Never Get So Busy Making a Living..stencil giveaway
Life seems to just whoosh by doesn’t it? When I saw this saying on Pinterest, it really made me think of how true it really does, like where has February already gone?
This weekend my daughter and her friends came over to have me teach them how to make a sign. I thought that using this saying would be perfect first sign for them to make. We easily forget sometimes in our daily grind to stop and take time to make a life, so having a little sign to remind us of this can’t hurt right?
I already had the wood leftover from another project, and the patina on it was so pretty that we left it as is.
It was a simple sign to make. I just pulled out my Silhouette machine to make the stencil on white contact paper. The boards we used where 5 1/2″ wide by 14″ long. I used the font Calisto MT and changed the size to 91.4
Here is a screen shot
And I made a short tutorial on how we made the sign
Pull off your stencil and your done! You could seal it with a sealer if you want, but it isn’t necessary. This is the one my daughter Shannon did in mustard. I distressed my letters a bit, but again that is optional. Shannon didn’t distress hers and it looks just as good.
A Stenciled Pillow
Before I get to the pillow I have to share this picture with you! I pulled into a parking space at HomeGoods today (my second home my husband says) and from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw someone sitting in the driver’s seat in the Mercedes parked in front of me. Then I looked closer, and I started busting out laughing.
It wasn’t a person sitting in the car, it was a big ole dog! I guess he was ready to leave..
Ok, back to the post. Recently my daughter picked up two of these pillow covers at Ikea for $6 each. 
She wasn’t so hot on the bland brown color of them, but I told her for $6 you can’t go wrong, and they had a zipper closure to boot. Sure enough, she got them home and hated them. Feeling bad that I convinced her to get them and now she hated them, I decided to take the pillows home to my studio and see what I could do to pretty them up. I was debating on adding continuous ruffles to the front, or a large fabric flower in the middle, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. Since the rage right now is letters and numbers, which I am loving by the way, I decided to go that route. I already had the number stencils on hand which happen to be next to my damask stencil (imagine that!) so I used both.
You have my heart
I saw this picture on The Painted Hive and feel in love with the sign above the bed. I searched the Internet, and found a site that makes it, and it was $300! Ouch. So off to Home Depot I went to get the supplies to make my own, taking full advantage of their free wood cutting service. I laid out all my pieces and realized I had an extra piece of wood left over. Hmmm…maybe I should do a tester board before I jump into this big project. Plus I needed an excuse to try out my new Circut Expression
Now I am not one to shy away from something I completely have no idea how to do. Which would be this sign. I just went by the seat of my pants, and went for it. I first printed out the saying in a 2″ real size on my new machine {which I am totally loving!} on white scrapbook paper. Painted my board with the “oops” $1 paint I picked up on my Home Depot trip. Then I laid the letters on my board to position them.
