Detours

Isn't it amazing when life just happens without you planning for it? It's better than we can imagine if we don't get so attached to the little things and just go with the flow...it's taken me 51 years to get to this point...but it's great no less!

Fortunately, I am not referring in any way to the acts of nature we experienced here in NC last week...earth quake trimmers and Hurricane Irene. I felt the earth move under my feet and didn't realize what it was, and the hurricane just blew all the flowers off of my bougainvilleas. Thank God, that was it!

Although the same day as Irene blew through, our daughter called to say she was coming home for a month...or so.

She's been offered a new job and has an opportunity to take an extended trip home...and she's taking it. We are thrilled! She hasn't been home since last December and Sam and I are the only ones that have seen her since. She will be here this Saturday afternoon.

Not only have I been preparing her old room by cleaning out all of the things I have stored in there, I've been getting a plan together for our booth at The Depot. We can start moving in this weekend but we first need to build a couple of walls and paint...and make some other really cool things that I will show you next week.

So, long story a little shorter, we decided it was just crazy to try to open the shop this weekend with all that has changed in a little more than a week...remember if you will, the booth at the Depot came open suddenly and I had no idea two weeks ago that we'd be doing that!

Believe it or not...I am NOT super woman! I can't do it all...boy that feels good to say out loud. Try it ladies, it's liberating in some strange way.

If you were planning to stop by this weekend, we apologize for the inconvenience. Please give us a call next week and we will open especially for you. Seriously! It's all pretty and clean and I'd hate for no one to see it before I start taking things out for the booth.

Oh, and I'm excited to announce that yesterday we had a featured item on Etsy's blog....

Antelope Lodge Floorcloth by Angie Nelson

....and today we sold our first item from Ranch Dressing Online , also on Etsy. Yay! It's been a good week!

Vintage Pink Health-o-meter Bath Scales

I hope you all are having a good week too and I will be back here next Wednesday, hopefully with photos of the construction process of our booth. Take care!

Take Your Floorcloth to the Door

Business Card Floorcloth  Angie Nelson © 2011

Why not greet your customers at the door with your logo and product information?  You know what "they" say about branding...the more places people see your logo the more likely you and your business will be remembered.

Angie Nelson © 2011

I made this floorcloth/business card for the stair landing leading up from the shop to my studio. People always ask, "what's up there?" Now they are asking to GO up there. It's opened the door to more questions about my work which is the whole point of having my studio above my store. Right? 

Before our Spring Open House at Ranch Dressing Handmade and Vintage, I'm going to make one for the shop as well that will be placed at the front door where this photo was taken. It will be more rectangular to span the width of the double doors. Didn't know you could take your floorcloth outside? Sure you can.

Angie Nelson © 2011

There are only a couple of things to remember before placing your floorcloth outside...

1. Sweep the floor surface completely clean of any and all grit. You can, but don't have to, place a very thin rug pad beneath it. No mesh; anything with a pattern will transfer to the surface...permanently. 

2. If it's windy or rainy, take it in. Water will not hurt it, but you don't want it soaked through and through.

Other than that, you are good to go. I can only recommend this for MY rugs because I know what they are made of. I use the best materials available for making a quality product that will last you indefinitely with proper care. 

Angie Nelson © 2011

You will notice in the photos that they are heavy and lie flat. My floorcloths resemble a thick, heavy piece of leather in both weight and feel even though the base material is #8 canvas duck. After all is primed, and painted with multiple layers and then with acrylics for the artwork, they are sealed with 5 coats acrylic poly on the front. If you let me know ahead of time that you will or may even use yours outside in a covered area, I will add a couple of sealer coats to the back for added protection. 

To clean them, just sweep and mop with your floors or wipe with a damp cloth. Floorcloths are ideal for the door area as there is never any problem with doors catching them like with a thicker type traditional rug.

Want one for your business or as a custom welcome mat inviting guests into your home? I can help you with that. Send an email to angie@freereinart.com or call me to set up an appointment at the studio 336-905-0386  Let's get started! I'm excited to see what you have in mind.

Worktable Wednesday: Not Black or Red

Hugging Bear Border Floorcloth awaiting leather rug fringe

If you will remember a couple weeks ago, I showed you some sketches in my journal of a new floorcloth design that got it's start from a standard design shown on my website. When I left you, the decision of what color rug fringe was left to the customer and we were all on the edge of our seats waiting...well, I would love to believe that...LOL...

After learning that there is NO black in the room although some black furniture exists in the adjoining bedroom, I suggested that we go with brown instead. There are lovely brown picture frames in sight of the future rug position and they need to be tied to something else in the room...so we switched out the black for brown and added turquoise to pick up that color from the shower curtain.

We are going with brown leather rug fringe with the rough side out for a soft look.

Brown leather before it's cut into fringe

Tomorrow I will begin cutting the leather into fringe. What do you think about using the rough side out? I haven't done this before but it looked like the obvious thing to do this time...and how do you cut YOUR fringe? Scissors, utility knife or rotary cutter? I have used all three.