Faux Chalkboard

It's no surprise that I love creating designs and messages with my chalkboard. And since Rian was born I've managed to find different opportunities to use it. But sometimes I just don't have time to create the "masterpiece" that I have in my mind. And although I absolutely love making my chalkboards and prefer a hand drawn creation over a faux any day, here is how I create a fake design or message in just minutes. I've created a couple different ways to do this, but I use only two items: a chalkboard and a writing/doodling app. Ok don't get all crazy if you don't have a chalkboard, I've got you covered. So here we go...

If you have a chalkboard, simply take a photo of it. I've done this two different ways for two different types of creations.

One with the kids sitting next to the chalkboard

And one of a close tight shot of the chalkboard with a little added white chalk lightly rubbed off for an added effect.

Now if you don't have a chalkboard or don't have any sort of program, like photoshop, to create a chalkboard background feel free to save this jpeg file to create your own.

Once you have your blank chalkboard pic, you're gonna have to download an app designed to write on photos, if you don't already have one. I currently use A Beautiful Mess. It costs a few bucks, but it's worth it. I've also used Over in the past and it works great and it's free!

Upload your chalkboard pic to your writing app and use any font you'd like, just keep the color option white. I know white is not a color. Just make sure that if you're trying to create a design on a photo that has the chalkboard frame in the pic, you stay within the chalkboard frame. Otherwise, it'll be a dead give away that it's a fake. 

Same pics, now after using the writing app

I drew the ones below by hand, and as you can see using the faux method you still get the same effect. 

I could've used the faux method on this one. I totally forgot that it was the first day of school and did it in a matter of minutes. And you can sadly tell. 

Same chalkboard pic as above was used in both of these creations. 

I decided to use a little color in the one below because it was used as a birthday card for a four year old.

I created all of the faux boards using A Beautiful Mess which has all of these fonts and doodles (and many more) available. The app is much like Instagram in that it's crops the photo to a square. 

If you're looking for a little chalkboard inspiration, check out Jessica Garvin's blog, Little Baby Garvin. She's amazing and she does all of her's by hand. So if you've ever wanted to create your very own unique chalkboard design, get to it! I don't think it can get any easier than this!!!

Have fun creating

-aMie

Objects of my Obsession

I've decided to make this a weekly post. With all that is going on right now creating these posts are forcing me to treasure the small moments of the week. There is some happiness in every day. So let's get on to this week's happiness-filled obsessions...

1. A baby face covered in baby food. I'm not sure if there is anything cuter than this right now. Feeding this little girl has quickly become one of my favorite parts of my day. It's funny how things change, with Rory it was my least favorite things to do. He was a picky eater from the get go.




Sometimes we eat super hero-style around here!







2. Pumpkin-themed food in honor of Halloween

Rory's peanut butter sandwich smoothed piece of bread cut into a pumpkin with a cookie cutter. I even gave it to him like this. It looked so festive and cute.



Rory's attempt to turn his apple into a jack-o-lanter.



And my attempt to turn Rory's cheese pizza into a jack-o-lanter. It looked way better in person, promise. I cut the dough into a pumpkin with the stem on top and created the face using hand-shredded cheddar cheese over the white pizza-blend cheese I usually use. When your kid only eats cheese pizza, you have to be creative, right?!? It's not like I have any toppings to work with.



3. Rory & Rian. I have said this over and over and I'll say it again... these two kids love each other so much. I managed to get these pics of the two of them playing together for a few minutes the other day.

Love the Pinky photo bomb!!!



Rory is mooing (yes, mooing) after he hit the cow button on her pod.


Rian just loves when he plays with her




He's telling her all about the animals on the train.



And when Rory was done, he patted her on the head and went back to doing his own thing.



4. Another milestone. Rian has been trying to master grabbing onto things, and this past weekend she finally did it. I love the look on her face like, Oh my gosh I actually picked you up Mr. Spoon.




Ok I'm not really sure why this pic keeps uploading sideways. I've said that I'm not thrilled with the way BlogPress uploads photos, right??? Anyway back to this cutie. She got the red and blue ball toy that has the different shapes you put through the cutouts from one of my aunts and uncles over the weekend (Thanks again Aunt Krissi and Uncle Waldo). And Rory shows her how to put the shapes in the ball, but all she is interested in at the moment is taking the shapes from Rory's hand...and then just staring at them.


5. This kid right here. Rory is such a ham sometimes.


Randy received a package in the mail that came in a very large box and Rory thinks it's so funny to get inside it and hide. And when we get near it or he hears us calling for him he starts to giggle. Someone should tell him that we can still see his little hands. It's very Chandler doing some thinking in a box on Thanksgiving.



6. Some Target shoes. If you've seen me in the last month or so I was probably wearing the western boots on the left. I'm usually not one for western boots, but I like the 70's-ish styling of these. I think my mom had a pair very similar to these when I little. And they are very comfy.

I got the black heels some time last week for a wedding we went to this past weekend. They are so comfortable. The heel is the perfect height. And I was wearing a pair of skinny jeans (shocking, I know, me in skinny jeans, nooo) and a fitted jacket when I tried them on and they looked so cute. I think I need to have a girl's night out so that these heels get much needed use.

You can find the western boots here and the black heels here.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'll see you back here later in the week. We've got Randy's birthday and our anniversary this week so I'll be back probably late in the week.

Oh yeah I'm in the process of changing the design of my blog, so don't be surprised if when you check back in on us we look a little different. :0)

Bye for now.

-aMie

                                                  

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone        <----------- Oh their tagline uploads just right every time. Now why can't my pics BlogPress??? I'm not impress and when I find a better way to upload my pics I'm dumping your sorry butt so fast.

Our 4 Month Old Pumpkin and a Little Randomness

Yup we have 4 month old pumpkin now! I'll spare you the "I can't believe she's 4 months already...blah blah blah". I could do that every month, because its absolutely true, but let's just say that at this point it's a given. So this month marked a huge milestone for Rian, ok two milestones...

1. Adding cereal and stage one fruits and veggies to her diet! So far she seems to be doing pretty well with the oatmeal cereal. It seems like she likes the way it tastes, but she's not quite sure what to do with it once I get it into her mouth. She gets excited when she sees her spoon coming at her and opens her mouth wide, and then smushes it around with her tongue. It's really cute. She eats most of it so she's figuring it out slowly. I'll introduce the baby food to her later this week.




2. She can now have orajel for her teething gums! I consider this a milestone because she's been teething since she was almost 3 months old but the directions on the teething gel say not to give until 4 months of age. So the last month was a little rough trying to sooth her since she doesn't really care for the cold teething rings and she wasn't having the ice cube in the net (that was a definite no-go). I got the "how dare you give me this" look from her. As if she sent out a memo I chose to ignore. It's kinda like the "how dare you make me wait for my bottle" look. So Rian spends a lot of her day with her fingers in her mouth as if she's saying "hey mama I'm getting a tooth right here".





My favorite photos this week...

Nama, Mama, and Nana with Miss Rian

Love these boys! 

                         
Before I get to the monthly Q&A on Rian, I thought I'd do a postpartum update on me, you know since you all saw me get chubby and all.

Let's start off with the postpartum hair loss that I've been battling since Rian was a week and a half. That's right, a week and a half into postpartum (not the normal 3-4 months)! Typically it last about 2 1/2 - 3 months, but I'm still experiencing sever hair loss. My doctor thinks it might be due to stress at this point, but she wants to do some blood work just to be on the safe side. Since I can't eliminate the stress in my life right now (if it indeed is stress), I guess I'm just going to have to pray that it stops soon.












So since I know a couple mamas-to-be, I thought I'd let you in on a few ways I've managed to disguise the hair loss.

***I use bronzer on the bald spots. Stark white skin is a dead give away that hair is missing, especially if your hair is dark like mine. The bronzer helps to match the sun-kissed skin of my face.

***My doctor recommended continuing to take the prenatal vitamins after giving birth. However, mine were so brutal on my stomach that I stopped within the first month after Rian was born. Now I'm taking a multi-vitamin for hair, nails and skin to help with the regrowth of hair.

***My doctor also recommended a high protein diet since that's what hair is made of.

***Do not cut your hair in an A-line bob. According to a hair stylist friend of mine, a cut like that will have disconnect and won't lay right. {thanks again Christie for all the saved tears and frustration!}

Now on to losing the baby weight. I have two very important tips...

1. Tone up the body using weights and do tons of cardio. I mean TONS OF CARDIO. It will shrink your body so that you can fit into your pre-baby clothes.

2. Track your food intake and exercise with the Lose It app. Enter all your info and it will tell you how many calories you are allowed to have a day and it has a feature to keep track of your food and activities. And the best part is that it's free!!! You can't beat that! Using this app I lost all of my baby weight with Rian after 2 1/2 months.



***I'll post some updated photos of me in my pre-baby clothes soon. I don't have any right now to show you. Boo!***

A diaper bag vs. a small child and baby

Shortly after Rian was born and I was venturing out with the kids I discovered I was fighting a losing battle. In that fight, sadly the cute diaper bag lost. I used a really cute Coach diaper bag the first few weeks after Rian was born, however it was a tad bit annoying carrying it on top of the baby carrier and wrangling a three-year-old. After about the 100th time it got caught on the car door as I would be putting in/taking out Rian's carrier I decided to ditch it for my everyday use. Besides when I would run a quick errand by myself I didn't want to carry it, but I was a afraid I was going to forget my wallet if I didn't take it. So I came up with using a hanging travel toiletry bag for Rian's things and just tossing it in my regular bag.
















Alright on to little Miss Rian...

How old:  4 months

Weight: 13 lbs 6oz 18%
Height: 23 3/4 ins 8% 

Head: 41 cm 18%

Clothing size: 3-6 months tops/onesies/jammies, 0-3 months bottoms/pants, newborn/0-3 months/size 1 shoes 
Sleep: Sleep is good. Instead of taking one or two long naps during the day, she takes little cat naps all day long.

Food: Formula. 1-3 oz at a time, about 24 oz a day. Oatmeal cereal and fruits and veggies very soon!

Activities: She loves to sit in her activity pod. She absolutely loves watching sports in her pod- baseball, football, soccer. I guess I better get on making some sport team themed tutus. She starting to roll side to side and grab onto things or for things. She hangs on to her whoobie like a little Linus.

Likes: Bath time! She loves when you talk to her

Dislikes: Being put into her carrier. I still get a "how dare you" stare and whine when I put her into it. I don't blame her, I hate, with a capital H, HATE that thing!

Mood: Happy!!! She has to be the happiest baby I have ever seen. She's even doing pretty well with teething.
Best moment this week: I have a couple... Seeing her talking and laughing with my Nana, giving her cereal and having her get an A+ at her doctor's appointment this morning.

Looking forward to: Halloween! I ordered her kitty tights and they are currently on their way. And I'm going to start working on her costume tomorrow! Oh yeah, her nursery too! I seriously need to get on that! A post on that real soon... I promise!

I'm not thrilled with the picture quality when I upload pics onto BlogPress. I sure miss my laptop!

I hope everyone has had  a great start to their week. C'mon isn't it a short week with Columbus Day and all?!?

xoxo
-aMie



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone