I work with pine wood quite a lot, it's easily available, cheap to buy, easy to work with, it's great!  Except it's a bit dull and plane looking, so a great way to change this is to 'burn' it!  

Now i don't mean setting fire to it and watching it go up in flames! that wouldn't be good at all, but this video will show you exactly how i burn wood to give great effect and contrast to the wood and grain, it really transforms boring wood into something special......