No more...

I will not touch this painting anymore. I won't.

 

Here's a brief recap for you...

 

Before:

 

 

First "after"...

 

 

Final "after"....

 

I liked the flower orange, really, I did. But, it was starting to feel a bit "tropical" which was definitely not the look I was going for. I am finally done messing with it. Leaving well enough alone was never a strength of mine, lol.

 

Here's a shot of it in the room.....

 

THE END.

 

We had a pretty rainy weekend here, so we had some fun yesterday playing outside. Noah didn't feel like being photographed but I was able to get some fun shots of Hayden (wearing pig tails for the first time since her hair cut). Take a look...

 



 

 

 

Happy Monday everyone :)

 



If it ain't broke.....

Fix it anyway!! Lol


Happy Tuesday everyone. I hope you all had a nice long weekend. We had really beautiful weather here in SoCal so we had a beachy, picnicky weekend. Birds chirped. Leaves blew in the breeze. My cheeks got rosy in the sun. It was wonderful.

Life really is beautiful.

That leads me to my project for the day. A few years ago, my sister bought me this awesome painting from Pier1. I just loved it so so much and since she loves me so so much, she bought it for me. awwww. My sis is the best!

 

It has been hanging over the "brown beast" aka our guest bed in the den that sits in the center of our home. I walk by it a zillion times a day. I often notice it hanging there, but sometimes I don't. It's just a part of our house. I love it. It means a lot to me. It makes me happy.

 

Well, today, I walked past it and noticed it. Only, not for the awesomenss that I usually do. I noticed that hanging over the brown beast, the plum/gold/brown hue looked kinda muddy and dark. I never saw it that way, but all the sudden I did. Instantly I new what to do....

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that nothing is safe from my aqua paint. I used my Martha Stewart craft paint (color: Surf) and simply painted over the background color with a foam brush.

Two coats later and poof!

 

Lighter and brighter and very much more "me."

I may end up moving it into my bedroom. It would look really pretty hanging over my bed now that it's so bright and happy. I didn't factor in that the new aqua color may clash a bit with the icy blue color of the highboy dresser. That's what happens when you are impulsive I guess. haha!

 

It wasn't super perfectly painted to begin with...kinda free form and splotchy. This made it so I didn't have to be super careful when I was painting over it (which works out nicely for me - lol).

 



I like it so much better now :)

 I looooved it before, but now it just pops more and fits in with the rest of our decor. The brown beast with all ways be beasty. Some day I see an awesome murphy bed or caned day bed or some other less unsightly guest bed solution. For now, the beast is brightened up with some aqua love. Sigh. I love you aqua!

Happy day to you :)

Our Liberace moment

Hi everyone, how's it goin'!? I hope you all are well. We have been doing the usual day to day over here but we have also been getting a little crafty. During the holidays, I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs and it got my wheels spinning. I loooove vintage inspired crafts and definitely wanted to give it a try. I didn't have a big bag of sparkly "goodies" (as Hayden and I call them) given to me by my great aunt, but I do have a craft cabinet that's busting at the seams.

Hayden and I gathered up our supplies and got to work. Take a look...

 

(the spangle mix and tri-beads are from the craft section at Wal-Mart)

 

My first step was to paint a basic canvas aqua (shocker). This is actually more of a minty aqua but you can't really tell in these pictures. I cut out a heart template and traced it on to the center of the canvas.

 

 

 

Next I covered the pencil line with tacky glue, and added some thick cream yarn to define the shape.

 

 

After that, I started covering the inside of the heart with tacky glue. I squirted it on, and then spread it out with a foam brush. I wasn't stingy with the glue, I knew we would need quite a bit.

 

Once the entire heart was covered in glue, it was time to get blingy. Hayden had sooooo much fun putting all of the sparkly goodies (one by one) in the glue. It was really cute to watch her pick out each one and stick it on. She kept telling me how beautiful each one was :)

 

 I helped the process along by dumping on small hand fulls of goodies at a time. We didn't have all day and one by one would have taken way too long. Plus, we wouldn't get that fun clumpy layered look that we were going for.

 

After the whole thing was covered with sparklies, we covered the bits of remaining glue with glitter. My girl looooooves shaking on glitter...

 

Once that was done, I added the word "Love" with tacky glue and shook on some mooooore glitter!

 

 We let that dry for a a few hours and then shook off all of the excess glitter and goodies. At the last minute I decided to add some polka dots. I mean, why not, right!?

 

Wanna see the finished product??

Take a look...

 

 

 

 

Does it make you smile (or give you hives...you can be honest). Hayden and I love love love it! The only problem we're having is figuring out where we should hang it. If it ends up in my gallery wall above my desk, I definitely won't complain ;)

 

I think Liberace would be proud of this fancy, sparkly, fabulous craft that was made with love!

 

Getting crafty with the kids really is fun! Especially when they really enjoy themselves and love the finished product. Happy kid, happy mom :) Simple (& sparkly).

Hi , remember me...

Hello all, sorry I have been missing in action lately. Sadly, although I have been having some blogable moments lately, I can't seem to find the time to sit still and blog {sigh}. It's Sunday morning, I have my warm cup of coffee by my side, and I'm ready to go.

This post, and the next few posts will most likely be all over the place and a bit on the random side. Hopefully you don't mind ;)

First - I want to share with you all something that I now feel is a MUST have! I'm going to start by showing you something embarrassing. Well, at least for me. Typically when I sit down to use my glue gun, I have many things that I need to glue (so the glue gun is on for a while). Anyone who uses one knows that they can be drippy and messy. My solution for this has been to use an old cutting board. The problem is, the glue is really hard to peel off once it dries, so it looks very unsightly. Wanna see??

Eeeew! Typically I would perch the glue gun somewhere over there on the right and use the small space on the left as a work surface. It definitely helped keep the glue off the table, but still. Not an ideal situation.

On a recent trip to hobby lobby, I stumbled upon this beauty....

Let me tell you, the dry glue peels off of this thing soooo easily! It is some sort of scientific miracle. AND - it's bright pink :) I think it was $10 but I used a 40% off coupon. It's by MOD PODGE and is some sort of silicone mat. Amazing, I tell you!! Definitely worth picking up!
For it's maiden voyage, I made a bunch of Valentine's day glitter banners for my etsy shop :)

Another thing I wanted to share is kind of a BIG deal around here. My daughter Hayden will be turning 4 in March and she has NEVER had a hair cut. Can you believe that!!? Ever since she was little, I knew we wanted to donate her hair once it was long enough. So, we waited. She has beautiful hair! I'm her mom, so of course I'm going to think so. But really, people stop me in the street on a regular basis to look at her beautiful locks. Well, it was finally getting to the point where it was getting tangled and she was wearing it up in a pony tail more than she was wearing it down. It was time to CHOP! *gulp.
Here's a "before" shot of her hair when we arrived at the hair salon:

Those are her baby curls on the bottom and they are my absolute favorite part of her hair. I knew even with a trim that we would lose those, so we just decided to go BIG.
Here is the after:

Here are a few more shots....

 

Doesn't she look cute!!?? I got a little hot and sweaty as she made the first big chop, but after that it was smooth sailing. We will be donating her hair to an organization called Wigs for Kids that gives free wigs to kids with cancer and other disorders that cause hair loss. I feel happy and proud that we made this decision early on and stuck to our guns.

Right after the hair cut, we went straight to the baseball field for Noah's baseball tryouts. It was freeeeezing. Well, CA freezing but I think my phone said 42 degrees while we were out there and I definitely wasn't dressed appropriately.

Noah had a great time at tryouts and will soon be drafted onto his first ever little league team. Exciting stuff around here, let me tell you!!

So, that's what's been going on around these parts. I hope you all are well :)
Remember, if you are looking to spice things up in your home for V-Day, check out my lil' shop.

I'll be back sooner rather than later :)

Back to the {grind}

Haha, I say {grind} because we aren't quite back in the swing yet. The kids start back at school next week (and I will be starting back at the gym...haven't worked out once over the break. Not proud). We had a GREAT Christmas, wonderful New Year's, and we have had some fun just hanging around (& using my many gift cards - yay). All in all, I would say that this winter break has been a great success filled with many happy times :)

Here are a couple pics of randomness...

Noah fell asleep right before the countdown. We woke him up of course :) 

 

My mom and Hayden snuggled in the new year :)

 

 

Me & my girl :)

 

After all the holiday decor was put away {sad} I got the urge to start crafting for Valentine's Day. I even got the urge to.....wait for it......SEW. That almost never happens so I had to take advantage. I made a few cute buntings that will most likely end up in my Etsy shop...

 

 

 

I also took some time to revamp the gallery above my crafting desk. I have always wanted that wall space filled with beautiful things that speak to me and bring me inspiration. I still have a few things I need to frame and hang, but I like how it's coming along so far (& yes, the bulletin board on the left is a hot mess, I know).

 

This is my newest and most favorite addition so far. I got this painting at the local flea market for like $10 I think. I just fell in love with it. I want to go and run on those pretty green hills. I was inspired by my bestie Cassie and decided to make it my own and tweak it a bit. I added the word "Wonderful" using black acrylic craft paint. I also added a red heart with some glitter (but you can't see the glitter in this pic). I love the idea of personalizing thrifted art and making it extra special :) Wonderful!

 

 

 

These two fireballs bring me endless amounts of inspiration (& the need for advil and chocolate on occasion).

 

Isn't this book page the CUTEST?! Ok, maybe you aren't a swan lover like me, but I was thrilled when I found a vintage baby animals book at the thrift store and this beauty was inside. Love!

Well, That's all I have to report for now. I'll be getting my craft on over the next few days to load up my shop. I also have some friends coming in to town this weekend and perhaps a visit to the flea market on Sunday (if the fates allow).

Oh - and my awesome sister opened an Etsy shop. She's selling those baltic amber teething necklaces for babies. Go check 'em out!
www.myolivercash.etsy.com

Happy 2013 people, let's make it ROCK!