vol.25

New packaging!

My new packaging came in last week... and I am so excited to send the first of these out with a batch of orders today! I'm most excited about the new 5x7 sixed envelopes. I have been using 4x6 for years, but the last time I ordered promos for my zazzle shop I upgraded the postcard to a 5x7, so when I re-ordered envlopes a bigger size was a must! :) So happy with them! The new print "Be awesome Today" HAD to be included... because I still love it!



I had a really productive day Friday and saturday starting and finishing quite a few projects I've had floating around in my head for months. I painted the girls' alcoves with chalkboard paint, hung a curtain for each of their beds, made my first potatoe stamp and stamped my kitchen curtain as well as the covering for the pallet "sofa" on the front porch. Kind of amazing since I'm still battling allergies! ;)

Yesterday we celebrated Father's day and kept it low key. We did take the kids to the park and let them wade around in the water. They tried their hardest to catch one of the thousands of minnows swimming in the water... with no luck of course. :)

Hapy Monday! I didnt have a quote ready today, I need to get some stocked up for busy weeks when I can't get one finished up. :)

P.S. 50% OFF sale in my digital shop Use code: SUMMERSALE EXP: 6/27

Car show in Chelan last weekend!

It was gorgeous last saturday, so we packed a small ice chest with snacks, and the girls put on their swimming suits under their clothes, we grabbed some towels and headed to Chelan for the day! Fortunately it isnt too far of a drive, maybe 35 mins? Only, we drove to Omak before that... so from there it took maybe an hour? :) My parents took the girls ahead of us in their jeep, so Jaydon and I had a nice quiet relaxing drive.

We still haven't sold the mustang... of course we haven't tried super hard... I need to renew the listing on craigslist. Anyhow, we did finally make it to Chelan:

I was sunburned before we even got to the lake. Mainly from the riding with the top down all day.

Journey was kind of afraid to walk down these steep stairs, so I held her hand going down... well the last 2 stairs, she let go and decided to be independent! :)

I forgot the sunblock, so we didnt stay longer than an hour.... I am a terrible mother! Although, the girls already had a nice tan, so didnt burn. Me on the other hand... I was pretty burned! :) It is really nice living SO close to SO many outdoor opportunties! We have tons of mountain trails and lakes pretty much out our back door, and a gorgeous warmer lake not too far away. I heard that Lake Chelan can warm up to 70 degrees during the hot summer months! 

 

New Overlay Set- Once Upon A Time plus storewide 50% off!

Shannon seems to be the queen of dreamy and whimsical... I had SOO many adorable images to choose from!

New Once Upon A Time Overlay set use code SUMMERSALE to save 50% off on this set, and anything else in the shop. :)

This set was a blast to work on... it was suggested as an idea for a futute set (via my facebook page) and I was immediately inspired! It was one of those sets where everything just seemed to fall into place. :) I can really see me doing a follow up set. If I do... what would you like to see in the next set?

 

 

Digital Eye Candy - 50% Off SUMMER SALE

To kick of Summer Vacation I am having a 50% off Summer sale in my digital shop! :) That means, anything/everything in my digital shop is half off. I thought blogging about the sale would give me a great opportunity to share my favorite overlay sets with you... you know so I can play around with them again!? :)

My favorite set of all time is the Clouds and Rain Overlay set:

I just love how easy they are to work into just about ANY photo. Image Credit: Shannon Sewell

Another favorite of mine (and my best selling set!!) is the Family Ties Overlay set.

Image credits: Simply Rosie Photography

I can't leave out the Peace and Love Overlay set- definitely one of my faves!!

Image Credits Shannon Sewell

Which overlay sets do you find yourself using the most!?

Use code SUMMERSALE to save 50% OFF!! Jump to the digital shop HERE.

I have soo much blogging to catch up on. Today I'm feeling run-down, so it may be a good time to try and catch up on my blogging... I am fortunate to not have very many allergies, but I think all the wild mustard seed flowers and Queen Anne's Lace growing around our property are finally starting to bother me. Actually though, I am caught up on all my etsy orders, so it would be a good day to work on a new scrapbooking/album templates I've been brainstorming for months.

Happy Mid-week!!

Be Awesome Today - New Artwork!

Be Awesome Today by VOL25

I just finished him up this morning. You can grab him here in my etsy shop. :)

Super quick post... I need to empty out my laundry closet before Jaydon gets home from work. The washer shut down on me Saturday and flashed an F21 code... which I have come to understand means something may be lodged in the drain hose... BAD me. I hope it is something minor because I am HORRIBLE about checking pockets... REALLY really bad. Don't tell Jaydon, but I actually washed his pocket knife a couple weeks ago! <--- see, I am really bad!! :) I've even washed my zune (mp3 player)... and fortunately it still works. So, as you can imagine I am a teensy bit worried as to what may be clogging the drain pipe. I would by lying if I said I wasnt curious... more worried though! :)

Anyhow, have a nice night!!

Quote #120

"Patience is not the ability to wait. But the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting"

Whew! What a busy fun and full weekend. Graduation brought lots of family/friends in town for the weekend. I'm dragging this morning, but in a good way! :) We had a big group of teenagers over for Volleyball yesterday... the weather was pretty much perfect for it. I made a batch of homemade donuts and iced mocha's. Although I found out that I am NOT great at making more than 10 iced mocha's at a time. I forgot to add coffee to a few cups.. whoops! Chocolate milk anyone?

How was your weekend?

Camping!

We went camping with a big group of friends over the weekend. For the most part the weather was fairly nice. It did hail at one point, but fortunately it wasnt for very long. :)

I have been coming to this camp for years, so there are bunches of special memories here! This year, Trinity officially learned how to ride her bike up there. She was riding it all over the place, with Journey running close behind her. We did bring Journey's bike, but the training wheels didn't exactly work out as well as she had hoped on the grass... and she is VERY adamant about us not taking them off. 

It was MUCH more enjoyable camping in the trailer... as opposed to living in it! Last week I was virtually re-decorating the trailer... planning out ways to re-decorate it on a budget! I still havent been able to decide on a theme, or a general color direction. I'm thinking I need to work with the green carpet, because neither Jaydon or I want to put in the time or labor to replace it. :)

I took this picture last week while loading/packing it, and it shows you the carpet I'm referring to:

There are quite a few things I'm SUPER anxious to tackle... like the valances covering the windows... I have been itching to take those down ever since we bought the trailer. When we looked at the trailer it had a really bad fly problem, and I think there had been eggs laid behind the valances... really gross... but that is the only thing I can think of. I think taking them down will add in even more natural light. SO, that is first thing on my list. Quite a few other things I'm not sure of... do I paint the cabinets or do I not? I really don't mind the lighter wood... but I'm just not sure. :) I guess I need to get a running list "of to do's" and "to not do's" started. ;) Then budget and prioritize!

So, how was your weekend? I hope the weather was nice?

Warmer weather has me daydreaming about outdoor living spaces

I am so glad Spring finally decided to make an appearance! The warmer weather has had me really motivated to try and create somewhat of an outdoor living space on our front porch. Of course, the husband has very strong opinions, and wrinkles his nose at quite a few of my ideas, for instance drop cloths for porch curtains, and he is NOT on board for using any sort of a rug out there... since he thinks the wind would blow it all over the place. He might be right with this one (not that I would ever admit it, but the wind does funnel right down the side of the porch) but I think it would be just fine... Anyhow, he is presenting some challenges, but nothing I can't handle. ;)

Lately I am daydreaming about building a dining table for one end of the porch, so we can eat our breakfasts out there. I'm on a very limited budget so I'm trying to keep everything very affordable. I will most likely be attempting to DIY a bunch of it... and sharing those projects here on the blog. :) In fact, I need to make a running check-list of things I want to do, so I can budget everything out!

This picture (above) shows where I want to put the table... right up there in that sunny spot of the deck. The kids have been spending quite a bit of time out there coloring and petting our cats. Journey is still "learning" to play the ukulele. I have the sweetest video I took at this same time, that I really need to upload. It is sweet.

Trinity has been practicing, and she has actually gotten better. She can play bits and pieces of "happy birthday" :) I love that playing is something her and Jaydon can do together! Even though it isnt completely finished I did sort of finish the pallet sofa "bed." I prop the backdrop we made for photographing the posters behind the pallet bed and it makes it look somewhat intentional, and it is easy to grab when I need to use it inside for new posters. :) I may or may not have sprayed the back of it with home defense. ;) I'm not a spider lover.  

The string lights were my mothers day gift, and I love them! The wind chimes I made from driftwood, and I will do a separate post on those in the very near future. :) I can picture a bunch of cosmo flowers, and shasta daisies planted in the front flower bed. However, I do worry about the deer eating them. Maybe if I can get a really good deal on some, I would only be out the labor? ;) I did buy some hens and chicks yesterday while at Wal Mart. I have an aunt that lived in Coos Bay, WA and she had a million of them planted in her flower beds... good memories!

These are the ones I grabbed. :) Talon couldnt understad why I would rather take pictures of these "things" instead of pet him:

I've been researching them online this morning, and after hearing they are in fact deer resistant... AND cold hardy I think I will be adding to my collection, and scattering these all over our yard! :)

What plants have you recently rediscovered, or acquired a new appreciation for? :) Started any outdoor projects lately?

P.s. My heart goes out to all those in OK who have lost their homes. I have a BUNCH of family in Oklahoma, and a cousin living in Moore. So thankful she and her son were safe. For all those not so fortunate... they will definitely be in my prayers!

 

Using Eye Candy Overlays on your instagram photos

Hi!! Have you seen  elsie's fun new app ( abeautifulmess )? It works in conjunction with instagram and really represents her style and I know it was a lot of hard work building and getting the app developed, so congrats are in order for them seeing it through! :)

However, if you are an android user like myself, you are probably a little disssapointed that the app is only available for the iphone. I completely understand why, and elsie says that she hasnt forgotten us android users... so I expect it to hit the playstore at some point in time. :) BUT, until then did you know that you can kinda still feel like part of the in-crowd and utilize your existing eye candy overlay library? Using the same concept but done via your computer and uploaded to instagram after the fact?

See, you just need to:

1) Open your photo in photoshop, crop it square.

2) Apply your overlay(s) and save as JPEG

3) Download an uploader tool like gramblr (it is free and available HERE) This allows you to upload any square photo from your computer to your instagram account... kind of magical really. ;)

4) Sign into gramblr with your instagram account and upload your jpeg wih your Digital Eye Candy Overlay, add a caption, and click upload! :) Super simple.

I had fun going back through old images, and looking at them in new light with the overlays.

Photo above using overlays from the Rockstar and Blog elements 3 Overlay sets

Photo above using overlay from the Vintage Camera Overlay set

photo above using overlay from blog elements 3 overlay set

Photo above using overlay from the Rockstar Overlay set

Photo above using an overlay from the Peace and Love Overlay set

Photo above using an overlay from the rockstar overlay set

Photos above used with the new square blog post templates

I would love to see you give new life to your VOL25 Digital Eye Candy Overlays! Tag your photos either #vol25 or #digitaleyecandy ! Happy Wednesday!!!! p.s. be sure and follow me over on instagram HERE or under the name VOL25 :)

Beautifully- New artwork!

Beautifully by VOL25

This piece was created out of inspiration given to me from a customer, she had loved the "i will be grateful" rainy day print, but wanted a slight twist on it. :) She and her husband own a body shop and she wanted a calming rainy day print with the words, "Everything is going to work out beautifully." Her hopes was that it might give a little bit of comfort to people who had just been involved in an accident... I thought it was an incredibly sweet idea. Everyone stands in need of comfort at some point in their life, and this print provides the calming message they need to see.

I am kind of loving the colors, definitely soothing! :) It also really compliments the original "i will be grateful for this day"

Yesterday we went expoloring a piece of property with my parents... sure were a bunch of pretty wildflowers!

They are currently trying to find a place to buy in the Methow Valley... and not having ANY luck. Houses are few and far between... and most are just too far away when you consider driving to Chelan every day to work. They are considering purchasing a lot and building a house again. The property we looked at yesterday was really pretty and already had a well, power, septic and full RV hookups... so it would be really ideal. Guess we will just wait and see!

Happy Tuesday!