I ordered a set of very simple, pre-designed business cards to use as we ramp up. I felt like we should have something that we can give out or let shoppers take home with them. So I made a card that is specifically for our Queen of Hearts booth, and that only has contact information for Audrey. I decided this because Audrey is the center of this universe. She got the booth, and she is designing the booth, stocking the booth, and "ordering" additional items from Shane. At this point in the process, I'd be afraid that if Shane or I got a call or an email for The Painted Hammer we would stammer something unintelligible and then just get Audrey to talk to them!

I ordered the cards from Vistaprint, using their fantastic deal (250 cards for $10). It was very easy to use. I chose a pre-designed layout and a stock image for this first batch, and then typed my words in the boxes on the screen. Do you know what the hardest part was? Not giving in to Vistaprint's very good upsell marketing. As you go through the process, they say things like "Nice business cards, do you need return address labels?" and then they show you what matching business cards would look like. Then they say "Nice business cards, do you need a stamp?", and so on. I resisted, this time, but I do expect to order more cards from them next time, with customized images and logos, and I do not expect to be as strong this next time.

Happy Boxing day, friends!

I'm no designer. I can't build anything, either. But I'm so excited about and invested in this project, The Painted Hammer, that my imagination is running wild. Everywhere I look, I see potential. Projects. Bits of this combined with bits of that. It's a fun new perspective to have.

Don't worry, though, I'm going to leave the designing and constructing up to the experts. And then I'll do my part and talk it all up here on our website, our Facebook page, our Pinterest boards, and our Instagram feed.

So. Me, Shane, and Audrey went to visit my dad recently. He has some old "junk" from his own projects, and he has some to get rid of. As we wandered around looking at these things, I know I was excited (as I mentioned already), but I loved watching Audrey's face as she mentally sorted through everything she saw. Some of it really is junk, but some of it is going to get some TLC from our dynamic duo and find happiness in someone's home one day!

Check out some of the things we perused!

Our amazing designer, Audrey Wood, created these wreaths the other day. One is for her home, and the other was a special request from her mom. The benefits of having a daughter with this kind of talent are pretty fun!

After sharing project after project from Shane, I have something new & current to share from the other half of our Painted Hammer duo, Audrey! Our super-talented designer loves decorating for the winter holidays, and I asked her to share some pictures from her 2013 decor that could provide inspiration for the rest of us. See the four images & their descriptions below for some pretty easy to do last minute holiday decor ideas!

I didn't dare write an in-progress post on another one of Shane's recent projects. It had to stay top secret, no matter what. But not anymore! Shane built TWO tables for building Legos, one for his sister's kids...

And one for my brother's kids...

I'm super proud of this creation by Shane. It was his idea. He flipped through jillions of ideas posted on Pinterest but never found one that was close to the thing in his head. And the kids love them.

These tables sit about 12" tall with 6 Lego brand base plates inset into the tabletop, which is painted yellow. The legs are painted red, and there are blue rods underneath that the white & green trays fit into. While I adore this color scheme wholeheartedly, I love that it could be painted any color or style (it could even be stained) with any embellishments I could imagine.

This is not a new creation. Rather it is a project that Shane took a picture of when he visited his parents recently. Several years ago, his mom had mentioned that she needed a step stool for her grandchildren when they slept over and needed to brush their teeth at the sink. This is probably one of the most common inspirations for Shane's work.

This could be the nicest step stool I've ever seen for brushing one's teeth!

Back in October, I caught Shane cutting wood to make blocks and I can finally show you the rest of the project. Wee E loved the blocks. Well, she loved the paper it was wrapped in.

The set has 50-60 wooden blocks, all hand cut and hand sanded. They fit perfectly in the upcycled milk crate I found at Goodwill for less than $2. The set has short & long straight pieces, different triangle shapes, bridge pieces, and more. This will be quite an upgrade from her foam set of blocks!

Wow! Something very cool has happened. Audrey has gotten a booth at the Alpharetta Queen of Hearts, an antiques and interiors retail location. It's an awesome store, and we're going to be part of it after the first of the year!

Shane and her have become very busy preparing to get the booth stocked up with stuff that reflects the brand they are building, so stay tuned for more!