"I have always known it was you." Giveaway

See this man ladies?  This is my HB, my Mr. Mr., my "be still my beating heart" husband.  I just love this man. He is my best friend, my biggest cheerleader and challenger, he is an amazing father to our boys, he is an amazing provider and leader, he is the belly ache to my laugh and he is all mine.  I am posting about him today because it is our Anniversary.  Our 15th Anniversary!!  I still remember our wedding day so clearly. *sigh*

I am not just posting to ramble on about my hunk of a man husband, although I could. (wink wink)  I wanted to share with you some of the things I have been making for our master bedroom to romance it up a bit and to help celebrate out 15yrs of hard work.  And, that's not all.  One of you lucky ladies will be receiving one of these romantic canvases.  I mean why can't we all celebrate my Anniversary right?!!  Follow along on all the fun projects and at the end will be the rules on how to enter the giveaway.

I'm not sure how many of you are on Pinterest, but I can't not get on it at least once a day.  I love it.  There is a point to all of this.  I came across the below image and my heart instantly went pitter patter.  I was smitten.  Just my style of project.  "I must copy this." I said to myself.  And this one little picture is where I got the beginnings of my inspiration for this post.  The rest of the projects are inspired through Pinterest posts.   Let's begin shall we....

This is the inspiration piece.  Isn't it just lovely.  Are you as giddy as I?

I wanted to make our master bedroom all about us on this anniversary.  It already kind of is, but I wanted to shout a clear message that said, "Hey you talk, dark and handsome!!  I am in love with you!"  Here are the things I have done.  I will walk you through a few but then just post pictures of the others.  They were all done in the same basic format.  I don't want to bore you with too many tutorials.

All projects were done on 12x12 canvases from Michael's.  I got them on sale in a pack.  Jack pot!!  This first one I have used chip board to mimic the wooden lettering from the inspiration piece.  I am on a tight budget because of school shopping, our anniversary and a formal banquet we are attending so I had to make due with what I already had.  These were self adhesive but I put glue on the back anyways.  I am not precise on measurements but I eye balled this to space it out.  I hope it's even.  Project 1 down, well somewhat.

The saying for another canvas.  "I carry your heart with me; I carry it in my heart."  One of my favorite poems from E.E. Cummings.  I fond a font that looked Jane Austinish and printed it out.  I printed the mirror image of it so it would transfer correctly.

I transferred it old school by penciling over the letters to make a carbon copy.  When I flipped it over I traced over the letters and it transferred onto the canvas.

This was one of the most time consuming.

Next comes the heart outline in our names and our wedding date.  It's not a completed heart and I like that it's just the outline.  I cut out a heart and laid the letters on it then glued them down.  I traced over the wording with bubble paint.  Hey, I had to use what I could find.

After I spray painted all four canvases I let them dry then hung them on the wall in our bedroom. 

So pretty and romantic.  Forgive the picture quality.  I should take a class.  ;D  I do like the chipboard look better than the puffy paint I must say.  More prominent. 

Which canvas is your favorite?

found a home on either side of my dresser mirror.

A few of my favorite wedding photos.  And the plaques says, "Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be."  That song was in our wedding.  I love that it is such a popular phrase. 

I framed an anniversary card that is one of my all time favorites that my HB gave me.  It sits over my crafting station. 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Thanks for sharing this day with me!!

Now for the fun part.  THE GIVEAWAY!!!  

How to enter...

Mandatory: with out these you will not be entered

1.  You must be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment that you are.  If you already are you must leave a comment telling me so.  

2.  Tell me which of the 4 canvases is your favorite.  If you are chosen this is what you will win.  Customized for you of course.

Optional, but extra entries:

1. Like me on Facebook: The Creative Chickadee on Facebook

leave me a comment that you did here on my blog, even if you already like me.

2.  Follow me on Twitter:  @creativechickad

leave me a comment that you did here on my blog, even if you already follow me

3.Blog, Facebook, Tweet about this giveaway and earn 2 extra entries per type.  If you do all 3 that is 6 extra entries.  Leave me a comment with a link back to your post so I know you did it.  :D

This contest will end at 11:59pm on Sunday, August 14th, 2011.  That will give you plenty of time to enter as much as you can.  I will announce the winner on Monday.  The winner will be chosen through a randomizer.  

Good luck everyone and thanks for stopping by!!!!

~Kelly

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Lovely Birdie Vase

Because I am in total summer mode I forgot to post the link for Tattered and Inked the day I was over there guest blogging.  In case you didn't make it to Tattered and Inked here is the post and project.   I am up to my elbows in schedule pick ups and school supply shopping so reposting this here helps me eliminate squeezing one more thing in.  Enjoy and thanks for readying.


Hi I am Kelly, The Creative Chickadee.  So excited to be guest blogging over here at Tattered and Inked!!  Thanks Kelsey for having me and have fun on vacation.  I am a Air Force wife and the mother of two ever growing boys.  My oldest is now taller than me.  WHAAA!!  One more very important thing about me...I. LOVE. CRAFTING!!  I enjoy using all types of mediums and find happiness in creating on a budget.  I originally found my groove because we were a broke Air Force family and I wanted to be able to decorate my home cheap.  I slowing started realizing that I could copy cat a lot of things for a lot less money than buying.  

My first project was making copy cat Pottery Barn jersey paintings for my boys' room.  I did not have the money to pay $40 a piece so I bought canvases on sale and started drawing a painting.

  

I have since recycled those canvases into these cuties

 That turned into card making, scrapbooking, home decor, furniture redos, etc.  I love working with my hands and altering things to make them more modern or bring them back to life.  I also love the thrill of coming up with a fresh idea.  Nothing beats a project that turns out the way you hoped it would.  I could go on and on, but let me get on with my latest project. I hope you enjoy it.

This too is a copy cat project.  I saw it somewhere out there in blog land and thought, I must do this.  Here is the final project.

 

I love this project for a few reasons.  It was FREE!!, I recycled what I already had, and it was quick.  I love a project a can knock out in a short amount of time.  Here is what ya need.

1.  Vases you have lying around the house

2.  Hot glue and gun

3.  Spray paint color of choice

4.  Your imagination

I started off with 3 vases I have had for who knows how long.  I loved the shapes and never wanted to part with them, but they were all different colors that did not go with my home decor so they have just been sitting taking up space.  Until now. :D

I then printed out a bird and taped it to the inside of the vase to trace.  I am horrible at free hand, and if you are to, don't be afraid to trace or print out images. I even printed out my words but it got to hard to be "perfect" with the glue so I free handed them.

Next step is to apply the hot glue.  The thing I love about using this medium is it comes right off if you mess up.  It took me about 3 tries on the bird before I was satisfied with it.  

Next comes the spray paint, mine bubbled a bit but not enough for me to toss the project.  It took several coats on the colored glass for me to get coverage.

  

There ya go.  I will show you where I put them for now.  I even made some origami flowers to go in one of the vases.  I will have that tutorial in a few weeks.

Entryway before...

 Entryway after.

 Close up on the flowers.  So cute right!!

Don't ever be afraid to alter something.  I think we get stuck in this box that things have to stay the same.  That is always my one piece of advice to people.  It is OK to alter.  Think outside the box!!

Here are pics of other projects I have tackled.  

 cabinet door into chalkboard

 Wreath made out of cupcake holders

 Family gallery/collage wall

Love to have you stop on by for a visit.  I love visitors and making new friends!!  Happy Crafting. Thanks again Kelsey!!

A Desk Revamp

Mr. B., my oldest, will be a Freshman in less than 3 weeks.  AAAHHH!!  Where has the time gone?  We, I have been trying to get his room high school ready.  My sweet mother gave me this desk.  I did not like it, but it was free and I knew I could turn it into something I would like and Mr. B. would be happy with.  Today I got the new handles on and finally I am able to post the before and after.  How many furniture redos have you done?  What's your favorite?  Let me know and if it's on your blog feel free to share your link in your comment for others to see. 

 The desk drawers had grooves in them.  Very 80's/90's style I'm sure. I put joint compound all over them to take away the grooves and bring it into the 21st Century a bit.   I let it dry for a few days.

Here is Mr. B. helping me sand it all down.  See what the grooves looked like. 

Uh, tacky!!  Now for some paint!!

Here is a picture of the handles I bought for his desk.  Very masculine and modern.  He loved them.  Thank goodness because they were not going back.  You never can tell the mood of a teenager. ;D

The finished product.  The colors match his stripes on his wall.  The green chair is a little bit brighter than the green on his wall, but I went out on a limb and bought it.  I thought it was cool.  The desk is school ready.  Just big enough for his laptop and work space.  It has enough drawers for all his messy organizational needs.  Here's hoping he keeps it clean.  I am working on a peg board to go on his wall above his desk.  Pictures of that to come soon.  Almost done.  I have so much to do before school starts!!!

Kelly

FUN CHALKBOARD OUT OF A CABINET DOOR

 

 Easy, easy project that even a beginner can do.  

1.Find an old cabinet door.

(garage sales, Habitat Restore, curb side, etc)

2.  Buy the following supplies

-chalkboard paint

-spray paint

-drawer knobs of your choice

-paper(optional)

3.  Spray the outer border of the cabinet with your spray paint, or regular paint.

Let Dry completely

4.  Tape off the border section and spray paint the middle portion with the chalkboard paint.

Let Dry Completely.

5.  Paint your drawer pulls.

  I used a cardboard box that I cut slits into it to secure my knobs upright while drying.

6.  Drill holes in your cabinet door.  I measured to get them evenly spaced and I still failed at it, but it looks fine.

7.  After knobs have dried, mod podge pattern paper on them.  

8.  Secure the knobs into the drilled holes.

 

9.  You need to temper your chalkboard by going over it with chalk before officially using it.  Rub the flat side all over it and the clean it off.  You are ready to hang and use the new chalkboard.  

Mine was for my niece to put in her room.  

The paper and paint I picked out goes along 

with the birdie art my sister and I did for her room.  LOVE IT!!!  

Lots of simple steps and with the weather warming up it won't take long for the paint to dry.  I would say this project may take you a few hours for dry time.

Family Collage Wall

Sorry for all of you that saw the finished product of this and have been, probably, impatiently waiting.  School is finally winding down for my boys and I finally feel like I am coming up for air.

For all of you that did not see the teaser photos, I recently did a family collage wall in my hallway leading to my master bedroom.  It probably took me from start to finish 2 weeks to do this project.  I used a lot of frames I already had.  I think I only bought 4 new ones and I got them all from the Dollar Tree.  I spray painted them all the same color and added bit of spa green here and there for an added, but subtle, punch of color.  I hope you enjoy the process.  I stressed over it a lot!  I am not one of those people that levels and measures and takes their time.  I hate dislike exacts.  Because of that it tends to get me into trouble craft wise.  But for this project I measured and leveled a little, just a little.  I made my husband proud.  I asked him for his opinion of my initial floor placement of all the frames and he said, "Looks good."  I am so excited that I did do this all myself and never got so stressed that I had to ask him for his help with all of the "exacts".  :D

Enjoy and let me know if you have ever done a collage wall.  If you haven't or have felt intimidated I hope my "semi-exact" methods make it do able for you.

I first laid all my frames out on the floor and moved them around until I had them generally where I like them.

While the pictures where on the floor I measured width and height for tape placement on the wall.

I thought I took a picture with just the painters tape up, but I can't find it.  I first taped up my basic height and width rectangle and then measured up every 5in and put tape.  I used my husbands laser leveler for all the taping.  LOVE it!!!  This method may not work for you but I saw it on a design show and knew my brain could handle doing a collage wall this way.  The nice thing is this is the only exact part of the process.  You use the other tape lines to keep you straight and even on the frame placement.  I used the tape to help level the bottoms of frames and to level the tops of frames.  Once you have all the frames in place you take off the tape.  I will use this method again and again I think.  Hopefully I have explained it so you get my method of madness.

 

I used napkins to mod podge the M.  Don't you just love it!!! See the bit of green in family?  Just a subtle splash.

I added all of my family photos from earlier generations.  I also added a G for my maiden name.  It was gold(Hobby Lobby) but I used the same green from the family sign.  

 Another splash of green is added through this family tree I had done. 

I used nails and 3M velcro strips to hang up the frames and 

Letter M.  Love 3M!!!

finished project again

There ya go.  My family collage wall.  It still makes me happy as I pass it.  Don't you just love feeling happy in your house, but also feeling happy that a project worked out!!?

Kelly 


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