Fit Friday ~ the Sun is Out

I missed last week...sorry about that. It has been super busy around here, getting ready for the summer, planning trips, Paul finishing up another year of Grad School.

The past two weeks we have enjoyed going out for walks. Lady A and I would walk {she was in the stroller, we would not have made it to the bottom of the street if she was walking} to the University and meet up with Paul. It felt great to get out and stretch our legs after the long winter and cold spring. 

Lady A really enjoyed it too. She would point and 'oh' and 'ah' over everything as we walked by.

My recommendation this week is a good pair of walking shoes to go use. My Dr. told me that New Balance are a great walking shoe but also good for your feet. They aren't too thin and will squish your foot and the cushion in them has been just right for me.

Get out and Get walking

Happy Trails

Love Notes Picture Frame

I am so excited to finally share my project with you!!

This frame was designed for Paul's cousin as a wedding gift. She had some decor windows at her reception, one with a phrase and another with a scripture quote. This was designed to match them and I have to say, I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

What you need:

Frame

Photo

Ribbon

Hot Glue

E6000

Dry Erase Marker

With the glass and back of the frame in place, set the image on top of the glass where you would like it then make simple marks at the corners so you know where to place the image once you have glue on it.

Put E6000 glue on the back of the image, I used a toothpick to help spread it around. You won't need a thick layer, just make sure the whole surface is covered. Place and spread a thin amount of E6000 on the glass within the marks.

With the glass out of the frame and on a flat surface place and hold the image down

*When the E6000 is placed on both surfaces the bond will be a lot stronger.

I used 3/8" ribbon and cut a 20" piece. At the top of the frame, use the glue gun to adhere the ends of the ribbon to the underside of the glass opening.

*I used the hot glue gun here because it would dry a lot faster.

To add a little personality to the ribbon I added a bow.

1. Place two folds in the ribbon approx. 5 1/2" apart.

2. Cut a second piece of ribbon that will be long enough to wrap around the bow. Glue the two folded corners to the end of the small piece of ribbon.

3. Place a small drop of glue down where the two fold meet and press the center of the loop down to make the bow.

4. Wrap and glue the smaller piece of ribbon around the bow.

*I used the hot glue gun here because it would dry a lot faster.

DONE!!

Using the same technique, spread E6000 around the inside of the frame where the glass will rest. Carefully place the glass in the frame {make sure it is facing the right way and not upside down} and press the glass into the glue.

*As you are placing the glass, watch where it is going so the image will be centered as you place the glass. If the glass is set in the glue then wiggled around, the edges will get all gunky and be seen from the front.

I love it!!!
Hopefully they will too.

If you want to create your own frame with the crackle technique, check it out here.

I used an image transfer technique that you can find here.

Fit Friday ~ Getting Enough Sleep

Like I talked about last week, I was going to focus on getting more sleep this week.

I can't believe how hard this has been. For the past while we have been staying up late, this seems to be the only time that we can spend time together. First we get Lady A to bed then Paul gets to work on his homework, then we finally get to spend a bit of time together. On average we get to bed around 2 a.m. and Lady A wakes us up between 7-8. This week I have been getting to bed around midnight but my internal clock wakes me up at 5...AAHHHHHH!!!!

The first couple of mornings I spent the morning just laying in bed until Lady A woke up. Maybe I could have gotten up and been productive but that would keep me from getting more sleep....since this is my goal. This week I was baby sitting for a friend and realized just how sleep deprived I am. When Lady A goes down for a nap I can too but since I was babysitting that was not an option. Those two days were pretty long.

Finally by the end of the week, I have been able to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night. I have forgotten how wonderful that can be and my days have been more productive.

Mothers Day Donation Digital Downloads

  Here are the latest Digital Downloads for Donations

 

Digital Download Fundraiser!

My husbands cousin, Hunter, is a young man {14 years old} who loves his family and being a brother to an older and younger sister and one younger brother. He is very spirited and enjoys to play games and play jokes on people. At eighteen months old his Dr.'s diagnosed him with Cystic Fibrosis Pancreatitis, that causes him daily pain. He had to have a Total Pancreatectomy with Auto Islet Transplant, in short, that means a full day of surgeries. Check out his page on FaceBook to read more about his story.

Hunter and his mom were in Minnesota for a few months while Hunter had surgery and has been recovering. It has been a long road to recover, meanwhile, he has had multiple other surgeries do to complications and the bills are adding up. The surgery takes a year to recover and the family needs to raise money for medical expenses.

Hunter and his mom made the long drive home to Utah a couple weeks ago. As I have followed them, thinking about what Jen has done as a mother, well, very inspirational. Hunters family is doing what they can to help lift some of the financial burden for Hunters parents. Because we are in Connecticut we haven't been able to participate in the fundraiser dinners, benefit concerts or other activities I have come up with another way for us to help. For Mothers Day I have designed cupcake toppers and other printable pages that you can purchase, the money from this will go toward Hunters medical bills. I love these little tags because they can be used for so many different things: cupcakes, party favors, cards, scrapbook/memory albums, the list goes on.

Just go to my Donations tab, choose which set of tags you want, enter your donation amount then checkout. You will be emailed a link for an instant download. Come back again to check out my next Digital Downloads for Donations that will be available for Hunters fight.

Image Transfer Using Acrylic Paint

I have been working on different techniques for transferring images and finally got this one perfected to the way I wanted it....so now, it's time to share with you friends.

Materials Needed:

Image printed on a laser printer {or a magazine clipping}

Plexiglas {fabric, stretched canvas boards, pieces of wood}

Acrylic Paint {non-water based}

Sponge brush 

Scissors

Water Spray Bottle

Acrylic Coating Spray

To prepare the image I added some text "I love you because..." then flipped it to print. I use Photo Shop but this can also be done in Picasa and most photo editing programs available. If your image doesn't have a right/wrong way skip this step and just print your image.

To make sure I got the image centered right where I want it. I placed the Plexiglas over the image, traced around it then cut the image.

I used a piece of Plexiglas to transfer my image onto for this specific project. These are pieces left over from another project but a small stretched canvas panel would work just as well. To get the Plexiglas prepped, simply take the plastic off of one side or clean the surface with a cloth and glass cleaner if the plastic was removed previous.

Put some acrylic on surface, use the brush to spread the acrylic. While paint is still wet place the image face down and smooth out making sure to get out any air bubbles so the entire image is pressed into the paint.

*Make sure you get a non-water based acrylic paint or gel medium.

LET IT SET OVER NIGHT!!

Make sure the paint has had plenty of time to dry.

Now grab your water bottle {or bowl with water and sponge to apply water to image}, towel and photo.

1 ~ Get the paper wet. {I let it sit for about 30 seconds or so, this will help the paper soften up}
2 ~ Start rubbing the paper with your finger tips. It will ball up and rub off. {You will have to keep the paper wet as you go}
3 ~ Everyone once in a while I would dab the image with the towel to get the paper residue off and see how well the image is coming along. {Using an image with so much white takes a little bit more care since it will blend with the acrylic paint, so...be careful not to rub too much}
*Repeat until all the paper has been rubbed off the image.

Once the image is dry take it out and spray with Acrylic Coating Spray. {Mod Podge will work great as a top coat as well}
*The clear coat will help protect the image since it is not going to be placed behind a piece of glass in a frame. It also helped the image pop out a bit and made it nice and crisp.

photo courtesy of Manda Jane Photography

Check out the steps to the Antique Frame that will be going with this image.

*I tried using this same image transfer technique with an Ink Jet image and it didn't work as well. Most of the image came up when rubbing the paper off and my fingers were blue for about a day and a half. Using an ink jet image might work well for an abstract project, where it doesn't need to be crisp.

Fit Friday ~ Feeling Great

There isn't much to share this week. I haven't added anything to my regemend but spent the week making sure I am keeping up with everything I already have set up.

I have been able to increase my water which I think has been the biggest boost to helping me feel great inside my own body. Lady A and I have been able to get out a bit more this week, the sun has been out a bit more, and that has been wonderful. She loves being outside and there is a little playground in our complex that the kids all love to use.

It does seem that my late nights are catching up with me. Paul has a show opening up so he has been getting home about 11:30 p.m. then we both stay up for a bit so we can have some time together. I have been falling asleep during the day or taking naps when Lady A goes down. Maybe, getting to bed earlier will be what I work on for the coming week and see how that helps me during the day.

How are you doing with your New You? What have you been working on lately? What have you found that works and what doesn't? I would love hear from you.

Bean Bag Bananza

Lady A went to nursery for the second time this past Sunday but for some reason she was not having it. In the middle of my Sunday School class {I teach the 9-10 year old kids} I could hear a scream from the hall, sure enough, I poke my head out and it was my kid, for everyone to hear.

After I was done teaching my class we both went back to the nursery for the last bit of church. There were a far number of kids and one of the choice tows were bean bags but there were not enough for all the kids. A benefit of sewing is that there are always scraps around so I decided we would make some more bean bags for the kids.

 16 Bags

 With your scraps cut out squares that are 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

 With wrong sides together, stitch three and a half of the sides. I like to leave my opening in the middle of one side. For me, it makes it easier to stitch closed.

Take a random piece of paper to make a funnel. I found this was better than using a kitchen funnel because I could leave the opening wide enough to let the beans through.

Then I needed to take a photo and needed a third hand...and here came the bright idea, set the bag in a cup!! It works great to hold everything in place while pouring the beans in, lift the cone out and the job is done.

I tried a few different amounts and decided that 2/3 cup was the perfect amount, for me.

 Ya...I made 16 bean bags.

 Now simply pin the bag closed then sew it up and cut the thread.

Some for Lady A, some for the neighbors and the rest for the nursery kids.

Happy bean bag toss!!