Unsettling News And A Couple Of Ta Dahs....

Hello, my dears - I've stolen Mr G's laptop to post as I find blogging on my iPad a bit "painful" - I can't figure out how to add links and it's all just a whole lot slower. My laptop was OK just for blogging until I dripped tea on the keyboard and now the "M" and "N" keys don't work *rollseyes*

We had a bit of unsettling news this week, Mr G has been working hard on a project for work which is now all coming to a head (he's normally so laidback he's horizontal but has been stressed and a bit snippy of late). 

Mr G was updating his boss on the phone and at the end of the conversation his boss said "BTW messaging will be operated out of Cairo or Paris only by the end of the year so your job will no longer exist. If you have other opportunities I advise you to explore them".

Mr G has worked for the company for ten years and is highly thought of, so the boss said he didn't want to lose him - he hopes a role can be found within the company. 

I asked Mr G if I should be worried, and he said no something would come up. Ironically, he was asked to apply for something else just after Christmas but it was then put on hold and Mr G hasn't chased it as he is happy in his job as it is.

At best it probably means the working from home every day will be a thing of the past which will be a shame as it suits us very well - I guess I knew it wouldn't last forever though....

Anyway, onto more cheery things - I had a go at making some vintage style signs:

I thought I had originally seen the method I used on Pinterest, but a quick search of my boards and I can't find it to link for you so I shall tell you what I did.

First of all, I got a two scrap bits of wood and gave them a couple of coats of my Annie Sloan paint. The "Keep Calm" had Provence under my own Duck Egg mix (I find AS's duck egg a bit too green so I add a touch of white & blue to it) and the "Coca-Cola" had Paris Grey under Emperors Silk.

Now for the text, I used the Keep Calm app for my iPad (69p from the App Store) which allows you to create the iconic poster using whatever words you like. I then emailed the completed "poster" to myself so I could pick it up on my laptop.

I opened the poster (which comes over as a .jpg photo) in Photoshop and zoomed in until it was the size I wanted. I then placed some regular paper up to the screen and traced it off (the laptop screen acts as a lightbox). 

The Coca-Cola text was done the same, having Googled for the logo.

Of course, you could use your printer, but some of the words were bigger than A4 and I have to wait for Mr G to muck about with ours as it makes you jump through hoops before it works - have you seen this about Why Printers Are Sent From Hell To Make Us Miserable? It's hilarious because it is sooooo true....

I then positioned the paper on top of the painted wood and using a ballpoint pen and with quite heavy force traced around the lettering - this kind of etched the text into the wood and I was then able to fill in using AS's Old White and a small artists brush.

After it dried I began with a light sanding and then went a bit heavier to get the scratchy look and some of the under-colour showing through:

They took all afternoon but I so loved doing them, I am on the lookout for more wood so I can do some more!! 

What would you put on a sign if you were to make one? I thought a "Hovis" one might be nice....

I also finished my little stool:

I had been hankering after a wooden stool to crochet a top for and was doing a search of eBay when I came across the perfect one - I peered at the picture thinking the kitchen looked rather familiar and realised it was my Mum selling the stool!! Needless to say she gave it to me for nothing!!

That's all I have to report today, so I will love you and leave you with warm Easter wishes....

hugs,

S x