A Family Name Sign Gift Idea
Well, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks and heading in to the end of the year, I’m sensing it’s about to get even busier! On the blog today we talk “Hometalk”, workshops, and strangers becoming friends …
Hometalk Live:
I have had the privilege lately of doing a few DIY live demo’s with the USA DIY network, Hometalk.
If you have been looking for gift ideas for family and friends, here’s a Family Name Sign I demo’d over on Hometalk’s Facebook page during this week’s Live DIY demo. You can watch the whole demo here:
I also show you how to make it HERE on my blog.
It’s a great idea for a Christmas gift or Wedding gift, Anniversary or birthday too.
A bit about Hometalk Live Demo’s …
This is the third Live DIY demo I have done for Hometalk over on their Facebook page, and I tell you, as easy as it looks, these things can be pretty nerve wracking!! It is so different than doing one of my Youtube tutorials where I can stop and start again and chop out and edit bits and pieces. These demo’s are LIVE, friends and that means a whole lotta “getting it together” and brain focus! Eek, I’m telling you, my head feels exhausted after each one and I feel like I need at least a half hour quiet space of just laying down and either sleeping or thinking “nothing” thoughts – haha!
However, AFTER filming each Live demo, I also need to jump over and take time to follow up on comments and questions that come up during the live show, since when you are in demo mode, you don’t have the ability to scroll through and answer comments as you go – they come so fast, you can barely read them in time, let alone try and concentrate on the craft you are trying to demo.
The reach on these Live video’s is crazy!
Hometalk do a great job of advertising and scheduling their Facebook Live videos and other content, and have monitored their analytics and schedule these at their optimum reach times on a regular daily/weekly basis. I love to watch what companies like Hometalk are doing to improve their reach and effectively their “voice” in the online community, and we can learn so much from their business sense. So if you’re a small business or blogger, take notes of what others are doing in your industry and learn how to do likewise!
Sign boards all prepped ready for a Live demo!
When Hometalk booked me to do this live demo, I already had one lady booked in to a Transferring Graphics workshop in my studio that same morning, so I emailed my workshop lady, Libby and asked if she’d like to come early and join in watching the Live demo. She was keen, so she joined us Friday morning and watched from the sidelines along with my awesome friend, Sharene, even chiming in with a question for me during the demo.
My friend Sharene is an amazing help, and Libby who came to watch before her workshop.
Time for a Workshop – Transferring Graphics 101
Immediately after the Live demo, I jumped into our one-on-one workshop, teaching Libby all the tricks I’ve learned in transferring graphics onto furniture, signs, etc.
Using Fusion’s Transfer Gel to transfer an image onto painted wood.
I love one-on-one workshops and small group workshops where you can chat and get to know each other as you work. Smaller groups are easier to teach so that you can give more thorough assistance to those who are learning, especially beginners.
Painting a sign with Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint colour – French Enamel
A beach themed stencil by My Stencil Lady.
Libby and I had such a great time chatting as we worked and found so much common ground, even realizing we share the same wedding anniversary date! Our kids went to the same school, we’d both lived in this area for many years, we have similar faith backgrounds, we both love sewing and crafting, and the list went on …
Strangers & Friends
If you had the chance to watch our Hometalk Live demo on Friday, you would’ve seen that we had a giveaway during the broadcast. I was giving away these four replica Antique Canning labels that came from my great-great grandfather’s cannery here in Brisbane.
To win these unique can labels, the Hometalk viewers were asked the question “What would you put on your sign?” We had some great answers rolling in, but our winning answer was from Patty Allen in North Carolina, who told us she would make her sign say, “ENTER AS STRANGERS … LEAVE AS FRIENDS”. My good friend, Sharene helped me pick this winning sign.
It wasn’t until after Libby left our one-on-one workshop, that I thought how fitting that sign would be for my workshop space. After only three hours in a Friday morning workshop, we had chatted about all sorts of things, found some great common ground and my new friend, Libby had entered my workshop as a stranger, and left as a friend.
My new friend, Libby and her signs made at our workshop.
What a great week!
If you’re interested in attending one of our workshops, they are held in Heritage Park, QLD.
We are adding different workshops all the time, so if you don’t see one that interests you just yet, please subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll let you know when more workshops come available.