Canvas craft attempt

About a year ago my sister told me about taking a poster and decopodging it to a canvas to make it look like it was an original canvas art. I love canvas art and have been dying to try to make my own since last summer. As always school gets in the way and I never seem to have the time to do anything, especially not crafts. Well seeing as I had some free time on my this last weekend I thought I would give it a try! I had a paper bag from a bakery in San Francisco that I picked up last summer when I decided I was going to try this whole canvas art thing, so I figured I would try it with that and see how it went!

It had been sitting my car for a while so one side of the bag was faded, luckily the other side wasn't! I took the bag and cut it in half so that I would have enough to cover the entire canvas. I cut it with an exacto knife and then ran it horizontally along the egdes to give it a more worn appearance.

I used a a 14" x 18" art canvas that I picked up at Ben Franklins. They are usually really expensive, but I happened to stop in when they had a sale which is what prompted my decision to finally make one! The bag has red in it, so I decided I wanted to paint the canvas red, one so the sides of the canvas would bring out the red in the bag and two so that if anything bled through it would match. I used red acrylic paint that matches the red on the bag. If you aren't worrying about having any colors show through, etc. you can do this without painting the canvas. I blow dried the canvas with a diffuser so it would be really even and then I sanded it down a little bit. I sanded it so that it wasn't really thick and so it gave it a little bit of texture.

I didn't have decopodge, so I used modgepodge. Either will work :) I had both Matte and Gloss so I used the Matte for the back of the bag. I covered the entire bag and then layed it down on the canvas. I smoothed it out with my hands to make sure it stuck and that there weren't huge bumps throughout the bag. To cover the front I used the Gloss, but I watered it down some so it wouldn't be as thick. Then I brushed it on using criss cross strokes to create that canvas feel. The bag naturally popped up in some places, but I smoothed most of those areas out and left some to give it a vintage feel. Then I blow dried it again with the diffuser. The decopodge goes on white, but don't worry if you are using color it dries clear! I let it dry all of the way and then sanded it out just a little bit to add a little bit more texture.

I am really excited about how well it turned out!! I can't wait to put it up in my kitchen in August!

bye, bye wisdom

Wisdom Teeth that is. As of Friday afternoon I am wisdom teeth free, yay!

Some things I learned are
1. I still love general anesthetic, being put under for surgery is so great!
2. General anesthetic makes me pretty loopy. I had surgery around 12 and don't really remember anything until 4 pm!
3. Biting down on tea bags is incredibly gross and I never want to do it again!
4. It feels very strange to have 4 less teeth in my mouth

Please ignore the grossness of this photo!

That being said I am so glad they are out and that I never have to do that again!

Starting today for the next 7 days yogurt, V8, herbal tea, slimfast, muscle milk, applesauce, and mashed bananas are going to be my best friends.

Something funny about all of this? Well for one thing they gave me my teeth, which I honestly have no clue what I am going to do with. I guess i'll try and see if the tooth fairy still loves me. Also, when I left the surgeons office I walked out with a giant coffee mug full of candy that oh you know I can't eat for at least a week.. go figure.

Harry, Harry Potter

You may make fun of me, but this is a very bittersweet post for me! On one hand, the movie was incredible!! I loved it and I definitely think it is the best movie of the entire series! The night consisted of dinner at Sharis with the group and showing up to the movie a good 3 hours early, dressed up of course!  On the other hand, I am super bummed because it's all over! Pathetic, I know, but the first book came out when I was in elementary school and the books and the movies have both been huge in my growing up! I was also so, so excited when a new book came out, I have read each book more times than I can remember. In fact when my sister-in-law once asked me if she could read the first book, I told her no because I was going to read it again for the 6th or so time. The movies have been the talk for the year as we all wait in anticipation for the next one to come out. It has become an annual outing that I am going to really miss! You probably all think i'm a really big nerd by now, but oh well because I am totally okay being a Harry Potter nerd :)

Harry Potter ending just so happens to be the capstone on my childhood. I grew up with Harry Potter and now that Harry has grown up and the entire series is over, I am growing up too and getting married in less than a month! It's been a great adventure and I love every bit of it!!

SO

If you haven't seen the movie, DO IT! It is so good!! Also if you haven't read the books, shame, please start ASAP. J.K Rowling is a genius!

It's Independence Day!

Or at least it was Independence Day! Independence Day is one of my absolute favorite holidays! It marks the beginning of summer here in Oregon and means long sunny days, great american hamburgers, spending all day on the boat, and hanging out with my family! This year was no exception! Saturday night we all headed up to Portland for my cousin's wedding. It was a blast, she was absolutely gorgeous and married such a great guy! Sunday after church we all packed up and headed to our family lakehouse! Sunday was spent soaking up the sun reading a book. It was so relaxing and wonderful! I loved getting to lay back and finally relax! While the guys took the kids out on the boat to watch fireworks my mom, sisters, and I brainstormed for the wedding! We have lots of fun ideas like this super fun sweet table!

We got almost everything figured out so now it's down to actually working on stuff!

Monday I woke up to blue sky and sunshine which equaled a perfect lake day! I was on the dock by 10 and ready to soak up some sun! The day was spent laying on the boat, tubing with my neices and nephews, and swimming in the lake. My grandparents came over along with my great aunt and uncle for our 4th of July BBQ. It was so great to spend the day celebrating our country with my family. They are really the best friends I could ask for and being at the lakehouse with them is probably my favorite summer activity! I did not want to leave last night, but hopefully i'm headed back this Friday for a few more days away!

I came home with very sunburned legs, a super sore neck, and an exhasuted body, but it was so worth it! The lakehouse is that place that makes me ancy for summer. I can't wait to get out to Tenmile and on the boat. We have been going since I was eight years old and I can't imagine my summers without it. Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor day, and every other day we can squeeze in are always at the lakehouse rain or shine. I love it there and I can't wait to one day share it with my family!!

My camera battery died and I forgot to grab some of my sisters' pictures before I left, so I don't have any of the lake, but here are some from London :)

Happy Fathers Day Dad!!

London Eye at Sunset

Oh you know, just hangin on the Carousel

Me, Amanda, and Emily with the directors and Esme - Love them!