Russty Bucket- etsy shop review & discount code

back in november i wrote about my new internet girlfriend. really, its true love guys. im fairly certain we were separated at birth (and might be long lost triplets with leslie as well). but anyway... we've continued to get closer and closer (emotionally, not distance-ly. texas is soooo far! and warmer. i think i need to move). although stephanie lives in texas, her heart is in ohio. and after much searching i found the most perfect christmas gift for her on etsy:

from RusstyBucket

amazing, right? i had never seen anything like this, and i knew she just HAD to have it. i wasnt sure, however, if she would want the large wooden piece, or if it would fit in her house, and it was a little pricey in shipping (as it should be, youre shipping a huge piece of wood!)

so i got to thinking... "i wonder if i email the owner of this shop and see what he can do for me"... hmmmm. i gave it a shot, why not? drew loman, owner of Russty Bucket, got back to me very quickly and was definitely willing to help me out. i had asked if i could get a print that i could frame instead of it being painted on the wood. not only did he send me the print, he made a bunch of different copies with a few different shades of color and size so i could choose which one i wanted to frame for her! he quickly set up a private sale and i had the prints in my hand in less than a week. i was so happy with the product, and stephanie loved it too!

a little bit about drew and his shop:

"Growing up in rural Ohio, I would often see old barns fall after years of neglect and abandonment. So, in the fall of 2012, I began salvaging usable materials from these barns and quickly found myself enjoying it's uniqueness and charm.

During that time, I noticed that a lot of the barns had homestead names with established dates on them. I felt this was important to telling the story of the barn because in a lot of instances, the name on the barn was not who lived there anymore. So in a way It was sort of a memorial. 

This stuck with me as I created these homestead designs and I felt like I was giving the barn a new life while reclaiming it's purpose and giving it a new home. I wanted to create something significant to the vernacular nature of the material. While paying homage to these old, truly unique structures, I feel that authenticity is very important. I know my wife and family enjoy these pieces, and I hope you will too."

SOOOO... it kind of started like that, then I decided "what the hell" I'm kind of an artist, so I decided to make other designs inspired by the people close to me, or what I thought would sell the best in my area. It all just kind of snowballed and took on a life of it's own.

During this time I'm also finishing up my undergrad in architecture. This venture became so awesome I was able to quite my designer job at Lowes and focus on this until I graduate. 

I'm looking into making some of own conceptual art and expressive interpretation with architecture on barn wood. I find it's just an awesome "and mostly inexpensive" canvas to work on. I just opened a new shop called ArtitextureStudio that is in it's bare bones stage with only one listing. I'll focus more on that after I graduate this December. 

I love to Design, Draw, Make, Run, Eat, Drink and Be happy!"

when we get a bigger house where the front entry way has more space, i would LOVE to get a sign made like this one he has in his shop (with Sterling Est. 2011 of course haha)

i asked drew if i could showcase him on my blog and he not only said yes but also generously created a coupon code just for my readers from now through the end of february. go check out his shop and see if there is anything that you might enjoy!

enter WELCOME2014 at checkout and receive 14% off your order! a huge thank you to drew for being so flexible and working with me on this gift!!