Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

During the Lucketts weekend, I was able to meet Marian Parsons, proprietor of Miss Mustard Seed.  It was on Sunday when most vendors were marking items down for the last day of the market.  

I was able to score one of her hand-painted signs for $35!  I remember seeing my sign in her post.  I couldn't believe I was taking it home with me!  

It's almost like it was meant to be.  My last name is "Holste" and whenever I say it for people the first time, they always think I'm saying "Holstein".  

Now don't get me wrong, cows are adorable.  But I'm not a cow.  

So I decided to just embrace the mispronunciation and and proudly display my Holstein sign in my apartment.  

On Friday, I took my trash out to the famous magical dumpster and found a bunch of goodies.  

One piece was a dresser from Brazil.  No matter how hard I tried, I could NOT fit it into my little sedan.  I pushed, shoved, adjusted the seats, tried my trunk...you name it, I did it, but I just couldn't get it to fit.  So, I resigned myself to the realization that I would have to leave it while I went to work.  Such a sad moment.  (When I came home later on that afternoon, I went straight to the dumpster to see if it was still there.  Alas, it was gone.  Sniff...)

But I did score a free piece of pine!  

I thought to myself, "this would make a GREAT sign" like those I saw at Marian's booth.  

She also did a post on how to make new wood look old, so I thought I would employ her ideas to age my piece of pine.

I started simple with using a screw and creating holes in clusters.

Then I turned the screw sideways and made some other fun scar marks.

Then I used a hammer to create some gouges and banged on the edges to get rid of the "perfectly cut" look.

After adding some old character to the wood, I started thinking about colors.  A few months ago, I painted a desk for my boss with a mustard seed yellow base and a red top.  I thought the combination would work well for this sign.  

So I whipped up a batch of Miss Mustard Seed's Mustard Seed Yellow.  This paint is fabulous for wood.  It acts almost like a stain and soaks really well into raw wood.  

After the first coat of Mustard Seed Yellow, I sealed it with Miss Mustard Seed's Tough Coat.  Tough Coat is a very versatile product.  It's water-based and can be used as a sealer to prevent bleed through or to lock in moldy smells.  It can be used as a top coat if you're looking for a finish for a piece that will have lots of traffic and high-use (such as a coffee table or bookshelf).  

For this project, I wanted to use Tough Coat as a sealer.  I put a layer on to seal the Mustard Seed Yellow.   

It also helps if you place your tough coat (or any other product) in a separate container.  That way, you won't contaminate your bottle.

After the Tough Coat was dry, it was time to add the top layer of Tricycle.  

I've heard Marian describe Tricycle as a difficult color to work with.  It's in a plastic baggie inside of the regular pouch.  I dumped the powder into the baggie and it made a bit of a mess.  I measured out my powder and used the mixer.  What I found was that the powder sat on the top of the water and it took a good bit of mixing to get it to dissolve.  I used slightly hot water to help the powder mix in. 

After 2 coats of Tricycle, I got the good 'ol rooster stencil out.  

The entire stencil wouldn't fit on the board so I decided to use certain elements instead.  

After stenciling, I sanded away some of the red to reveal the Mustard Seed Yellow underneath.



And used Hemp Oil as my top coat to bring out the richness in the Tricycle.  

And here's the finished piece!

 

She's for sale if you'd like to take her home.  

You Can't Rush the Rooster

So my ice cream table set has been sitting for a little bit because life is busy.  Good...but busy.

My stencil arrived from The Brown Bag Stencil Co.  (You can find them on Etsy) so it was time to rock and roll!

I mixed up some black and gray acrylic paint because I didn't want a bold black.

I centered the stencil and taped it down. 

I'm still learning when it comes to stencils.  One of the big no-no's is not to load up your brush with too much paint. 

Another is to stencil straight up and down.  This will help keep from getting paint underneath the stencil and ultimately smudge your design.

Somehow, I still wind up with smudges.  Like I said, I'm still learning.   

 So I went back with a fine-tipped brush and straightened out those lines.  I also filled in some of the gaps in the letters so it didn't look so "stencilish". 

Once that dried, it was time to restain it and seal it.  I chose General Finishes "Exterior 450".  I want the set to be used outside, so I made sure to use a product that would keep it protected from rain, heat, and the elements.

This top coat is water-based and goes on kind of milky but dries clear.  You definitely don't want to over brush it.  Just put it on, watch for drips, and leave it alone. 

  
The next step is to seal the bottom of the tabletop, cut out new seats from plywood, and piece it all together.  

You can't rush the rooster! 

Linking to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday!

God Things

This weekend, I traveled down to the lovely town of Leesburg, Virginia for a few reasons.  First, I had registered to be trained as a leader of Precept Upon Precept Bible studies through Precept Ministries International.  If you're not familiar with Precepts or the inductive Bible study method, you can read more about it here. 

Essentially, it's 3 stages:

1. Observation - What does the text of the Bible say?

2. Interpretation - What does the text mean?

3. Application - What does this mean for my life?  How do I apply these truths to my daily walk with the Lord?

I've been doing Precept Bible studies since college when a very lovely lady taught me how to do it at one of our women's retreats.  I've been blessed ever since.

 Our training was held at the Loudoun campus of McLean Bible Church in this beautiful building.  We were so blessed to have the regional director of training conducting our workshop.

There were so many wonderful women and men there who desired to lead their own Precept Upon Precept studies, get more tools for doing their own personal study, and others who were there to figure out if leading a class was something the Lord had in store for them.

We prayed, we praised, we pried open the Word of God.

And we all left changed.

In between our sessions, I navigated my way around the rather bustling and busy highways of Leesburg.  Everything seemed like it was on a grand scale - the clothes, the cars, the houses. 

Until I got to the historic part of Leesburg.  Aaah!  That was much more like it.  I saw adorable shops and immediately thought, "my people!"

 

I visited some local places for my meals and chatted it up with the staff.  Everyone was very nice.

And then Sunday came around.  It was time to visit...

drumroll please

The Lucketts Spring Market

The Spring Market is a conglomeration of vendors sporting everything from vintage finds to painted furniture to unique textiles and killer barbeque.  It's held on the grounds of the Old Lucketts Store.  The only reason why I knew it existed was because this was the store where Miss Mustard Seed was a vendor for a little bit in her early years of running her business.  She comes every year and sets up her booth with her beautiful pieces and this year, I was going to meet her! 

I had no idea that my training was falling on the same exact weekend as Lucketts. 

Ya'll...

You just can't make this stuff up. 

I was there first thing at 10:00 and was treated to what I believe to be heaven on earth.  (Or at least what I think my room will be like in heaven.)

Upholstered chairs, painted dressers, wire baskets, typewriter jewelry, grain sack bags, ironstone, rusty gates, shutters, barn wood signs....

I'm not going to lie.  I was drooling a little bit.

There were even young chickens in a coop.

Welcome, indeed!

I went inside the Old Lucketts Store to see where the magic all began.

There was so much to look at!

Industrial gems.

The highly-coveted (and usually too expensive for me) card catalogs.

Topiary accents.

Clever touches if you're careful enough to spot them.

Confirmations of who I want to be.

I could have wandered in there forever.  There was just so much to look at.

There were some really clever and unique "statement" booths like 2 Chix and a Barn.  They had a vintage Airstream named "Pearl" and they allowed me to take a peek inside.

I bought the cutest little bag from them.

The Robin's Nest had a wicked awesome teepee that you could take pictures in and tag yourself on social media.

And some killer jewelry to match.

And then the moment I had been waiting for all weekend.   (And to be honest, the moment I was quasi-avoiding because I was nervous.) 

Miss Mustard Seed's booth.

I had been following her posts as she was getting ready for Lucketts.  What was being brought, what was in the works, how she prices pieces, where she would be.  I've watched her videos.  Used her paint.  Read how she got her business started.  And I was actually going to meet her. 

In person. 

In the flesh.

You're probably thinking that I'm being ridiculous and need to get a grip on life, but it really is a big deal to meet someone that you've only read about and seen through a computer in real life.  

I plucked up the courage to go talk to her and strolled into the booth (which was adorable despite it being the last day).

"Are you Marian?"  I asked.

A big smile met me. 

"Why yes, I am!  Thanks for coming to my booth."

We talked.  I shared about my journey from decorating my 800 square foot apartment on a budget and my love for reviving discarded pieces of furniture.  I told her about how she has inspired me.  Her journey and her openness has allowed me to realize that I might actually be able to take this "furniture thing" and turn it into something.  More so that than, it might actually be a calling.  A God-thing.

I met Kriste too!  Kriste...from Kriste's Milk Paint Journal.  The Kriste in the tutorials.  The Kriste from Rosemary and Thyme.  She was just as sweet as could be.  She asked me about my story and how I got into what I do.  She asked me about my vision and where I wanted to go.  She shared some of her struggles and...again...it was a total God-thing.  

I even got to see an episode of "Design Ramblings" being filmed (before the band drowned them out). 

We exchanged contact information and Kriste asked me to send her the names of a few local shops around the area for them to check out.  

Then I took a bold step.  

I asked Kriste if we could pray together.  

And we did.  

We prayed about our futures and our next steps.  We prayed that God would lead us as He sees fit.  We thanked Him for allowing us to come together and meet one another. 

And then I felt a warm hand on my back and I opened my eyes to see Marian...Miss Mustard Seed herself praying with us!

Was this really happening?!

We hugged afterwards and someone from one of the other booths took a picture of it, which I thought was the sweetest thing.  

I was riding pretty high, needless to say, when I arrived home.  And then I saw this:

 
I had no idea my friend was going to write me a note, but there it was in my mailbox.  

It's definitely a God-thing.