BIG NEWS & a giveaway!

We're moving!  The time has come for me to move this blog & all my future bloggy endeavors to WordPress (at least for now).  So if you've got a moment, please head over to my new site thelbeauroom.com & don't forget to change your links, bookmarks, feeds to receive future posts.

Oh, & did I mention a giveaway?  In celebration of the move, I'm offering 100 free postcards courtesy of PrintRunner! 
Head on over to enter now!

lucky is my middle name

I typically don’t consider myself to have the best luck when it comes to giveaways or door prizes, sweepstakes, that kind of thing.  A friend I went to college with wins things all the time. All the time.  Tickets to concerts, comedy clubs, musicals.  You name it, she’s won it.  I often wonder how any one person could be so lucky.  Well, lately I’ve had a little stroke of luck myself & it makes me absolutely giddy!

The photo above shows just one of the adorable bow ties that showed up in my mailbox after winning a cute giveaway from the AdaLou Blog.  I’ve received SO many compliments on this bow.  I mean, it’s mint & adorable.  I just want to wear it every day!  Thanks so much, Sandi!

But wait, there’s more!  After winning the bows & thinking I was the luckiest girl on the block, I won another giveaway.  This one was for $75 to Tumbleweeds from The Paper Mama!  I am frankly still in shock.  I’ve been lusting after this turquoise faced pair since the moment I laid eyes on them & now soon enough, I’ll be holding a pretty little pair in my hot little hands.  Don’t worry, I’ll share photos with you when they arrive!  ;)  Thanks a ton for the fabulous giveaway, Chelsey & Beca!

Do you win contests or giveaways often?  What’s the best thing you’ve ever won?  I’d love to hear about it!

photoshop tutorial

There's a fab tutorial from Pugly Pixel over on The Clothes Horse.  If you've ever wondered how to get a pop of color on a black & white photo, you'll definitely want to check it out!

diy: painted mugs

I've had these plain white mugs that I found in the discount bin for weeks now.  Last night I finally had some time to play around with them & it just might be my new favorite thing!

There are so many great porcelain pen projects out there, I'm not one hundred percent sure where I got the idea first but doe-c-doe has a fab tutorial on how to transfer an image to your mug for tracing.

Unfortunately, I don't have any porcelain pens so I just used my Sharpie paint pens & I think the mugs turned out pretty nice.  I'm not sure how they'll hold up in the dish washer but I'll keep you updated.

Some things to keep in mind if you're going to try this project:
-You could easily sketch out your drawing with a pencil & trace over it or you can free-hand it if you're feeling lucky.
-Be sure to test the flow of each marker on a piece of paper or a surface you aren't worried about getting paint on.  Each of my markers wrote a bit different & I was thankful that I didn't go straight to the mug.  For example, I had to sort of dab the yellow on to avoid streaks.
-Once you have the tip of the marker full, the paint will flow very easily so be careful that it doesn't get away from you.
-The paint drys pretty quickly but it will smear if you don't let it dry completely.

Please share your photos if you've painted some of your own dishes (or mirrors or vases or whatever).  I'd love to see them!

the crummies

Sad Face by HermanMarie.

Do you ever have those days when you don't want to do anything?  & I mean anything.

Making breakfast sounds dreadful.  Taking a shower seems like a chore.  Even the thought of vegging out to some good TV makes you whiney.  No?  Just me?  Sigh.

When I was a kid, I called this boredom.  My mom would offer a whole list of my favorite things to do.  Draw something.  Go for a bike ride.  Read a book.  Nothing.  Nothing sounded good & I would whine, "Mooom, I'm booored," until she just couldn't take it anymore.  Then I'd sulk off to my room & whine some more.

Nowadays I don't think it's boredom.  After all, "only boring people are bored."  Thank you, Betty Draper.  I think it's restlessness.  A need to be inspired.  A need to get really excited about something.  Something that will make me long for it when I can't have it or, better yet, something that will make me yearn to work & create.  I guess if I were a writer I might call this writer's block.  Maybe I should call it a creative block - but it feels like more than that.  Whatever it is, here's to breaking it, climbing out of the funk, getting rid of the crummies, & hoping (however selfish this might be) that I'm not the only one.

busy as a bee

 

 I can't wait to show you the finished product!