Wednesday, August 31, 2011

last day to enter!

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter to win the UPrinting.com giveaway!


If you haven't already entered, click here for your chance to win!

Needs some ideas on how you would design your letterhead?

Check out some of their customer's designs here!

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Monday, August 29, 2011

tears

When I was little my parents would sing "It's All In The Game" while rocking me to sleep.

I swear I remember being in my mom's arms while she rocked and sang this.

When Izzy was born it was the first song I sang to her.

Occassionally, she'll want to be rocked before bed, and when I ask her what she wants me to sing she'll reply, "tears".


When it gets to the part where he sings, "and he'll kiss your lips" she turns her head in and gives me a kiss, every time.

She now sings along with me the best she can, and I get teary eyed imagining my little one holding her little one while singing this same song :)



~ Psst!!!  Don't forget to enter the Uprinting.com giveaway here.  There aren't many entered so your chances of winning are pretty good ;D  Last chance to enter ends Wednesday August 31st at 11:59 pm CST. 



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Thursday, August 25, 2011

wanna win something???

I thought so :D

UPrinting.com has graciously offered a giveaway to one of my readers!!!




UPrinting.com offers several products for your business including Letterhead Printing and Letterhead Design, and even products for your home like Wedding Envelopes and even Canvas Printing.

One lucky winner will receive:

500 pcs. Letterheads for One (1) winner
5.5” x 8.5"
70lb Offset
Front Only Printing
4 Business Days Print Turnaround Time
*Free Shipping
Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only

How to Enter:

MANDATORY - Become a follower of Crazy Wonderful via Google Friend Connect under the Friends tab on my sidebar, and leave me a comment including your email {can be in the form of name(at)provider(dot)com} telling me how you would use your letterhead - business or pleasure.

If you have already won the same print giveaway from UPrinting in the past six months, please be advised that I will have to choose a new winner.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES - Leave a separate comment {including your email} for each
  •  "Like" UPrinting.com on Facebook
  • Blog about the giveaway linking to this post, and include your link in your comment
  • Facebook about the giveaway, and include your link in your comment
  • Snag a Crazy Wonderful button for your blog
Giveaway ends Wednesday, August 31st 11:59pm CST.

One random winner will be announced September 1st!

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive letterhead printing service by hosting. Letterhead design inspiration and wedding envelopes is also available. Please visit UPrinting.com for more details.

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Monday, August 22, 2011

typography wall art - tutorial

I posted about making changes to my living room here a couple of weeks back.

It's actually changed even more since then, but I'll let you in on that in another post!

So, one of the changes was adding in some subway"ish" wall art to one of the walls.  I say subway"ish" since it's not technically subway art, but you get my drift ;D


I thought I'd show you how I did it since I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in the world without a Silhouette machine.  Although, there are times it seems that way!  So, this is the old school way to make them :D

What you'll need:
  • wood panel (I used two precut 16x36 pieces found at Lowes, want to say they were around $12 ea.)
  • primer (not a must)
  • paint for background
  • paint marker/pen
  • sand paper
  • stain
  • poly
  • computer with printer and paper
  • chalk
  • pencil
  • tape
  •  hanging hardware
STEP ONE:  Prime your piece of wood.  This is optional.  I did it because I wanted to see some of the gray primer show through when I distressed it.



STEP TWO:  Paint on your background color and let dry.


STEP THREE:  Using your computer, print out the wording you want.  I was looking around Pinterest for ideas (Ummm... ADDICTING) and found inspiration from a print by Made By Girl that I thought would be perfect.  I used Microsoft Publisher and created a custom sized page design to match the size of my pieces of wood (16"x36"). After I played around with font size and layout, I changed the font to an outline form so that when I printed it out I didn't waste a bunch of ink.

Line up and tape together your sheets of paper.

STEP FOUR:  Flip the paper over and rub the entire backside with chalk.
STEP FIVE:  Position the paper on the piece of wood and trace around the words with a pencil.

Remove the paper and you will have a chalk outline of your words.

STEP SIX:  Use a paint marker to trace and fill in the words.  Let dry.



STEP SEVEN:  If you'd like, distress the edges and lightly sand over the front of the entire piece.  To give it a little more of an aged look you can dip a paper towel into some stain and rub it over the front and edges.



STEP EIGHT:  Apply a thin coat of poly and let dry.


STEP NINE:  Attach hanging hardware.  I took mine off an old mirror I wasn't using.


STEP TEN:  Enjoy!!!


I'll be linking up to these fab parties!


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permanent marker v. me

Thank you so much for all of your comments regarding the permanent marker incident.



It really does make me feel better knowing I'm not the only one whose child is entertained by giving their mothers heart attacks ;D

And, thanks for all of the tips you had for trying to remove "art" from the walls!  Anytime I'd get a new tip I'd run over to give it a shot.

Here's a little run down on what I tried - what worked and what didn't - in case you run into this in the future.

Something to keep in mind is that I used flat paint in my living room, which I'm sure makes a difference when trying to remove permanent marker.

Magic Eraser

Took off the marker... AND the paint :(

(I did use it on my semi-gloss trim and cabinets and any scuffs came off beautifully.  I'll definintely use this bad boy in the future for those)


Rubbing Alcohol

Similar result to the Magic Eraser - took off the marker and the paint


Baking Soda & Water Paste

Unfortunately did nothing :(


WD-40

Took off some of the marker and a little bit of paint.  It did leave behind a greasy mark, which probably wouldn't have been that noticable had it not been on flat paint.


So, the only solution ended up being...

Primer and Paint.

The takeaway from all of this, since it's probably frowned upon to tie your children's hands behind their backs when you need to step away from the room (I kid, I kid - no need to alert the authorities!), is to make sure you have some leftover paint for touchups.  Or, make sure you save the color formula label from the paint can so you can easily have more remixed if needed.

I actually think I broke Izzy's heart by painting over her masterpiece.  She was a little bummed when she walked over and saw it wasn't there the next morning.  Is it weird that I feel bad about that?!

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Friday, August 19, 2011

robert smith called...

He'd like his hair back.



Izzy has been waking up with some fierce bed head lately.

She'll touch it and give me this confused look like, "What's on my head?"

I can't help but see the similarities :D





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Thursday, August 18, 2011

looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue...


I got out of the shower today and found this


PER-MA-NENT marker.

I didn't even know we had one.

You know when you're too upset to exhale or even make a sound?

Yep.  I was there.

Maybe I could just add some frames to it and make it part of the gallery wall...


Looks like I'll be painting today... again.

You see, not even an hour before this "incident" I was going around the house with my handy-dandy little paint toucher-upper fixing little scuffs.

I guess she thought she was helping me.

Thanks babe.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

come visit me

Today you can find me at...


I'll be doing a little somethin' somethin' on how to dress up these bad boys...



that I think you'll like!

Stop by, say hi, and make time to stay a while because you'll fall in love with Julia and her blog.

Check out these pictures of her gorgeous house!!!




I know, right!

Drooool :D

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

gallery wall - tips and tricks


I've been wanting to do a gallery wall for a long time.  And, when Kristy suggested it in my living room, I knew it needed to be done.

But, I was scared.

Yep... scared of putting together a gallery wall.  Lame isn't it.








I put it off because I thought there were certain things I had to have in order for it to be done right.  But, one day when I decided to just start throwing it together with what I had I was pleasantly surprised.

Here's what I learned along the way - tips and tricks.
No. 1 - You don't have to have matching frames and mats.

I thought everything needed to perfectly match, or at the very least be the same color.  That was the biggest hurdle in getting started.  I didn't want to shell out a lot of cash on frames.  So, I finally decided I would just go with what I had.  I pulled out every frame, old framed "art", and hand-me-downs.

Check out this one passed down from my mom - lovely 80's photo of my and my younger sister complete with mauve mat :D


I decided the black frames would stay black, silver would stay silver, and the randoms would be spray painted white.

I also decided to get over some of the mats being white and others being cream. If it really bugs me later on I can change it, but for now it doesn't.


No. 2 - Arrange your frames out on the floor and play with the layout





No. 3 - Once you're happy with a layout, take a picture.  No matter how good you are, you WILL NOT remember how it was laid out, and you'll end up driving yourself crazy trying to figure it all out again.  I took these with my phone so I could flip through them easily for reference.

No. 4 - Since almost all of my frames were different, I printed my photos out in black and white to keep some consistency.



No. 5 - Use adhesive backed velcro to keep frames level



Nothing is more annoying to me than wonky gallery wall frames.  The velcro is a LIFESAVER.  You can dust without having to bust out a level afterwards to readjust, and if a door slams too hard, it doesn't matter.

The velcro I bought came in little squares.  I cut them in half to get more out of it.  Just stick the two pieces together and stick one of the adhesive sides to the bottom of your frame.  When you hang the frame press the bottom to the wall to get the other side to stick.

No more uneven photos!


No. 6 - This one is just a good general design tip.


Your pet should ALWAYS blend in with your drapes, or at the very least, match your decor.

Sorry... I couldn't help myself ;D


Looking back, I wish I wouldn't have been so afraid because I LOVE IT now!


Tutorial for the sunburst mirror found here, topiary tutorial here, and red rosette pillow here.
I'll be linking up to these fab parties!

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