Happy March!

I can't believe its already March!  I'm feeling pretty good though because I've already completed a lot of goals on my 2012 to do list.  I'm rockin this year.  Are you still working on your resolutions or did you already forget what they were?  Take more pictures....check.  Learn how to work my sewing machine....check.  Explore my new home of Utah.....check.  Run a half marathon.......almost check!  I didn't tell anyone about that goal in case I decided to chicken out.  I don't know what got into me but I looked up races and I'm doing one on June 23rd. For reaaalz.  So this is my public announcement to the world so that I can't chicken out.

It snowed!  That's enough though. I'm ready for Spring.  Perry helped me shovel the driveway by scooping up snow and dropping it back in the same spot.  Oh and he made homes for squirrels in the snow. Don't ask.

Perry took this picture of me and proceeded to have a laughing attack saying that I looked hilarious.  That made me feel awweeessomee.

We had some time to kill while Evan was at soccer practice.  So, I made the game of Perry running by and seeing how blurry he could get in the picture.  He was AMAZED.  So he ran for the whole practice while I sat on a bench.  I'm a genius.

They're having a contest for who's the best DIY blog over at Apartment Therapy.  Tons of cool blogs to discover if you feel like browsing!  

Changes

Hey! So motivation kicked in suddenly and finally.  I did a little spring cleaning and finally changed the look of this here blog.  Notice anything different?  I've been struggling to make it look just how I want it while trying to learn the html language but I think I'll settle on how it is now.  I also renewed my goals of weight loss.  Current goals for me are working out 4-6 times a week and keeping my calories to a certain number.  As past trends have shown though, I'm motivated for a day or two with those goals until I ultimately talk myself into a treat, a pat on my back for doing so well the past day (or the past half a day).  Mac and cheese for lunch?  Yep I must deserve it since I worked out yesterday. That thinking happens all too often unfortunately which has the result of maintaining weight...not losing.    So since I'm more of a visual girl I made a calendar to have on my wall and account every day how I'm doing.  The new goal is to be able to check off the boxes for goals completed most days of the week.   I figure if I'm struggling to be able to check off the boxes then it'll be pretty obvious why I'm stuck at the same weight for the past 6 weeks.


Bonus.....if you have similar goals and want to have the calendars as well you sure can!  They're clickable and printable.  

I'll be adding the following months later on so check back in April if you want May and June and......

Canvas Art DIY

I made these fun pieces of art by transferring photographs of both of my grandmothers (aren't they beauties?) onto canvas and gave them as Christmas presents this year.  So easy to do and inexpensive and totally unique.  Sounds like a perfect do-it-yourself to me.  I've seen it before but Elsie from A Beautiful Mess gave a great tutorial that got me started.


You need:
--canvas board (like the kind that you'd image an artist painting on) - purchase at any craft store.  Tip: they range from cheap to spendy and for this project you can get cheap ones. They go on sale all the time.  I got these two 8X10 boards for $4 at Hobby Lobby.
--gel medium - also purchase at craft stores like Michaels or Amazon.
--paint brush
--photo copy of your image in the same size as your canvas (it will reverse during transfer so if you pick an image with writing you'll want to get a reversed image when you copy it).  I chose old family photographs and its such a beautiful way to display those.  Old photos are almost ALWAYS gorgeous.  Also it won't work if you just try to print it at your home printer. Just get your butt over to Kinkos okay?

1. Paint the gel medium over your canvas.  This is what does the transferring so make sure its thick and covering the entire board.  It'll clog your sink a little as well so its best to wash it off as much as possible elsewhere or let water run for awhile when you clean your brush. 

2. Place your image face down onto the canvas and just push down with your fingertips all over.  You gotta let it dry over night (or at least a few hours).  I know that sucks when you're excited to see it but......wait til its DRY.

3.  Once its DRY....wet the paper with your paint brush.  You might want to start in one area to get the feel of how wet it needs to be.  Not soaked, but enough that the paper begins to peel as you rub it. 

4. With your fingertip gently start rubbing the paper and it will start to come off.  Be careful so that you don't rub too far that the image comes off as well.  It gives it a cool look though to have some places come up.  Just work with it.  Each piece is different and love whatever you get.  I purposely scrubbed a little harder along the edges and corners for that uneven look.

Keep at it.  The rubbing off process takes time and you don't want to rush it.  Get off as much as you think is right. Let it dry.  If it looks grayish still and you're not getting black blacks - then there's still paper on there. Get it wet and rub it off again until you get what you want.  

5. Once it is done and ready, cover with one more coat of gel medium to protect the image from peeling more. 

Elsie's piece 

I love how they turn out!  Such a fun alternative to simply framing and hanging.   

Home For the Holidays

Source: Sweet Paul

Source: Kid Spot

A little late on the decoration ideas, being Christmas Eve and all.  But loving these ideas for next year....something to look forward to!  Here is a tutorial for the Letter Garland as well.  Loving the idea of words all over the walls.  Festive.  

Merry Christmas Eve.  Sleep tight! 

Sewing Cats

Figuring out my sewing machine is one of my new years resolutions this year.  I've even started an online tutorial type of class that's apparently going to help me teach myself.  I'm going to be a sewer before you know it.  Sewer? I might have made that word up. But that's what I'm going to be anyways.  Its happening.....and I've got my eye on this quilt by Merrilee of Mer Mag.  Its so fun right!?  She's put together a step by step on how to sew this quilt in her cat design. Maybe its a little ambitious for me right now but its definitely giving me goals and getting my wheels turning.  I'm going to be a sewer.  

Feed Your Soul

Leah Duncan 

                        

Kelly Puissegur

So I came across this really amazing site called Feed Your Soul where artist's are donating some of their really cool work....for free! To me. To you. To anyone that wants it.  So those of us on a budget can still brighten our homes with some talented creativeness.  One of my favorite artists, Leah Duncan, donated a piece and I can't wait to print it out and find a place on my wall for it. So cool. That's all.  

Angela Traunig

Sew Your Own Skirt Project

Make your own skirt in an hour? Yes please!  I love how simple and easy this project is.  You basically just need a sewing machine and some awesome fabric and just about anyone can make their own skirt. So fun. Now if I could only figure out how to thread my sewing machine...


Check out the tutorial and video here on the Etsy Blog by Brett Bara, author of How To Sew in a Straight Line.

printmaking a cake

This cake is so rad, mostly because it was created using printmaking methods.  So unique! And so fun! Found here with do it yourself instructions.

free fonts

I have a little project that i'm dreaming up that needs some cool fonts.  i found some here by kevin and amanda.  they're so fun and so easy to load on your computer (for free!).  now i just have to decide which one is my favorite...

fishtail braid

So I was remembering the days when fishtails were all the rage.  I still think they're so gorgeous, just not as common, which I love!  I've always been in favor of parts of the 80s...so world, I'm bringing them back into my life. 

They're so easy to do.  Here is a really great tutorial if you want to try and I suggest that you do! 

Custom Guest Book

One of my favorite projects to date was this custom wedding guest book.  She wanted personalized sayings throughout the book making it so special.  I LOVED how it turned out!  I used my transfer technique that I mentioned in an earlier blog post.
 

Make your own 'stamps'

This is one technique of transferring images and I use it all the time!  The process is similar to that of stamping, but you can make as many as you want for almost no cost.

What you will need:
-'Chartpak' blender pen    (you can get these at any art supply store)
-access to a copy machine   (can't be a laser printer - go to a kinko's or copy store to find an old one)
-100% acetone

Step 1:
Go get a copy of your image.  As with all transferring, the image will be flipped so make sure to get a mirrored copy (especially if you have writing!).   You can only use each copy one time so I recommend getting several copies.

Step 2:
Put the copy face down on the paper that you want to transfer on to.  If you have a new Chartpak pen you can just color on the paper over where the image is.  Make sure to scrub over it with the end of the pen to get a darker line.  Keep one finger down at all times and just lift part of the paper up to see if it transferred all of the image (if you move the paper you won't be able to put it back on the exact same spot 99.9% of the time!).
Chartpak pens are expensive, but if it runs out...don't throw it away!  You can dip it into Acetone and that will do the transfer just as good.  (if you don't have a Chartpak blender you could try using an old marker but make sure the ink is TOTALLY dried up)

Step 3:
Marvel at how awesome it looks :)

That's all there is to it!  You can transfer onto almost anything!  Leather, material, paper, etc.....just play around and experiment.