I was asked to run a craft table at a recent ‘Be Still’ community event at my church. The aim of the evening was to take the chance for attendees to have some ‘me’ time with massages, facials, mindfulness sessions as well as the craft table. I looked for all sorts of inspiration and didn’t really find any. I then stumbled on some photos of retro signage and decided to go with the theme. I created six different laser-cut wood signs, each with a typical self-affirming phrase often linked to mindfulness sessions. For each, I spent a long time finding a relevant Bible verse or passage to move it from self-centred to God-centred.

The signs were designed by me in Adobe Illustrator and laser-cut from poplar plywood. They are painted with acrylics. Because I wanted non-artists to be able to do the session and there needed to be a relatively quick turnaround I designed them to be painted in stages. I masked both sides of the wood and scored through the masking. That way, specific parts could be quickly overpainted without going over others – more details below. The verses [NIV] were engraved on the reverse and are in the same order as the pics above:

On the evening, we dimmed the lights to get a chill-out ambience, which made for the darkest workshop I have ever led! The ladies were pleased with the outcome of their work, and the final peel of masking tape was universally met with a wow moment.

There are a few kit-form signs left – let me know if you are interested and I will get them to you. If there is interest from makers, I will make the cut file available – again, just let me know. For completeness, I list each sign below with the order I removed the masking tape and other making notes. All paint was applied using a stippling motion rather than brushing to avoid pushing paint under the tape.

1) outline of arrow (gold)
2) red border and arrow (two shades)
3) purple lettering (two shades)
4) remove remainder of masking
5) add white highlights with Posca pen

1) Remove masking from all but the letters
2) Paint the foliage (two tones, dark on left, light on right)
3) Paint the trunk, add shading with black
4) Remove masking from lettering

1) Remove masking from all lettering
2) Paint with two shades of blue
3) Remove remaining masking

1) Remove outer border and paint with gold
2) Remove masking from lettering and paint with gradient between two shades of teal
3) Dry off with heat tool
4) Apply layer of matt medium and sprinkle with holographic glitter
5) Remove remainder of masking

1) Remove masking from ‘breathe’ and paint grey
2) Remove masking from ‘just’ and lotus flower and paint pink
3) Remove remainder of masking

1) Remove outer border, keeping circles in place, paint purple
2) Remove masking from first line of text and paint grey
3) Remove masking from remaining text and paint with gradient between two shades of pink
4) Remove circles and colour yellow with Posca pen
5) Remove remaining masking and add highlights with white Posca pen
6) Add Stardust stickles glue to the yellow circles