A Personalized Cheese Box--MASTER CRABBER

A man who saw my signs asked if I could personalize a cheese box for him.

He likes to go crabbing, so he wanted a crab to go on the lid.

I went over to the Graphics Fairy to find the perfect crab.

He wanted the sides to say 'Master Crabber'.

I used the Engravers Mt font.

The lid was empty with just Mr. Crab, so I remembered him saying that he liked to go crabbing on the Wye River.

I was very pleased with the way the crab turned out.

I stained the whole box with dark walnut stain.

I love how the stain collected in the crevices of the box. 

He was so excited with the way it turned out; as he was talking to me he was throwing money at me for a tip.       He came back in a half hour with 2 more orders, and he slipped me another $5.  He said that his wife loved it so much that she stole it for her sewing box. He told me she also said he didn't give me enough money :)
I think I appreciated the compliments way more than the $$$.  It always feels good when you make a customer happy!

I Made a Sign

We are so close to the end of our school year.  Eight more days to go.
Research papers are soon due.  My house looks like a library threw up--books everywhere!

I am itching to get to the many many projects I have lying around our house and our garage.
One small project was to make a sign for our bedroom.

I wanted a verse that would encourage me.

I came across this one:
"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him:...." Ps.37:7

I knew that this would be too long for the board I chose, but the first four words were perfect for me.

I have a huge problem with worry, so I thought this would be a good verse to see when I go to bed after making so many decisions during the day.  It would also be good to remind myself every morning when I start my day.

I used one of the boards from a pallet.
I painted it with my sample paint I had for my walls in our bedroom--a stone color.

I copied the verse in a font I liked--sorry, I can't remember which font.

The words were too big, but that was a good mistake.
I thought I could make the words "in the" smaller and with a different font.

To transfer the lettering I colored on the back of the letters with a charcoal pencil.

I positioned it on the board where I wanted it and then tacked it with some painter's blue tape.

I then traced around the letters like this.

See, I told you I was a visual person.

 This is what it looks like underneath the paper after you trace over the letters.

It transfers the charcoal onto the board.

Using my Sharpie Paint Marker I traced and colored painted in the letters.

I let it dry but not long enough and sanded over the lettering to make it look worn.

I wanted to mention that when I painted the stone color on, I did NOT go all the way to the edges.  I wanted to get that sanded -worn look without actually having to sand like crazy.

I stained it with dark walnut stain to age it.

It is perfect!

I want you all to know that I used a level when hanging my sign.

I hammered in the nails, hung up the sign, and it look crooked.
Apparently the guy who built the closet didn't level off things.
I had to mess with the nails so the sign didn't crooked with the ceiling nor the closet.

I also sewed some new Linen curtains.
I am loving the change in our bedroom.

Any new projects for you?

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