Thursday, March 21, 2013

I Was Chalking Before Chalking Was Cool

You know the song, "I was Country, when Country wasn't cool.", right? Well that's how it is with the chalkboard.  I was chalking before chalking was cool!  Years ago I fabricated a dozen or so various picture frames into darling chalkboards. I painted the frames white and shabbied them up.  I replaced the glass and cardboard with thin plywood, which I painted with black chalkboard paint. I've used them through the years for various events, such as retreats, etc.

Now there's "chalk art" and so much more!  Our three grandkids have always loved to draw on the boards, which I then can put up on the wall as art!  I have a whole set of them in one of the guests room walls. 


Ellie loves to draw with chalk, if it's sharp chalk!


One of the best Pinterest finds I've ever come across was this one, the "sharpen your chalk".  The minute I saw it I had that "ah hah" moment! 






Sharpened chalk makes it so much easier to write on the chalkboards, or do "chalk art".  (Google that and you will be in awe of some of the things the chalk artist create!)  The kids love to use the sharp chalk.

John Mark, who is our local pencil sharpener (I kid you not, he lives to sharpen pencils!) spent his recent visit here sharpening all the chalk! He had a huge pile of shavings, but the chalk was sharp!





You do remember we have three grand kids....here's the third little one:
 


Always loads of fun when they visit!

Sharpen away, mates!
           Blessings, Heidi

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Buzzing with Brides

My Etsy shop, Everyday Cookies Custom & Hand-painted Signs, has been buzzing with brides!  It's so fun when there's something *new* for the brides to use in their weddings.  I posted about it here.   The "ring bearer" is now the Sign Carrier!  He (or she) has a very important job now, to announce the bride!  The photo ops are fabulous now with the child carrying a sign.  Some of the brides are ordering the signs also for the little girls, their job went from "Flower Girl" to "Sign Girl".

All my signs are 100% hand made. I cut the wood, router the edges sand and sand some more.  Then I hand paint each and every sign to the specification of the order.

Here are just a few samples of the many I've been painting.  Most continue to ask for the signs painted in black on white, as it shows up best in photos. But I have painted some to match the bridesmaid dresses, etc.

Here comes the Bride!

Uncle Matt,
here comes
your Bride!

Uncle Jeremy,
here comes
your girl!
(I'll paint the lettering/words in any color, but black does show up best.)

Uncle Snay,
here comes
your girl!

Cousin Darrin,
here comes
your Bride!

Uncle Tony,
here comes
your girl!

Hey Roger,
here comes
your girl!
(Love that pop of PINK!)

Uncle Tomas,
Here comes
Your Bride.
(I paint exactly what you want, capital letter, punctuation, etc.
Please tell me exactly what you want when you order.)
 
You can use any words (bride, girl, etc.), any color, any punctuation. 
 I custom paint by order and it takes about two weeks.
 
 
 
And here's a cross we found on the beach Saturday:

(driftwood cross on the Oregon coast)
 
I love Palm Sunday, Passion Week, Good Friday and I'm all about Resurrection Sunday! It's the basis of my faith:  My Savior rose from the grave!  "He Lives"  (in my heart!).  I've put together a special Passion Week Bible study that I can email as an attachment if you ask. It's a daily study following Jesus the last week before He died on the cross.  (just ask!)
Blessings, Heidi