, she loves Phil.