i love you...

after weeks of cutting out letters and words, my kids and i made this the other night -- an 'i love you' collage on a 20x20 canvas. and i love it so!

originally inspired by this 'i love you' collage

next, i'm going to make the 'I WILL SURVIVE' pot from this post.

ETA:  i've been getting some questions regarding how i made my 'i love you' collage.  so, here's what i did...

i started with a 20x20 canvas purchased from michaels. i didn't want the background stark white so we painted it a light beige. then the kids and i spent weeks cutting out letters from magazines, junk mail, etc. -- all shapes and sizes. to place the letters, i painted a layer of modge podge and then began sticking 'i love you' letters and words. the hard part is making sure that a complete word goes all the way to the edge, so begin thinking about this when you get close. once i had a few rows done, i modge podged on top of the letters. once the entire collage was done, i did a final two layers of modge podge on the entire thing. note: we were very low on Vs and Ys and had to do some more cutting of those letters. it was quite a time consuming but worth every minute!! it was super fun seeing how creative the kids got with the letter cutting -- a dragon's tail became a letter O, an eye became a letter I.

fav finds | week eleven

decided to prioritize my DIY favorites, for the new year. hoping to work on these projects in the coming months. silhouette pictures

painted animal-topped jars

billy buttons

finish this calendar journal project

because i have an owl obsession and the kids would love to do this.

need to remember to show steve this since our storage shelving is falling apart

this too, for around the pool.

yarn-wrapped sticks

and words

really want to get started on this long-term 'i love you' collage

get all my photographs hung

must remember to not throw out toilet paper tubes.

want to do this today, from oma & opa's in NV to our home in FL.

one of my absolute most important DIYs in 2012 is to learn and shoot video of my family. and i love heather's yearly new year's video tradition idea.  i might just tweak this idea and add questions to my annual family book -- have the kids complete some questions every year in their own handwriting.

fav finds friday | week six

while i didn't just find homeland, i can't seem to get enough of it. especial since dexter has been overwhelmingly disappointing this season.

haven't tried this but i'm hoping it works -- baking soda and peroxide. and dish soap and peroxide = oxyclean.

i really want to grow my own little avocado tree.

thinking about making something like these but with thumbprints instead of fabric and reindeer instead of reinbirds.

such an amazing series. i'm pretty certain i blogged about mr toledano before but i just went back to visit the other day so i thought i'd share again.

another incredible series of photographs of a dad documenting his daughter over many years. and here's a little interview with the photographer, jack radcliffe.

happened to see something similar in anthropologie and then came across the tutorial the next day. considering some inspiring words for the home. and from the image title, looks like this photo was taken at anthropologie too.

super love this template.  blogged all about it here.

apparently, a working camera transformer from 1985.  seriously wishing the toy industry would put something like this back out there. so cool! hmm...maybe i could disassemble one of ryder's transformers and make one of these myself with a holga or diana i have. yep, i'm so doing that.

a few children's books / series i think every family should own.

sandra boynton books were my absolute favorite books to read to the kids when they were toddlers. we own them all.

shel silverstein poem books. this one was recently released. we own them all and read his poems almost every night.

if you haven't read this book, you must! without a doubt, every family should own this one.

ha!!

my mom is a great baker. she used to sell the fancy german tortes she made, when i was a kid. but this was my all time favorite -- toasted coconut clusters. none of the optional stuff. just straight chocolate and toasted coconut.

just happened to sample this recipe [turkey and sausage chili] the other day, while in publix. it was awesome and such a great idea for turkey leftovers. making it today.

need i say more...

in my spare time

...i've been working on my family's annual book. anyone who's read my blog over the past couple years, probably already knows how much i adore and treasure my family books. they grace our credenza right as you walk in the door and i get chills each and every time i look through one of the books.  last night, i found the  kids looking through them -- laughing and giggling as they turned the pages. i've been doing an annual book ever since i started photography [2006].  i always joke that if there's a fire and my family is all safe, my books are next to be saved from the flames. but i'm serious.

i started working on the book a bit earlier than usual, so i'm not rushing to get it done the end of november.  i give the books to grandparents for christmas every year and need to make sure i allow time for printing and shipping. this year my book is called life passes so fast, with an accompanying closing quote on the last page.  sigh!

while i'm sure the book will be tweaked many times between now and the end of november, this is how it's looking so far...

you can see a larger version HERE.

a bit about my book-making process: i design the book from scratch [no template]. 11x13 landscape format. hard cover and premium matte paper. use booksmart via blurb. every year is different (e.g. here's last year's layout). include favorite photos from the year. quotes to go with some of the photos. words | thoughts about each child. every book is unique. and so very special.

in closing... i beg you to get your digital files off your computer and printed. on your walls. in a book. somewhere. anywhere.

i'll be sharing another project i've been working on in a few days. just a couple more things to get done first.

gettin' crafty

i've always loved crafty stuff [although when i recently texted my mom about what i loved to craft as a child, her response was, "you didn't like to do many things. you wanted to be with your friends and play."]. but, i remember loving to draw, doodle and cross-stitch...a lot.  i also remember getting very frustrated with tangled threads, when cross-stitching.  my mom later added that i did do a great job with those things.  as an adult, i've cross-stitched, scrapbooked and quilted -- all for random short periods of time. now, my kids so love crafting. they're drawing, painting and simply creating all the time. they have the best imaginations and the freeness to be...that only childhood offers.

well...pinterest has my crafting spirit really fired up. i feel the pull. and i long to start creating soon. very soon.

here's a few projects that are at the top of my list right now. projects that i long to get started on soon...very soon!

i love you collage [will take lots of time to collect all those letters. should start collecting today.]

a silhouette picture of all three of my kids

our embroidered hands

animal topped storage jars [my kids love playing with the hard-figured animals. such a perfect project to celebrate their joy.]

create my own designs and cross-stitch my entire family

and i recently asked steve to get my brand-new-unopened-year-old sewing machine out of our storage facility, which he did.  it's now sitting in the corner of my bedroom, anxiously waiting for some attention.

bean bag chair cover [we have an ugly bean bag, which i would love to cover in some cool mod fabric.]

lounging mat [perfect for our hard wood floors and a couch that is too small for all five of us]

last time i got bit by the really crafty bug, i made these tents over the littles' beds [in our kansas house].  i hope someone who found them at goodwill appreciated them. we just didn't have the room in this house and i figured by the time we leave, the littles would be too old for these tents.

have you recently done a crafting project that you loved or are so excited about?  if so, i'd love to hear about it.  please share.