Saturday, March 28, 2015

DIY Wall Art

So after my recent bedroom makeover, I decided, why not redo our bathroom as well? I found a modern damask shower curtain with pops of black and turquoise and used that as my inspiration. I painted the bathroom a warm gray color and knew I wanted a large picture to hang above the tub but couldn't find one that I loved. The previous picture that hung there no longer worked but I really wanted to use the large black frame from it to save some money and it worked well in that space.

After much pursuing on Pinterest I came across some inspiration using metallic spray paint, yarn, and rows of favorite colors of spray paint to create an original piece for my frame and I decided to give it a try and LOVE the result!
Here's the steps to create your very own...
First use a piece of poster board if you're framing or canvas if not and spray paint the whole thing with whatever color you want to be the background, meaning what you'll see when you pull your 
mask, yarn, off. I used metallic foil silver for mine. Gold would be fun, too! Once dry use yarn cut in 
pieces and lay them all over, crisscrossing, making angles, however you want. I found it easier to lay three or four in place to determine how much contrast I wanted and then used washi tape to secure on back on top and bottom, continuing until I was happy with the look of the yarn.
Once my yarn was secure I used black spray paint to go from left to right, back and forth until I liked the color and let that dry. Next I used turquoise spray paint and finally white.
The hardest part was waiting for it to dry so I could tear off the washi on the back and pull off the pieces of yarn to reveal my design!
And here it is in my bathroom. My photography skills do not do it justice but I just love the result! I see I need to update my candles now that I see this picture! :) The possibilities are seriously endless with this technique! I see a few trips to Home Depot for more colors of spray paint in my future! 

Happy Saturday! 

Monday, March 23, 2015

Gossamer Blue Cards from Scraps

So lots of leftovers from the February kit and no, haven't even opened the March one. Heading to Colorado for meetings this week with work but hoping to get to it next weekend once I'm home. But in the meantime, creating tons of cards with the leftovers after a few layouts and project life spread so beware, lots of pictures but here's what I was able to make with the extra bits and a Sunday afternoon...






Thanks for stopping! Happy Monday!


Saturday, March 21, 2015

Love Is...Gossamer Blue

Happy Saturday! I had a fun little getaway to sunny Arizona and getting back into the swing of things here at home. Busy spring and of course, the weather outside makes it hard to justify staying inside at all but I had a lot of my last kit from Gossamer Blue left and decided to put it to use on some sweet puppy layouts. I'd had a layout from October Afternoon's blog that you can find here that I loved titled Love Is and I thought it would be perfect for a puppy page.
I had a picture of each daughter I wanted to highlight on a layout for each of their albums. In a short amount of time I laid out the first one and copied the same one using different strips of paper nd such, die cut the same title at one time, and stitched all the strips on each at the same time, making it convenient to add the little details that I love without taking a lot of time. So that is Graci's and here is Addi's...
I still have quite a bit left for cards so loving the versatility of these kits and thrilled to have two layouts to add to the girls' albums!

Time to get back to it here...hope you're having a fabulous weekend wherever you are!:)

Friday, March 13, 2015

Travel Light

Packing for a carefree quick trip to visit my parents in AZ, it's 90 and sunny so my bag is fairly light when it comes to clothing and the daily requirement necessary to lounge in the sun, hang out, and basically just chill for four solid days. Just me. So, yes, my bag to be checked is packed light for the journey.

My carry on however, has a whole lot of necessary possibilities and every other what if option packed  heavy with the weight of what it takes to live in tight control of my diabetes. The basic daily items I carry with me always, my little pack that holds my OmniPod device, Dexcom sensor, bottle of strips and my dandy pricker that I carry with me from room to room at home, so much so that I consider this little pack a part of me. That's the easy usual part. Next comes the burden of what if my pump fails or I lose my device? What if the two extra pods I have for site changes don't work for some reason? What are the odds? Maybe pack two extra? And an extra site change for my sensor as I just put a new one on and I always get over a week or two with each but what if it fails? This is a vacation, I might be a bit off of routine and need that sensor the next four days more than ever! So maybe two extra? And if the pump fails I'd better bring an insulin pen and a pack of needles. But if it fails like soon, maybe on my flight even, I'd better pack a few extra bags of needles for my insulin pen. And just in case I'm that much off, and all else fails, I'd better pack glucagon, which I've used only once in my 35 years of diabetes but you just never know. Okay, I've thought through the what ifs, got my two daily oral meds filled two days ago and my vial of insulin, plus an extra, just in case that one falls on the tile floor in the kitchen and shatters...or do my parents have linoleum? Just in case I'll pack one extra vial. And of course, this is in my carry on because if it were in my checked luggage it could be in the heat too long or lost...
So I am all set with my light travel checked and my heavy bag with me (the actual weight of all these glorious goods really isn't much, it's more the stress of the what ifs, forgetting, remembering, the emotional burden of it all on me and my poor husband who hears me go over it all every time I travel, that is heavy). I don't consider my Canon lens part of my diabetes pack but sure hope I remembered to pack that in my bag now that I uploaded the above photo! :) What if I could check my diabetes, or even the bag that carries it all, for my two hour flight? Now that sounds light! I'm on my way to vacation, a girl can dream can't she? :)

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Project Life February 2015

Had my Gossamer Blue February kit waiting for some free time for me to get another month in the books. Loved the large, fun colored enamel dots and pops of navy in this kit. And so happy still with my monthly PL layout versus weekly. Still enjoying the process, which is what it's all about!
A few close ups of some of my favorite details of the layout...
Sweet guest check accented a night out for pizza to celebrate Graci's 11th birthday with friends. Looking back as I finished up February makes me realize how busy but fun this last month was! Special little moments that may have otherwise been forgotten are now added to our story, to our history, love that part most of this process! Here are the finished pages, left to right...

Thanks for stopping by...well into the month of March and excited about the possibilities for this months layout in a few weeks, also happy to know I can keep up with this process! :) Hope the sun is shining where you are, spring has definitely sprung here in SD!



Monday, March 2, 2015

SSS March Kit

My Simon Says Stamp kit for March arrived and it is bright and elegant with gold, yellow and black. At first glance I wasn't sure about the look but once I got all the pieces laid out and started creating, I fell in love with this kit!
The die strip that adds a row of dots is so versatile and adds a pop to the bottom of the above card.

It was fun to design my own backgrounds with the stamp set, adding a few special touches with the black liquid pearls.

I created these plus five others, using the guide provided, in one afternoon. Thanks for stopping by...

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Display Board

If you read my blog recently you may recall a few updates I've been working on in our master bedroom. Upcycling the drapes and updating the look, which I'm loving more as time goes by. I still have those finishing touches to add with random projects and am so excited to get this one hanging on the wall!
I used leftover papers from a Studio Calico kit and cut files from SC as well. I created the I heart you cut piece and blessed sketch with my Silhouette, adding in a few of my absolute favorite memories from this past year and this display was complete in no time! This is a jewelry organizer inside so it adds function and fun at the same time, love that!
This is a quote that I adore and love having near my nightstand, a sentiment that will be a sweet reminder with each morning and night.

Hope your weekend has been a good one. Graci celebrated her 11th birthday with a sleepover and going to visit the puppies so we are taking it easy today...