signs

I spent yesterday morning photographing some finished samples (posters, printables and wrapped canvases) made with the SignsByAndrea Family Rules Art Builder. 

It's pretty cool to see the finished product of design-it-yourself artwork!

Have you tried it yet?

While Ben was out of town for a few days and the kids were both sick and watching movies, I started itching to do a small project.  I settled on this scrap wood framed print of our personalized "Places We've Lived" subway art.  (It's easy to make your own! Just use the Subway style and add your "locations" with my Custom Family Rules Builder).

It was pretty easy to do, and only took about 10 minutes - truly.

I had already ordered the 8" x 10" poster print through my Zazzle store a while back (though you can also get an instant personalized downloadable version for only $9, and print it at home on cardstock or photo paper).  It features all the important places in our lives together -- which started almost 18 years ago!

I had recenly collected a bunch of 4" scrap wood that had some really cool color and grain, so I rough-cut a few boards down to size - three 18" boards for the back, and two 12" boards for the front. They aren't perfect, but that's kind of the point. :)

I used some brass screws that we had at our workbench in the garage  to attach the front two vertical boards to the three back horizontal boards, and then used more brass screws and washers to wedge a page protector (trimmed down to 8" x 10") onto the front of the board. An 8" x 10" piece of plastic would work well too, but I didn't have any on-hand, and the page protector covers both the front and the back of the print, which seemed like a good idea.

Since the wood was pretty soft, I didn't have to pre-drill, but if it had been harder wood, I'd recommend pre-drilling.

That's it. Then I just propped it up in the corner of our bookshelf and admired it.  (Then I probably had to go clean up some vomit...the kids were sick, remember?)

I've been looking to find something substantial in size to put at the top corner of my living room bookshelves that wasn't a vase or a photograph (I have plenty of those!). So, this "Places We've Lived" print and some natural wood seemed like a good choice, since I've started using a golden yellow as one of the accent colors in our livingroom, that I've been slowly working on redecorating.

Now if I could just find a coffee table that we both like...

I am offering my biggest and best SignsByAndrea sale of the entire year.  Seriously. This sale is SO BIG, it only happens once a year! And it's almost over!

All of my standard personalized signs are BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!* through Cyber Monday (11/26/12). There is no limit on how many you can purchase, so go ahead and pick out personalized hand-crafted signs for all the people on your shopping list!  Just add each personalized sign to your cart, and the discounts will be automatically applied -- no coupon code needed!

*For each painted wood sign you purchase, you will receive one equal or lesser-valued sign for free.  Custom wood signs are not included in this sale and will be quoted and priced separately. Gift Certificates, (de)Signs posters and canvases and digital downloads are also excluded from this sale.

Windows open.

Music loud.

Kids in school.

Signs to paint.

Must be Wednesday.

Don't mind my super-jank office chair.  I so need to replace it...soon.

Today (December 16th) is the last day to take advantage of my "Buy More, Save More" sale on my painted wood signs at SignsByAndrea.com. 

- 10% off one sign, 20% off two signs, and 30% off three or more signs!

It's also the last couple of days to order a sign and have it shipped in time for Christmas!  

So don't wait any longer!  Order now!

At midnight tonight, all my signs are going back to full price and I will be shipping out the last of the holiday season orders by  Tuesday, December 20th.  Then I'm taking a painting break until after Christmas to be with my family.

It's been a great (and busy!) season.  Thank you so much to everyone who has ordered already! I hope you've been pleased with your hand-crafted signs.  You've helped make 2011 a successful year for me and my family!

Happy Holidays to you all!

Wow! I've got all kinds of news!  A new website, changes on A.Steed's.Life., and a BIG, HUGE, ONCE-A-YEAR SALE.

Over the past several weeks, my own personal webmaster (aka Ben) has been hard at work helping me put together a brand new web site for Signs by Andrea.  My sign business and Zazzle poster sales have grown so much over the past year, it was time to give them both the attention they deserve.  To do this, I'm separating my blog into two separate websites: 

• AndreaSteed.com will remain my personal journal and crafty blog.
• SignsByAndrea.com will now be dedicated to news and information about my signs and (de)Signs, as well as a great source of inspiration for all sorts of home decorating tips and ideas.

I think you'll find the new website is easy to navigate and offers a much more pleasant shopping experience.  Now you can personalize and add any of my signs to your shopping cart instantly, pay online, and track the status of your orders.  It's fabulous.  I'm beyond excited. :) 

And this new website couldn't have come at a better time (nothing like a deadline to get us going)....  Beginning today, I'm offering my HUGEST sign sale of the year.  It's time to start getting your shopping underway and get ahead of the holiday rush.  This is the one sale you want don't want to miss.  It doesn't get any better than this:

.

So come on over now and check out the newly launched SignsByAndrea.com and tell me what you think!

Looking for a fabulous new addition to your fall decor?  How about a custom Sign by Andrea?  For a limited time only, these seasonal custom-designed hand-painted signs are only $20!*  

Trick or Treat? - black w/white lettering - 2ft x 6in - $20
- order -

Count Your Blessings - brown (as shown) or black w/white lettering - 2ft x 6in - $20
- order -

*$45 regular price.  $20 fall special runs through November 9th, 2011. Both sign designs are also available with optional beveled edges (+$5).

Don't forget to check out my other personalized sign designs when you order so you can combine shipping costs.  It's not too early to start thinking about holiday gifts! 

Friday was a gorgeous day, so Paxton and I sat out on the front porch decorating for fall. 

I dug through the garage to find a set of four pots to create this stacked potted design (just put a smaller pot upside down inside each of the two pots you can see in order to have a strong base for teh next pot and the pumpkin to sit on.  Then I filled the empty space inside the pots with grocery bags and covered it with a piece of burlap fabric before adding the little pumpkins and flowers.

The pumpkin is decorated with a vinyl "S" & spider decal (tutorial on that coming soon), and I decided that since those candlestick holders had sat in a bucket in the garage for several months, it wouldn't hurt anything to use them in some outside decor. :)

I made the wreath with a metal hanger and strips of frayed burlap, following this great tutorial.

And then I added a seasonal 3ft custom "Trick or Treat?" sign over the door.  I think I'll replace it with a Thanksgiving-themed sign in November and then a Christmas-themed sign in December and continue to change it out as the year progresses.

For a Friday morning sitting on the front porch enjoying the weather and using all stuff we already had on-hand, I think we did okay. :)  Ayla was excited to see it when she got home from school and now likes to walk in through the front door whenever we get home from being out. :)

My cousin Yasmin is getting married in a few days - in Israel, where she grew up and has lived most of her life.  She's my only girl cousin (out of 10 grandkids) and so we've always shared a special bond - even though we only see each other one in a blue moon.

Since I couldn't be there for the wedding, I'm having to live vicariously through my mom's photos on Facebook, which though it isn't at ALL the same, will have to suffice. 

I wanted to send Yasmin a special gift though to let her know I was thinking about her and to celebrate her new married life.  So of course I decided to send her a handmade personalized sign for her and her new husband.  Obviously, an English version wouldn't be quite right for their home in Israel, so with the help of my aunt (to get the spelling just right), I designed a Hebrew version of my "First Names w/Wedding Date" sign for them:

1ft x 6in - Black - Custom Personalized Sign Design

The large font is their new last name and beneath it reads their first names.  Remember, Hebrew is read from right to left!

While I was out of town for the month of July, traveling with the kids, Ben enjoyed 3 1/2 weeks of solitude at home.  That's a lot of time for itty bitty handyman projects! 

Among many nice little surprises, I came home to shiny new doorknobs on all our outside doors (yes, he changed the locks while I was gone!), new shelves in the pantry, and a brand new mailbox.  And, if you have seen our old mailbox, you know that this was a WAY overdue project - as in we probably should have done it the day we moved in 4 years ago.

So, since he very nicely waited for me to get home to add numbers (because he knew I'd want to paint my own street number sign like the one by our front door), I figured it was time I got on that project before another 4 years passed. We were looking for a make-it-better, but it-doesn't-need-to-be-perfect look, so within a 5-minute conversation we made a quick design decision and I got to work.

Here's a look at our old mailbox, the new mailbox I came home to, and then new mailbox w/a snazzy new paint job on the post & a brand new street number sign.

Though I certainly wouldn't be opposed to some color at the street (I do love these colorful mailboxes), Ben is a little more conservative in his outdoor decor choices, so we opted for a make-it-blend, not too fancy monochromatic look.  So all I did was make two beveled 1ft street number signs, give the post a new coat of paint, and slapped that baby back together.  I started at noon, and was done with the whole shebang by dinner (didn't want to miss any mail!)

Yes, some flowers would look nice at the bottom of the post.  Maybe someday! One project at a time...

Here's some more mailbox curb appeal for your day!

• turquoise & red mailbox
• unusual mailboxes (some silly stuff here!)
• mailbox makeover (I won't lie...she did it better than me!)

Except now I really want one of these:

How's your mailbox looking these days?