Thursday, November 3, 2011

long time no see.

It has been quite some time since I last updated...I have been on a bit of a hiatus I suppose. While life has been moving swiftly and lots has been happening, none of it was particularly good things. There has been a lot of loss these past couple months...and I think that it will suffice to say that while not all of those who I have lost in the past couple months I have been particularly close to...nor have they all been human, it has just been tough. That is all I have to say about that thought because there is also a lot of positive change that is starting to take place.

First, married life. Hello, amazing. I love having someone to come home to (even when we are cranky). I enjoy mornings like this morning where we can wake up together, talk over a cuppa and just be with each other. I love it.

I also am going to be starting a new 'job' in December! While it is not a job that is 'using my degree' per-say, it is a wonderful opportunity for me and a great change for Noah and I. I will be working as a nanny for a family that lives right around the corner from us! I will be working 3 days a week on salary and get all holidays off (paid). The family knows Noah and is comfortable with him coming over while I am working if it turns into a late night as both parents have some busy jobs. That being said, this sunday is my last day working at Starbucks! I am so incredibly excited for this. It has been a great journey with Starbucks but it is time to move on and this was the perfect opportunity to do something I love and move away from coffee!

and lastly, I have begun to settle in more and start decorating and I wanted to show you a fun and cute little DIY that I did to hang in our living room.

Monogram Canvas (adapted from this tutorial.)

You will need
a canvas (or picture frame) whatever size you would like
12" paper doilies
Krylon paper spray adhesive
Fabric paint
paint brush
fabric you love
staple gun

So here are all the supplies I used:

First you will need to pick the fabric you want and lay the canvas (or frame--without the glass--on the wrong side of the fabric face down) get your staple gun and start attaching the fabric to the canvas. be sure to stretch it tight as you staple.

once that is all done cut any excess fabric off and move onto this step:

this is the fun part. You will use the Krylon spray on the doily and place it on the fabric wherever you want it to be and press it gently onto your canvas to ensure a good bond. Then you start to paint. make sure that as you paint you don't get too sloppy with it or else it can bleed under the doily edges and blur the pretty designs. once you are done painting you simply peel the doily away from the canvas
once the doily is peeled all the way off you will have something like this


Now is the monogram part. I did mine freehand...but I have also made those canvas bags this was adapted from before and with those I did trace the letters. The choice is yours, I wanted a bit more of a whimsical look so I went freehand and this is what I came out with

So, that's it! Easy peasy, nothing ground breaking here, just something I thought I would share. Hope that you enjoyed it :)


And lastly these past couple months, I have had a lot more time on my hands to do some creative things and that always just thrills me. In all this time I have thought about making some things to sell as well and have made a few examples of these things to show you all! If you are at all interested in buying any of the things listed below, let me know. For the month of November I will not be working at all and would love to be able to create some lovely things for you all (remember, Christmas is coming up and some of these could make great gifts for people you know!)

First up is probably my favorite!

Embroidered Stationary. The embroidery is all hand stitched, it is all my hand writing and made with lots of love :)
( I also have made one that says 'Thanks' but it is at the top of the paper and not the bottom corner so it didn't picture as pretty with all of these)

Next is something that was inspiring to me on two levels:
Gift bows made from magazine pages! I have tons of magazines that I didn't want to go to waste and this is the perfect blend of functionality and repurposing! here are some pictures of some I have made:

(If you wish to make your own, find the tutorial here)

Next I have a couple different hair things,

this is a braided headband out of fabric:

and this is a lovely, whimsical flower for your hair (the one pictured is attached to a hair band but it could be placed on a bobby pin as well)



So that is that. Those are the happenings of my life. Bravo if you hung in there to read all the way down here! Ha!

With love from a comfy place on the couch with a cuppa,
Whitney

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