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Monday, June 16, 2014

Betty the Glamper...she's almost done!!

Good morning lifers! 

I hope you had a fabulous weekend...I know I did! 

As many of you know, we recently bought an old pop-up camper and decided it needed a little love (not everyone is down for fake wood and a rainbow of country mauves and blues.) 

Today, I wanted to show you some updated pics! I spent most of last week at my sewing machine making her new curtains, pillows and covering the ugly cushions. 

In total, I made 8 pillows, 9 curtains and recovered 6 cushions...I don't think I have sewed this much in my entire life. Lol. 

Oh...did I mention her name was Betty? Why Betty? Well, my sister (who we are traveling with in a few weeks) is redoing her camper as well and we wanted their names to be "related" somehow. We thought about starlets or maybe Wilma and Bett or Starlight/Starbright, but eventually we landed on: BETTY AND VERONICA!! It's actually pretty perfect for our personalities and the looks of our campers. 

Wanna see?  


I fell in love with this big stripe because it felt like the old changing "tents" that you used to find at beaches back in the day. The stripes, coral pattern and anchor pattern materials all came from Hobby Lobby. The navy blue sailboat and the cushion fabric both came from Hancock in the Home Decor Section. 

Wanna money saving tip?! For pillows, don't buy pillow inserts! They can cost anywhere from $8-$15 each. Instead, go to your local thrift store and buy ugly throw pillows (the uglier they are the cheaper they are and the funnier looks you'll get at check out! Haha!) throw them in your dryer on the sanitize cycle (or high heat if you don't have a fancy dryer.) Then simply cover your pillows for a fraction of the cost. My 8 pillows cost a whopping $16 at my local thrift store. 


You can see on the top of this curtain, I added a strip of the cushion fabric to the too. I did this for 2 reasons: (1) it ties the whole thing together and (2) my striped fabric was about 10in too short for the length I needed and I was not about to try to line up all those stripes to add more of the same fabric! 

We painted 2 coats of Valspar primer and paint all in one over the ugly faux wood. We chose the outdoor version since the camper will have to endure temperature changes. The white REALLY brightens the whole thing up and is a really cheap and simple change. We bought just a quart and didn't even use the whole thing. 


I love how my brighter colors POP of my darker cushions. Plus...better for stains! 

If you're thinking about Glamping (glamour + camping) here's a few money saving tips we've found along the way! 

(1) like I said above...instead of buying new pillow inserts, buy used throw  pillows at your local thrift store and recover to match. Just remember to check them closely for scary stains and santize them in your dryer. 

(2) remember your space is small. You might be used to buying gallons of paint, but 1 quart is more than enough for your little space. 

(3) Check what you have in hand already! We all have gallons of paint leftover from various projects. You might have what you need sitting your garage right now. We painted the vent covers gray (sorry no pics of them!) using a gray spray paint we already owned. (We learned this lesson the hard way...we totally had paint sitting in our garage that we could have used!)

(4) Check your local Habitat for Humanity Restore or other similar charity store that specializes in home products. We were looking at new handles (we needed 8) at a big box home improvement store and the ones we liked were $3-$5 each. Uummm....no. My hubby went to our local Restore and found them for $1 each. Much better right?

(5) don't forget the coupons on the fabrics! Hancock Fabrics has coupons and sales through their website and in print, while JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby both have apps. Look closely though...usually the coupon can only be used on one "cut" of fabric, so it might require multiple trips or a helper to go through a different line to get the savings.

(6) When it comes to fabric, spend a little more for your cushion fabric. It's gonna get a lot of use. For pillows and curtains, a canvas or duck cloth works great because it's sturdy, but not too expensive. 

So there you go....Betty is about 80% done. I can't wait to show you the finished project and the pics of her in action in just a little under 2 weeks. 

Have an awesome day and remember...make your art intentional...not an after thought. 

Xoxo, 
Keri 

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Creating a Masculine Layout with Stencils

Hello Lifers!!

Today I am so excited to be sharing a mixed-media layout over on The Crafter's Workshop Blog.

Here's a little sneak peek!


Head on over to their blog for more details and a complete tutorial!


Until Next time...make your art intentional...not an after thought.

XOXO,

KERI

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Blog-cation is Over!!!

Good Morning Lifers!

Have you missed me? I'm just gonna keep it real...I was feeling a little overwhelmed with projects, blog posts, design team stuff, PTO responsibilities, and life in general. So I decided to take a little blog-cation and relax a bit (as much as a crafty mom of three can at the end of the school year! LOL)

Wanna know what you missed?

Check this out (stick with me...it's a little long, but there's a lot of pictures!)

Family Life 

The Glamper

If you've never heard of Glamping...it's basically camping for those of use who like pretty things. :)

My hubby and I recently bought a pop-up camper and decided it needed a little love. The '93 decor of light mauve and country blue just didn't work for us. LOL.

Here's a few "in progress" shots.

Love that faux wood? Ya...me either.  Crisp white it is. 


Primer on...ready for the gleaming new white. 


These are the fabrics I chose! The blue/white stripe will be our new curtains and the others will be accent pillows. Loving the bright nautical look!


We're still trying to decide on a name. 

We are planning a trip in just a few weeks with my sister and her family and I want our campers to be "twins." I'm thinking something cute like Betty and Veronica or Starlight and Starbright. I can't wait to share the progress and the finished product. 

Tiny Dancer's Debut Recital

My youngest, Khloe, made her stage debut for tap and ballet and...she was FABULOUS and just plain adorable. :)





Date with my soon to be Middle Schooler

This handsome little guy was my date to see X-Men: Days of Future Past. Tomorrow is his last day of 4th Grade and he will be moving on up to middle school next year. 


Starting the Outdoor Fun Early

We are enjoying the great outdoors (ok...our back patio.)

Hubby is seriously enjoying his hot dog. :) 


And it's never too early to learn to take a good selfie. 




Fun and Field Day!!!

Water Slide Inflatables, Fire Truck, outdoor fun and friends...can't ask for much more.





Fun Hikes with my little. 

With just a few days left before the big kids get out of school, taking every opportunity to spend time with my little one on one.



My BEAUTIFUL niece graduates High School.

When I met her, she was only 4 years old...now look at her! So proud of the amazing woman she is becoming.




Hottie Hubby!!

I got to celebrate 1 more year with my hubby. It's been a rough year for us and it has really made me feel even more blessed to do life with him.

 Our anniversary fell on my niece's graduation, so we had a great dinner at this restaurant in Springfield, MO called Metropolitan Farmer. It's so cool...everything is locally grown and super yummy.



Creative Life

Graphic 45

While I was away, a total scrappy dream came true!



Yup....I made the Graphic 45 2014 Design Team.

EEEKKK....SQUEEE....FREAK OUT MODE!!!

I am so excited and I'm not even sure if it has fully sunk in. 

In case you missed my audition projects back in March, you can see them here: Graphic 45 2014 Design Team Audition . 

You would not believe the generosity of Graphic 45 is to their design team. I made a little video when I opened my first box.




Box #2 arrived yesterday (YES! Box #2!) so I will be making another video soon to show off those goodies. 

The Crafter's Workshop

The Crafter's Workshop has always been one of my favorite stencils so when they had their first ever design team call, I had to jump on it!

I didn't make the design team (a little sad), but I DID make their Guest Design Team (BIG HAPPY!)

You can see all the other fabulous artist who made the cut here: The Crafter's Workshop Design Team Announcement

Want to see one of my favorite submitted projects?


Here are the amazing stencils I get to play with. I can't wait!!


Tattered Tangles 

I had the chance to be featured on the Tattered Angels blog using their new Tattered Tangles life of Zentangled-inspired paper and ephemera.

I had so much fun playing with this!

Here is a sneak peek:



For full details and more projects, check out the Tattered Angels Blog: "On My Way" Layout by Keri Sallee

So that has been the last 6 weeks! I'm excited to be back on the blog wagon and I can't wait to take you along on more of the journey of my Creative Life.

XOXO,
KERI