the writing is on the wall.....

A few weeks ago I showed you how I made this:

Remember?

I had a custom stencil made at Wallwords.

Well the good people at Wallwords caught wind of how much I LOVE their products, so they sent me a $50 gift certificate to give away!!!!

FIFTY BUCKS!

They have wa-a-a-ay more than stencils.

Do you have any idea how cool their stuff is???

You can either buy one of their popular quotes, or have them make you a custom one.

They have loads of fonts and colors to choose from - the sky's the limit!

They can even curve it to fit an arch.

 And don't get me started on the graphics...

...the monograms.

...faux windows!

  

For your inner rocker....

...or cowgirl. 

You can apply them anywhere - they're vinyl!



I could go on and on about how much I love Wallwords.

How inspiring they are.

How personalized they are.

How easy they are to apply.

But I think you would rather hear about this giveaway.

Here's what you do:

Simply dream up your own clever idea for a quote, and leave it as a comment here. I will pass it on to the team at Wallwords and have them pick the most original and/or inspiring quote.

You have ONE WEEK to enter.

As a bonus, I am going to pick a random winner who will win a vinyl decal, 8.5" x 4" that says:

Let Heaven and

Nature Sing...

in gold!

So put your thinking caps on and go to Wallwords to get inspired.

Come back next Thursday, December 16 to find out if you won!

And don't forget to join me on Monday for the next

Have fun!

xoxo

Join me in a cup of tea?

Think we'll both fit?

Old joke. Sorry.

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.  ~C.S. Lewis

Hmmm. I may not agree with Mr. Lewis.

I have been up to my ears in strong, black tea.

I am creating vintage looking signage for our booth. I want it to be crystal clear and visable from a great distance. 

And I definitely want it to match the cool vintage vibe Dennis has already created.

No better way than to use tea to get a really authentic look.

I had a custom stencil made by Wallwords and have been dying to use it.

Here's what I did:

I bought a 6' x 9' painter's drop cloth canvas from Home Depot, folded it in half length-wise and sewed along the bottom edge. It is now 3' x 9'.

Perfect.

On to the vat 'o tea....

 Kind of looks gross in the picture, but that's a huge tea bag I made out of loose black tea and cheesecloth. (I also threw in any extra tea bags I had in my cupboard - I wanted this strong!)

I placed the tea bags, hot, (HOT) water, and the canvas into a 5 gallon bucket.

 Out to dry after a good long, two day soak.



this stuff' will grow hair on yer palms...

 I made some even STRONGER tea to spray here and there as it was drying.

After it was completely dry I laid it out on the floor.

I took my stencil from Wallwords and centered it on the canvas and taped it down.

 Then peeled back the paper backing revealing adhesive - no slipping and sliding here.

 Peeled off the front paper to expose the voids where paint will go.

Just to make sure there would be no leakage, I sponged on a layer of gesso to seal it.

Now the fun part!

first the brown...

...then a dark, dark metalic bronze around the edges to create age and depth.

Once I was satisfied with the painting, I tore off the vinyl stencil.....

 How cool is that?!

I finished sewing on the ties and ironed the entire canvas to "heat set" the paint.

Here it is at the top of my attic stairs.

But....
...next Thursday we set up shop at the Custer Christmas Arts and Crafts show in Spokane, Wa. and I can't wait to see how it looks in place, lit up, and all decked out!

Please keep checking back with me - I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

This is going to be a great show....

xoxo