Courage Craft Night's

 

Hot glue, scissors, and paint are not the typical ingredients one would think of when asked to plan a romantic weekend with their significant other. Surprisingly that is exactly what the artist ordered for Ross and myself this weekend. A little creative therapy!  Ross is a budding artist dabbling in wood burning, painting, and drawing. He is doing amazing work I will add; check it out and let us know what you think via comment. I myself am an avid 'crafter,' who enjoys scrap booking, creating abstract art, and custom stationary.  

Art projects have always been an outlet for Ross and I to cultivate our 'couple energy'. Since we took control of our lives when Ross quit his job, I graduated college, and we eloped Courage Craft Night has become one of our favorite hobbies together! We must not over look the 'newlywed' phase that is already at work on our couple chemistry, but add to that our new found free time and anyone can see how a once a week activity has turned into a family tradition. One that will be frequently featured in our blog during our travels; which is precisely why I wanted to get you excited by showing you some of our creations.

One of our first couple creations together most defiantly took a lot of work and its beauty is experienced seasonally. When it comes alive in the spring and summer so do the smiles of mom and dad Courage because the garden was a present to Renee for mother's day 2012.   

Another work of art that had multiple hands involved started as a patch of wild bamboo that grows  in my father's back yard in Hendersonville, NC. I suggested that my father make something out of the bamboo because people pay good money for such fancy things. If we only knew what we were getting into. For those of you who do not know, bamboo is not very strong, it is hollow, you must let it cure for at least 6 months before using it as building material, and bugs like to live in and eat it.

Unfortunately, we did not have all of that precursor information. The first attempt was a head board my father crafted and did so nicely, while I was away at college. There was only one problem, it was infested with bugs........... After attaching it to our bed Ross began complaining about hearing odd, almost non existent sounds during the night; while I was fast asleep. The complaints went on for about a week. Finally, we took the head board outside, only to find the bamboo shoots full of teeny tiny black bugs! With a few nest like structures!!!YIKES! Needless to say the head board stayed outside after that event, wrapped in plastic wrap until we figured out how to fix it.  

The final product was the purest definition of a 'labor of love' I have ever experienced!Between you and me, the completion of the head board, in some little way, assured me that Ross is 'the one' because he took on this task, with no hesitation and had no complaints when it took an entire weekend. He was so proud to show me the ways in which he carefully took apart the old structure, cleaned, treated, sanded, and stained the bamboo and put it back together. This work of art is still on display in our room today.                                              Below are a few examples of recent art work of ours. Hopefully we have inspired you to go get creative in whatever fashion you deem necessary! Let life be your medium and get messy in the process.     

Wax Drippings

                  

                     Wax Drippings

Wood Burning

Rocket Inspired Diaper Cake

Painted Mural (work in progress)