I had another one of those 1:30 in the morning moments last weekend, when I just had to make something before I could sleep. Actually, I had already gone to bed and been asleep for awhile, but my mind was still on “high alert” because I was waiting for my daughter to get home from the drive-in movie, so some little sound woke me up, thinking it was her. I decided to just stay up and work on something until {Read More}
Farmers Market Sign – Repurposed Headboard
May 22, 2013 by 3 Comments
Last year I picked up several beautiful antique head and foot boards at the auction. The were filthy and I was the only bidder, so I got them for just a few dollars. I’ve been cleaning and clearing out some space to in my workshop, so I was finally able to pull out this headboard and work on it. I cut the posts off of the sides, then painted it bright white, then put a coat of homemade mustard yellow {Read More}
Using the Positive Space of a Stencil – Colonial Pharmacy Sign
May 2, 2013 by 16 Comments
I used a little different technique this week to create another sign, that I thought would be helpful to other people who are new to using a Silhouette machine. You may recall this Colonial Pharmacy coat rack/sign I created a few months ago. It was made using Contact paper cut as a stencil with my Silhouette (the negative space). What was left on the paper backing is the positive space, that you need to use transfer tape to be able {Read More}
A Little Dream
April 12, 2013 by 9 Comments
For the last few months, I’ve been showing you lots and lots of stenciled windows and wood projects, and it suddenly occured to me – could I create stencils to sell? I love creating something new out of something old and I love doing that with typography and antique graphics, so wouldn’t it be fun to develop my own line of stencils that others can use? This little dream has lots of challenges though, the biggest of which is getting {Read More}
LIFE IS SWEET – Bakery Sign and Coat Rack
April 5, 2013 by 15 Comments
Last year, I brought home an antique farmhouse table from an auction. I had hoped to use it for our kitchen table, but it was too small for 6 chairs to fit around. This is the 4th antique table I’ve brought home from auctions…I’m a little addicted to them. Since I don’t have a booth space and tables are too heavy to reasonably ship, I decided to take it apart. I sold the legs and one side of the drop-leaf {Read More}
Colonial Pharmacy Sign
March 21, 2013 by 22 Comments
I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, that I’m a little ga-ga over antique advertisements and signs. I really love taking an image from the past, and putting it onto something that can be used in today’s home. When possible, I love using the exact image, as I did in this sign, rather than just using a font to copy the wording. I used this antique pharmacy label that I shared with you for Antique Graphics Wednesday HERE, to {Read More}
Antique Alphabet School Book Page Sign
March 16, 2013 by 30 Comments
I warned you a few days ago that I’m a slow learner, and all the troubles I had with my bakery sign didn’t teach me my lesson not to choose elaborate fonts to cut out on vinyl with my Silhouette machine. I truly expected this project to be a failure and probably be a total waste of time, but I felt compelled to try it anyway. Here’s why. I bought an adorable 1895 school primer. It is filled with some {Read More}
A Few Simple Signs on Salvaged Wood
March 15, 2013 by 9 Comments
One of my favorite finds at auctions is wood salvage. I love broken wood and wood missing some of its parts, and since not many other people are looking for that type of thing, I can usually get my wood fix cured very inexpensively. I recently brought home a broken antique shipping crate. The bottom was trashed, but the sides were fine, so I whipped up a quick little “Fresh Eggs” sign. I love the little metal rivets holding the {Read More}
A Sign of Trouble {a.k.a – Bakery Sign}
March 14, 2013 by 23 Comments
I started working on turning another window into a sign last week (I know – big surprise). I’ll show you the finished product first, then tell you all the troubles I had (because I like to hear good news before bad). I sorted through a bunch of my antique business advertisements and decided I’d like to create one based on this advertisement from a 1920’s college yearbook. I wanted a font with a little something “more” to it and I {Read More}
{Seeing} Signs
March 4, 2013 by 18 Comments
I love my collection of antique eyeglasses and have several advertisements from early 1900’s optometrists, so my newest sign on an antique window is inspired by both of them. I love the image of the old spectacles in this advertisement, so I used it on the lower portion of the window. I liked the name of this company, but it would have taken me forever to modify the text enough for the Silhouette to be able to “read” the edges, {Read More}
