On the 3rd Day of Christmas Creativity...

Happy 3rd Day of Christmas Creativity!  Today is Chris's turn to host.  I know she has something awesome over there for you.  Be sure to check it out!

Today I have a quickity-quick holiday idea for you.  Remember my Subway Art on a Shutter project I made for Thanksgiving?  I didn't want to put it away after all that work.  So, I turned it around and... instant Christmas Card Display!  I could put a little Christmas sentiment on it, but I kind of like it plain so the cards really stand out.

Okay, so want to win some stuff? Here's a recap in case you forgot:

Here are the prizes:

1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)

How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!

Today's comment requirement:

Leave a comment and tell us how you like to display the holiday cards you get each year.  Then what do you do with them afterwards?

Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!

Time to get crafty, people!

Project Wednesday: Subway Art on a Shutter

Every once in a while I venture out of my hermit-like existence.  I like home.  I'm the epitome of the term Homebody.  When I do make it out, it's usually to go shopping.  I try to go with a purpose when I do shop.  Sometimes, like last week, I just feel like wandering the aisles.  Lucky for me, I did this at the local thrift instead of Walmart or Target.  Also, lucky for me, they happened to have some interesting things.  Like this sort-of-old shutter.  It was marked $4.  It really must have been my lucky day because all yellow tags were half of.  Score!  A $2 shutter!

My dear husband, if he were reading this, would roll his eyes and say... "Oh great, how I'm going to have an old shutter hanging around the garage."  Well... to him I say... Ha!  I actually did something with it!  "It's a miracle", he says... I know him as well as he knows me.

I decided that I would take one of the designs I made for the November VDBC Grab Bag and make a Subway Art piece for Thanksgiving decor.  SO, without further ado...

Today's project is... Subway Art on a Shutter

Here's my fabulous find from the thrift.  The paint job on the shutter was more bad-paint-job than vintage-paint-job.  So, I skipped the vintage look and went for sleek shiny painted look.  Either way works for me!  Just call me eclectic... really... do... I prefer it to scatterbrained or cluttered.

I first painted the side I plan to apply my vinyl to.  About 30 seconds into the paint job, the nozzle miraculously stuck open.  This might be a bad thing, but I used it to my advantage and painted the whole thing in one gulp {so to speak}.  It sure saved me from getting "spray paint finger" for which I am grateful.  Luckily, I was able to turn it off when I was done.

In all, it took two cans of paint to cover both sides of the shutter.  I think it turned out quite nice! Since I wasn't planning to actually use this as a shutter, I didn't bother taking any of the hardware off.  I just painted the whole thing.  Remember, deep down, I'm lazy.

After allowing the paint to completely dry, I applied some nifty vinyl decals to it.  I cut them from my Subway Art- Thanksgiving design.  This is only available as part of the November VDBC Grab Bag in case you were wondering.

Pin It

I took each part of the design, sized it up, and moved it around so it would fit my shutter slats.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  Now the only question is... where to display it?  It's in my entry way at the moment. I like it!

Time to get crafty, people!

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Trendwatch Tuesday: Subway Art

What do you think of when I say that words "Subway Art?"  Okay, you can't actually hear me saying them, just imagine with me here.  What do you think of?  Graffiti?  Spray paint?  How about typography?

Typography, you say, Jan?  Yes!  Typography!  A new hot trend is the combination of different font faces with words or phrases on a theme.  The inspiration is vintage subway signs.  Today's designers are taking the original concept and turning them into delightful works of typographic art.

Here is an authentic vintage New York subway sign from the mid-1900's.  This is one of many on the SubwaySigns.com website.  Pretty cool, huh?  Want one?  It'll cost you a cool $799.00.

$799.00? Whoa!  If you are like me and don't have that kind of dough to drop on a vintage sign. Why not make your own?  A lot of folks are!

Most designers creating subway art typographic posters have moved away from just one plain font and are using a nice mix of serif, sans serif, and scrip typefaces.  Many even throw in a little graphic here and there, usually just a silhouette.  I especially like those that mix negative space fonts like stencils on a colored background.

In fact, I've got a little roundup of several free printables for Christmas and Thanksgiving!  Be sure to read to the bottom for a link to a tutorial to make your own in Photoshop.  There's also a link to where you can purchase a Thanksgiving themed one to cut on your digital die-cut machine. It's a good deal. Don't worry, I won't steer you wrong.

First from the wonderful eighteen25 a gorgeous Christmas printable Subway Art Poster plus a banner!  Bonus!

Here's one from Mine for the Making:

There's a whole set of gorgeous Thanksgiving printables over at Blooming Homestead.  This one's my favorite:

Lots of colors to choose from on these from Today's Fabulous Finds:  Christmas...

and Thanksgiving versions!

If you want to make your own from scratch, here's a good tutorial from The Daily Digi to make one in Photoshop.

Lastly, if you want a file you can cut on your cutter, here's how to get it!  I've got a great Thanksgiving themed one in the November VDBC Grab Bag.  It's only $7 for $45 worth of designs!

The Subway Art - Thanksgiving design also includes two printable versions (light and dark backgrounds) for us lazy folks who just want to print and frame!  No, I didn't call you lazy, I called ME lazy!  I'd totally print it. But, you who are not lazy might want to cut the design out of vinyl.  I know you will, so go on and do it!

Time to get crafty, people!