24.3.11

my chippy road sign & transformation thursday...

oooohhhh i am so excited to show you this...
remember the gorgeous old chippy piece of timber we found whilst walking along our estuary the other morning...



well it got a soapy scrub down & was left in the sun {!!} for two whole days...
this was almost enough for me...
sunshine
&
an old lovely piece of timber catching the rays at my front door...
but...i've been eyeing off gorgeous signage all over the bloggy place lately
&
i really wanted to make a street name sign of our lovely road here in the english countryside...
something that i would eventually take home & hang in our hall in australia...
something to always remind us of how much we love our village life here...the little town we live in...
this street will forever be part of our families history...


so when i could absolutely wait no longer...dry or not...i *hand set* out the name...
i really was going to follow a whole host of fancier instructions that i had printed out from other gorgeous blogs...
you know...choose your typeset...print it backwards...spray it...turn it over...rub it on...trace it over....
but to be honest that all overwhelmed me a lot little...& i just wanted to do it....
so i roughly set it out in pencil, by hand, in the same typeset i use when sewing letters on cushions...
i painted it roughly, by hand, in white household paint with some of the kids acrylic black mixed in to get a very dark grey colour...
gave it an hour or two to dry & simply took to it with a small sander....


i figured i'd just *sand out* the slightly imperfect parts of my hand painting...
i love sanding with a passion...
i actually find it quite hard to know when to stop...
but as this gorgeous piece of timber was already so weathered it kinda dictated how little sanding i really needed to do to get this effect...


i am sooo in love with this sign...
i love that it reminds me of the walk the hubster & i had on a *school day* together along the village...
i love that he was sooo happy for me to drag it home...
i love that it got cleaned up over a glass of wine in the sun...
i love that it will forever remind us of our home here in the english countryside....


















what d'ya think?
for me...it's a keeper
i now need to hang it
&
there's some sunshine awaiting me & my still poorly big gal in the front garden
catch up with you all tomorrow



xox
~~~

i'm hooking up with all the creativeness that is gina 
*the shabby chic cottage*
for
transformation thursday
go have a squiz & feel inspired!

~~~


19 comments:

  1. That sign just made me swoon! I have a little project involving painting on some wood on the go... and I wasn't sure which approach to take.... I think I know what I'm going to do now...because I love the effect you have created! The sanded back lettering will be perfect! How lucky you were to find that gorgeous piece of wood! Enjoy that patch of sun! X

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  2. Fantastic find...I'm jealous. It will be a lovely reminder when you get back to Australia of life in an English village! Enjoy the sunshine...I am. (I now understand why the Brits go nuts when the sun comes out...you know...parade around in t-shirts in 12 degrees). Robx

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  3. This looks absolutely amazing! well done on the job you did, I would love something like this sign in my garden :)

    Bee happy x
    Have a delicious day!

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  4. My word! How you can find inspiration in the humblest of items, I'll never know. That is just ace. I'm not fond of sanding at all. But you've almost converted me.

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  5. Gorgeous...gorgeous...gorgeous!!!!!!!!

    xxx

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  6. Love the sign. It looks like it has always been this way.
    The Hyancinth is gorgeous too.
    Have a great day!

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  7. You did a great job on the lettering! It looks fantastic!
    Debbi @ the beach

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  8. It's perfect! Well done :)

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  9. Oh i'm even more envious now .. ;) it looks great!
    and what a lovely reminder for you in years to come x

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  10. You chippy sign is lovely and will certainly be a wonderful reminder for always. You are just so creative; lucky you! I love memorabilia like that - it's all about shared history. Lou x

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  11. I can not even tell you how much I love that sign. It's gorgeous!! What a fabulous idea to put the name of your street on it for when you will move. Brilliant!!!!!!

    Now I shall be on the hunt of large pieces of aged timber. You have inspired me!!!!

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  12. Brilliant! Everyone on your lane is going to want one too!
    xo Cathy

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  13. Your sign is lovely. How wonderful that it makes you smile and has so many happy memories associated with it. Your enthusiasm is contagious! Thank you for sharing this.

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  14. Clever you! This is fabulous.

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  15. Ah, Miss Melissa! Waiting for the big reveal was well worth it. What a treasure you've created, you crafty girl. You should start up an Etsy shop selling such loveliness. J x

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  16. That is a keeper for sure! I am with you...dont do the whole complicated print out, backwards who ha. Just go and do it and I think it turned out perfect. What a gorgeous piece of wood and such a sweet memory of your time in Village mode.
    Well done! =0)
    Ness xx

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  17. The sign turned out great. When I do my signs, I just print out what I want and trace the letters over black copy paper and paint by hand, I found it goes faster than stencils.

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