The Good and the Bad

As the title suggests I have some good and some bad news. We will get the bad news out of the way. After a long discussion this weekend I have decided to move my blog. After only 3 months of posting at a more consistent rate than before I am finding features that I wish blogger offered. I have lots of ideas for this blog and the constraints will not let me progress as I would like. So I am saying goodbye to this site.

Now for the good news. The only thing that will change is the web address. Below is the link to the new address. At it you will find a post with some more information.

My New Site

It is almost February

Happy February! It is a fun time of the year candy is given out, you get to play dress up and eat fancy things, and love is just free flowing for everyone. In the spirit of Valentine's Day I have a gift for you. On my journey of teaching myself graphic design I use a lot of experimental techniques and tutorials to create wallpapers for my computer. It is a lot of fun for me to see something that I have created. Needless to say my desktop background changes often. I was inspired by a save the date card I ran across online. I absolutely loved the shape of the brackets and wanted to create my own. I enjoyed moving the type around as well as playing with the mix between the script and serif fonts.  I hope you enjoy this love related wallpaper.

Date Night Jar

Today on a rainy and gloomy day I made a Date Night Jar. Its really simple but it is going to be a lot of fun. I simply took strips of colorful paper and wrote ideas for a date night. I then put them in a fun vase for us to draw out when we need a date idea, however, my vase is already too small and I'll be keeping my eyes open for a new one.

Remember to include a variety of date night ideas from going out to staying in. Some of mine include: getting dressed up and going out for cocktails, building a fort in the living room, and creating a mix CD to dance the night away to. There are lists and lists of ideas around the internet here is one to get you started. I think this could also translate to a fun kids activity jar so that on snow days or rainy afternoons you have a back up plan to keep the day a happy one.

Embroidery Hoop Wall Art DIY

This is going to be my first do it yourself. I'm going to show you how to use embroidery hoops and fabric to decorate your walls! I am really excited about this project because it is very close to my heart. My grandmother passed away last summer; she had given me a bag of fabric and some hoops she had used when she quilted. At the time I took them because they belonged to her and she wanted me to have them but I didn't know what to do with them. Maybe someday I will do a quilt but for the time being I am excited to use her hoops and fabric to decorate my walls.

Supplies :
Embroidery  or Quilting Hoops
Fabric Scraps
Hot Glue Gun
Sissors

This DIY is pretty easy which for my first is pretty important. It will let me work all the kinks out.

1. Separate the inner hoop from the outer hoop and lay your fabric over the inner hoop. I doubled mine over so that it would make the fabric a little more sturdy. As a note I had to go around the hoop twice with glue so that both pieces of fabric were secure. If you didn't double it over you will not have to go around twice.

2. Place the second hoop over the fabric and inner hoop making sure it is snug.

3. Flip the entire thing over and cut all the way around staying about an inch from where the hoops are holding the fabric. Make sure you leave enough space to glue. You can always trim more of it off after.

4. At this point if you want to leave your hoops so they are interchange able depending on the season or your bedroom decor. You can just trim more off the fabric so that the hoop lays flat against the wall. If you are looking for a more permanent way to display your fabric, glue around the inner hoop pressing the fabric down as you go.

5. Look at the number of hoops you have and the space you wish to place them. Make a plan before you hang them up to avoid extra holes in your walls.

Viola! You have a beautiful new wall arrangement! Be creative with your fabric choices and textures. I'm already thinking of more things to do. Glitter, spray paint, acrylic paint, flowers, and buttons can all be used to create a unique to you wall arrangement. Enjoy!

My Top Five Photos of 2011

Hello as the start of the New Year I'd like to wrap up 2011 with some of my favorite photos. Unfortunately 2011 was not a great year for pictures as the camera on my cell phone quit working about 3 months in. I also have a Nikon D40 but I was too afraid to carry it around in my everyday purse. However both of those tiny problems are fixed. I recently purchased an Iphone and cannot stop taking pictures and my boy Gunnar bought be a wonderful camera bag from JoTotes for my Christmas Present. So I am looking forward to all the beautiful pictures to be had in 2012. 

One of my favorite pictures this last year has to be of my new niece. I was able to offer my sister a photo shoot of her and Lilly. The pictures turned out great and it was a wonderful learning experience.

This is another great photo from this last year. This is a picture of Gunnar we found an old playground and spent the afternoon like little kids climbing on the monkey bars and sliding down the slide.

This picture was taken when Gunnar and I took a lunch picnic date to a little pond near our house. We fed the fish, turtles, and birds it was incredibly relaxing and gave us a great memory.

My grandparents celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary this year. I was lucky enough to be in attendance and snap this cool picture of their cake.

This was taken in the lobby of the French Lick Hotel and Casino this past week. The restoration they have done on the building took my breath away. It is beautiful and full of history a great place to go visit.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at some of the images that I am most excited about from this past year.  It is day two of 2012 and I am well on my way to some great pictures for this year. Thank you all for stopping by.

After Christmas

My Christmas was amazing this year. I was able to spend time with family and friends. We watched a marathon of Christmas Movies and then we played games. I think one of my new favorite traditions with my mom and aunt at christmas is having a glass of wine while we finish wrapping the presents while watching White Christmas.  I know I have been trying to get away from just blog posts that update where I am and what I've been up to but I'm so excited about this I want to share. I was inspired over this Christmas. I had time to look around and check different things out and I think I came up with my first DIY Idea for this blog. I hope this is the first in a long list of many ideas for DIY.

As for Christmas some of my favorite gifts to give this year were the gifts I made. My dad who is an endless source of inspiration for me graduated with his college degree in 2011. I was lucky enough to take the trip to North Dakota for his graduation. I took lots of pictures while we were there and for Christmas I put it together in a scrapbook so he would always have the memories to look back on. 

The other gift I put together was for my sister. I had a little help from Blurb with this gift. My sister gave birth to my niece on October 17th 2011. I was lucky enough to spend most of her first month with her and was able to gather a great number of pictures. I put together for my sister a book of all Lilly's pictures from her first month. She was very touched by this gift. 

Here is  my niece at one month with her Mommy's baby picture on the left. I am so lucky to have such a great family and to make so many wonderful memories with them. And look two posts in one month. I hope this trend keeps on going!

Have a happy NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Preperations

Ah, the end of a long week and the beginning to another weekend. We have big goals for this weekend and week to get ready for Christmas. We need to get last minute gifts and bake our winter treats. I'm excited that presents are showing up under my tree.

Merry Christmas everyone!