Susan Snyder: YELLOW ROCK - AN ODE TO BONAIRE...

To most people, this is just a yellow rock with the name of our beach cottage ("Turtle Cove") painted on it. However, for those who have been scuba diving in Bonaire - it should bring back fond memories and a smile to your face.

The island of Bonaire is a part of the Dutch Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao). It's a well known divers' paradise because if the extensive amount of shore diving. Just drive around the island in your rented pick up truck, tanks loaded in the back, and locate dive sites marked with yellow painted rocks. This was this memory that prompted my latest craft project - placing the yellow rock in our front yard with the name of our Florida beach cottage painted on it.

I located the perfect rock at a local landscaping/stone supply yard. They had a whole pile of rocks approximately this size, and I was able to find one that provided a good flat surface for the placement of the name. I believe this was referred to as a "Two Person" rock (based on the idea it takes two people to pick it up), however it was one of the smaller ones and I was able to pick it up myself.

The paint is an outdoor craft paint purchased at Hobby Lobby called "Patio Paint". You can find this in the regular acrylic craft paint section. I was delighted to find this because I could buy a small bottle for only a couple dollars. Initially I had no idea what kind of paint I would use, and was concerned about buying a lot of expensive paint I didn't really need. I did three coats of yellow as recommended on the bottle. The colors are "Sunshine Yellow" and "Iron Black" for the lettering.

The lettering was penciled on to the rock after it was painted yellow. I did this free hand in just basic lettering (similar to what we had seen in Bonaire - nothing fancy). Then I used a small artist brush to paint the letters with the black paint. The black paint from this line is a good dark paint that covers well and creates a strong black color.

I'm interested to see how this paint stands the test of time, especially with the wind and salty air along the Gulf Coast of Florida. We shall see . . .

Here are a few other fun projects I worked on for our beach cottage...