(Another) Birthday

The 23rd was my (other) Little's birthday! Next year will be her golden year, turning 23 on the 23rd, but this year, my precious Karrah turned 22. No big things this year, unfortunately. And she didn't even get to really celebrate being an adult this past year since some health issues keep her from consuming alcohol :[

This is the night we met. In this picture, I hadn't even introduced myself yet!

Sooo, here's the present I made her! I didn't get a picture after, but I did put a layer of ModPodge over it so that it would be shiny instead of matte.

I found a pair of canvases at Hobby Lobby for less than one of a different brand. Uh, YAY! Now I can make lots of paintings :]

I started by basically dripping paint on the canvas in pretty large blobs, then used a big brush to spread it out.

Then I worked on Word, Photoshop, and Paint quite a bit to get letters that I liked.

I printed them out on plain computer paper and just used scissors to cut it out. 

Use the outside portion. . .

I just used scotch tape to tape it down and paint it in.

I found that the best way to keep the paper down while I was painting was to press the brush half on and half off of the paper. 

I signed my "name."

And added some curls to the ends of the letters.

Pretty good for an iPhone photo, huh?

I love lettering and spend a lot of time in my classes doodling monograms, so this idea was perfect! Karrah's roommate asked for a similar one (with her initials, obviously) with a bit more of the teal, so they could both hang one in their new apartment in the fall :]

And Laura also bought one of those sets of canvases, so now I have even more! I'm so excited to paint some more.

This is a picture from Laura's birthday party and it's us perfectly!

I love this girl so much! I never could have guessed how much of an impact Phi Lamb would have on my life simply through the people the officers put in my phamily every year. 

You are so important to me, Karrah. I definitely need your cool head sometimes and all the advice you can give me. We may not exactly have a conventional Big/Little relationship, but it definitely works for us and I wouldn't change it for the world. Happy 23rd year of life, pretty lady!

Now the rest of you, go make something! It's spring! A time of creation and newness. Add to the beauty of this wonderful world :]

xoxo

L

Spring Break '12: Take One

So, it's been forever since I've posted. I think about getting on here all the time, but something else always gets my attention instead. I'd really like to be much more regular about posting on here, but it's hard for me to get crafts done with pictures and up on my computer in a timely manner while I have so much life going on! At least it's a good reason to not have time, right?

Anyway, a month ago was my spring break! My sister, Raychel and I went to The Villages, Florida to visit some of my dad's side of the family there. It was the perfect mix of relaxation in the middle of the semester and fun goings on :] We went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (my second time, her first), saw The Hunger Games at its midnight premiere, and drove around in what we lovingly called The Blueberry for a week.

It was a lot of fun and just what I needed. I can't believe that was just four weeks ago!

For now, I'll leave you with that little ditty. There will be pictures soon of Harry Potter World! And sometime this week we'll talk about the rest of that Easter activity from my Ash Wednesday post :] Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a craft up, too! We're making big goals here, people. And in the words of Bob the Builder and his crew- "Yes we can!"