{what i made} :: bloom OR close call :: almost a craft fail

happy friday, friends!

well, here goes my first kind-of tutorial/almost craft fail. let's see how i do. i'm sure you've seen all the really cool canvas projects that have been floating around pinterest. this project really struck me ::

 {original source}

you take a canvas, mod podge a background to it, & stick some letter stickers on. then you paint over the whole thing & when it's dry, peel the stickers off to reveal the background.

it's really that simple. so, i tried one. my kids tried one. they all were totally different, completely cool & they all worked. next things you know, i'm hosting workshops in my denver studio. so cool. i know everyone walked away happy with their new piece of wall art. {i'll show you some of these pieces in a future blog post}

anyway, i digress. the other day, when i was at the thrift store, i ran across this cool piece of art.

 

it's hard to see, but the frame, so to speak, was made of linen tape of some kind. it definitely was vintage. i loved the colors and thought it would make a cool canvas. for $5.99, i thought i'd give it a go. plus it saved me the somewhat time consuming step of creating my own background on the canvas.

once i got my lovely.little.piece. home, i noticed how dingy and stained the canvas frame thingy was. never fear...bleach to the rescue!

  i just dabbed full strength bleach on the canvas tape with a terry cloth towel and all the stains were gone! 

so, on to the fun part. (this is where you join along & start to make your own)

first, the letters. i bought mine at michael's. these are 3" tall, but they have a variety of sizes and fonts. if i were using a longer quote or phrase, i'd go with the 2" letters.

make sure your letters cover up the part of the art that you want to see at the end. the letters are literally protecting the art from the paint. well, they're supposed to. more on that in a bit.

i forgot to take a picture, but i also added a little scallop trip at the bottom cut from a vintage dictionary page. you can barely see it on the finished product.

next, the paint. i chose turquoise. just a plain ol' acrylic paint from michael's. (good thing there's one just blocks from my house!). i used a foam brush from you-know-where and painted it til i thought it was thick enough. i used a dry brush.

 

when i taught the workshop at my studio, people experimented with a wet brush, a dry brush, squirting the paint directly on the canvas, using a light hand, using a heavy hand. you get the picture. this project is yours, and you really can't mess it up. a great comfort to the perfectionist in all of us!

i waited a few minutes for the paint to dry, then peeled off the letters, expecting to see crisp clean lines, the bright colors of the flowers underneath and pretty much, a finished product. instead, here's the reveal ::

 

it's not pretty, but here's a closer look ::

you can see the lines from the stickers, but somehow the paint seeped underneath. yikes! now what? a couple of years ago, i would have trashed the whole project. but, what fun is that?! you still could see the floral background, and after a few minutes, i decided that the uneven lines looked kind of cool and gave the piece some character. so, what to do next?

i looked around my studio and decided that i could make my own definition. with what, you ask? just a plain black sharpie! yay! look how defined the letters are now. all i did was outline around the sticker indentations. much better!

done, right? wrong. i thought my 'bloom' looked a bit lonely in that sea of bright blue. so, i looked around again & found my favorite vintage dictionary and ripped out a page. if i liked my freehand lettering style, i would have just used my sharpie & written out the rest of my saying. but i don't. so i stuck the dictionary page in my printer, found a font i loved, typed the words in microsoft word, and hit print. then, i cut them out and mod podged them right on top of the paint.

i took the picture while the podge was still wet but trust me, it dries clear. oh yes, the garland at the top. i just added that on a whim, because i thought the whole thing looked a bit unbalanced with all that blue at the top. and if my photo was centered, you'd see a little dab of blue paint on my wonderfully white frame (you can actually see it in the all blue picture above). wait til you see what i did to cover that boo boo.

i podged a flower right over it. kind of goes with the theme, i think.

and, that's all there is to it. here's the finished product ::

i'm quite happy with the finished result, even though disaster loomed a few times while i was crafting! if you try your hand at this quick, fun craft, please post a photo of your finished product. i'd love to see what you've been up to. and, if nothing else, know that if things don't always go your way, just drink that lemonade!

have a fantastic weekend! see you next week.

xo, anne

update on {flowers for aurora}

hello & happy wednesday!

some of you may be wondering what's the latest on the {afd} project we launched last month, where we were selling these beautiful necklaces we dubbed {flowers for aurora}. for each necklace purchased, {afd} promised that half of the purchase price of $15 ($7.50 each in case you're math-challenged like me) would be donated to givingfirst.org, and specifically to benefit the victims and families of the aurora theater shooting that happened on july 20.

the great news is that we sold 75 necklaces! i am so thrilled and beyond grateful that we have collected over $550 to donate to this worthy cause.

well now you might be asking, "well, why hasn't she gone ahead & donated the funds?" great question! if you live in denver, you've probably heard on the news that the families of the victims have not been 100% happy with the community first foundation's disbursement of the funds. the families have asked to be involved in some of the decision making of how the funds are spent/given, and to my knowledge that dialogue is happening.

so, we're going to keep our money safe & sound, 100% earmarked to help the victims of the shooting and their families, and when we get the all-clear that the families are getting the money when and how they need it, and the money is being spent responsibly, we'll head on over & donate the whole shebang.

i feel it's important to wait until the misunderstandings have been cleared up. i don't want YOUR money to go toward administrative or other costs not related to this tragedy. i think you'd agree. or at least, i hope you do.

here's the final tally. the {afd} community is absolutely incredible, and i'm so grateful to be able to work every single day at what i love and meet and get to know all of you!

 thank you again, from the bottom of my heart for your incredible generosity. i'll let you know as soon as the money is donated.

xo, anne

{ flowers for aurora }

flowers for aurora necklaces, available in 10 colors, $15 each at www.annefranklindesigns.com

i woke up on july 20th and it was the last straw for me. after an on-duty police officer (and a single mom) was shot and killed during a jazz concert in a denver park, after so many devastating wildfires that burned so many homes in colorado, after more-than-usual summer violence, we woke up on the morning of the 20th to learn of the worst shooting in history at the aurora movie theater just miles from my home.

i felt like i had stood by and watched the horrible events as they occurred earlier in the summer, and the helpless feeling of knowing i really couldn't do much to help the victims of these tragedies was too much. the next day, on a run (where i come up with most of my ideas), i knew i had to do SOMETHING. even if it wasn't much. and with that, the {flowers for aurora} initiative was born!

it's simple. during the month of august, {afd} will keep 50% from the sale of each {flowers for aurora} necklace ($7.50 per necklace) and on september 1st, we'll donate to givingfirst.org, which is a colorado-based community foundation whose mission is to improve quality of life by increasing community generosity and involvement. our donation will benefit the aurora shooting victims, and the groups and organizations directly affected by this tragedy.

our goal is to sell 100 necklaces by the end of august, so we can donate $750! and you can help. head over to our website, and purchase one (or ten) necklaces. you'll have some cute gifts on hand, and you'll be making a difference at the same time. also, PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS! simply forward this post or share our facebook status with your online friends. if you spread the word to just a few people, it will make a difference.

please and thank you.

{insight...and, our winner}

hello, again!

as i've been thinking about this blog, why i'm writing it, and what you might want to read about, i've come to the conclusion that i'll give you a snapshot in to my life :: how i juggle my schedule with three kids, a husband who travels, running my own business, what i do to {try to} stay balanced. now, i'm the first one to admit that my life is NOT that exciting. i'm sure each of you could write a similar blog.

over the past year, as i have struggled with what to write, i needed to define why i wanted to write, so that my time, and yours, would be well spent. i know that writing my blog will be as much for me as it will be for you. so, once a week, i'll give you something. a picture of a craft or my latest product i'm developing for {afd}. a way i stay organized. a recipe. something beautiful i saw. who knows. what i do hope is that you'll stick with me, offer me feedback, ask questions. after all, it's all about engaging.

yesterday, our family celebrated easter. i hope you celebrated something, anything, this weekend. there's a lot to be grateful for! for me, family is what it's all about. you can't take the rest with you. 

what's most important

recently, i made the seemingly monumental decision to move {afd} into a real studio workspace. partly, it was because our small house was being overrun with my crafting supplies. i didn't have a craft room, so every room became a craft room. i often joked that michael's and joann's threw up inside our house. the clutter was beginning to paralyze me. 

but, really, what made my decision to move was that i wasn't present for my family. instead of relishing the time i had with my kids to talk, reflect, laugh and break up fights, i was constantly checking my email, tweeting from my phone, or sitting down to try something at the sewing machine. when your 10-year-old says, "mom, you're always on your phone. you don't listen to what i'm saying," i stopped. i listened. i felt guilty. then i got the heck out of dodge. or, at least, i separated my business life from my home life.

and now that i have rent to pay each month, i'm more motivated than ever to make {afd} a go! but, that's another story for another day.

i've made you wait too long for our winner. last week, i shared a wonderful line of pendants that are a collaboration between lexiworks and myself. we call our line 'lovely.' and it truly is.

 

all you had to do to enter was leave a comment at the end of last week's post. and, 32 of you did! random.org helped me to choose comment number 3 . congratulations annemarie ! you win the lovely.collage.necklace. of your choice. email me by 8am tomorrow and tell me which one you choose! and, thanks to all of you for entering, reading, and being part of our growing community.

have a fantastic week! xo. anne 

{ giveaway }

why, hello!

it's been quite a while since i've posted here, so we're kicking off the re-launch of the {afd} blog with a fantastic giveaway.

lovely. a new line of jewelry from {afd} and Lexisworks

 if you're part of our facebook community, you'll know that we've teamed with denver artist Lexis Krieg, of Lexisworks, to create an amazing line of six gorgeous pendant necklaces. taking her beautiful, original mixed-media collage art, we've collaborated to make these great gifts, which come ready to give in a cute metal tin. 

the artwork is mounted on a vintage style copper colored backing and finished with a lovely copper chain. trust us, it will complement absolutely anything you've got hanging in your closet!

each necklace comes ready to give, packaged in a metal tin.

the line is simply called 'lovely.' and these designs are available for sale on our website, {anne franklin designs}, for $25 through april. from may until we launch our next six pieces, the cost will be $32.

live the life you imagined.

however, because you're here reading this, and because you're part of the amazing {afd} community, we want to give you an opportunity to win the lovely.little.piece. of your choice!

joy. collaged owl pendant.

all you have to do is visit our website,  take a peek at the new pendants, decide which one you can't live without, and leave a comment at the end of this post telling us which is your favorite. that's it!

 

find your adventure.

we will select our winner with the help from random.org next monday, april 9 at 8am MST. make sure your comment has a way for us to contact you if you're the lucky winner!

have a fantastic week. and, please, continue to tell your friends about {afd} and this lovely.little.giveaway.

xo. anne

{summer}

Summer is definitely here. It's been a little too easy of a transition to summer mode for me. Gone are the crazy schedules we follow during the school year. Gone are the am alarms. Gone is the structure that I had gotten used to creating for myself for {afd}. Here are early morning runs to beat the heat, not much cooking or cleaning, creating non-biz related crafts. Here are vacations, reading, movie watching, entertaining under the shade of our beautiful backyard tree.

I have a pretty good summer entertaining menu. Ask anyone who's eaten it over the years...you don't have to take my word for it. Hummus, rosemary cashews, chicken skewers, lemon rice, pitas, vegetable salad. They go together beautifully.

And dessert is always a hit. No one needs to know it's super easy. I found the recipe for Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake in an old issue of Southern Living magazine. It's so easy, in fact, that I haven't changed a thing. Except that I always double the lemon glaze recipe and garnish the cake with a lot of sliced strawberries. Oh, and don't skip the grease & flour step at the beginning. Or, just buy the non-stick spray for baking that already has flour in it.

I hope your summer is off to a great start! Expect to hear from me more often. How often, I don't know. It is summer, after all! What have you been up to?

Here's the recipe ::

{click here for a printable version}

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients

·         3 cups sugar

·         3 cups all-purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 cup butter, softened

·         1 (8-ounce) container sour cream

·         6 large eggs

·         2 tablespoons lemon juice

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

·         Place first 9 ingredients in a 4-quart mixing bowl (in that order). Beat at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer 1 minute, stopping to scrape down sides. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.

·         Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool on wire rack. Drizzle evenly with Lemon Glaze.

YIELD: 1 (10-inch) cake

Lemon Glaze

Ingredients

·         1 cup powdered sugar

·         2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)

Preparation

·         Stir together first 3 ingredients and, if desired, lemon rind until glaze is smooth..

from Southern Living Magazine, May 2001

{ word }

hello again! it's been a while. the delay in creating this post is brought to you mostly by my perfectionistic tendencies. if the words aren't perfect in my head, there's no way i can type them out. if the rest of my to-do list isn't done, how can i write a blog post?

however, if i want to create a community with you, i need to do better than that! i think i'm the only one who expects the 'perfect' post. you'll be okay with just hearing from me, won't you?! well, here goes the long-awaited second post...

a few weeks ago, after i made some pendants from a fanastic vintage dictionary, i put this picture on my facebook page ::

the question i asked my readers is, "what's your word"?  i received some great responses, including ::

run, create, unique, dream, love, hope,

freedom, happiness, enrichment, appreciate

 

asking for one word to describe you or your feelings also had me thinking about the words we use in our daily communication. technology has changed the way we "talk" to each other. rather than putting pen to paper and writing a letter, we use our tiny cell phones to text in acronyms. IKR? LOL. TTYL. i have to reference our teenager's texting dictionary just to decipher what she's saying to me!

or, we limit ourselves to tweeting in 140 characters or less. preferably less. or we send one line emails devoid of emotion, where you have to guess the tone the sender is trying to convey. less is more, right?!

for the last two years, i've focused on a single word {as often as i can remember} to remind me to look on the bright side. here's what i picked ::

last year's word was HOPE. at the beginning of 2010, i was staring two major surgeries in the face, with quite a long bit of recovery time in between the two. as scared as i was, i knew my word needed to be something to carry me through the pain, the recovery, the time i knew i would be facing with not much going on. anyone who knows me, knows that i don't have much down time. i hate down time! armed with books, meals, carpools and a cabinet full of drugs, i had to think about what my life would be after i was back to my old self again. that's where hope came in! 

here's how merriam webster defines it::

²hope

Definition of HOPE

1

archaic: trust, reliance

2

a: desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment <came in hopes of seeing you>; also: expectation of fulfillment or success

by having HOPE, i was saying to myself that i could get through this and i would be alright. to me, hope is a faith-based belief as much as it is a self-belief. and, guess what? it worked! i made it.

and i made this to remember ::

and this ::

which leads me to this year's word, GRATITUDE. probably, the reason why i picked it is obvious. i made it through a tough time. i am healthy. unless i get hit by a bus, i will live to see my kids grow up and i will be a grandma {please, not for a very long time, though}, and i can live worry free that i won't get cancer. phew. huge relief.

my friends at merriam-webster say that gratitude is the state of being grateful. duh. but the next word says THANKFULNESS. yep, that one word says it all. this year, i am living in a state {when i can remember} of thankfulness. focusing on what i have rather than what i don't have isn't always easy, but it sure does help to put things in perspective. i haven't made anything to commemorate my word for 2011. any suggestions?!

okay, back to that facebook picture i posted. want to hear what stopped me dead in my tracks?! a message from my friend, allison, telling me what her words were.

BE.

  Be authentic. Be kind. Be honest. Be spontaneous. Be the difference. Be fun. Be fabulous. Be yourself. Be . . . .

and, she said, second place goes to

DO.

i think what floored me about her words were their simultaneous simplicity and complexity. made me really think about how i tend to go on and on without saying much. hmmm...

so, now it's your turn to tell me, friends, what's your word?