Wednesday, July 27, 2011

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.


Subscribe to Capadia Designs 

  Share/Bookmark

16 comments:

  1. I also love doing vinyl projects. It turned out so nice. I'm sure your sister was happy for the extra help and there will be no confusion as to what room to go into. That presents some funny scenarios!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved it, nad I also still like the saying you have made for her last year for the stairs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome idea!! I love the font you used to:) TFS!
    Sherrie K
    http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I spent a lot of time with vinyl making pretty signs with little ornamental touches for my mother's clothing closets & drawers--she is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and this helps her remember where things are...I used gold, on dark wood, and it looks really nice, not "institutional"... Also using vinyl to label drawers as I reorganize the craft room we share.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Diane the room names turned out wonderful. I live 45 min from Madison and I would love to stay at your sister B&B. What is the name and address of it. Would it be one a bunch of ladies could go to and scrap? It really is pretty.
    Love the picture of you. I love seeing men at these things. I wish I could get my hubby interested. A Halloween Advent Calendar sounds like fun. I hope you teach us how.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great project you did for the Albany House. I am sure it is much appreciated and it looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your work looks beautiful! I love the font you used...I may have to go out to purchase that cartridge!

    rissaflor at yahoo dotcom

    ReplyDelete
  8. How sweet of you to do that for your sister and BIL. I like using vinyl and it is easy. The B&B looks so peaceful. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those signs look great! I have yet to try vinyl, but my mind is reeling with ideas for the house!

    ReplyDelete
  10. How fun that you did that for the B&B. Bet family appreciated it. I too love that font. tfs.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bet your sister is so appreciative of the help you give her whenever you visit. I remember the projects you did last year when you were there. Your work is so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have a gypsyand would love to cut vinyl, but I don't know how or what blade depth to use. Can you do a demo on that for us who are challenged in that area. I know how to weld but need help with how vinyl works, since you cut two of each in case one messed up. thanks

    ReplyDelete
  13. You chose the perfect font & the room names look very nice.

    Will you be in Lancaster, PA for CKC at the end of August? I live in Lancaster, so this is great for me! I'd love to meet up with you again(met you at the Valley Forge Circle meet up last year).

    Karen L 1020 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is so great... I love a bed & breakfast. I got to stay in one in Ohio... They are so neat. This was a wonderful thing for you to do for them. I would love to have the time to visit that part of the US. Maybe I will get to some time. Great idea and project..........

    ReplyDelete
  15. I must try some vinyl projects. How sweet you were to add such a special touch to your sister's B and B.

    ReplyDelete
  16. very very pretty... priceless :)
    parkernana5@cox.net

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I love to hear from the people who read my blog. I moderate all comments to keep spam off the blog without making you decode the squiggly letters so your comment may not appear immediately.