A Splash of Colour

It was my Birthday week this week. I must say it has been one of the best birthdays in awhile. I turned 58 and while I am retired, covid still has us in its grips. I have been kind of feeling like I am going nowhere. Which I am. It gets kind of depressing after awhile.

My Birthday week started a couple of weeks ago with a beautiful gift of a fitbit watch (with a purple band because you know, purple) from my girlfriend Kim and just got better from there.

My daughter Tanya and I were chatting and I said I wish I could make a QR code for my book From Housewife to Vanlife. I have a few places that if they are ever allowed to open up will display them for sale. Unfortunately with the border closed I cannot get my author copies for resale because they only ship to the US. Now normally it would not be an issue I would just ship them to Cush’s house and a quick trip to Chicago and I have my books. He could ship them but the cost of both shipping charges and the cost of the books really does not make for any profit. If I had a QR code I could put it on the display they could just scan it and order it. She looked at me and said I have an app for that! Happy Birthday!!! Ohhhh most excellent. It has its own little roadway design and I love the look and convenience it will bring to my readers. The Birthday dinner of homemade burgers with both my girls and my son-in-law and a wonderful day at the park with my grandsons rounded out a perfect day!

The next bright spot came from my other daughter Katelyn. We were talking about marketing my website and creating more of a visual recognition of my brand ChipmunksRVLife. A good start would be a logo. I could put it on mugs or shirts or anything and sell it on an online store. I could also paint it on my van to advertise my website. She has hired an artist and by the end of July I will have a new professionally done logo for building my nomad income! I so cannot wait to see it. Stay tuned for that!!

As wonderful as that was it did not stop there. My girlfriend Diane and I had been talking about the ugly beige material inside my Roadtrek that really had seen its time. I had tried to clean it with an upholstery cleaner but the many years had taken its toll. I would love to be able to paint it. She said we could do that. I decided on a grey colour to go with the purple curtains and carpets. We did a little research on fabric painting and Chalked paint looked like the best choice.

A little taping and a little painting and I cannot believe the difference it made. We did discover that you needed to use different painting styles with the different fabric. The fabric on the walls is a weave material and needs to be painted in circles. We should have got the round brush. A small brush with small amounts of paint brushed lightly on and worked into the fabric.

The material on the doors is a velveteen type material and required smooth brush strokes in the same wave as the fabric and more paint on the brush.

There was one more surprise in store for me. I had ordered a new runner carpet for the hallway. Shipping said it would come by July 18th. It arrived June 14th. The day before my birthday! What a great accessory it made for my new interior.

I am so pleased with the renovations on the inside of the van I am moving to the outside. It has started by removing the brown pinstripping down the middle. It is so much a cleaner look! I love it!!