many of the pieces that i feature on my store are ones that are born from my very own little head…ideas that are inspired by kiddos’ bedding i see, or a color palette, or from something that i think little mr. re-nest would like. something that i also do is work with clients directly on something totally custom for their homes. sometimes its for their kiddos’ spaces, sometimes its for the parents’ places.

over the past two weeks, i’ve had the honor of working with a great mom in texas on a piece that is for her growing kiddo’s bedroom. and because many don’t realize how this process works, i thought i’d take the opportunity to share the process with you all…it’s nothing earth-shattering, but it’s a little glimpse into answering the question i often hear, “how do you come up with this stuff?”

in this case, this mama found re-nest studio organically through etsy (woohoo! i love when new fans find me through their love of etsy!). from here, it was super simple….here’s a little overview of what we did:

* we started a conversation through etsy. this mama told me that she was in the process of getting her toddler ready to move into her big kid bed…and with that came looking for new bedding. she was on the search and while searching for just the right bedding, we had a chat about what she was looking for…a piece that would grow with her little one and not be something that might just work for the next couple of years.

* once she found the perfect bedding, she sent me the link so i could get a feel for the tone and feel she was going with in the room. and the colors too. and she sent along some thoughts that she had for what she wanted the piece to convey.

* we worked through color schemes and sizing of the canvas…totally important because i can pretty much do pieces on any size canvas (within reason because i have to be able to ship it) and because i have no idea how much space client’s have in their room. we settled on a canvas size. finalizing color schemes is one of my favorite parts…because it means i get to do some sketches and work directly with clients on what’s dreamed up in my little head.

* we settled on a design via sketch and i get started on the piece….a very special 12″ h x 36″w canvas with lime green, hot pink, and orange color scheme with a “heal the world” theme.

the sketch with some options for layout

* then, i started my work…painting the canvas first and letting it set. (note here: we got hit with a little bout of the flu in the re-nest house, so i got a little side-tracked at this point.)

the painted canvas

* next came testing out the cuts i needed with the cricut…i needed a large earth graphic and the headline “heal the world.” i ended up using a graphic from my give a hoot cartridge and also going with the font from plantin schoolbook. it took a couple of test tries with scrap paper, but i found my sizing for the earth and for my wording…up next was cutting on my actual paper and assembling.

pretty cool earth graphic, huh?

getting stuff positioned on the canvas

* last up was to adhere everything to the canvas…in this process, i was about to adhere the lettering and decided it needed something more than just flat lettering. it needed some dimension. (i find it always helps me too to get an extra opinion, which is where mr. re-nest is very helpful. he has a great eye and i trust his judgement, so he helped me out a bit on this one too.)

the finished piece!

that’s kinda the method to the madness (if you can even call it madness…). i love doing what i do with my re-nest clients and love coming up with new and cute pieces that work well for special spaces. it’s such an honor and very cool to know that one of my pieces is going to grow with a growing little one in texas….

here’s to being a little creative everyday,
ashley