Baby & Child Collection?

 

 

My latest “I love you to the moon and back” rustic sign. This would be perfect in a child’s room.

 

My husband recently brought an old baby carriage home. It was in the midst of a bunch of things he was asked to haul away. With my mind wrapped up in upcoming markets and how to display my things I couldn’t help think this would make a great piece for somebody to display their wares at a market. Then I thought “why not me? …I could create a baby & child collection!” and my mind started spinning.

Wouldn’t this make a great piece to display stuff at a market?

 

So, my question to you is what kind of sign would you put in your baby’s or child’s room? More sayings from children’s books? Pictures of vintage cars or ballet shoes? Anything in particular you have been looking for? Please help inspire me by leaving your comments!!

Things I Have Been Working On

With gearing up to do another market of course I set my mind to Valentine’s Day. It still seems so far away to me …wasn’t it just Christmas? …but when I thought about it I realized it is already January 12th! How did that happen?

Anyway, yesterday was a paint day and here are the things I came up with:

This was a custom order. I was given free reign with the font and I think this one worked perfectly.

Perfect for a Valentine’s Gift, Valentine’s decor or even year round decor.

Who has seen the movie P.S. I love you? It’s one of my favourites. Of course, it comes to mind when I think of love. Another great gift or decor.

This was actually a shingle my husband brought home. It has a natural heart cutout. I love when nature designs things for us! I have been wanting to put these lyrics on a sign for some time and this was perfect.

Recently someone was looking for XOXO blocks so I decided I should do some. Hubby had a 4×4 lying around so I put it to use. I love the rustic well loved feel to these. I made 2 sets.

I had one block leftover after making my sets so a heart it became. Rustic and lovely.

And, of course, I had to do a set of LOVE blocks, too. Also, rustic and lovely

Look for these in the shop soon! (Except for the custom order …that one is spoken for. Although you can always ask and I could do another one special!)

 

I Have Become Too Attached To One of My Signs (and My Signs Are in a Local Shop Now)

I talked in my last post about our move and how I felt like everything was falling into place. I feel like this is where we are supposed to be right now.

On the day we first came to look at the house we had to wait another 40 minutes before we could get in to see it so we went for a walk to the beach while we waited. On the way back I spotted a little shop that had lovely painted furniture in the window. My kind of shabby chic refurbished furniture. The shop was closed but I really wanted to go back and visit when it was open. It is called Cottage Living and it is lovely (have I said that already?).

So, of course, we ended up getting the house but all the events of the move put it out of my head while I concentrated on controlling the chaos. And then after we were settled a bit the girly and I headed out on a gorgeous Fall day (my very favourite kind) for a walk to the beach. And on the way back, lo and behold, the shop was open! Well I just had to go in. So we did and I didn’t really want to leave but the girly had other ideas. So I had a quick chat with the shop owner, Linda, who seemed a little excited when I told her I painted signs. She asked about my process and then told me she had a way quicker method and invited me to come back when I had some time. She also asked if I wanted to sell my signs in her shop which, of course, I did. I took her card and emailed her my Facebook page when I got home.

Almost a week later I was able to get Grandma to come hang out with the girly and back I went. I enjoyed every minute I was there and had the time to find out more about their clay based paint and milk paint (yes, they sell paint, too and other lovely household goodies). I was also able to see her working with the milk paint as she paints right in the back of the shop. I had just recently read about milk paint and am eager to try it out. It gives a bit of a different texture than chalk or clay paint …more of a chipping effect to give it a really old vintage feel. Linda also showed me a recent piece she did which was originally old, ugly bifold doors. She added molds to it, painted it and now it’s a beautiful room screen. It looks amazing. Anyway, I am starting to babble here. Can you tell I am excited?

I really enjoyed being in that shop, inspired by Linda, and all the creations around me. I found myself putting off leaving but eventually it was time to head home to the girly. Linda and I talked about me bringing some signs and arranged for me to bring some down in a couple of days. That night I started to look at all my signs trying to decided which ones I would bring. I ended up picking out 18 of them and typed up a price list for Linda.

But when it came down to it there was one sign I found I just couldn’t part with. I talked to my hubby about it and also to my sister (because sometimes talking out loud just lets you know how you really feel but I also value their opinions, too) and in the end I have decided to keep it. I just love it, too much. Can you guess which one? Yes, it’s the “oh, to be by the sea” I painted on driftwood. So I will have to delist it in my Etsy shop, too before I have to explain to someone why I can’t sell it to them.

The sign I just couldn’t part with.

A Fellow Etsy Shop

Signs I made for my sister-in-law’s Etsy shop. She will be at the Nanaimo Etsy Made in Canada pop-up market this weekend.

I have mentioned my sister-in-law before. She has kindly donated her old fence boards to us when my husband replaced her fence. I use them for my signs. She has also kindly donated that fabulous piece of driftwood I made into my current favourite piece, oh, to be by the sea.

Well, my sister-in-law also started an Etsy shop called Sea Salt Company and she is going to be at the Nanaimo Etsy Made in Canada pop-up shop market on Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be her first market so she is madly getting everything together and trying to come up with her display. I feel her pain because I have been contemplating setting up shop at a market for some time. The complexity of getting it all together is dizzying: a new display (including tables and whatever else you might need depending if it is indoors or outdoors), enough product (how do you know if you even have enough?), ways to accept payment, and is there anything else? Oh, yes, a sign with your shop name on it.

She had two new pieces of driftwood for me and I couldn’t help but think they would be perfect to make a sign with her shop name on it. With a little discussion and a look at her banner on her Etsy shop I set to work to make her a sign for her display. After all isn’t driftwood the perfect sign for a beach themed shop? With two pieces I was able to use the first one for her shop name and the second one for her byline.

And now I will have somebody who has market experience to go to for guidance when it is my turn to set up shop at a market. (Hopefully soon). I can’t wait to hear how it goes for her.

Ah, Fall …Glorious Fall

 

I love Fall. Partly because it means an end to Summer which is actually my least favourite season. I can’t seem to handle hot temperatures which means a lot of Summer days I am stuck inside until it gets cool enough to be bearable. I actually try not to complain about rain or snow or any other weather because my real weather complaint is hot sun. I would take anything else first.

I don’t actually like the extreme cold either, though. (It’s a good thing I live on the West Coast because the weather really isn’t that extreme, not when you compare it to other places). So this is another reason I love Fall. It is an in between temperature season. I would say I love Spring, too except Spring means hay fever so Fall definitely wins.

But really, the reason I love Fall most of all is for those sunny, clear, cold, crisp days that smell so fresh. There is something about those days that make me feel so happy. Those are the days that I will drop what I am doing so I can be outside and enjoy it knowing there aren’t many of those days until the next year comes around. That’s when the piles get backed up around the house but I don’t really care as long as I can be outside.

Labour Day is really exciting for me because that is when the anticipation starts …the anticipation for Fall. I have to admit I got excited when I saw Halloween in the stores in the beginning of August …anticipation of Fall! So this past weekend while others were out having their last summer fling before the seriousness of the new year started (September, not January, always feels like the beginning of the new year for me) I made a couple of Fall/Halloween signs. I couldn’t help myself. And, I want to keep them all. I think I will display them on my shelves rather than add them to the cupboard of signs for sale …at least until someone else buys them to love. I also plan to make some more, too.

Quotes and Inspirations

I saw the quote “And a mistake repeated more than once is a decision” by Paulo Coehlo on my sister’s blog and I wanted to paint it on a sign. It really resonated with my recent experiences. I had four boards painted white and ready for something so I started to look for more quotes to paint on the remaining three.

I really enjoyed The Alchemist written by Paulo Coehlo so I decided to look for some more quotes from him and found “You are not defeated when you lose. You are defeated when you quit.” This also resonated with me and I went as far as transferring the words to a sign. But before I got to the point of actually painting the words on I changed my mind. I liked the idea of not feeling defeated but I realized that I am a person who holds onto things long after I should have walked away. I have done this many times in my life. So, the idea that you are defeated when you quit didn’t sit well with me because sometimes you need to quit to succeed. Sometimes you really aren’t doing the right thing and no amount of trying is going to make you successful. Sometimes you just need to walk away. In those instances I would not agree that you are defeated if you quit. So, I sanded the board and started again. This time I just painted the simple word “delightful” on it. It is the one word I would chose to describe my daughter if I was only allowed one word.

Another quote that struck me is about making time for things. I have long realized that the words “I don’t have time for that” are not true. Really it should be “I don’t make time for that.” We are so busy in our lives that often we get caught up in the busy-ness. I have learned that if something is important enough then I have to make time to do it. Sometimes that is difficult to do and sometimes it takes me a while to realize it. If I catch myself saying the words “I don’t have time for that” I try to stop and ask myself if it is something I want to make time for or not and then make the decision whether to add it in to my schedule or let it go. I came across this quote from Charles Buxton “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” It was perfect. I painted it.

As for the last sign. It was a smaller board that kept telling me it should say hello. After trying to think of other things to paint on it I gave in and hello it became. I think it is a cheerful alternative to welcome.

Gokai – The Principles of Reiki

Previously I painted a Japanese version of the Gokai. And, finally, I have completed an English version as well. Really I think that these are words to live by for anybody.

Without planning it the completion of the English version coincided with the birthdate of Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki. It also coincided with the start of the first annual Jikiden Reiki World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain where Jikiden Reiki practitioners from all over the world met up.  I have been enjoying seeing the pictures posted of the congress as well as imagining all of the lovely energy from all the positive people getting together in one place.

Wedding Date Custom Order

I received another request for a custom order and they just picked it up today. Any time there is personal information on a sign I like to make sure that I ask if it’s okay to post it on my blog. You never know.

I had seen a couple of these signs with the Mr. & Mrs. and established date before and think they are great.  What better way to commemorate your coming together than a piece of art to hang in your home? I have a vision of the couple looking at that sign fondly many years in the future. Plus, it provides a great reminder for those prone to not remembering anniversary dates.

Paisley and Flourishes

An idea popped into my head. It involved a flourish painted on a huge piece of wood and hung above a bed. I don’t have a huge piece of wood at the moment but I thought I could still paint a flourish on one of the boards I have hanging out in the backyard that are waiting to be transformed.

So, I started searching the internet to find examples of flourishes to inspire me. At the same time I came across paisley. And I thought …how could I have forgotten paisley? I love paisley. I have always loved paisley. I am drawn to anything paisley. I should paint paisley.

And so you have it, my two newest paintings.

Three New Signs and One Restock

 

For the musicians out there or those that host them.

 

A sign based on the World War II Victory Gardens campaign. It is done in the same font the original posters used.

 

I saw a photo that had this saying on a sign over the bed. I loved it and decided to make one in my own style.

 

I made a new joy sign after my last one sold. I find it to be inspiring and it is also the name of my aunt that recently passed. I think of her every time I see it so making a new one was a must.