One Way Friday :) Wooden Sign

I have to confess that I am exhausted as I am typing this (Thursday evening).  I traveled for work this week and got home around midnight on Wednesday night and then had to get up early for another work obligation on Thursday morning.  I never seem to sleep well when I am in hotels and when you combine that with time changes and travel my body at times just revolts!  Needless to say, I was relatively useless for most of Thursday!  So, rather than try to put together a Four Ways Friday post, I decided to create a sign for my craft room - a sign that would help me remember my mantra as I battle living in "countdown" mode.
I began with a few pieces of scrap wood - the larger one is 4" x 3" and the smaller one is 2" x 2 3/4".  I covered both of them with gesso and let them dry.  Next, I took the larger piece of wood and covered it using modeling paste.  I then tried an experiment - I pressed the Finial Press embossing folder into the modeling paste and ended up with a bit of a mess!  I'm thinking that the next time I try it I will allow the modeling paste to dry for a bit before trying to press anything into it :)  I ended up with the texture you are seeing in the photo...after adding a few more steps.  I used some mesh hardware tape and pressed it into the modeling paste as it dried.  I also stamped one of the floral stamps from Itty Bitty Bits into the paste.  Once the modeling paste was completely dry, I painted it all with Frost White shimmer paint - I love how the shimmer looks on the texture!  To finish the bottom panel I hammered in a variety of beads around the edges.  Here is a close up of the texture:

 

The next step was to stamp the mantra onto the small panel using Jet Black Staz-On and a retired alphabet stamp set (since I still can't find my letter "r" stamp for my Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set!).  I then sprayed the panel with a mixture of Champagne Shimmer Mist paint and alcohol.  It's hard to see that sparkle in the picture, but it looks shimmery in person!  I then added Crystal Effects around the edges and pressed the edges into some white seed beads that I had in the craft room.  Next came the flower!  I die cut 6 flower shapes (3 larger and 3 smaller) using the Island Floral bigz die and some white organza fabric.  I then held the layers together with a long wooden skewer pressed against a tile and heated the flower using my heat tool.  Since the organza is synthetic, the heat will melt the fibers and create a wonderfully dimensional flower!  I pressed a brad through the center of the flower and then adhered an adhesive rhinestone to the center of the brad.  The smaller panel and the flower were then adhered to the larger panel using matte medium.  Once the entire piece is dry (which will likely take overnight) I will attach a hanger to the back of the piece and hang it on my craft room wall :)
I hope you've enjoyed this project and this short break from Four Ways Friday.  I plan to resume Four Ways Friday next week!  Have a beautiful and creative weekend and don't forget to breathe in the now :)