Winning: The Makers Challenge Season 5

Y'all!!! When I started refinishing furniture I never would have imagined that my pieces would be seen by an editor of Do It Yourself Magazine, much less chosen as the winning piece for season 5 of The Makers Challenge.

This blog is definitely not to gloat or let you know that I won, it is to encourage you to keep going. Don't quit. Don't let fear stop you.

The piece I entered into the competition was one I almost threw away multiple times. Can you believe that?! It had a broken drawer and in my head I thought, "there is no fixing that." But I hung on to the piece for some reason and when I saw a piece of art that I felt drawn to, I decided that would be my motivation for the challenge.

The theme of the challenge was "gloss and shine." That is definitely not something I typically add on my furniture pieces, so I immediately thought "nah I won't enter this year." Do you ever have that tugging feeling, where you feel like you need to do something even though you don't want to? Well, there it was. Pulling at me, pushing me to try... even though I was super scared.

So I decided to try my hand at this alcohol ink art that I saw in the art I had fallen in love with, and quickly realized it was not so easy.

But one of my favorite things about the internet is that you have the ability to learn almost anything at the click of a button. So I practiced making alcohol ink art, had many fails and decided to put this art into my piece.

I decided that the most shiny way to showcase that art was with epoxy, so I began my hand at sealing the art with epoxy. I had many fails again,

but still decided not to quit.

And guess what.....

It finally turned out beautifully.

After all of these steps, fails and let downs.... It finally came together.

What I want you to take away from this, is that you may see a lot of people online who seem to have it all together. Their projects seem to go seamlessly or their homes look spotless. Please know, that life is always a series of ups and downs and the most important part is just not quitting.

So when you see my piece in Do It Yourself Magazine, remember that the only way we can achieve our goals is to push past fears and fails and just keep trying. I always hope that my work is an encouragement to others, and that you know you can do anything. It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

Love and prayers,

~Autumn

What questions do you have about this piece? I would love to fill you in on all the details!!