Subway Art and my 14 year old son

 I paint a lot of wooden signs and wooden plaques to sell at Christmas parties but have wanted to have a go at making a Subway Art sign for a while.

I don't have a huge amount of spare time to play around with my Silhouette Cameo but when we got back from Seth's birthday party yesterday (see bottom of post) I thought I'd have a go.  

This one was to be a gift for a work colleague who loves New York.

I bought a pre-cut 2ft x 1ft piece of plywood from Hobbycraft.

Painted it white twice, sanding between coats.

I then used the blackboard vinyl I had bought, chose all the same font and a few well known place names and streets and then cut it using my Cameo.

The next part was really fiddly.  The piece of vinyl I used I had cut to the exact length of the board so I could use that to line up the words.  I used masking tape to give me straight lines so that I could apply the letters.  I did have to take some off and reapply a few times if I wasn't happy with the spacing - this was a bit of a pain and made my back ache as I was hunched over for a while.  Funny how I can ignore pain when I'm doing something I like but I'm pretty sure that same back pain would have stopped me loading the dishwasher!

I then painted over the whole thing with black paint and once that was dry I removed the vinyl letters to show the white paint underneath.  I'm sure it would have worked using the rectangle of vinyl as a stencil too but I wanted the letters to be really white and it would have been hard to paint over the black paint.

I gave it to my colleague today and she really loved it.

I think it turned out OK and besides being fiddly it was pretty easy to do.

Now that I've done this one I plan on making one for us for Christmas in pale blue with white lettering but one word in red.  I may do that soon as I think I have the bug!!

~

Tomorrow my baby boy is 14 and yesterday he had a 'zorbing' party.  If you don't know what that it I had my son strapped inside a large ball and rolled down a hill!  

My husband had a go too!  He's a lot braver than I am!

Seth and his friends loved it.  They all had a couple of turns each and I took videos of each ride and all you can hear is them screaming and whooping.  This video is of Seth and his best friend, Jacob.  The little girls running around are Lily and her friend, Anna (Jacob's sister).  They kept trying to convince me it was perfectly OK for me to lie and say they were 12 so they could have a go!  I didn't!

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I've posted most of the blackboard labels but if you left the anonymous comment on my last post contact me so I can get your address and send you a set!

xoxox

Chalkboard labels and a little giveaway

Whilst browing at my local DIY superstore this weekend {I know I'm weird but I do actually like to browse in these shops} I came across blackboard vinyl by Fablon.

I picked up a roll knowing I'd find plenty of uses for it.

I recently bought a Silhouette Cameo which I am still getting to grips with.

I bought some of their images and turned one into a shape I like to cut for my Etsy cards - I have labels made by another Etsy seller and stick them on the cards.  

I cut an A4 size piece of the fablon and cut out shapes with the Silhouette.  

Simply peel the backing off and you have really cute chalkboard labels.  The chalk wipes clean off and you can use them over and over again.  I love this stuff and know I'm going to find a load of uses for it.  I like the idea of making a wall calendar something like this one for the craft room.  

                                           Source: splendid-design.blogspot.com via Toni on Pinterest

                      I like the idea of cutting out the numbers to reveal the wall colour underneath.

       And now for the giveaway

              {just a little one}

When I get back from New York on Sunday I'll pick 6 people to give a set of 6 chalkboard labels away to.

Leave a comment and/or follow me and your name will be drawn at random when I get back.

Not much of a giveaway I know, but a freebie is a freebie and these are super cute after all!!


xoxox

The eagle has landed

In this post, the eagle being my son, Seth.

I kept it together waving him off yesterday.

I think I shocked lot of people!

My baby boy looking very excited.  

Despite my anxiety I thinks it's an amazing trip for him and his friends.  They're going to have such a great time and will always remember this trip.

When I was in school my ski trip was to Italy!  Not quite as cool a trip as skiing in Lake Placid followed by shopping in New Jersey and New York and then watching the Knicks at Madison Square Garden!  My husband is more than a little jealous!

Here he is with his best friend on the left and 4 other friends he has had since he was 3.  They've all gone through school together and are all really comfortable with each other.  There are a few other close friends going too plus kids from the year above them.  

After a two hour delay their flight eventually took off and that's when I started to cry!

I watched the progress of their flight online and then cried again when I could see he'd landed.

They had a bit of a wait for their bus and then the journey to Lake Placid took around 6 hours so the poor things were on the road (and in the air) for 24 hours.  

I know he's going to come back with 6 clean underwear and one fit for the bin!

He's already phoned to ask where his glove liners are!

I know he's going to lose at least 2 things!

I know the scenery photos I've asked him to take won't be done!

I know he's going to have the time of his life with great friends and is going to make some amazing memories.

But mostly I know I'm going to miss him like mad!


And the award for the most pathetic, clingy mother in the world award goes to me!!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

xoxox

A girly trip to NYC

On Saturday my baby boy, Seth, is flying to New York for a skiing trip in Lake Placid with his school.  He has 5 days on the slopes followed by 2 days in New York City.

On Wednesday his stalker mother is following him.  

As anyone who knows me will confirm (whilst rolling their eyes in irritation) I'm a clingy mother and from the minute I agreed to was forced by everone else to let him go have been anxious.  8 days in a different country to me is more than I can take so Lily and I are going to overlap with him in the city for 4 days.  

I've been before so this trip is going to be Central Park Zoo, American Museum of Natural History, FAO Schwartz, Build a Bear....and anything else my little girl wants to do.  Of course, Mummy has written down the addresses of all 3 Pottery Barn stores and all 5 Anthropolgie stores (one of which is opening while we are there) just in case Lily feels the need to pop into one of them!

We'll go up the Empire State Building and over to Liberty Island plus some friends have recommended the Sky Walk but if anyone has any tips or suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.

We managed to get a really good deal at the Waldorf Astoria and it's long been a dream of mine to stay there so we're really excited now.

Seth has a really busy itinerary so I don't plan on seeing him (unless he runs out of money) but I feel more relaxed knowing I won't be far from him.  Our plane gets back to London two hours before his on Sunday so we'll rush down the motorway in time to meet him off the school bus.  

I expect then we'll all be doing a lot of sleeping.

xoxox

Introducing a little grey to Lily's room

This is just a sneak peek at some of the grey things I've bought for Lily's room.

Lily's room hasn't been touched since she was a baby and she's 10 next week!

At the beginning of March she is going away for a week with her school.

I plan on redecorating her room when she's away (partly to keep me occupied so I don't miss her too much as it's her first trip away with school).  

  She doesn't know this yet so I'm planning on surprising her when she gets home.  

We're keeping the basic colour scheme (raspberry and off white) but going to be adding grey as the main colour.

A charcoal grey rose pillow from Angella Eisman Designs.

A grey crochet pillow I picked up from Zara Home when I visited my brother in Majorca in December.

Two little banners I've made for her - one is burlap with glittered paint and the other is white linen.  

Both have raw edges and the pennants are tiny. 

A cute grey photo frame I bought on holiday in France two years ago.  I loved it and didn't know where to use it but it'll be perfect for her room.  It came from one of my favourite shops there - Maisons du Monde  which is a chain and found all over France and other parts of Europe.  I always buy loads there whenever I go to France.  I also picked up a big white mirror there a couple of years ago which is currently in my craft room but which will be used in Lily's room soon.

...and lastly, a small white ceramic pot I bought in Bordeaux last year.

I thought it would be lovely for her to keep earrings in one day but right now is empty as I have the only (almost) 10 year old in the history of the world who {emphatically} does NOT want her ears pierced.  

I can't wait to redecorate - I just hope it looks as nice as it does in my head!

xoxox