Lessons for my son journal

For the past four years I have been on a journey. A journey that started because I was not happy. I really thought that my happiness was attainable based on outside factors. When I made some serious decisions years ago, I thought things would be miraculously all better. When they weren't and I was still unhappy I knew something had to change. I was 36 years old when I decided to take my life off of autopilot. To take control of my life and to change it. It has been difficult and it has been a tough journey but I keep on trucking. I keep on learning. I keep on challenging myself.

I do not want my son - who is 7.5 years old to be 36 when he realizes that he is needing to look within to be happy.  I have been working hard to teach this little guy everything that I have learned and continue to learn. So I thought I would put all of it in a book for him. I am really hoping that this will be something that he can read and re-read when he is older and have a reminder of all the little lessons I have taught him.

This is the first page. Just a little art for me to kick off this book. I am hoping to do some art journalling in it and lots of writing for him. So please keep checking back for the lessons. 

Have a great night!

DIY Thrifted Wall Art

It's no secret that I love pinterest! It's like going to the candy store for a thrifty-do-it-yourself-addicted-to-pretty-things girls like me. One day a few weeks back I pinned this beautiful piece.

And then a few days later I got notification that my sister-in-law pinned it. So I knew I had to make her one. I went digging in my garage in my over abundant stash of picture frames that I have picked up at yard sales or thrift stores over the past few years and found the perfect one. Now it was a frame that had this dog poster in it with glasses on it. The poster was mounted on cardboard and I am sure some 13 year old loved it at one point of this frame's life. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I took the print out, primed it with some regular latex primer then I used some texture paste to give it a nice texture. The flat painted cardboard didn't cut it. I then took some white and off-white craft paint and randomly covered the whole thing. I was able to transfer the quote with regular transfer paper. I was planning on distressing the lettering but it took off the texture paste so I had to kill that idea. I do like the crispness of it. So happy I mixed in some off-white though.

For the frame I mixed up some milk paint and put a thicker layer over the beige burlap strip on the frame and then the rest of the frame just got a white washed layer which was later sanded down. I love how it totally changed the look of the frame.

Hope you like it! Have a great night!!

Trust your Heart

One lesson I have learned since I have taken my life off of autopilot and decided to take control of my own happiness is this: trust your heart. When you trust your heart, and I mean really trust it, then you will learn how to fly.

This piece was originally purchased at my local Thrift Warehouse in Haliburton, Ontario for $0.50. I used gesso to cover up the original artwork and then with some paint and collage I created this. I love how it turned out.

and some close ups:

Thanks for stopping by :)