3 Comments
This time of year I love the Fall colors and cool temps. I crave hot cider and pumpkin bars! And yes, I'm not ashamed to admit that I am a skinny jeans, knee-high boot & chunky scarf wearin' kinda gal. Also known as the "Han Solo" look! hahaha No, I don't wear vests though, I can't pull them off! Last weekend our little family was camping with some friends and it was HOTT out - I'm talkin Florida humidity mixed with Arizona heat. It's one week from the First Official Day of Autumn in MINNESOTA and it sure did not feel like it! So then of course the other day when we were out walking our neighborhood and the temp had dropped dramatically - I was doing a happy dance! Rain and the drop in temps means beautiful Fall colors. woo-hoo While we were out walking I happened to see one glorious tree that had already dropped some lush red leaves. I'm sure the owner of the house thought I was crazy for picking up leaves out of her yard, but so what....I was giving her some free lawn maintenance! haha And then I hear from my husband, " hun, I think that's enough". Of course he would say that, guys just don't get it! And here's me, "no, they need to be perfect, better to have too many than not enough". Well shucks, I should have heeded my own advice and not stopped at only grabbing a few. I need to find some more now to finish this craft I am working on and for other crafts/projects!
Craft Supplies Needed: mod podge brush or sponge brush canvas, wood pallet sign, pennant, etc letter tiles to make a fall-saying wax paper hot glue gun twine fresh picked/dropped leaves (must be fully dry) *tweezers/exacto knife * might be needed, but not necessary How To Make It: 1. First, lay out the leaves on the wax paper and brush the mod podge evenly onto the leaves, not too thin but not too thick either!
2. Now, this next step is the most important....lift the leaf by the end of the stem and move them onto a new piece of wax paper (uncoated side still down, wet side up). By doing this, you're allowing the decoupage to dry without making it stick to the paper and making it hard to peel up!
3. While the first coat is drying, you can work on putting together the rest of your project. So for this particular one, I tied the letters onto my twine and then decided where to put it on my burlap canvas. Once laid out, I tied the knots so that the twine wouldn't slip out through the staple. Then used a small staple gun to attach the twine letter strings to the back side of the canvas.
4. Going back to the leaves (a couple hours later) - once the white is gone and gives off a shine, then it should be dry to the touch and you can turn the leaf over. If it stuck to the wax paper at all, use an exacto knife or tweezers to help lift the leaf up - be careful so you don't rip the leaf! Repeat steps 1 and 2.  5. Once your second coat is done and both sides are covered and dry, you can either do one more coat on each side OR continue with your project. I also decided to add some fuzzy weed/grass things....they're beautiful and adds just a nice extra touch of Fall to the artwork. The modge podge will still be painted on....some drops may spray back, so make sure you wipe the table/working space down afterwards! 6. Now is the fun part. You get to decide what to do with your leaves and how to lay it out on your project! Get your glue gun warming in preparations for the next step. 7. Once it's decided, you'll want to add a few dollops of glue sporadically on the backside of the leaf to hold it in place on the canvas. And since I decided to add these grassy things, I also added some glue to where the bow is to hold it in place better, and a little bit below the bow where I wanted the strands to come together slightly. And a little bit of glue higher up on the grass stem so they wouldn't flop over.
And there you have it, your own one-of-a-kind piece of Fall Artwork for your home!
Thank you for reading, have fun crafting! Comment below if you try this and share a photo of your creation. I'll let you in on a little secret of mine....I hate spending time cooking, baking and preparing things!!! If it's not prepped within 15 minutes or requires more than a dozen ingredients, you definitely won't see me cooking it! haha So, that being said, I'm sure you can all guess that I love crock-pots and using Pinterest for quick, easy recipes. And if my hubby is reading this....an InstaPot is on my wishlist! ;-) Anyone use those?! Post your fav recipes in the comments below...I'd love to give "tried & true" recipes a try when the day comes I get mine!
What's my FAVORITE appetizer?!?! It's one that's quick to make, uses fresh things out of my garden and it's relatively healthy! Any guesses? Do you ever go anywhere without your significant other and/or kids? Get away, enjoy some adult time, no responsibilities, do whatever you want on your own schedule, and just BE! It’s a great feeling sometimes, isn’t it?! The best part of doing that though….coming home!!!! Getting a “welcome home” kiss from your spouse and a “hi mommy” and a hug from your kids is just the best time ever! My girlfriend and I went away this past weekend and had a little ladies weekend - a momcation if you will. Our second annual momcation to be exact! We’ve made it a new tradition of ours to check out bed and breakfasts in cute little towns with shopping, boat cruises and yummy food. Last year was Clear Lake, Iowa and this year was Reads Landing, MN. We started our trip bright and early with a coffee stop at Starbucks prior to a 4 mile hike around Frontenac State Park......
I apologize in advance to all my readers! I've been crazy busy lately and haven't blogged in a while. I hope this post makes up for the past month of being MIA. This week I want to challenge my readers. I feel that I am challenged every day with something new and it becomes a learning and growing experience. And I want everyone that I know and care about to be continually learning & growing as well. This week I was challenged by having a job interview...first major one in over 8 years! YES, I'm finally looking to go back to work full time now that my little guy is getting older and will benefit more from a daycare/preschool environment. He loves the social interaction with other kids of all ages and let's face it, I'm sure he's getting bored with just hangin with mom all day long! haha Of course I had to throw in some cute photos of him on this blog...what would a momtog blogger be without showing off her adorable child whenever she can?! Read on to find out how the interview went and what my challenge is for you!
Family - Hiking - Tenting - Bonfires - S'mores - Fishing - Friends - Games We all remember our childhood, no matter what decade we grew up in. I'm not going to give away my age, but I will admit to not even owning my own cell phone until I was in high school....and back then it was soooo basic and boring. It was more fun to actually interact with friends in person than just through messages, pictures and social media. HECK - social media wasn't even that big of a deal back then!!! We just had dial-up AOL instant messenger and the joyous Myspace! ;-)
That's right, you heard it straight from the horse's mouth....I have a new love!
KIDS ARE UNPREDICTABLE And that's okay!
If you expect them to be complete angels and listen to everything you or the photographer says, you are sorely mistaken. On a normal day, does your child always listen to you?! Come on...really?! Yeah that's what I though....not always. So don't set that high of an expectation for them for a photo shoot!!! It's not fair for them or anyone else. The session will go sooo smooth if you, and the photographer, are able to be flexible with the child's emotions and desire to want to please but also to want to just be a kid!
Both types of imagery speak volumes. Some photographers shoot exclusively one versus the other. But the majority try to incorporate both into their style pending on what outcome best suits the session or an image from that session.
Is there interesting contrast? When you remove color from the photographic equation, you are left with only differences in tone; lights and darks. These differences are what truly make good black and white images, and the differences in light and shadow bring contrast to the photograph. So, when you see that a given scene or subject presents the opportunity to exploit stark contrasts and unique lighting or shadow, it might be a great opportunity to try black and white. Are there interesting textures? When we think of texture, we can easily describe it in terms of how things feel physically, when we perceive them through our sense of touch. Texture in photography, however, can be a little more challenging to put into words. Texture in a photograph has to be perceived with our eyes and then we determine if it’s smooth, rough, or coarse. Transforming the tactile tangible into a visually tangible image takes practice and a trained eye, and this is where working in black and white can be the best choice. Examples of textures that work well for black and white photos are wood, metals and stone, even plants and human skin.
|
