the pin-did challenge: week 4

A red door! 

Isn't it gorgeous? 

Kate of Oh Write! is behind this baby, and she has some lovely Pinterest inspiration photos up with her post, too.

I want to do the exact same thing the minute we close on our house -- only I'm thinking maybe mustard?

Pinterest keeps right on knocking my sub-zero winter socks off with all the amazing ideas peeps are pinning. 

I keep swinging between creative ecstasy and creative despair at how many things there are that I want to be DOING!

Your turn...

digital freebie: four chalkboard backgrounds

I love chalkboards.

They are huge right now, and they are an easy way to add vintage sass to whatever you're working on.

And guess what! I just learned how to make chalkboard-ish digital papers.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Have at it, my friends. 

4 low-res 1000x1000 chalkboards.

Terms of use are the usual: personal and small business use ok, not to be used in any icky material.

{I'm telling you, I shoulda been a lawyer.}

Is anyone interested in a tutorial for this? Lemme know.

Have fun chalking it up {hee hee},

and may your Halloween weekend be cavity-inducing.

gimp girl tutorial: make your own chalkboards

{new to Gimp? start with the washi tutorial, then try some wall art!}

Chalkboards are huge right now, and it's an easy way to add some vintage sass to your images.

Here's how to make your own simple chalkboards using Gimp.

{so ok, you can just download mine and be done with it, but do the tutorial anyway -- you'll want to add these techniques to your Gimp Girl arsenal.}

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

Use images as overlays

Adjust opacity

Adjust image highlights using curves

Desaturate images

Ready? Me too.

First, go to File > New to create your canvas.

 Decide how big you want your chalkboard. 

I made mine 1000 pixels square, then filled the background with transparency.

{the transparency part doesn't really matter in this project, but it's a good habit to get into, IMO.}

Next, select the chalkboard color. 

Double-click the color palette and drag the crosshairs around to find a color you like.

I picked a dark slate grey.

Go to Edit > Fill with FG Color.

{FG stands for Foreground.}

And now you have a big square.

ed emberley art

 Is there anything better than Ed Emberley during the baby's naptime?

{I mean, other than the preschooler consenting to take a nap, too.

But we all know that that is a pipe dream.}

I think not.

I tried this with Lizzy about 6 months ago and she didn't really get it. But I think something magical happened recently where she has started to draw with much more intent. 

Making teeth and hair and ears and mittens and creepy 3-eyed, 4-legged creatures. 

See that spider in the lower right corner? I'm, like, bursting with pride. 

I got pretty into it, too:

I think my favorites are the crab and the sleeping guy.

And get this -- I just found out there's a line of Ed Emberley fabrics coming out in the spring! (!!!)

Have a happy day, from our family to yours!

i won some honey

uhhm. i swear that glass is clean. 

You guys! I won a giveaway. 

If you don't know Whitney already, you really do need to go knock down her door.

Her blog is smart, pretty, modern, and inspiring...I love her photography.

Anyway, she was giving away a jar of her favorite Wyoming honey (how cool is that?),

and I won!

I feel like the dad on A Christmas Story.

Only I'd take this over a lousy old leg lamp any day.

Our honey had its maiden voyage in a dee-lee-cious smoothie at snacktime.

{frozen} blueberries, raspberries, banana + vanilla yogurt + oj + honey.

Maren and Lizzy are wondering why on earth Mommy is making them eat their smoothies outside on a 40-degree day.

{snow is in the forecast for the next 2 days. we scooted back inside after about 4 seconds.}

the pin-did link party didn't happen yesterday. what, you didn't cry yourself to sleep?? look ashamed.

we'll play catch-up next week.

things we've been into

Books. Always books.

Devoured Forge. Learned loads from Color (thank you, AMH). Now savoring Mary Oliver. 

Trepak. This one in particular.

You should see Lizzy trying to duplicate their moves.

{and geez, holy core strength!}

Hunkering down for the winter.

Trying to soak up our wood stove as much as we can before we move.

The autoharp. 

sisters in service: talents of sisters

Welcome to Sisters in Service, a series designed to lift, inspire, and motivate us to celebrate the (many!) different ways we can serve our brothers and sisters while we're here on this earth. Each post spotlights a project or idea that's lifting others, serving the Lord, and changing the world for good!

Today I'm so excited to introduce you to Courtney and Lauren, a pair of beautiful & dynamic sisters and stay-at-home moms, who have started Talents of Sisters, a nonprofit organization designed to make real differences in the lives of women.

Take it away, friends!

In a sentence, what's your project?
We sell donated handmade goods to raise funds which we in turn donate to small charities or other efforts that directly empower, educate and heal women worldwide, and where we can see the actual impact our donation.

Why is this project important to you?
It all started when we read the book Half the Sky. We wanted a way to feel like we were doing something to help counteract the horrible injustices in the world that are done to girls on a daily basis. Being stay-at-home mothers, our circle of influence felt pretty small. We didn't have a lot of means to contribute to causes we supported, and we didn't have the time to really get out there and do anything, so we looked around at what we could do -- make, collect, and sell handmade crafts. 

Have you had any special experiences along the way you'd care to share?
The most special thing so far has just been the positive response.  Everyone we talk to is so open to helping in whatever way they can. Through donations we've received, we've paid for a latrine for girls to use at a school in Africa, a bicycle to help a girl get to school, home birthing kits to help women have safer and cleaner birth experiences, and we've sponsored a woman from Sudan through Women for Women International. 

{earrings and necklace benefitting TOS}

What's your long-term vision for this project?
We would love to have a thriving marketplace with items being donating to us and sold on a regular basis so we can fund some big projects. We'd love to be able to help rescue a girl from sexual slavery, fund fistula operations, pay for a woman to be properly trained as a midwife, and help build better facilities for girls to go to school in.  

How can I get involved?
That's the easy part!  You can donate handmade goods to us in several ways (details on our site).  You can visit our Etsy shop and take a look at what we've got for sale (we've got some stuff that would make great gifts!).  And you can help get the word out about what we're doing. We are always looking for people that want to help in any way!

Isn't that awesome?

I hope you've felt inspired and empowered today.

We can't change the whole world, but we can change the world for one person! 
Ready to donate some handmade items? Or to buy some?
{psst, there's a pretty MM zip pouch up for grabs!}

You can find Talents of Sisters on their web site, on Facebook, and on Etsy.

Thanks for visiting with us, Lauren & Courtney!