40% OFF Sale!

I'm cleaning out my Etsy store to make room for new creations!  Here is an example of what I've been working on.  Please visit my store & type in Simple40 for the coupon code & you will get 40% your total order!  There are antiques, vintage items, tiny bottles, jewelry, soldered glass charms, postcards & several other items you will not want to miss.  This sale is just in time for the holidays so get them before they are gone!

Please join me in my Etsy store SimpleSubtleties for a big HUGE sale!  25% off every single item in my store!!  I'm cleaning out and clearing out to make room for new creations.  It's a perfect time to do your holiday shopping too.  I have Halloween and Christmas charms available now plus a couple of LOT items that will be sold so cheap you can re-sale them in your own stores! Happy Shopping!

DIY Nautical Beach photo board

My friend asked me to design her something "beachy" to hang above her closet doors. 

This is what I came up with by using an old photo, photoshop, a $7 pine board, some white acrylic paint and $6 worth of cleats (3 total) purchased at The Bass Pro Shop, decoupage glue ( I used Modge Podge glossy), and photo hangers for the back $2.  

Total piece measures 9 1/16 inches tall and 62 1/2" inches long.  

Instructions:
First you have to buy your board and cut it to whatever size you are wanting.  Then "whitewash" the edges by using a thin, watery layer of white acrylic paint.  Only brush paint around the front sides of the board and then around all four edges as to not use unnecessary paint on the surface of the wood that will not be showing.  You will want the paint thin enough that some of the wood grain shows through. 

Next create your picture to go on the front.  You will need one that will look good cropped into a long narrow strip like this.  I chose this old beach photo (original, uncropped photo above) I purchased from an auction. 

In photoshop, (or another photo program) crop your photo a few inches smaller than the size of your board.  I cropped mine to 8 inches tall and 59 inches long.  Next find a font you like and add your lettering in a large size.  (Mine was 472 pt large, University High font and I chose a turquoise blue for the color) I wrote "Seas the Day".

Once all of this is done you will need to flatten your image in photoshop.  Then Save As and name it something to keep this banner style photo in case you mess up and have to start all over (like I did-only I didn't originally save it and had to start from square one!!) 

For your next step you will need to crop again so that you can print on 8 1/2" x 11 size copy paper with your printer.  Select crop and change your dimensions to 11" width (to get as much on a page as you can) and then the height will be whatever size your making so mine was 8 inches.  (Be sure and save each page with a new name so if you mess one page up you can reprint it & easily start fresh even if your on middle page or at the end during your decoupage phase) There is a grid you can use in PS but I just eye balled it since I could overlap if necessary when I decoupaged my photos to the board.  I ended up with 6 pages that I had to trim with a paper cutter and then mount to the board. 

Once pages are printed and trimmed arrange in order of placement and start with the 1st page.  Decoupage the back of the page AND decoupage the part of the board where it will be placed.  Now smooth it down to the board carefully to avoid rips or tears.  Copy paper is very thin and will tear easily with too much wiping.  A few small wrinkles will be okay, especially if your using a vintage photo like mine.  Do each page and allow to dry.  Then decoupage the entire front of the board to get a good smooth coat over all your picture. 

After it is dry it is time to add cleats or whatever you choose to use as decorative hangers.  I decided on 3 stainless steel cleats to give a more nautical appearance.  I measured my board, divided it in 2 and placed the middle cleat first so it would be centered.  (Since that spot was the middle of my letter "e" I decided to turn it horizontal and leave the other 2 vertical and I like that look much better than all three going the same direction)  I added the other 2 equal inches from the center to space them all apart equally.  I screwed them in, added some picture frame hangers to the back of the board (not pictured) and whalaaa, it's done! 

Very little cost and very little time involved, my favorite kind of projects!

I've been having fun on Pinterest.  I created a board called "My Bucket List".  I thought it would be fun to pin stuff that I would like to do someday.  It has been fun and it's no where near being done and hopefully I'll have LOTS of time to try to complete it. 

The thing is, working on it has really pointed out to me how much I have DONE with my life.  It's really amazing to stop and really consider.  I am so lucky to be so blessed. I am not wealthy or rich but to read this you would not know it... 

• I have swam with the manatees
• I have climbed Big Brutus' boom to the top
• I have been to a drive in movie
• Had an amazing first kiss
• Seen the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
• Seen one of the great lakes
• Been to 19 of the 50 states
• Taken a cruise
• Seen turquoise ocean and white sand beaches
• Learned to scuba dive
• I have toured the capital of the United States
• Rode a horse
• Lost my heart to a dog over and over again
• Lost my heart to a cat if you can believe that
• Found true love
• Witnessed springtime waterfalls on Mt. Rainer
• Vacationed with loved ones
• Got married
• Had a child
• Raised a family
• Had a sunset sailboat ride
• Relaxed in a hammock
• Watched my grandchild learn to walk
• Learned to paint
• Seen the view from an airplane
• Rode rollercoasters
• Had a picnic
• Owned a home
• Crowned once a queen and once a princess
• sang karaoke
• went canoeing
• seen Hoover Dam
• waded in a creek
• went fishing
• drank from a well
• captured a moment with a photograph

I think of things all the time that I can keep adding to this list.  My mind just spins out the memories.

What would you call a list like this?  It's no longer a Bucket List, it never actually was...it's just LIFE happening and going by so quickly that pretty soon you realize it could be someone's Bucket List and you were just lucky enough to have lived it and remember it.

Maybe it should be called "My Amazing Life List".  Start one today and see if it doesn't suddenly become longer than your Bucket List.

This is my cute little grandson holding the earrings he helped me make for his mommy for Mother's Day.  I soldered green stained glass and then we used Staz on ink in white to stamp his little fingerprint on them.  Embellished with a cross and used jumprings to add them to a earring post.  Too cute!  She loved them and he was so cute giving them to her! 

 I did finally do a painting.  I painted a 5x7 picture of my friend Donna.  I used India ink and water for most of it to get the silhouette look, then a tiny bit of watercolor on the lips and necklace to set it off.  I then sewed it to an 8x10 mat and embellished with a bow.   She loves to dance so I wrote up the sides "and if the music is good, you dance"

A "refreshing" way to store beads!

I am one of those people that hate to throw out anything and always thinking of what else "it could become".  When I finished my Tic Tacs the other day I had a AH HA moment and decided they would be ideal to store my beads.  Maybe it was this beaded mess in my art room that brought me to it!  I didn't bother to take the labels off, although you could.  I taped my bead description and price to the tops so that when I do sell something I've made with them I'll know how much to figure in for the item price. 

I've asked all my friends to save me their Tic Tac containers.  So far I only have two.  I  think they will work great so I wanted to share my idea.  They will be easy to see what bead and color are inside each container and I don't have to worry about beads running all over the table and onto the floor where my little grand dog Ruby will gobble them up.  That wouldn't be good for either of us!

watercolor

Today I'm going to watercolor something.  I did a watercolor search on Pinterest and found some really inspiring ideas.  I have a partial painting started so maybe I'll even just finish it.  In the meantime I've been taking more Ruby pictures.  She may be headed to Alaska in May so here is her latest photo.