Trip Out East

Wine, no sunshine, and wooden signs

Well, that pretty much sums up my quick trip out east to PA to see family and visit their winery. My main priority (was not the wine) but to spend time with my sweet niece who is going to be 2. However, lots of coffee, good food, wine, etc. are usually part of the trip.

I am always in awe of the massive amounts of people, retail, accessibility to good quality food, etc. that you see the further east you go due to higher population numbers, higher income levels, shifts in income spending, etc. There are lots of variable factors that impact economic and social development of those areas.

I like to visit stores and meet with people who are doing what I am trying to do with sign making and the pop-up shop. There is a sweet “maker” store about 2 miles from my sisters, in a 300-year-old, two story, brick, house. The shop consists of all kinds of locally made goods, some wholesale items, jewelry, food products (locally made ice cream, popcorn, cheese, etc.), clothing, candles, signs, etc. When I was looking at a wall, covered in wooden signs, one of the workers/owners was visiting with me.

She said that there are at least 6 different makers they use for signs (6 people who are making them and putting up for sale in their store). Each one does their signs differently. Which I thought was interesting. No two where alike both from a stylistic and production standpoint. You could tell they were handmade. But all varied in wood products, paints, cost, size, etc.

So, I ended up with this sweet sign that I will go perfect in my grey house but I also liked how it was made. As we look at varying colors for backgrounds, fonts, and frames, having this one as a visual helps us see what we can do, make, change, do better, etc.

I also visited a wonderful store owned by a friend of my sisters. It is one of my favorite places to shop, full of painted furniture, vintage antiques and décor, locally made products and much more! She had my lemons (which I had to have) and some other items (chalk paint, trophy bowl.) Her store was humming with people on Friday. She also carries signs, pillows, etc.

If you find a sign, and want to see if we can make something similar, take a picture and send it our way. We get lots of questions and are getting some special orders as well. Signs for wedding showers, wedding tables (table numbers), house warming gifts, senior pictures, school spirit, baby showers, holidays, etc. The list is endless and we are always open to new ideas!!

Keep the ideas coming!