Spring Cleaning!

After the crazy week prior to the Custer Show - working outside, in cold, sometimes snowy weather, we decided to clean up the barn and make room for working on the building portion of the crafting business.  The goats were ready to move back outside, so the first thing was to take down the temporary pen we built with pallets and start shoveling out the bedding.

This was NOT fun, lol!!!  I am so fortunate to have a wonderful husband that offered to do the worst of the bedding removal.  Since he was kind enough to work on that, I decided to tackle this:

Can you say YIKES!  It was getting a little difficult to maneuver in there, lol!!!

Anyway, here's what it looks like after 2 days of cleaning.

I just realized I didn't take a picture of the wall of shelves.  It has been cleaned up and organized too, but to the "untrained eye", it still looks messy, lol!  I'll try to get a picture of that area tomorrow.

  It's been raining non-stop for the past 2 days,  and it got a little chilly out in the barn.  Even though we fired up the kerosene heater, it was still a little cold.  Probably should have thought of it first thing instead of waiting until we'd been working out there for several hours!  After fighting off the chill for the the better part of the day, we decided it was time to head into the house.  I have to admit, I'm ready for some "curl up in a blanket and watch movies" time.   Tomorrow, it's right back to cutting wood, sanding, painting and waxing!  

Custer's 40th Annual Spring Arts and Crafts Show was a SUCCESS!

Hi Everyone!!!

I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog.  I was crazy busy getting ready to participate in the Custer Spring Show.  I was super fortunate to get a space due to a last minute cancellation.  I had 10 days to get everything ready, INCLUDING DISPLAYS!  I had a few pieces ready, but for the most part, I would say about 90% of what you see in the picture above was created in those 10 days.

Here are some close ups of some of the items in my booth.

I've been taking the week following the show to regroup, and am hopeful to get right back to creating starting next week.  I will post any upcoming shows I will be participating in as I get confirmation.  I was encouraged by several of my fellow vendors to apply to some very prestigious shows, (which I found very complimentary!) and have been contacting them over the past few days.  

I also had the wonderful good fortune to meet the lovely ladies of Buffalo Girls Vintage Jewelry the other day while out looking for salvage material for new creations.  These beautiful ladies create amazing jewelry from salvaged metals, leathers and other quality materials.  While talking about our mutual love of all things old, crusty, rusty and salvaged, we found that our styles blend beautifully.  I will be working on some custom signage for them, and they are working on a new line of doggy jewelry (I had Harley with me, AS ALWAYS, LOL) and it is possible that Harley will be the spokes-dog for this new line.  

I mean, seriously, who wouldn't find this little guy irresistible?

I can't begin to express how blessed I am feeling right now.  I have been struggling with what direction to take my life recently, feeling as though the extreme amount of work I've been doing over the past year and a half was being done in vain.  I have spent an inordinate amount of time (and personal finances) using my "creative obsession" helping others make money, whether intentionally, or not so much, while not even coming close to covering my own costs.   To finally, personally have some positive results, has truly given me the motivation I needed to continue down the path that has been set before me.

  

I would like to thank all of the wonderful friends and family that have been so supportive.  Without you, I NEVER could have had such a great show, or be looking forward to all the bright and shiny fun times ahead.

I am BLESSED indeed!

I spent a little time this morning playing with some scrap boards, pretty papers and vinyl.  This is what I ended up with.  I'm really happy with the distressed, antique wall paper look as a background for these cute signs.

Because of the poor lighting I've been struggling with, the detail is a little hard to see, but I tried taking some close up pictures of the background.

I am hoping to get my lighting situation fixed soon, but until I can, I will continue to do the best I can.

I had myself in mind when I made this one, lol!

And this one, tee hee!!!

I've been submitting applications for several of the large craft shows in the area.  I've been accepted in the Junk in My Trunk and Junk in the Park shows in Newport, Washington (I'll post dates shortly).  I'm waiting to hear from the Custer shows at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, and (fingers crossed) Farm Chicks.  Sadly, for me, Farm Chicks is booked through next year, but I will be sending my application for 2016 soon.  I can't wait to start working on my booth display.  I'm hoping, with a couple sunny days, I'll be able to get it put together.  I also plan to use it for outdoor photo shoots, with I hope, I hope, I hope, will provide much better pictures!

I've got several more signs drying at the time of this post.  With any luck, I'll get them posted in the next day or so.

As always, comments and questions are welcome.

Ever had one of THOSE days?

 I have never been accused of being a graceful person, and for very good reason.  Today, I had hoped to finish the 4 signs I started a couple days ago, and I was making decent progress until, as usual, my natural clumsiness took over, and I spilled about a quart of paint from the gallon I was trying to move.  I hadn't put the lid on tight, and somehow I managed to catch the bottom of the can on my work surface and it tipped over.  Sky Blue paint splattered all over the floor, as well as onto my shoe, another can of paint and my vacuum cleaner!  I work in a somewhat confined area in my house, and on a good day, it can be a challenge.  Today, I had about 12 cans of paint all sitting on the floor around my work area, and I had been tripping on them all morning.  I had just finished telling my husband that I needed to put a little book case or something next to the area where I do all the painting, to hold all the cans of paint I keep dragging in the house.  I guess I'll be making something from some of the Pallets I have in the barn to hold the paint!  Anyway, because I had to stop EVERYTHING I was doing to get the paint mopped up, I decided that after cleaning up my mess, I was going to call it a day.  I managed to get 2 of the 4 signs completed.  

The first one is simple, and I really like it that way!  I love the Deer Silhouettes I made a couple weeks ago, but I'm noticing that same silhouette is showing up EVERYWHERE!  I decided to do something a little different, and went on the search for a nice Caribou Silhouette.  I'm really happy with how this turned out.  Very simple, very rustic.

The other sign I finished today is a sentiment near and dear to my heart.

I was working on the other "Life is better on the Farm" sign, done on pallet boards when I had my little mishap, So it will be a day or so before I can get it posted.  I'm also making another "Life doesn't have to be Perfect" sign, which will also be posted in a couple days.  

 I am  hoping to have several new signs to post in the next few days.   That is, provided I don't trip and break something, which is ALWAYS a possibility with me, lol!

As always, if you have any questions, or would like to discuss a custom order,  just click on the "contact me" button.

Thanks everyone! 

A New Batch of Signs

Once again, I apologize for the photographs.  I'm having trouble with the lighting in my workroom.  It's early February in North Idaho, so it's dark and dreary outside that there isn't any natural light to begin with.  But to be honest, even if it was gloriously sunny outside, there is only 1 tiny window in my workroom, so I wouldn't get much natural light anyway!  The existing lighting is HORRIBLE!!!! So, I've been experimenting with clip lights, which aren't working out so well.  I am going to keep trying to find a workable fix, but until then, I hope you all will forgive my less then inspiring photography!  Like the sign above says, Life doesn't have to be Perfect to be Beautiful, lol!

That all being said, I've just finished another small group of signs and I wanted to share them with you.

The Man Cave 

10.5" x 16"

 25.00

I am the mother of 3 wonderful sons, so of course, I had to make a Man Cave sign, lol!    I bet you can think of a man or 2 that would love his own Man Cave sign.

Whenever I get Sad  

13" x 16.5"

35.00

I love this saying!  I think I'm going to post it ALL OVER MY HOUSE!  

Smile and Wave  

13" x 16.5"

35.00

Who doesn't want to feel like a Princess?  The crown has been covered in a combination of chunky gold glass glitter and outlined in old gold glitter.  Here's my attempt at a close up of the glitter, lol!

Life Doesn't Have to be Perfect 

14.5" x 18"

 45.00

I love this sign!  The sentiment is a great reminder of finding joy in your life and not waiting for it to be perfect to enjoy it.

My last sign was spoken for before I could post it, but I wanted to share it anyway.  I'll be making more of these.  

Welcome Friends 15.00

Here's a close up of the background 

Well, that's it for today.  I've got several more signs in various stages of completion.  I hope to get some of them posted in a few days.

As always, if you are interested in any of the signs shown, or would like to request a custom order, just send me an email using the link at the top right side of this page.

Now Available for Sale!

I posted the "before" version of today's signs last week, but after a little creative time this morning, well, TA DA! 

I have to admit, I'm super happy with the lighted sign.  You can't see it in the picture (sadly), but the background has been dusted with super fine glitter, which gives a subtle sparkle to this sign.  Honestly, the picture just doesn't do it justice.  This sign measures approx. 11 x 18  and comes with  the 10 count string of battery operated lights (2 "C" batteries included).  

45.00

This sign is a little more subtle.  The background is a pretty olive green, and the deer silhouette is a mottled grey, outlined in gold metallic.  This sign has been sealed with a hand rubbed wax finish.  It is larger then the black and white sign, measuring approx.

15 X 23

40.00

Here is a close up of the outline:

This is another 11 x 18 sign :

The background on this sign is Olive and the silhouette is a light gray.  The sign has been distressed and sealed with a hand rubbed wax finish.  Finally, I wrapped some vintage fence wire around the top for a little added interest.

30.00

Here's a close up of the wire detail:

If you are interested in purchasing any of these signs, you can email me directly.  Use the link at the top right side of this page.  I will be posting them in my etsy store soon.

Deer Silhouettes

My First Pallet Signs!

I've been working for the last several days setting up an area in my mud room for painting and drying sign boards.  I have this wonderful bakery cooling rack that I purchased a few years ago at a yard sale that was missing all the baking sheets that would serve as shelves.  My sister suggested I cut some boards to size (from some laminated shelves I was storing in the tack room out in the barn), and use the rack to dry the sign bases.  She's the smart one in the family, LOL!!!  It never dawned on me to use this rack for that purpose!

Prior to this, I was only able to paint 2 or 3 boards at a time, and I had them set all around the house to dry.  Of course my cats thought this was the perfect place to sit, LOL!  Now, with this rack, I can paint 12 boards and have a safe place for them to dry, YAY!

Anyway, the other day, I pulled apart a pallet I had in the barn and cut the boards to varying lengths to make a few signs.  The wood  from this pallet was REALLY rough.  I tried sanding down the worst of the roughness, but, it wasn't much help.  I decided to go very rustic with whatever designs I decided to put on the boards.  Here's my first set of signs from the boards.

These 2 signs measure 11 x 18 and the larger signs (shown in first pic) 15 x 23.5 

I'm thinking about adding some rusty barb wire or some old fencing wire (no barbs).  Possible outlines on some of the silhouettes?  Anyway, I'll post more pics when they are complete.  I just wanted to keep y'all in the loop.  

Here's one more pic to give you an idea of the size differences:

If you are interested in purchasing any of the signs I post to this blog, or have a custom request, please email me at idahoelly@gmail.com

I have also opened a GoFundMe account to help with start up costs as well as to help with the overhead of the rescue operation.  If you are interested in donating, please go to:

GoFundMe - Tin Shed Designs