Train Sign…that got off track.

I saw this awesome antique sign on Etsy.  Not only was the price tag $585 and way out of my price range, but I knew it would be an easy design to recreate myself…or so I thought.

I didn’t take a lot of photos during the process, but I created the grid first, then the lettering.  I planned to layer the letters over the grid before painting it, because it have made a mess of the vinyl to do it all as one piece.  The problem is, when I put both pieces on my wood, I totally wasn’t thinking and forgot to place the words INSIDE the grid, like the original sign had them.  Here it is after I had already painted everything and was removing the vinyl.

So, I cut another vinyl stencil,  just of the grid, and tried adding more lines around the words, but for some unknown reason, the lines didn’t match up on the right side of the sign.  I still have no idea why.   It seemed like the more I tried to fix it, the more off-track it got.  I wasn’t in the mood to sand everything off the wood and start all over again.  I was inspired to make the sign, but I was not in the least bit inspired to start all over again.  My inspiration has limits.

I also realized that I didn’t have the image perfectly centered on the board, so there was a little more space on the left side than the right side.  Yes, I did measure first, but apparently my measurement abilities stink.  Again…I should have just sanded it all off and started again, but I decided to add a little chalk holder on the wider side, and hope it looked like I planned that width specifically for that purpose.  I didn’t want to work on the railroad “all the livelong day“.

There was also more of an empty space at the top of the wood than I had planned (or not planned, apparently), so I cut another vinyl stencil with the name of a little train station in Missouri that I’ve been to many times when my mom rides the train to visit us.

I guess you could say this project didn’t just get off track – it totally derailed, but that’s okay.  Sometimes you just need to move on to the next project.  Even though it isn’t perfect, I still like it, so if it doesn’t sell, I won’t mind keeping it.

Blessings,

Angie