I am drawn to a bohemian vibe in fashion-- I do like to experiment with clothes and I have many fashion moods, but I always revert to hippie. I blame my childhood~* I don't mean the dreadlocked, ear-plugged version of bohemian, which is a relatively modern trend and seems to be the teen-twenty something rebellion du jour (no offense intended to those of you exploring your wild side). I am referring to the ageless style characterized by simple softness and casual romance. Gentleness, comfort, peace & love man.
There is NO SNOW predicted for this week. I kid you not. Last Tuesday we woke up to this...
Which was repeated Wednesday and Thursday. Now you readers know, I do love snow. But this is getting a bit Alaska, if you follow me.
This week "they" (the weather dudes, whom I have a love/hate relationship with) are calling for temps that will rise to the mid 70's. I am excited out of proportion.
Crafts & an Etsy wishlist-- what better way to bring in the spring. Here is to blue skies, tweeting birds and open windows!
I've mentioned before that we don't celebrate Valentine's Day. Bayley, my little precious, was born on February 14. She will be 21 this Friday, if you can believe it. I surely can't.
She has gotten much neater when she eats ice cream. Her brother has not. Baby steps... So I thought I'd gather a few of the sweeties & fluffies floating around the internet to share the love with you all a little early.
The perfect Valentine card from Emily McDowell Draws. I'm not much of a card person. The year I gave Bayley an unsigned birthday card along with her present has become family legend. It was a cute card. Not as cute as these though.
Here's a sweet song you may not have heard, by youtube sensation Kina Grannis. I love the video concept...
Valentine heart print dress from eShakti: still my favorite dress shop, bar none. I know it seems like they show up here a lot, and there is a reason for that-- I love them. I have a closet full of dresses from them. Someday I'll do a fashion post where I just show off my eShakti dresses. It will be a very long post. I don't have this heart number...yet.
Ever wonder which wine to serve your Valentine? Wonder no more. I'm a huge red wine fan, and have started looking in to different pairings. Jeremy got me a scratch and sniff wine book for Xmas-- how cool is that?
Sevenly Print: Not only is it a fine piece for your wall, for every purchase, Sevenly donates $7 to charity-- great way to share the love.
Foodie Dice from Two Tumbleweeds. I've booked mark this one, and will be back to make a purchase soon. I love the idea of rolling dice to answer the "what do you want for dinner" question. Why is it so hard for us to set up a weekly menu?
There is a paint your own pottery place downtown that Jeremy and I have decided to try out (hopefully next weekend). I'm sure our creations won't be nearly as sweet as these personalized mugs from Twisted River Clay, but we are looking forward to it none-the-less.
I did a paper rose tutorial a while back. Catch My Party took it to another level with this adorable paper rose wreath, a perfect how-to for the holiday. I think I'm going to get out my scissors...
Can we talk about Modcloth for a minute? I've been able to pick up a few dresses {on sale}, and they really are everything everyone says they are-- well made, classic designs that are just beyond cute. They even have plenty of longer length styles for us professional hipsters~* I just love the retro feel.
No one is paying me to say any of this, by the way, I genuinely like the shop. And the actual purchases I've actually paid for have been worth every penny. Though, like I said, I had to wait until things went on sale because they can be a bit pricey for my taste. Which brings me to the whole point of this post.
They are having a special through October that I wanted to pass on to y'all. If you click on the link on the bottom of this post, & sign up on their site {& they do not spam your inbox, trust me}, you'll get $20.00 off your first purchase of $50.00.
That is a $50.00 dress for $30.00. That is better than most of their sale prices. No joke. Check it out:
Any of the above dresses for $30.00. Thir. Tee. Doll. Aarrrrs. Even a poor academic can afford thirty bucks. & that is just a teeny-tiny smidgen of a portion of the dresses available for $49.99 {they actually have a slider thing on the right side bar where you can limit the prices of items shown-- which is handy if you don't want to be tempted to blow the monthly electric bill on a dress}.
We haven't even talked about shoes...aahhhh the shoes...
Technically, all the above shoes are under $40.00, so you'd have to buy a dress to go with them to get the discount. Go ahead. I give you permission~*
I won't even get started on the accessories. Though I really want to.
Have I mentioned that I love clothes & shopping? Cos I do.
Waste no more time, click the link below, sign up & start shopping~*
You could win a $30 credit at one of my favorite etsy vendors, Sarah Jane Vintage.
I just adore her stuff-- I got a few dresses from her not too long ago {that one day I'll get around to showing y'all} & since then she's been one of my favorite places to window shop. I know you'll find something to love!
Go check out the shop, then swing by Hiya Luv & follow the directions to enter. The giveaway will run the rest of the week, then the winner will be announced-- come on, lets go shopping!!
I'll be going out today. I think a little thrifting trip is in order. The sort of quiet trip at a leisurely pace while the kids are in school & the husband is prepping lectures. Then back home, hopefully with treasure in tow, & back to working on fall's classes.
I wandered through the virtual thrift store that is etsy {thrift store & craft fair & flea market} to prepare for my trip out & to avoid working this morning-- shopping as a stall tactic. If only I can stumble across something as wonderful in our brick & mortar shops.
Ordinarily, to avoid working from home I'd clean or do laundry- the perfect excuse {its not like I am avoiding work to have fun, its laundry after all, or at least that is what I tell myself}.
Don't get me wrong, I adore my job-- really & truly. But today my brain is fuzzy & I need to get out of the house for a bit, just because...
I'd be lying if I said I pulled this project out of my own head-- I've seen stuff like it on dozens of blogs with variationshere & there. In fact, I didn't even intend to do it until I was faced with a bare wall in a freshly painted bathroom.
My husband & I figured we'd stumble across something, somewhere, sometime & we left it at that. Then one fateful afternoon I went thrifting & found this:
It was cheap, cheesy & just the right size if you stand it on end.
At first I wanted it just for the frame {not that it is good quality, but do you know how expensive big frames are?}, and while I was considering it I remembered this DIY & thought it would be the perfect sacrificial artwork {if you can call this an artwork-- its just a piece of paper with the scene on it glued to luan, not an actual painting}. Besides, at $7, if it was a colossal flop, no great loss, right?
I removed the frame, primed it, spray painted it a gloss yellow & set it aside to dry
Now for the fun part.
After much debate, I decided to use part of the poem Ode by the Irish poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy from Music and Moonlight published in 1874.
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
Though most people are more familiar with it from here:
I love Johnny Depp & all, but Gene Wilder is unquestionably the best Willie Wonka...such subtle malice behind those crazy eyes. Just the sort of guy that would stand passively by as kids face choco-blueberry egg shoot shrunken perils. Doo-ba-dee-do~*
Anyway.
With your quote in mind, use the ruler {or level in my case} to draw lines far enough apart to accommodate your letters. Since my letters were 3", I drew my lines 4" apart.
Note: if you want the letters to come off cleanly & if you are using a poster or paper painting like I was, I would recommend sealing the poster with polyurethane spray at this point-- while I was happy with the result I got, it wasn't what I had imagined...you'll see what I mean in just a second. If you are using an old paint by numbers or other oil painting, it shouldn't be an issue.
Here's a bit of a cheat for getting your quote lined up that doesn't involve math-- start with the last letter of the last word and work your way back. The same thing goes for mazes, incidentally-- start at the end and work your way to the beginning. I don't know why the maze thing works, but it does.
Anyway.
I wanted a grungy look, so I wasn't too particular about lining the letters up perfectly-- though I didn't want them to be so off that it would be distracting.
Life is all about those fine lines separating casual creativity from chaos, don't you think?
Since I was going to be painting over the letters, the color of the letters didn't matter {which was convenient since they only had one pack in white & one in black in the size & font I wanted}.
After the letters are placed, gently paint over the entire picture. Don't lay the paint on too thick, you want a bit of the colors to come through. I used a dry brush technique {that created a line on my driveway to the confusion of toads everywhere} wherein you dip your brush into the paint, brush off excess paint on a cloth or available driveway, then apply it to the canvas.
Immediately after applying the paint, peel off the vinyl letters.
Here is where I kicked myself for not sealing before painting. The paint dampened the paper & caused it to bubble in a few places, & when I removed some of the vinyl letters, paper peeled away too. All of which I should have anticipated. Duh.
But then again...
After letting it sit & determining I could easily fix the problems by hand with paint and brush should I so desire, I decided I actually liked it with the imperfections in tact.
It reminded me of how the construction walls in New York look after the posters and fliers people stick to them are exposed to the elements. The Things & the hubby agreed which sealed the deal. Or more accurately, caused me to seal the deal with spray poly. I used the end of a pencil to poke down places where the paint had bubbled or peeled {with the poly acting, in those instances, as glue}, to prevent any additional damage-- since it will, after all, be exposed to moisture in the bathroom.
And now it hangs on the bathroom wall...although...
It may still be a work in progress. I like it how it is, but I can also see adding some hand painting to the top portion; maybe wispy clouds or some sort of vine work...we'll see. That's the best thing about this sort of project-- the only limit is your imagination~*
