Canvas Collages in shop and SALE!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  

Happy Cyber Monday.  It thought I'd celebrate with a SALE all week long.  Take 25% off everything in the SHOP through Friday, 12/5.  Use the code CYBERSALE2014 at checkout.

For fun, I just added these cute canvas collages to the SHOP as well.

DIY: Make Your Own Canvas

I love coming up with unique ways to display photos around the house.  This is one of my favorites.  It's quick, easy and really pops when finished:  a DIY make-your-own canvas display.

To create your own, you'll need a 12x12 inch canvas, nine 4x4 inch photos and either masking tape or glue strips to attach the photos.  (This is a great way to display your favorite phone photos from your Instagram account.)

1. Use masking tape to attach your photos if you'd like to keep them available for other uses or to be able to rearrange the display in future.  2.  Press carefully down and wipe off any fingertips with a clean cloth.  3. If you prefer to attach your photos permanently, use glue strips.  They are available in 1-inch strips for the same price as the dots.  I've found that two strips per photo, one on top and one on bottom works well.  4.  Keep adding your photos until you're finished.

Voila, a unique 12x12 canvas full of photos you love!

I had a really fun make-your-own-canvas station at the craft fair last weekend.  Now that it's over, I have a lot of 4x4 inch photos that I'll be making collages out of.
I'll be adding a handful of these unique DIY canvas to my SHOP very soon!

  

craft show recap

This blog has been quiet for the past few weeks.  I was busy preparing and planning for my first ever Arts & Crafts Show last weekend.  It was so. much. work!  I had no idea.  But, now that the first one is under my belt, the next one is bound to be easier.   

It was a well-attended, well-run two day show at a local church.  I had a 10x10 space that was a blank canvas to figure out what to do with.  Of course, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration.   It helped a lot.  I loved the idea of hanging my matted prints on a clothesline and wanted to use as much vertical space as possible to get things up and easily visible.

David researched our structure options and we ended up purchasing a 10x10 frame that can be converted to an outdoor tent in case we do outdoor shows in future.  It arrived one week before the fair with plenty of time to figure out the set up.  Since the frame was 8ft. tall, we put it up in the garage.  It looked great!  It was near the front of the garage, almost touching the ceiling.  I left to run some errands, and upon returning, not thinking, I opened the garage door to find the frame still intact, but pushed back with the back legs pretty slanted.  It was one of those open-jawed-face-palm moments.  Sigh!  Replacement parts arrived two days before the craft fair, giving me one day to figure out the set up.  Needless to say, the week before the craft fair was fairly busy and a bit stressful!

Here is the booth as you look to the right. (All the photos in this post were taken with my fisheye lens which distorts straight lines.  These bars are not really curved!)

And the view to the left.

Welcome table.

More matted photos on the left entrance at special craft fair prices.

I used the center table for displaying my 4x4" prints.  David made two customized display racks to hold them, and they turned out great!

Overall, it was a good first show experience.  I had a lot of fun creating a miniature store front.  I really had no idea how much to order or what would sell, and it took me a long time and lots of energy to make so many decisions about everything.  But, it's all part of the learning process.  It was fun to talk to people about my artwork and explain where and when I took the photos.  It was fun to see them enjoy my artwork too.  I'm just starting to find my way in the new adventure, but I'm really glad I took this step.  It feels like quite an accomplishment!

Cub Lake Hike

I was itching to go to the mountains last weekend and was lucky enough to steal away for a day hike all by myself.  It was just what I needed!  The weather was gorgeous.  It turned out to be the big Elk Fest weekend, but it wasn't too crowded, and there were tons of elk.

Cloudscapes

Last spring I spent a few nights at the YMCA in Estes Park.  The sunrise over the mountains was beautiful, mainly because of the extraordinary clouds.  They are so dreamy!

apache plume

We have a really great little experimental gardens in town.  We discovered it last summer, but sort of forgot about it.  A few weeks ago, I headed back over for a look, and realized that it's a great place to take nature photos.  How did I forget about it?

It's full of plants that are native to the area and require very little water once established.  I love the unique varieties grown here.  This one is called apache plume.  It's a feathery looking shrub.  Love the texture on this plant!

DIY: Polka Dot Wooden Photo Mounts

I'm always looking for fun, creative ways to get my photos displayed around the house.  Today, I'm sharing a crafty tutorial making wooden photo mounts, perfect for 4x4 Instagram photos.

First, you'll need some supplies: wooden craft boards, a couple shades of acrylic paint, some ribbon, a brush, circle stamp (I first tried using a cork, but it didn't work very well, so I ended up using a rubber stamp) and stapler.

1. Using your foam brush, apply a light coat of acrylic paint to the wooden board.  1.  I used a very light coat so that I could still see the wood grain and some wood peeking through.  If you prefer, coat it heavily for a totally different look.  3.  I like to work in mass production, so I made 6 at once.  4. Apply a small dab of the second shade of paint to your foam brush.  5.  Using the brush as a stamp pad, press your stamp into the paint, and apply to the board.   6.  Be sure to stamp some off the edge for a less perfect look.

To finish the boards, I added a little bit of paint to the edges and outlined the front as well.  It sort of completed the look for me.

Next, cut your ribbon just by eyeballing the length you'd like to hang them at.  Finally, when they are dry, flip over and staple them to the back.  The wood is very soft, so it's easy to staple though with a nice, swift hit.

There you have it.  Cute little photo mounts perfect for displaying those phone photos.

devil's backbone open space hike [loveland]

By far, my favorite thing about moving back to Colorado has been enjoying the great outdoors.  It's like food for the soul.  The kids don't just LOVE hiking, but every time we go, they always come back refreshed and happier than when we left.  There is something about being in nature with all of her colors and textures, sounds and smells that both relaxes and stimulates the senses.  We've sort of made a commitment that as long as we live in this awesome state, hiking and outdoor adventures will be part of our lifestyle.

Devil's Backbone open space was a great, shorter 2 mile trail for us, though there are lots of longer options too, if you want to go further.  We took Kelly Pepper on her first hike here (sorry, no photos of her--she was too busy enjoying the trail!) and didn't want to go very far from home.

The kids had a great time on this hike.  We will definitely be going back.

If you're interested, you can check out some of our other family hikes below.

Arthur's Rock [Lory State Park]

Calypso Cascade [Rocky Mountain National Park]

Fern Lake [Rocky Mountain National Park]

Lily Lake

homemade salsa

We've had an amazing crop of tomatoes this year.  Actually, it's our first crop of tomatoes ever.  Last year, we inherited a garden with our house, but everything was pummeled to pieces in a late season hail storm.  This year, we planted our first garden ever and have been enjoying it all summer.

I've had so many tomatoes that I needed to do something to preserve them all.  I've never canned a thing, but my mom used to, so I thought I'd give it a try.  After searching the Internet for tips, I discovered someone who said she froze her jars.  Since we have a deep freezer that has lots of spare room, I thought I'd give it a try.

To start, I gathered a ton of tomatoes, about 6 pounds.

My little helper and I added cilantro, garlic, onions and jalapeno peppers.

I almost forgot the limes.  Here is my ingredient list.

I chopped up everything in the food processor and added the juice of three limes and about 1/2 tablespoon salt.  

I filled my mason jars with about an inch to spare, let them sit overnight so that the flavors could meld and put them in the freezer the next morning.

There you have it!  Yummy homemade salsa to last us through the winter.