Room Names at Albany House

While I was staying with my sister and brother-in-law, I did a few little projects around the Bed & Breakfast. One of the hard things about running this type of business is that you need to keep very busy during the busy seasons so you will have enough income to tide you over the slow times.  If you are busy with the day to day cooking and cleaning, it is hard to find time for "extra" projects.  One of the projects that I was able to help with was to identify the guest rooms so it would be easier for the guests to be sure they were in the right room when they first go upstairs.

Before I left on my trip I did some work with my Gypsy and Design Studio.  I wanted to weld the letters of the room names so that they would be easier to apply to the doors.  My first trial was done with the Gypsy Font cartridge (only available in the Gypsy).  I thought it looked OK but the "feel" of the letters was not quite in keeping with the style of the B & B.

 Next I tried this font from the Songbird cartridge.  This one looked like a keeper so I set  up a file to cut the vinyl.  I made the words 2 1/2 inches tall.

I had sheets of 12 x 24 vinyl and I decided to do each name twice so I would have a backup in case something went wrong when the names were applied to the doors.  The extra exclamation points were for the apostrophe in "Eagle's Nest" and the extra "l"s were for another project.

To cut the vinyl I used the regular blade set at 3 with medium speed and pressure.  This makes a "kiss cut" so the letter is cut out but the backing sheet stays intact.  The vinyl cuts very cleanly and I was able to put the words quite close together with no problems in  cutting.

I brought the cut vinyl (still on the backing sheet) and some transfer tape with me on the trip to Wisconsin.

After CHA, I had some time to work on applying the names to the doors.  I cut apart all of the words and "weeded" the sections (weeding is the process of removing all of the unnecessary pieces of vinyl from the backing sheet).  The "hook" tool in the Cricut tool kit works very well to do this.

I always feel like I should save the scraps but the Cricut Vinyl is very thin and sticky and it is too difficult to keep the pieces from adhering to each other.  I want a clean and easy word application so I sacrificed the excess vinyl.

I applied the transfer tape to the weeded words...

...and then gently peeled back the word from the original vinyl backing sheet. To keep everything in order, I put the tape with the vinyl back on the transfer tape backing sheet until it was time to add the names to the doors.

 I simply lifted the words on the transfer tape and centered the words on each door.  Then I burnished the vinyl area and made sure that the names were securely attached.

The rooms with the short names were simple to do.

For the two word names I took extra care to line up the words.  You could use painter's tape to set a straight line but it is fairly easy to "eyeball" the placement.

Vinyl is fun to work with and it cuts very easily and neatly.  You do have to be careful to keep the packages up and away from small hands.

With a very small investment in materials and a slightly larger investment of time,  I was able to create these identifiers for each of the guest rooms.

 Today was a "re-entry day" for me - there is always so much to do and to catch up with after a long trip.  I have moved all of the crafty items to my studio and now need to put them away and to photograph some more of the workshop projects.

 A few people let me know that a photo of me and my friend Joe was on the DCWV blog.  We were in the Halloween Advent Calendar workshop and when this photo was taken we were working on the little pockets that hang from the embroidery hoop frame and hold either a trick or a treat.  Since I am always behind the camera it was nice to see this "action shot" of myself from the show.  The class was a lot of fun and I will assemble my calendar and show you how it turned out a bit later this fall.


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Early Morning Departure

I'll be leaving Wisconsin very early this morning to go the Chicago.  CHA doesn't begin until tomorrow (set up and Education Day) but I am doing an all day training session on the Teresa Collins Stampmaker and I have to be there by 10 a.m.

I'll be sad to be leaving Albany House before breakfast - the photo above shows the table set for the first course (fruit and bakery) we had on Saturday morning.  This was followed by delicious maple glazed bacon and spinach pie.  My sister is an amazing cook!

Of course there is plenty of juice and coffee or tea.  Aren't those green glads beautiful?  (I looked up the plural of gladiolus and found gladioli, gladioluses or gladiolas so glads sounds good to me!).

I have a few supplies with me and I worked on a couple of projects that I'll be posting during the time I am at CHA.  Most of my posts will probably be about the things I see and do at the show.  On Monday I'll be sharing some highlights and tips that I learn in the Stampmaker session today and I'll be posting those on the Scrappy-go-Lucky blog.

Here's one more look at the start of our delicious breakfast.  If you plan to visit the Madison, Wisconsin area sometime you might want to make a stop in Albany for a couple of nights.  It is a handy location for lots of the sights and I don't think you can find a more amazing array of breakfast dishes anywhere!  The bed and breakfast is called Albany House and you can find their website HERE.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday and that it isn't too hot in your part of the world - the predictions for the Midwest look very steamy!

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Albany House (and the stair step project)

Before and after my trip to CHA in Chicago I visited with family in Wisconsin.  My sister and brother-in-law are the owners and innkeepers at Albany House Bed and Breakfast in Albany, Wisconsin.  Albany is a small town about 30 miles south of Madison.  Their website can be found at http://www.albanyhouse.com/  You can get all of the details about the B & B and take a virtual tour on the site.

As you have seen from my photos over the past week - there is something intriguing to look at wherever you go in the B & B or on the grounds.  This is the "bottle garden" in the back of the property where they grow flowers and gourds to decorate the house.  Beyond the gardens are corn fields.

Here is just one example of a creative table arrangement with the garden flowers.  This sort of centerpiece makes it easy to see and get to know your fellow guests over breakfast at the large table in the dining room.  The food is fabulous - both Margie and Ken are excellent cooks.

The main house was built over 100 years ago - you can read the history of the property at this LINK.  The style is influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement with lots of oak woodwork and interesting period details.

The floor in the foyer is made of imported French tiles in this hexagonal pattern and they used this geometric motif for the lawn sign and website.

An old corncrib on the property was moved and renovated into this charming summer house - it is a great place to relax and chat on a hot summer day.

There is a large barn on the property with parking for bicycles (many people come to the B & B and use it as a home base for bicycle touring in the countryside).

Last year they started offering artist workshops which run from Tuesdays to Thursdays once a month in the summer months.  The instruction is by Deborah Meyer, a very talented artist,and there is a limit of 9 artists per session for personalized teaching.  You can see some of Deborah's work on her website HERE.  The workshop classes are held in a section of the barn that has been renovated but still has rustic charm.

Everything I know about collecting I learned from my sister - she has a fabulous "eye" and can spot finds and arrange objects in very pleasing displays.  Aren't these old metal wall pockets in the barn interesting?

Margie has collected pottery for years and there are colorful displays all over the house and even in the barn.  These are great for still life classes.

There are two more workshops this summer.  August 17-19 is called "Explore!" and is aimed at expanding your art horizons with different materials and techniques.  September 14-16 the workshop is "Cards and Gift Items" for a head start on the holidays.  For more details about the workshops you can contact Deborah by email  momwow51 (at) hotmail (dot) com (typed the usual way - I am just trying to prevent spam pickups).

There are also quilting and knitting groups that hold retreats at Albany House and it would be a great place for a cropping getaway as well.

About a year or so ago their neighbor was ready to move into a retirement apartment and they purchased her cottage which is directly across the street and provides river access to the Sugar River for canoeing and kayaking.

They made extensive renovations to turn the cottage into a great vacation rental property.  The second floor was just an attic but now has this lovely bedroom suite with a fireplace and sitting area.

The room is at the top of this steep and narrow set of steps.  Ever since the renovations began, we have been planning on adding a saying to the steps - a little surprise when you open the door to go up to the bedroom.  It was hard to think of the right phrase but the carpenter working with them on the house had a great suggestion. "The rise to the top takes many small steps" is both literally and figuratively true.

I cut the words in Cricut vinyl using the Plantin Schoolbook font before I left on my trip.  I "kiss cut" the vinyl using the medium pressure, medium speed and #4 blade depth.  This will cut the vinyl cleanly but leave the backing intact which makes it much easier to work with the vinyl.  I used the beige Cricut Vinyl in the 12 x 24 size.

I cut the words at three inches and the carpenter's name at 2 1/2 inches.  First we "weeded" the vinyl - in other words we removed all of the background vinyl leaving only the actual letters on the backing sheet.  I had decided not to weld the words because I wanted the look of the separated letters. The Cricut vinyl is very thin and sticky and with this many cutouts I could not salvage the offcuts for another project.

I cut small sections of transfer tape to use on the individual words so I could space them properly on the stair risers.

Then I placed the words on the stair risers trying to get the spacing even but not "too perfect," using the empty vinyl box as a spacer to keep the words level on each riser.  Once we stepped back and were satisfied with the arrangement, I burnished each word on to the risers and peeled off the transfer tape.

It was difficult to get a clear photo in the stairwell but here you can see the final result.  Kelvin is the carpenter who came up with the saying so we attributed the quote to him on the bottom step.  It is in the same shade of vinyl but looks brighter since it is closer to the light.

So that was my "crafty project" at Albany House.  It was fun to do and now we are looking for more places to add words and sayings in vinyl.

If you are interested in staying at Albany House sometime check out the website HERE and tell Margie that "Capadia sent me!"  It is a great place for a getaway and only two hours north of Chicago if you need a break from the city.

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