denise...on a whim: Coffee Served Daily Sign

I love coffee. This is no secret. But, for some reason, I've never made a coffee sign. I've seen some super cute ones out there lately so I figured it was time for me to join the crowd!

I picked up a few frames at a yard sale when we went to the Steam Show a few weeks ago. They were both solid frames with some detail and those are my favorite kinds. So I pulled one out and measured it so I could create a vinyl stencil.

I painted the outer part of the frame in Virginia Chestnut. I used Vintage White for the inside border and I added Santa Fe Turquoise in between the 2 colors. I then added some American Paint Company's Saddle over the Chestnut. You can barely see it, but it's the little bit of of orange hue you can see over the brown.

The picture that was in the frame was an orange colored print and the canvas it was on was textured. I decided to just paint right over what had been in there instead of using drop cloth or banner material as I sometimes do. I painted over the print with CoCo and let it dry. Then I applied my stencil.

I painted the lettering with Virginia Chestnut and Santa Fe Turquoise. Then I peeled the stencil off. Guess what, the canvas was actually just a textured paper and it started peeling as I took my stencil off. I was pretty bummed, because I really like the way it was looking up until that point. I figured I would have to cut a new stencil and use drop cloth after all. So, in frustration, I sat the painted board against my tv stand and stopped working...

I kept looking at it all evening long. Until, I guess, it kind of grew on me. I decided that the ripping made it look more like a worn out old sign. So I decided to just work with it. I got out some fine grit sandpaper and sanded over the lettering so it would look worn all over. I sanded away some of the coco, too, so that the orange print underneath would show through a little. It certainly complimented the Saddle color I had added to the frame. And, when I was done, I was very pleased. :)

I took the sign to my booth a short while ago and got a compliment on it as I was hanging it up. So I guess it worked! It just goes to prove that sometimes an oops can actually be a blessing in disguise!