DIY - Calendar

Best Friend

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No kids

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Mini Art Retreat!

 

 

My best friend came into town last weekend!  She just celebrated her 29th birthday AGAIN!

 

She LOVES calendars!  I mean really LOVES them!  I usually get her one for her birthday...or a fun book that takes the place of a calendar...because a calendar is way too boring for her!

 

My thought was...if we made one...she would REALLY LOVE it...and use it too! 

...for the whole year!

 

So, this is exactly what we set out to do!  My goal was that the calendar would be finished when she left on Sunday!

 

I wish we would have taken pictures of the process...but we were having too much fun painting, talking, laughing, "thrifting", eating jelly beans, laughing, talking...you get the picture!

 

Some things...like pictures...just weren't important!

 

This is the process:

 

 

 

1.  Make a really cool cover!  This is one of the journal covers that I made in my patterning class with Mary Ann Moss.  You can find it here.

 

 

 

2.  Using a heavy weight watercolor paper, draw in your calendar.  The size of paper really is about preference.  We used 9 x 12 paper.  So, the book pages, when folded in half, are 9 x 6.

 

3.  Write in the months, days of the week, and paint it all up!

 

4.  Use a needle and some cool thread OR waxed linen to sew in the calendar pages.  We did not use waxed linen.  We simply used some colored embroidery floss (six strands).

 

Extra BONUS details:

 

FUN! 

But...not necessary!

 

 

Have your best friend paint you a little owl!

 

Buy some jellybeans...pour into a bowl...use the bag to make a neat little pocket!

 

Sew in an extra page of pockets using a page protector.  Now you can tuck in all kinds of goodies!

 

 

Don't forget to sew on a strap to keep all of your calendar secrets hidden inside!

 

I hope you get to have a friend visit you soon to create your very own treasures!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo-

Lara

 

 

 

 

Mail Art Monday!

Happy Monday!

 

I hope you receive something GREAT in the mail today!

 

When someone orders something from my Etsy account and I have to ship it, they always receive a beautiful little envelope with flowers and some doodles.  I LOVE to send an extra bit of art with every purchase.  One of my friends suggested that I sell some of my mail art.  So, I designed a few pieces for my Etsy shop.  Here is a little sneak peek:

 

 

These are the little journal cards.

 

Each one has either a painted fabric ruffle, ball fringe, or vintage lace...at the top

 

 

The back is blank...well sort of...this is what the back looks like.  All are painted to coordinate with the front of the card.

 

 

This one is one of my favorites!

 

Aren't those birds stinkin' cute?

 

Well, if you don't receive anything like this in the mail today...maybe you want to check out my Etsy store and send something to someone...these envelopes are perfect because you can easily tuck in a gift card, ephemera, a picture, or special tickets and you have an AMAZING gift!

 

Look for some Halloween and Christmas cards coming in the next month or so...

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo- 

Lara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Cross

 

My daughter has just come home from camp.  She LOVES Kamp Kanakuk! When we were driving home, she shared how the camp director challenged them to hide God's word in their heart by memorizing Scripture...AND she asked if I would like to memorize Scripture with her this year.

 

We are setting out to memorize 26 Scriptures this year...one every two weeks.

 

The first Scripture she wanted to memorize was the one imprinted on the charm she received as a special award.  It is a nail spike...with Galatians 2:20 imprinted on it.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

 

If you feel lead to memorize Scripture...this is a great one to start with!

 

Have a blessed day!

 

xo-

Lara

Mail Art - Monday!

It's a Happy Mail Day!

 

These little cards were made for three amazing ladies that spoke at our Summer Woman's Conference at church.  They are VERY bright, but I LOVE how they turned out!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo-

Lara

 

 

At the Cross

2 Corinthians 5:17

 

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

 

Have a blessed day!

 

xo-

Lara

DIY - Gift Card Holder

Inspiration!  Inspiration!

Oh! How I LOVE an inspiration project!

 

I was looking through magazines and Pinterest the other day at Barnes Noble...relaxing! 

 

I came across a little project that Roben-Marie Smith had done to make a gift card. 

Roben-Marie is the reason I started making Mail Art!  She is amazing!  If you do not follow her blog, go check it out here!  You are sure to fall in love!

 

Roben-Marie included a little button closure on her card, but I wanted to modify it a bit to add a tie closure instead.

 

This is how my gift card turned out!

 

 

 

 

I have a few others in the works!  These will be great little gifts when a friend needs a little "pick-me-up"!

 

 

 

I'm working on a larger version for a wallet, coupon holder, awesome card, OR even mail art!

 

Check back next week to see these!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo-

Lara

 

 

 

Pattern Paradise!

I am currently taking an on-line class with Mary Ann Moss!  WOW!  It is awesome!

 

I made a few journals with hand-painted and collage papers BEFORE this class...BUT after the first day of class...I made about 10 more!!!!  The pattern idea is so much more exciting to look at then the fun papers just stripped!  I LOVE the way they turned out!

 

Sew...Go make one!

 

This is what my journals looked like...pre-class.  I still LOVE them...BUT...I've learned A LOT!

 

 

I still started by using LOTS of my collage and hand-painted pattern papers.

 

BUT...I used a pattern to sew all of the pieces instead of just strips!

 

 

Aren't they fabulous!  Thanks Mary Ann!

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo-

Lara

 

 

 

 

 

Mail Art - Monday

Happy Mail Day!

 

I recently took an on-line class with Roben-Marie Smith called You've Got Mail-Art! It was fabulous!  I have been inspired to start a new series of posts! 

 

Mail Art - Monday

 

The goal is to send a dear friend a piece of mail art each week.  I'm really looking forward to this NEW project!  I "tested the waters" last week with my daughter!

 

She has been at camp!

 

I made her three different pieces of Mail Art! 

 

front - where I addressed it

back - wrote a message to the right

 

The Kamp Favorite!

 

The camp that my daughter attends is Kamp Kanakuk in Lampe, MO.  It is an amazing place where God's Word is taught and A LOT of fun is accomplished in a week's time.

 

Inside this package were 14 necklaces for the girls in tee pee 10.

 

 

 

I hope you receive Happy Mail today!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo-

Lara

 

 

 

 

At the Cross

I hope you have a blessed Sunday!

 

Romans 8:35, 37-39

 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship

or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  

 

 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through

him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither

death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present

nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor

anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from

the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

In Him-

Lara

Ball-Fringe Coffee Table Quilt

Who doesn't LOVE ball fringe?

 

 

I found this amazing antique chicken incubator on my 40th birthday trip.  I fell in LOVE with it.  I've been looking for a coffee table for quite a while...but just never found anything that made my heart sing!  Then, I saw this!  So...I brought it home, cut off the legs, and made it into my new coffee table.

 

 

Isn't it beautiful?  I may still paint the can on the side that is used to hold the heating elements and wires...but for now...I LOVE the rusty charm it gives to the piece.

 

Back to the quilt!  I have a teenage daughter...who loves to leave drinks on the table...so to avoid those wonderful water rings...I needed something to protect my beautiful new table.

 

 

So...I grabbed my scraps...sewed them all on a thick tweed base.

 

Quilted the fabric a little bit.

 

Free-hand "messy-stitched" a little bit.

 

 

Added some black ball-trim.

 

 

AND...this beauty was born!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Expect miracles, laugh often, and always color outside the lines!

 

xo-

Lara