The Winner & What a blast Virginia beach was!

And the winner is...

comment number 8

.....here's what she wrote...

Hi Paula,

Glad to see you back, we've missed you!

 Oh, your signs are the loveliest I've ever seen. I hope to order one for my shop soon.
Love the Christmas sign, it's wonderful.

I am excited to be included in your giveaway!

{do you know this gal???}

That's right Sissie....it's you!

 Congrats girl!

Thanks to all who entered! I've read and read again all your wonderful comments and they have me smiling ear to ear! I'm so lucky to have you all as blog buddies!

What a week I had in Virginia Beach...one of the best vacations I've had in years!

Between all of us, we have almost 1000 photos... yes, one thousand, that's not a typo!

Here are a few of my favorites from the week...

Our family photo on the stairs of the house...

My dad and his five kids...( I say 'kids' cuz we were like kids all week!)

then we added in the spouses and our kids...

then down to the beach for more family shots....

Mike jr, me, Hannah, and Mike

a surprise kiss!

me and Hannah

Mike and Hannah (seems we always have to drag him out of the water for a photo!)

my sisters and me...

Donna, Tina and Laura

got a few shots of Hannah that we might use for her senior pictures this year...does she get this beauty from me? ! lol!

one of the funnest things we did was an Iron Chef cookoff...between my neice Rachel and brother in law Greg...what a feast they put on!

Greg was the winner, but since Rachel's young and only been cooking for a short while she gave him quite a run for his money! She made the grilled watermelon salad..it was awesome!

My brother serenaded us each night with his guitar!

I got in 4 tennis matches! The courts were on the ocean...it was heaven!

I even got my sister Donna to play on the last day, she had never been on a court before, turns out she's pretty good~ I hope she keeps playing when she gets home.

And on the last day, Mike finally got me in the kyak and out on the ocean....I was nervous but once I got out there I didn't want to come back!

Can you see how far out we went? The most peaceful place on earth I tell ya...I want one of these!!...Santa are you listening??

My Endless Summer Giveaway!

It's time! 

 Can't believe how long it's been since I last posted...I got totally swept away with sign orders and have had barely any time for play ~ it's a good thing I really love what I do, so much so that it feels like play!

I can't thank all of you enough for hanging in there with me!

Here's  a few of my recent custom signs...

I also worked on a few new signs...here is my

 absolute favorite...

Ta da!
I know...it's Christmas...but did you know...there's only 136 days till Christmas?

 Yeah, I thought you knew.

Another new one...the vintage French Bakery.

I've a third one in the works...a Farmers Market sign...soon!

okay...here's the scoop on the give away....

because I'm sooo excited and sooo in love with how the

 Merry Christmas

sign turned out~

I've decided to give one away!!

It measures a huge 40 inches wide by 20 inches tall...

very distressed and chippy~

I did two versions of this sign,

 one with just a light gray shading on the letters...

and another with silver german glass glitter shading....

so the winner will get their choice!

Or....the winner can choose

 a $75.00 gift certificate to either of my shops...

 

castleandcottagesigns

Where Bloggers Create 2011

Welcome to my studio!

" Altelier No. 2 "

This is my first year joining Karen Valentine of "My Desert Cottage" for her Where Bloggers Create Party!

Although some of you have seen my studio I thought I'd share it again for new followers who haven't ...

~Moi~

{not the best photo of me because...well that photo has yet to be taken! lol}

My studio was once our dining room ~ a place we hardly used ~ so it seemed perfect to move in here ~ now it is the busiest place in the house...

I've alot of photos to share ~ when it's your favorite place you tend to get a little

'snap happy'

"you cannot depend on your eyes when your imaginations is out of focus"

Mark Twain

I've filled it with all my favorite things...almost all things vintage...and gave each one a new purpose.

This vintage suede and fur trim coat covers my tripod.

My design board with vintage suitcases propped on an old sewing machine trestle ~ they hold numerous magaznies and books.

We added this new door to close off the living room ~ then added the old hardware and hooks to

hang my 'gathering bags'... they help to keep the clutter down.

I love vintage frames and alphabets.

I made custom shelves to get the best use out of this three sided corner...underneath the painters cloth skirt are my filing cabinets.

Vintage art books and gardening books...two more of my favorite things.

German glass glitter in repurposed jars with vintage labels.

My mom ~ always keeping her close to me ~ and Nana's old tubes of oil paint. Two of my most inspiring people.

My chalkboard and world clocks.

Vintage paper file for computer paper.

The necessary stuff.

My vintage clothing store painting table.

Old card files have been painted white and filled with paint tubes and bottles. They are now

new old paint files.

Originally painted black ~ this spring I painted this chest a beautiful robins egg blue to lighten up the room.

I kept one thing from the dining room in here ~ my vintage silver. Each now holds and art supply of one kind or another.

Vintage printer blocks.

Hangtags for my signs ready to go.

"The world is but a canvas to our imagination"

Henry David Thoreau

Vintage office supplies ~ love bringing back those days when things weren't so digital ~ simpler times.

Scattered throughout the studio are vintage religious items ~ they add alot of warmth ~ visually and spiritually.

My old tin mailbox holds shipping labels perfectly.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of my favorite place to be!

Be sure to check out the party and visit what looks like over three hundred wonderful

spaces Where Bloggers Create & be inspired!

I'm getting much better cold wise...and business has been wonderful..which all

has me thinking it's time to celebrate with a sign giveaway...

probably next week will be the perfect time!

xo