Custom Family Rules Subway Art

I have just been on a subway art spree lately. Got another custom order for one. This time the request was for a family rules sign. Got right to work designing. 

I used my Silhouette SD to cut out the vinyl and bought the 12 x 24" plywood board at Joann. There really isn't a different technique to explain on this one. It is the same concept as the others I have done. 

To make one, you just paint the background and then tape off the sides with painters tape after it dries. Then, paint the thin line border by applying a second row of painters tape. Next, remove the tape and paint the outer edges. Lastly, you apply the vinyl words using your transfer tape and hope that they end up straight. That part is the nail biter... 

There IS one thing that is necessary when you do one of these projects... Patience. Go slow and take your time. That is all. Not hard, just a tad tricky is all. 

I will say though, the satisfaction that you get when you are all finished is definitely worth the effort. 

Give it a shot! Much better than spending a fortune on one from Etsy!! 

Shabby Topiary and Table Decor

The topiary on the table with the other decor.

I was asked by a friend of mine to help decorate a table for a church women's gathering. I was super excited since I love to do things like that but was afraid to do it by myself. We had so much fun planning! My friend came up with the theme "burlap and lace" and told me to "run with it!" Yay!! My favorite thing to do ever!! I love to be shown or told what to use as inspiration but then given the trust to come up with my own interpretation. So... here is the inspiration I used. Found on Pinterest, of course. Super easy project and I am loving the results!

Go Chargers! Custom Mantel Decor

I was commissioned to do some projects for my friend again. Crafty Jen to the rescue! Haha. This time it was a football theme. Her family is particular to the San Diego Chargers so she requested they be blues and golds/yellow. I got to work. I made a wreath, a "C" decoration, a customized football word/personalized subway sign, and a yarn poofball banner. Each project deserves its own blog page but I have been so busy lately, I will just show you her finished mantel and leave it at that. I am already in the planning stages of her fall mantel. Coming up next...

MOPS Leadership Nametags

With the beginning of each school year, a new year for MOPS and MomsNext begins. For those of you not familiar with these organizations, they are groups for moms of all ages- MOPS for those who are pregnant through preschool age and MomsNext is for moms of school age kids. They are great if you are in desperate need of friends or support or just an outlet for relaxation. I have benefitted so much from joining the group and am on the leadership team. I do creative activities with a couple other ladies. We are having so much fun planning for the new year! The next theme is "A Beautiful Mess" and the Bible verse that accompanies it is Ephesians 4:10- "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." I am so excited!! 
Anyway, we recently had our leadership planning retreat and it was decided that we needed to stand out a little, in the sea of moms. We wanted them to know that we were available if they had a question or if we could help them in any way. Thing is, we only had generic looking plastic covered boring nametags. Those wouldn't do for me. Nope. So... I volunteered to come up with a design and to create a tag for each member of the steering committee. 23 in total. This project was so fun! I just went to Hobby Lobby, invaded their ribbon section and started my collage. I ended up using my Silhouette to cut the vinyl names and my labeler to create the position titles. I had blank bottle caps and found the jewels that I put in the center in the scrapbook section. I bought the paper, feathers, and burlap flowers there too. The chevron washi tape was something that I got online somewhere. I honestly couldn't tell you where. Maybe Pick Your Plum?? Not sure. But that stuff is everywhere these days. I cut out the oval shapes with my Big Shot machine. Then I glued all the pieces together with my hot glue gun and decoupaged the whole surface with Mod Podge. Simple as that! Not a hard craft, but definitely time consuming. It took me "some" hours to finish them all. But I think they are totally worth it. I am sure we will be easy to identify with our beautifully messy tags.

Custom Pallet Sign

I have a friend who likes to say that she isn't very crafty. But I say she has potential. She says she doesn't really have much interest in trying. But what she does have an interest in, is being generous, and supportive, and awesome. (lucky me!!) So lately, she has no problem asking me to make all kinds of stuff for her. (And I couldn't be happier!)
Thankfully Pinterest provides ample inspiration for her requests. She told me a little story behind her particular request, showed me a couple of pictures and gave me the green light to come up with something for the fence by their pool. I went in search of some pallets that would fit the bill and it took me a little while. It seemed that all the ones I was finding were spray painted on the sides or completely demolished. I just kept looking. Finally I found one near the dumpster of our local beauty school. Hopefully they didn't need it... In retrospect, I probably should have asked them before I loaded it into my car... but trash is trash, right? Let's hope so. I am sure they would appreciate the "art" that it became and they would be glad to let me have it. Right? Yeah. (Can you tell I have a guilty conscience??) Nonetheless, I made this sign with my "found" pallet.

First, I had to rip it apart. Thought it would have been easy. NOT! I mean, it was just wood and I am used to working with that particular medium. But...I was out in my driveway hacking away at this thing for what seemed like an eternity. I am pretty sure that when they put these things together, they use some impenetrable adhesive or something. Eventually I got the pieces that I needed loose from the main structure. Then I added a couple of rails to the back to keep the boards in place.


To do the design, I taped off the edges and painted the main space in an off white chalk paint. I used a sponge brush to freehand paint a wave-like row at the bottom and a bold blocky sunshine in the top right corner. Then I used my cricut to cut out cardstock and pieced the negative space together to creat a stencil. I stenciled the letters with a pencil and removed the paper. I hand painted the words and then let them dry. Next, I distressed the whole surface and edges with sandpaper. Finally I made an antiquing medium out of brown paint and water and lightly coated the project.

I really should have sprayed it with some kind of varnish or something. Of course, this was decided after I had already delivered it to its' new owner. Shucks. She said she would take care of it though, so I am hoping that it is actually ok. Now that I think about it, I should probably check in with her about that... Ok... will do. :)