My Luck Has Changed...

Remember when I said I'm totally unlucky and never win anything?  And then I told you that I'd won the Trina Rose Boutique giveaway from Designer Garden.  Well I did it again!  This time it's a Freschetta Pizza Giveaway from Lyssa at born-again crafter.  Side note: Lyssa is the sweetest thing ever.  She even sent me a Pinterest invite.  I get one of the adorable round cutting boards everyone's been giving away and a coupon to try out the new Freschetta pizzas.

You guys must think I'm a total liar, but you can ask Handy, in real life I'm very unlucky.

Trina Rose Boutique

Remember how excited I was when I won my first giveaway?  Well after the excitement wore off, I had to head over to Trina Rose Boutique to pick out my prize. 

There were a ton of adorable pillows to chose from and with a $25 store credit I'd hardly have to pay anything to get one shipped to me.  After some hemming and hawing I made my choice.  I sent Alli a note in the comments section letting her know it was me, so I'd get my credit, and in a couple days my pillow arrived...

Isn't it the cutest thing ever?  And with my store credit I only paid $2 for shipping, which makes me {heart} the pillow even more.  Alli is super sweet and has all kinds of cute stuff available in her etsy shop, so you should definitely check it out.  Plus, at the Trina Rose Boutique Blog she posts pictures of the projects she's currently working on, so you know what to expect in her shop.   When I decide where I'm going to put this little cutie I'll post a picture for you guys to see it in it's new home.  Thanks again Alli! 

I'm a Winner!

Let me start off by saying I never win anything.  And I mean never.  I'm just not a lucky person.  To the point that Handy asks me to stay away from him if we're in a casino because he won't win with me there.  Sad. 

But it seems my luck has changed!  Last night I was informed by Sommer from Designer Garden that I had won one of her Birthday Bash Giveaways!  That's right, I won something!  And it's actually something cool too.  Have you guys ever been to Trina Rose Boutique?  She makes adorable stuff like this:

And I have a $25 credit towards her shop!  Try not to be too jealous.  Now I just have to decide what I want to get... 

Beautiful Photography Giveaway

Update: Giveaway Over

Are you guys getting tired of me telling you about giveaways?  Let me know if you are.  It's just that when I hear about an awesome giveaway, I want to get the word out so you all can enter too.  Although, now that I think about it, maybe I should be keeping them to myself.  The less people that know about them, the better chance I have of winning.  Hmmmm...

Oh well.  Today's giveaway comes courtesy of House on Ashwell Lane.  Up for grabs is the print of your choice from Melanie Alexandra Photography.  There are a ton of prints to choose from like this:

and this:

and this:

So you're sure to find something you can't live without.

Wall Stencil Fail

Update: Giveaway Over

Everyone seems to have these adorable wall stencils in their houses.

Seven Thirty Three --- A Creative Blog

Vintage Revivals

I know these two were created using Cutting Edge Stencils, but I don't have a stencil, and I had this grand idea to stencil the wall in the guest bath.  I'd been tooling around with the idea for a couple of days, trying to figure out the pattern I'd want to use.  Picking an image and getting it to the right size was an ordeal in itself (we don't have our PC setup and the laptop doesn't have many programs on it), but I won't go in to it because no one wants to hear about my technology issues.  

Once I had the image the proper size I needed to make the actual stencil.  I'd seen people use contact paper to make stencils before, and I just so happened to have some contact paper handy.  What I didn't consider is that contact paper stencils are more of a one time use stencil.  Because they're so flexible your image doesn't really hold it's shape.  Which means my image wouldn't have been exactly the same each time.

I also have really textured walls, which can be a major problem when it comes to stenciling.  I'd decided to use the stencil to trace the image on the wall and then I'd come back through and paint within the lines.  It'll be a little more tedious, but it's not that big of an area that I'm working with.  But I couldn't find a pencil to trace the pattern.  Instead I found chalk. 


Yeah, I used pink chalk, that's what pros do

It doesn't give you as smooth of a line to follow.  At this point I realized my plan wasn't going to work.  But I quickly painted my image just so you could see how bad it turned out. 

Then I washed it off.  I'm going to stop by the store to pick up some folders so I can use Brooke from All Things Thrifty's stencil technique.  I'll show you how I made my unsuccessful stencil tomorrow (technically the stencil was successful, it was my application of it that was unsuccessful), but until then head over to Seven Thirty Three --- A Creative Blog.  Kim's having a Cutting Edge Stencils giveaway that you definitely don't want to miss.

Ring Around the Rosie...

Update: Giveaway Over

Have you heard of Pocket Full of Posies?  They offer an awesome sounding meal planning system (recipes and shopping list included) with adorable pockets like this:


Don't worry, they don't actually have pocket number's on them.
I just had to show you this one because it's my fav.



to stick on your fridge and keep your recipes for the week (or month) organized in.  Don't you just {heart} them?  Well hold on to your hat, because Ellie G over at Less Cake {more frosting} is having a Pocket Full of Posies giveaway!  Head over there right away for your chance to win and to read Ellie G's review of the Pocket Full of Posies system.  (She's always good for a laugh).  So get going already.  You definitely don't want to miss out on this!

Christina's Adventures Giveaway

Update: Giveaway Over

Christina over at Christina's Adventures is having a giveaway in honor of her blog reaching 500 followers!  You could win some adorable stuff, so head over there right away!