New Sign Design!

Eat!

This is going to be a very short, but sweet post.

I've been working like crazy on the renovations of my tiny single wide mobile home, which is the main reason I haven't posted anything lately.  I've been pulling out paneling, painting, papering, building, scrounging through the treasures in my barn... I'M EXHAUSTED! LOL!!!  I planned on showing pics of the reno, but to be honest, I was super excited about this sign I just finished for my eat in kitchen.

I'm pretty sure I'll be adding this style of sign to my inventory for the upcoming fall shows.  It's not the easiest sign I've ever made, so I'm not planning on carrying large quantities of these "marquee" style signs.  

Anyway, I just wanted to have a quick "share" today.  I promise, I'll be posting pictures of my reno soon.  I'll be honest, I haven't figured out how to properly "shoot" pictures of rooms.  That's primarily why I've put it off, lol!  Anyway, I'll get to it, I promise!!!

That's it for today.  I'd love to hear what you think.  Please, feel free to leave a comment!

It's Mobil Home Makeover Time!

It's time for an Update

With the "Tiny Home" craze going on these days, I just realized that I live in a home that is "trendy", lol!  We were able to realize our dream of buying some acreage about 4 years ago.  The home was beautifully maintained, but to be completely honest, well, it's a single wide mobile home, so, there you go.  It was originally built in 1975 - again, that should explain a lot.  Anyway, last year, I painted the office paneling white to brighten up the teeny tiny room.  It was the only room in the house that still had the original paneling - you know, 1970's super dark paneling.  It turned out really cute, very farm house, if you know what I mean.  Mike liked it so much, that he agreed the rest of the house would look really nice painted white.  Well, it's been a year now.  I've been buying paint a couple gallons at a time when it was on sale, so I'm just getting around to this HUGE job.  First, I have to pull down the fake, shiney, super thin, knotty pine paneling covering the original dark stuff.  Here's a pic of what I'm talking about:

I have to admit, in this pic, it doesn't look too bad, but the truth of the matter is, in real life, it looks REALLY FAKE!

I've gotten one wall that leads from the kitchen to the hallway done (except the trim).  

 

I don't know about anyone else, but I think this is MUCH prettier!!!  This angled wall leads to the hallway, and is going to be my "Command Center"  I'll have a large wall calendar, a pin board, 3 altered clip boards and maybe a chalk board.  At least that's the plan so far, lol!

The next step was to work on the hallway.  The previous owners had added a wonderful mudroom extension off the back side of the mobile home.  I'm SOOOO happy for that space.  In fact, I use the mud room for my painting area when I'm working on signs.  The reason I mention this extension is because when I went to pull the paneling off in the hallway, I noticed there wasnt any of the original stuff behind it.  I'm assuming it was removed when the pass through to the mud rooom was cut out.  Anyway, I was stuck with the fake knotty pine, BOO!  I proposed an idea to Mike (that I was sure he would HATE), and he gave me the green light to try.  I took a small section and papered it with old book pages.

I'm sorry the pic isn't very good, but the hallway is REALLY narrow.  I had to stand in the mud room entryway to get this pic.  I still need to put trim around the door to the office, (it never had any)  but otherwise this is what Mike came home to that evening.  I was shocked that he liked it enough to give me the go ahead to finish out the entire hallway!   On the other side of the office door is the opening for the furnace.  When we moved in, there was a piece of paneling screwed to cover the opening.  It was REALLY UGLY!!!!  When we replaced the flooring last year, I took the ugly panel out and just left it open.  Honestly, this was by far, better looking!!!

I wasn't totally sure what I was going to do to enclose the furnace, but I had a few ideas rolling around in my mind.  I finally decided to bring in a vintage window screen I picked up a few months ago.  I was thrilled to see that it fit the opening PERFECTLY!!!   The screen was tearing out, but that was ok because I needed to put a solid piece in the opening to hide the furnace anyway.

 I pulled the framing off the back that was holding the screen in.

The back side is red, the front is kind of grey green.  I decided to leave the original paint, because the grey green blends nicely with the old book pages.  Here's the finished door:

The wrinkles in the paper in the door will flatten out when the paper finishes drying.  I'm very happy with this solution.  It is SOOOOO much better then what was here when we moved in, and also better then just leaving it open.  

The only thing left for me to do is to trim out the door ways.  Since there wasn't any trim to begin with, I'll have to get creative.  I'm doing this renovation on a "nearly zero" budget, I'm really hoping to not have to spend money on trim pieces.  Once I figure out the trim, I'll post updated photos.

I've got to go now, cuz if I don't start pulling paneling down in the rest of the house, I'll never get the painting done.  I don't have much time to finish this update, so off I go!!!  

CeCe Caldwell Paint Review and a Happy Announcement!

New Signs for a New Shop!

I'm super excited to share with everyone that my artwork will have a permanent home at Petticoat Junction, in Newport Washington.  I will be setting up my display starting next week.  I will be sure to take pics and post them as soon as it's all set.  In addition to this fun news, I've been testing some new (to me) paint and finishes.  It's CeCe Caldwell Chalk Paint. 

First, let me show you a sign I made using this FABULOUS paint:

The background color is Thomasville Teal.  It is so pretty!  I painted this over a cabinet door that had a previous (ugly) stain and varnish finish on it.  I really wanted to test the claims that you don't need to prime before painting with CeCe Caldwell.  When the base coat dried, I painted my saying with regular old white house paint.  Once the lettering was completely dry, I used a wet rag to distress the background.  This is one of my FAVORITE  parts of chalk paint.  You don't need to use sand paper to get a soft, worn look.  Here's a little close up:

I painted a base coat of Vintage White (also CeCe Caldwell paint) just on the inset portion of the door.  I wanted it to show through in some areas when I distressed it.

The final touch was a light coating of Clear Waxing Cream.  I have to say, I am in LOVE with this paint!!!  It is thick and creamy.  It goes on in one coat, and dries quickly.  The wax goes on smooth and buffs out nicely.  One really HUGE benefit of this wax - NO NASTY SMELL!!!!  I can't stress the importance of this enough.  Some waxes have such a strong odor, it makes for a miserable experience.  The CeCe Caldwell wax is completely odorless.

To test it further, I did a couple other projects:

I made a HUGE message board:

This door had a beautiful finish on it to begin with, and I really didn't want to paint over it completely.  In order for the lettering to stick to the cabinet door,  I used Vintage White chalk paint.  Once the lettering was dry, I used 2 coats of  Endurance to seal it.  The bottom panel was sanded to bare wood, and then painted with 3 coats of chalkboard paint that I purchased at the hardware store.  Like I said before, this door is huge.  It's about 3 feet tall!!!   There is a lot of space for writing notes, grocery lists, or whatever.

I was fortunate enough to find a similar door a few weeks after finding the first one.  It's much smaller, but still, it makes a great message center:

I had already sanded both panels on this door, so when I had gotten around to painting it, I chose to base both spots in Chalkboard Paint. 

This is another door I didn't want to paint over.  The finish was just so pretty!  This is what makes Chalk Paint so wonderful:

 I'm getting ready to do some major work in my house, and I want to make one wall near my kitchen a complete message center.  I think one of these chalkboards will end up there!  BTW, that was a little hint as to some of the posts you will be seeing in the near future.  

Here's the last sign I made to test one of the products sent to me to try:

The arrows show the spots I used Savannah Praline stain to even out the outer edges of this cabinet door.  Here are some pictures of the areas I'm talking about:

The arrows show the spots where the finish had worn away.  I was planning to just paint the entire door, but I really liked the finish that was on it.  When I opened the jar with the stain to see the color, I thought, what the heck, this looks pretty close.   The picture below shows what it looked like when I put the first coat of stain on the board.  I want to stress that I did not do any sort of prep work on this door.  I literally wiped the dust off and slapped some stain on it.  Again, NO SMELL!  

This close up picture shows that I need to add another coat of stain,  but other then that, I think the color will match up nicely.  

Here's another look at the finished piece:

So here are my thoughts so far on CeCe Caldwell products.  As I stated before, the paint is thick and creamy.  There is NO grit, often associated with chalk paints.  It is a truly luscious paint.  It goes on smoothly, and covers beautifully in one coat.  It can be easily distressed with a wet cloth, no sandpaper needed.   It is eco-friendly, and HAND MADE IN AMERICA!!!  

For someone like me, that loves to upcycle items that would otherwise head to a landfill, a paint like this is, at the very least, ethically, perfect.  

Now, on to the waxes, stains, and finishes.  They have no smell, which is wonderful.  They are all a pleasure to work with, and clean up couldn't be easier.  

I have worked with Annie Sloane Chalk Paint and waxes in the past.  I have always enjoyed the special qualities Chalk Paint provide.  The only real draw back (other then cost) is that the  Annie Sloane waxes are quite smelly.  I have worked with them quite a bit over the past 2 years, and was quite happy with them.  I'm just not a fan of the smell, or the fact that unless you use gloves, (which you should, but I never do) the smell stays with you for quite a while.

 Honestly, CeCe Caldwell paint is hands down my favorite (so far).  I am looking into testing Country Chic Paint in the future as well. 

I am seriously considering becoming a retailer for one of these lines of paint.  Therefore, I plan to put them through the paces and really test them out before making a decision.  I will be doing some projects shortly that will involve using the CeCe Caldwell paint on an old milk can I have sitting outside.  I've also started making some metal flowers for a fun wreath, so be sure to check back often!!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, or post them in the comments section.  I will do my best to answer any inquiries as quickly as I can. 

And so... the Adventure begins

As always, things here at the ranch have been super busy.  A little over a week ago, I had some friends come out to help me move the fencing for the old chicken pen.   Where it is situated right now is literally, right outside my bedroom windows!  This was NOT our original plan, but when my husband started building the original chicken house, he thought he'd be able to move it when it was completed to another area.  NOT!!!  So, for the last 4 years, we've woken to the sound of not 1, not 2, but 3 boisterous roosters, singing the song of their people at 4 am, EVERY MORNING! 

With the help of dear friends, all of the chicken wire was moved to the new site of the chicken pen.  Unfortunately, chicken wire is not sturdy enough on it's own to provide adequate protection, and I was going to need to move the Railroad ties from the old fencing, to secure the bottom of the fence.  That would have to wait a couple of days.  Until then, the chickens would have to stay in the old house. 

This is the original Chicken house.  Not the prettiest house, but it has served it's purpose for the past 4 years.

Here's another picture:

Anyway, for the past week or so, the chickens have had no fencing to protect them at night from predators.  One of the first nights, the large door wasn't secured properly, and a strange dog (or 2?) raided the house and killed at least 6 of my hens.  This was heartbreaking!  Every night since then, I make sure the everything is completely secure, to the point of using 4 x 4's wedged against the doors.  

On Wednesday, my friend Michelle came back out to help me move the railroad ties.  We got quite a bit done, but weren't able to finish the whole fence.  Let me just point out that the new chicken pen encloses 5000 sq ft!  That's a LOT of railroad ties!  On Saturday, Mike and I decided to add livestock fencing to the chicken wire.  We've had several rolls laying around, so thankfully, we were able to beef up the fencing at no additional cost.  The stiffness of the livestock fencing provided the stability we needed, so we didn't have to move anymore railroad ties, THANK GOODNESS!!!   All that's left to do is run chicken wire along the picket fence that is the front of the pen.  Otherwise, the chickens will be able to just walk right under the picket fence, and I'm wanting to keep them in their area more then we used to.  They've had free run of the property for the past 4 years, which makes collecting eggs a bit of a challenge.   But with the much larger pen (at least 3 times larger then the old pen), I think they will be happy.

Here's a couple pictures of the new Chicken House.  The rocking chairs and little table have been moved to another location, but otherwise, this is their new home:

And yes, my chickens have lace curtains, lol!

Now for my latest sign design!

I wanted to create something that would be appropriate for many occasions.  Recently, our nephew, Dylan graduated High School and I wanted to make a special sign for him.  Once it was completed, I thought it would also be great for a wedding gift, or the arrival of a new baby,  or a new job... really, I think it would be nice for any life event.  

I hope Dylan likes it!

I'd love to hear what you think

There's still a LOT to be done around the ranch, so hopefully I'll be able to do a little "creating" and have some new things to share soon.  

Coolin Days Show - Memorial Weekend

 It was a gorgeous weekend in Coolin Idaho, up at Priest Lake.  We had a nice little spot for the Coolin Days Show and settled in comfortably.  Our neighbors were super friendly, and we had a good time getting to know each other.  Sorry for the iced coffee in the pic, lol.  Best Buzz coffee was right across from us, so I was a happy camper!!!  Honestly, I think they did the most business of anyone at the show!

This is my business signage when I don't have access to electrical for the Marquee sign

 Our first day, we were a little short on shade.  Our current set up doesn't have a roof, so I will say, it did get a little warm.  Thankfully, my sister had a bistro style umbrella she lent us for the show.  That gave us a spot to go when the sun got to be too much.  I wore a big 'ol straw hat, so that also helped immensely!   Mike had an idea for providing that much needed shade for Sunday, so when we got home on Saturday evening, he set about gathering up some materials (salvaged, of course!!!) to create a roof.  This is the booth before Mike made the roof:

 And here it is with the much needed shade of a roof:

 At one time, we had a pop up canopy, like most craft show vendors do, but I left it up one day when a massive thunder storm blew through, and well, it became a mangled mess.  The piece Mike used for the roof was one of the side walls, and the pipes were from a carport type canopy that collapsed from ice and wind a few winters ago.  They are really light weight, so they worked perfectly for this.

It really made a huge difference in the comfort level on Sunday!

Here are a few pics showing some of the new items I've been working on:

In this picture, you can see the potting table I made that has a cute vintage sink dropped in.  It's in working condition, so it's a nice little spot to wash off some of the dirt from a day in the garden.  I know it's kind of hard to see with all the stuff on it.  Here's a picture I took right after I put it together:

I've added 3 old bed springs holding cute little terracotta pots, across the top rail of the picket fence

Here's a pic of the beverage center.

It was an old sewing cabinet I've had sitting around for years.  I finally decided to do something with it.  We don't have a lot of visitors out here at the ranch, but when we do, we tend to grab a wash tub or something and fill it with ice for drinks.  I've always wanted a "beverage center", and this is what I came up with.  I have a few other designs in mind, and will work on them as time allows.  

This baby worked great!!!  We had ice cold drinks for the entire weekend.  It got a LOT of attention, but I think mostly for people that have an old cabinet of their own laying around, collecting dust.  I wish them luck.  Honestly, I do.  I bled more making this project then anything else I've made!!!

Here are a few of the new signs I've made for the Coolin Days show:

There are so many more sign designs I've made lately that I don't have pictures of.  I'll try to get some of them photographed as soon as possible and be them posted.   

I'm taking a break from the shows for a little while, but I have some big plans for the future.  I'll fill y'all in on the details shortly. 

As always, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them here on the blog, or email me directly.  

 

A work in Progress

A Diamond in the Rough

As usual, I forgot to take any pictures before I started taking it apart.  I don't know why I never can remember to grab my camera (or phone).  Anyway, this is almost a before pic, lol!  At this point, I've already removed the vintage sewing machine (set aside for another project) and all the other "guts", and started working on the top.  When I decided what I wanted to do with this piece, I had a choice to make.  The veneer was pulling away,  as you can see in these pictures:

I could try to re-glue it back down, or I could try to strip off the pealing veneer.  I chose to strip it off.  Everytime I do a project like this, I convince myself that the offending veneer will come off, in one or two large pieces, easy-peasy.  HAHAHAHA!!!!

This is a portion of the top after about 2 hours of peeling, and scraping:

And this picture shows the entire top.  The arrows show my customary blood splatters.  I kid you not, I manage to stab, slice, or nail myself on pretty much every project I work on!

I this instance, I stabbed my finger when the scraper slipped.  I've never been known to be graceful, or for that matter, particularly careful.  Thankfully, the cut is pretty small, and really, this picture shows how little it actually bled.  I must say though, 2 hours after cutting myself, my finger is really sore, and seems to want to keep bleeding.  I've cleaned it well, so I'm not worried about it. 

I guess my little accident came at about as good a time as possible today.  It was time for me to get my evening chores done, and the critters were letting me know it was time I got to work doing my "real" job, lol!  Here at the ranch, the critters come first, and all other projects line up behind.  Let me tell you, it's a REALLY long line, lol!

So, that's all I have on this project for today.  I'm hoping to have a reveal of the finished piece in a day or two.  It all really depends on how much veneer removal I'm going to have to do.  I think you'll like the "After" pics when I get this little beauty finished.

Here's one last look at the "Before"

It's Spring Craft Fair Season!

We've been working hard to get into the swing of the Spring Craft Shows.  So far, we've participated in 3 shows, Custer, WSU, and Shadle Park High School craft fairs.  The picture above was from Custer, our first show.  We did pretty well and receive a lot of great feedback.  WSU was not what I was expecting.  I found out there was a HUGE craft fair being held on campus (which I thought I was participating in).  Unfortunately,  we were in a smaller show dedicated to Fashion and Beauty.  There were NO signs to direct people to the upstairs gym we were located in.  It was pretty slow, and I was a bit disappointed with the turn out, so I didn't take any pics.   I met some really nice people though, so that was good.  Last weekend, we did the Shadle Park show.  Mike had made some little side walls for the display.  It helps with stability of the main wall, and gives me a little more display area.

 The weather was beautiful, which I think kind of worked against us.   I'm beginning to think maybe Spring shows are just going to be a little "lighter" in attendance.   Once again, I met some really nice people, and was even approached about being a guest artist at a Gallery in Priest Lake.  

Here are some pictures of some of the signs and accessories I brought to the show.  Many have sold, so I'll busy over the next 3 weeks preparing for the Garden Expo at Spokane Community College, May 9th.

Thanks for checking in.  Please feel free to contact me if you have something you'd like custom made.  I love doing special pieces for people.  I am also planning on listing some of my work in my Etsy shop soon.  I will post a link once I get that going.

If you are in the Spokane area, I'd love it if you stopped by my booth at the Garden Expo and said hi.  It should be a great show.  I'll post more details when I receive them from the show promoters.