I don’t think I’ve ever had an oyster, but the thought of one in my mouth just doesn’t do it for me.  I may not like oysters, but that didn’t stop me from thinking “fresh oysters” would look cool on a sign.  I loved this old piece of barn wood with the original red paint on it.  It’s probably over 100 years old and was a perfect “canvas” for one of my hand painted “antique” signs.  I know I’ve promised a tutorial on my process for making my signs and I will hold to that.  I am too busy with Lucketts and some other very exciting projects I have in the works.  Anyway, this sign is also coming with me to Lucketts and I hope it finds a good buyer who will give it a good home.  I also made another lamp shade out of upholstery webbing.  Here’s a sneak peak

I finished several more signs yesterday and I am really excited about the way this one turned out.    This sign was hand painted on a door that was cut in half.  The wonderfully crackled paint was already on the door.  I simply sanded it, scrubbed it, and then sealed with a polycrylic to prevent it from chipping further.     I think this might be my favorite sign yet, but I’m still going to sell this one and keep my Fresh Berries sign.  I will be writing a post in the next few weeks to walk you through how I design and paint my signs.  It’s an easy process and a great creative painting outlet for me.   I love the contrast of the worn and rustic against some sparkle and beauty.  So, I made some large magnetic letters, all in different fonts, that are coated in German glass glitter.  They will add the perfect amount of “bling”

I am truly on a creative high at the moment.  I am suddenly bombarded with inspiration for things that have been sitting around, neglected in my basement or office for months.  Today, I paired a yard sale feed sack with a thrift store lamp, paint, a “scratch-and-dent” shade from Target, and a scrap from a cheap white Wal-Mart sheet to make this lamp. It was a very organic process that just flowed as I worked and this is how it ended up. The lamp was shiny, dated brass, but it is heavy and has a pretty shape.  I painted it in Aria Ivory by Sherwin Williams from a tester pot I had hanging around.  I then glazed it with Asphaltum Antiquing glaze by Valspar. I love how it looks almost like stone or weathered wood. I sort of made up the shade slipcover as I went along, but I did take

I’m still cranking things out for Lucketts over here.  I just got my new tags made to start pricing everything (yay!) and I shopped today for some “fillers” (greenery, eggs, fruit, etc) to make my stuff look even prettier.  I’m seriously getting giddy at how everything is coming together in my head.  Man, I haven’t even shown you any of the furniture and larger pieces I’ve been working on, yet!  So much to blog about.  Anyway, here are a few other things I completed over the past couple of days.  Do you remember this oar? It was blonde and the finish was in pretty bad shape.  It had clearly been sitting in the great outdoors for a good while.  So, I sanded it, stained it in dark walnut by Minwax, hand painted some details on it, and then sealed it with Minwax wipe-on poly in satin.  Quite a transformation, huh?

…let this one go.  I’ve been working almost non-stop to get ready for the Lucketts Fair and today I had a rare thing…hours during the day to get uninterrupted work done.  My mom offered to pay for me to hire a babysitter, so I could get work done.  Thank the Lord for mothers, more specifically, my mother.  So, I took her up on the offer before she even finished her sentence.  Today, I had six hours of painting, sanding, staining and cleaning.  I’m tired, but it was awesome.  This “fresh berries” sign is one of the things I completed today.  It started out as a dry, dirty door.  I stained it, painted the lettering, distressed it, and then sealed it.    I had every intention of painting this to take to Lucketts with me, but…I don’t know if I have the strength.  I love it.  I mean really, really l-o-v-e it.  I