Herbs and Chickens!

What a gorgeous weekend it's been!  Happy Memorial Day to you.  I hope you're enjoying it too.  We've been preparing to plant our garden and also expecting the arrival of our chicks that arrive this week.  Twelve baby chicks will be here on Wednesday or Thursday and I can't wait to show you pictures!  We've talked about getting chickens for several years so I'm excited that we're finally getting them.  

We've been clearing out a few trees in our yard preparing for the chicken coop that hubby will be building.  The chicks stay indoors for about a month so we have a little time.  With the trees that have come down I now have a very sunny spot along the side of my house that I could only have shade plants there. 

Now it's a nice and sunny spot so I planted some basil, parsley, thyme and cilantro.  I already had chives growing there and a few flowers.  It's right outside our kitchen door so I love that I now have this little sweet smelling spot to grow and pick my herbs!  The back yard is in a bit of disarray but we do have a vision of what we want it to be.  With time, I see strawberries, blueberries and a small orchard.  We'll get there eventually.  Hope you're enjoying your day.

Eiffel Towers :: Design Team Share

Good Morning and Happy Monday.  I'm up a wee bit before the kiddos and having a nice cup of coffee, enjoying the quiet.  We've had a busy month of May with lots of family activities and family visits.  My Dad was here from Virginia and luckily had a beautiful week!  I miss him already.

I'm really so excited to share this month's Design Team projects.  I think the team has totally outdone themselves with our new Eiffel Tower shape!

Dawn did some beautiful hand soldering work and decorated with jewels, gems and cool wire.

Closeup of some of the cool pieces..

 Joyce created this totally girly piece with French papers, bling and her favorite, dress forms. :)  She has more information on her blog on how she created the look.

 

 

 

 

Love these pretty pins!

 Julie Ann made a She Girl with her Eiffel Tower.  The She Girl is inspired by Julie Nutting's book, Collage Couture.  It says, "She discovered she had a sense of adventure".  

Julie Ann painted the Eiffel Tower in black chalkboard paint. 
 

Laurie painted hers pink!  So adorable.  And she used Vintage button covers on hers.

Oooh la la. :)

Each one is so unique and different from each other.  Rae used a soft blue with striking black accents.

And last, but certainly not least.  Julie created some glitz and glamour with her Eiffel Tower with glitter and sequins.  Yes, sequins. :)  Don't you love it?!

 

I love the sequins and bling on the seams of the glitter.

Such a beautiful job!  Each one is so unique and fun!  I can't believe we have only one project left for this Design Team term.  We'll be posting a new Design Team call so check in again soon if you're interested in playing with some of our products each month.  Have a Happy Monday!  xo

Wooden Eiffel Tower for Baby Girl Tutorial

Welcome back Say It With Letters readers. :)  I've been enjoying time with my little ones and also recovering from ALL of us being sick.  We had our April school vacation and all five of us got sick.  Not much fun let me tell ya!  But we've recovered and are spending time outdoors in between the rainy spring weather we've been having.

I'm excited to share pictures for a new shape we designed.  We've had several people request an Eiffel Tower shape and now I'm excited to share it.  You can find it in our Etsy shop HERE.  Design Team member, Kim created this darling Eiffel Tower shape for a friend who's having a baby girl soon.  Isn't that the sweetest?!  I never know what the DT will create with their projects and hadn't thought of it for baby but I think it's so perfect!  Beautiful job Kim.  Read on for a great tutorial that Kim created for us!


Eiffel Tower for Baby Girl Tutorial
by Kim Schofield

1)      Gather Your Supplies – I’m using paper and stickers from Graphic 45, Zip Dry, Scissors, Exacto Knife, Sanding Tool, Walnut Stain Distress Ink, blending tool, foam tape, and adhesive.

2)      Apply Zip Dry to the entire piece (note that I rarely paint my pieces before applying paper because I love the natural look of the wood.  Others may want to paint first, using acrylic paints, to match their papers)

3)      Using the entire piece of 12x12 designer paper, press the glued piece onto the back side of the paper you wish to be on the FRONT of your piece.

4)      Use scissors to roughly cut off the excess paper, cut as close to the shape as possible.

5)      Use Exacto knife to cut off remaining paper; use the edge of the shape as a guide.

6.  Turn the piece over and use a sanding tool to smooth all of the edges.  A nail file works great for the small corners!

7.  I wanted a vintage look to this piece so I used dark brown ink and a blending tool to apply ink to all of the edges.  This is also a great way to hide any minor flaws. 

8.  Here’s the fun part…Decorate!  Use stickers, rhinestones, pearls, buttons, whatever matches your style to decorate your piece!

9.  Finished piece!  Perfect for a friend who is expecting a baby girl in a few months…

 Such a sweet project.  And thanks, Kim for the awesome tutorial.  I hope you all enjoyed it too.  You can visit Kim's blog for more inspiring projects.  She's a beautiful card maker too. :)