Extra Large Ampersand

I feel like I start so many of my posts by stating I am a bad blogger. Yes, it may be true that my posts are somewhat sporadic but HEY! I have a real life people, one that consumes at least 40hrs a week, plus nurturing my relationship and raising my furry babies. But enough excuses.
I made something. And its pretty freaking awesome. And I will make another one, that is even better.

Its a giant Ampersand (you know, the AND sign, this one - & - )

Finally, a picture that shows the wall color as it looks in real life!!!

Perfect, no. Good for a first attempt, YES!! Here's the breakdown.
Whilst browsing Pinterest and blogland for wedding inspiration, I came across many pictures where the couple holds an ampersand between them. I love it!! But the pre-made sizes at Joann's and Micheal's just weren't bulky enough for my larger than life style. So I took matters into my own hands. With all the new construction at work, we have been swimming in giant pieces of cardboard, perfect for creating large projects.
I thought I knew how to draw this. A few million attempts, and I kind of got it right.

 

I freehanded the ampersand onto a piece of cardboard, and cut it out with a utility knife. 

 

Roughly following the technique laid out by Becca over at from GARDNERS 2 BERGERS, I did a faux zinc finish. 

I laid out two pieces of tin foil, shiny side down, and cut off the excess, and used scrapbooking adhesive to adhere the foil to my symbol. 

 

After smoothing out most of the wrinkles, I dry brushed black acrylic paint over the symbol, lightly and randomly to give it a tarnished look. I got a little heavy handed near the top, but because of the slickness, I was able to wipe it off and mostly fix my error. 

 

I'm out of Mod Podge, but when I get some more I will be giving this baby a few coats for extra durability, but in the meantime, I think it turned out awesome!!! Its little tail is kind of stubby but I like it that way. Its unique. 

Check out this other handmade ampersand by Living Savvy!! I'm loving the texture she achieved! 

Lots of other changes have been happening around the house here, including a new rug that gave the living room a new lease on life, and further de-grannyfying with an updated light fixture!!! Stay tuned!!

Sick Day

So the madness has begun at work with our construction and closure for several weeks, and the training process for our new employees is just ramping up. And the sickness strikes. Being a restaurant employee, I have a kick ass immune system, but I'm thinking the combo of a certain time of month and adjustment to a new sleeping schedule has gotten me all mixed up inside. So I'm home today with a rocking headache and other yuckyness and an extra crazy puppy. Le sigh.

I haven't been posting much about wedding stuff lately, mostly because we are at a standstill until this work crazyness wraps up. My bestie Lacey, who also got engaged recently, and I are going to the Central Oregon Bridal Show in a couple weeks, and I am headed up to Portland the weekend after to look for dresses and meet with our coordinator, invitation designer, and potential caterers.

Anyhoo, here is a collection of images that are making me happy in this time of yucky.

I can't wait to include our boys in our special day this Fall, however this last picture makes me giggle with anxiety. I am pretty sure Cash would pose perfectly for the pic, then in one fell swoop, slurp up the rings and trot away like nothing happened. And J and I would be left digging through doodoo for the next week in hopes of getting our rings back. Yikes.

 

We are still in the hunt for a tandem bike for our wedding day. I'm hoping for a sweet vintage one, the newer ones just don't have the same charm for me. If that doesn't work out though, I will be perfectly satisfied with some shots of us and our townie bikes. Gotta represent our love for the pedal power! 

The ceremony in our wedding will be short and sweet. While James and I are spiritual people, we will definitely be non traditional in our I Do's. I am loving how this couple is holding hands during the ceremony, and this is be happening for us for sure. I'm not to sure I'd be able to stand on my own anyhow. Lo fact : VERY emotional person.

Lo fact: huge hair = extra hot. I love this messy braid. So gorgeous.

Shades of plummy purple are our wedding colors, and J is wanting gray for himself and his entourage, I am sweating big time over this combo above. Sleek and sexy, perfect.

And last, but not least, details have been coming together for my bachelorette debacle. We will be doing a whitewater rafting trip on the Lower Deschutes in Maupin, and I will definitely be getting these type of shots. So necessary.

 

Since I like to finish strong (twss), I will leave you with a shot of the rock. The one that started this whole journey, the one that symbolizes J and I's past, present, and future. Behold! 

Gorgeous, I know. I love it too.

Now off to my nest on the couch with some lemongrass soup and a marathon of Gossip Girl on dvr. yess......

{all image source info can be found on my pinterest special party gems board. except the ring shot, that belongs to me}

Switch it up... Change it up

Good morning friends and Happy New Year to you!!!
I can't believe 2012 is here... the year I will become a wife, the year my place of employment gets a HUGE makeover, and the year of so many other adventures and discoveries I don't even know about yet! Woop Woop!
Remember a few weeks ago when we put up our tree and I started ranting about how I wanted to re-arrange the living room? As I also  mentioned in that post, to me the worst part of holiday decor is taking it down, so two days after Christmas, I dove into it head first and took down ALL of our holiday decor. And it felt good. But we were left with a gaping hole on the giant wall where the tree had been.

Please excuse the mess and crappy TV images...

As you can see in the bottom of the image, Cash's crate is giant and takes up a lot of room in our walkway, and all the furniture is smooshed together toward the right of the room. And we are still dealing with the lack-of-tv-console in the space.
OVER IT!!!!
James left the room to take a shower and I started doing some shuffling of furniture.

 

I shifted the ugly floral chair over next to the wall so it opened up the space as you look in from the front door. It also makes a sitting area that's not focused on the TV, which I like in a room. Then I went to our guest room, aka the land of furniture with no appropriate home, and snagged a small shelving system to put our TV on. James was not sold at all on this idea until I started getting whiny about the speaker from his surround sound blocking part of the TV. The wheels started turning and he disappeared to the garage and suddenly!!!! 

TaaaDaaa!!!! I know I know, kind of an uneventful change but... its soo much better than before! We cut about 6" off the legs of the shelf, so now the speaker sits lower and all of our components are off the ground. We also lost the floral ottoman that was a speaker stand before, and used the random side table that used to hold our TV.
I understand, it still looks like a total shit show, but this is one small step towards success people! The ottoman is GONE and at least now all the elements of the console are similar. And I don't have to stare at the back of that damn chair every time I walk in the front door. Much better.

Moral of the story: Its much easier to convince your man to take part in a project if it involves power tools, and you bring him a beer in the midst of all the chaos.

The end.