Added New Mosaic Bartop,,,see page 6

I wouldn't want you to burn this one. I'd be afraid it would take away from all the cool detail you have in the head dress. I'd go with a medium stain and a couple of coats of poly. I bet Benzart will chime in amy time now with better ideas though.

BTW, that looks awsome!

I agree with Finkdaddy. Burning may be too extreme - try two-tone stain to accents your deep cuts. Great tiki.

Maybe a light wash under the stain or poly coat for the flowers? I was thinking a very thinned out color to just add a touch of green to the leaves and whatever color you want to make the blossoms, and putting it under the stain would make it look more aged.

I'm with Finky, i wouldn't burn it either, It would make too much of the grain stand out. Start with a light stail and make it darker unyil it looks right to you. The arving is really nice so you don't want to chance messing it up.

He turned out great. I really like your added details, too- the pineapple and flowers... Do you have a close-up pic of the hibiscus you could show?

I'll get more pics this weekend of the hibiscus areas. I took these very quickly this morning before work.(my paying gig)

Thanks for the inspiration guys. I'll be huntin' up more logs soon. My next door neighbor works for a tree trimming service, maybe I can work out a "beer-for-logs" trade.

very impressive tiki tammy....love the nose...keep up the good work! your tiki bar
set-up is fantastic.

Capt here are the closeups that you requested. We are tired of sanding so we will probably stain him tomorrow. My husband has been a saint and helped me get him smooth.

I'll post again once I have him finished.

[ Edited by: tikitammy on 2005-06-04 19:38 ]

I decided to do a water based stain for the flowers and leaves that could be tinted. While I was at Home Depot I noticed they also tinted wood colors. BAD IDEA! This water based stain is essentially watered down paint. My tiki turned out rather funky. I couldn't stand it, so I started sanding. Here's what he looks like now.

Should I continue sanding or do something else? I have definitely learned a good lesson.

I would just go for an oil based stain. something like a dark mahogany. Allpy it on very heavily. Let it set for about 30 minutes and wipe away the excess. If there are any light spots, reapply to those to blend it in.
All is not lost. This happens more than you know.. Just keep at it.

This may sound silly...

I really like it like this...

It looks weathered and old... very cool...

Of course it may look different in person...

wow it looks great!!! I too like it the way it is. maybey rub minwax paste wax all over it and then buff it with a cloth or buffer. You do wonderful work. Your mozaic is incredible. keep it up.

I agree with Lake. Just a clearcoat over it for protection.

I think Lakesurfer nailed it . I would varnish and put him out for the world to admire.
Very nice work.

Great job! Tikitammy ....I am working on my first tiki myself .......thanks for posting your pictures ....you are all an inspiration to me........

TTammy,

Did the waterbased stain cover up the woodgrain? I'm about to try out my first waterbased stain. I shall proceed with causion.

It does look good sanded, so that is at least an option.

It doesn't completely cover the grain but it just causes a solid color with no grain definition. I like a stain that makes part of the grain darker than other parts so you can really see the grain.

It's fine to use as a color highlight like on flowers or a hawaiian shirt, but I would't use it again all over.

It looks great- those Hibiscus turned out really well.

Another possible idea is to do a "streak stain" with an oil stain over the water-based- but I'd also test a piece of scrap first... Could bring back some of the grain illusion?

(By streaking I don't mean paint streaks on, but dab a bunched cloth in the stain, remove majority excess, then swipe it lightly with the grain...)

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully on 2005-06-08 16:16 ]

Go with it and light stain over it. It will still look great. I like a splash of color. So I think it will look fine.

P.S. can we get a close up of the flower?

thanks

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. Groucho Marx

[ Edited by: flacookz on 2005-06-09 04:54 ]

Wow...I'm just amazed by the stuff showing up herelately...blows me away.

I really appreciate all of the compliments. Especially when they come from people whos work I admire so much.

When I ask my husband for input, all I get is what I did wrong. I know he tells me the truth but he forgets to point out the positive too.

THANKS GUYS!

Tammy, I'm sorry that you don't like the way the color on the flower & leaf looks, unfortunately that's almost exactly what I was thinking of. :( I actually like it alot just the way it looks, maybe a really, really diluted wash of a stain (just to make it look older) & then polycoat it?

Freddie..
I may have misexplained. I like the color on the flowers and leaves. It's the solid brown/tan color on the tiki that I didn't like. I put the color on the hibiscus and leaves and I liked it after I had sanded it a little. I just didn't know when to stop. Recently he's started to grow on me a bit. I'll probably just sand him just a bit more and poly him.

Tiki Tammy....
You are very talented...I love your work already....I can only hope to be half as good as you someday. Really, I think you are blessed........

your carving is some kinda wonderful!

this is a very nice one Tammy.....i like
it just the way it is....thanks for posting
and keep em coming.

P.S. can we get a close up of the flower?

I think it looks awesome the way it is. You've managed to creat a tiki that looks like it was around 50 years ago. Clear coat it! I absolutley think you've stumbled onto a great style for tiki carvings. Some day when I have the money, I'd love for you to make a mistake tiki for me.

I think it looks Great. Seal it up and get it out the door.I think it is Finished. Excellent job.
Every carving you EVER do will be practice for the next one . I practice every day and Love it.

Looks great. Wow! Clear coat him and start on the next!!!

Thanks for the flower close up and again excelent job. The thing that screwed up the worst are the ones that I ended up liking the most because of the solutions that I tried.

And the one that I didn;t like are sawdust..

Hi Tammy - I think your staining turned out REALLY nice, especially for being the first time using that type of stain??

And that carving...well...simply amazing. You did a wonderful job and the stain just compliments it more.

I don't think any of my carvings and stainings have ever turned out how I expected them to. But I've been pleasently surprised after taking a few steps back and trying to look at it from a different perspective. I think this carving is AWESOME and , now that you're hopelessly hooked on carving, is just a precurser of things to come.

Just added a new bartop to our bar. I got permission from Mark n' Maggie over at http://www.velvetglass.com to try my hand at one of their mosaics. THANK YOU!

[ Edited by: tikitammy 2007-03-27 20:30 ]

It looks great :D