Operation Baby Rescue

This post has absolutely nothing to do with our house, projects, photography, or crafts.  Today I watched a video that broke my heart.  I attend a university where we have speakers from around the country come and speak to a majority of the students during convocation.  Today, although I was not sure if I wanted to go to convocation (I'm an off-campus student and I have a daughter so I don't always make it), I went.  I went and I could hardly sit there the entire time while I watched videos and listened to stories of the many children who are suffering across the world.  The whole time I thought of my daughter and how thankful I am that she has been so healthy and that we don't struggle from any of these problems! Our biggest worry is usually a diaper rash, and for that I am thankful, but at the same time I feel a sadness for the families who have this as their reality.  I know not many people read what I write here, but I wanted to share with the few who do because it is something that has been put on my heart.  This is not the exact video I watched today, it is a shorter version, but I would encourage everyone to watch this!

A Sweet Opportunity

I recently had the opportunity to photograph such a sweet, beautiful, loving family.  They have such a precious little girl who is very close in age to our own little Turtle Bug, and she was a joy to photograph! You can check out some more pictures here, but here are a few from the shoot!

To a Year of Firsts (a little late)

From the moment I first met you I discovered a new love.
With the first sweet giggle my heart felt joy that it had not felt before.
After seeing your adorable smile I thought I could never be happier.
Little did I know, in only a short year my love would grow for you beyond what I ever thought was possible.
I hear your laughter and I know that every time I hear it my heart will swoon.
Your smile continues to provide bliss, even on the gloomiest of days.

To your year of firsts, and to a life of many firsts! Happy birthday to my sweet girl!

Silhouette CAMEO Giveaway over at...

The Idea Room! Go check out the Silhouette CAMEO giveaway! If you are crafty, this is definitely a giveaway to drool over!

Now Introducing...

If you know me personally, then you know I started Kae Chapman Photography in late May, but I thought it was time to introduce it to more than just the Facebook world.  I am so thankful for the encouragement I received from friends and family to start this in the first place, but now I am even more thankful for their support as I make the journey to find clients!  

So, feel free to "like" Kae Chapman Photography on Facebook! Each and every "like" I receive is very much appreciated! If you know anyone who might want to book a session, or if you are interested in pricing you can find out more here! Also, feel free to email me at Kae.C.Photography@gmail.com with any questions!  Once I reach 100 "likes" I will be doing another giveaway and I am currently doing free newborn sessions, let me know if you are interested!

Kasie

Sheets Turned Curtains

Recently I shared my  sheet curtains, so now I am going to share how I did this.  First off I bought two of these sheets from Walmart. 

 

I wanted huge curtains for our living room, but we don't have the money to spend on big, new, beautiful curtains.  So, when I saw these at Walmart for just under five dollars a piece I threw two in my cart and started heading home!  The measurements are 66 inches wide by 96 inches long! Next I bought some acrylic paint from AC Moore (I used around two of the 200ml Reeves acrylic paint in terracotta and mixed it with a little bit of cream colored acrylic paint I had at home already).  With coupons I paid a little over three dollars, but I don't remember the exact price.  Since I have an eleven-month-old daughter running around all the time and putting her sticky hands on whatever they can reach, I wanted them to be washable.  So I also picked up some textile medium because I had heard that would help the paint to stay if they had to be washed.  I saw curtains I really liked over at the Nesting Place, so I decided to go with stripes at this point.

After I had all of my supplies from the store I grabbed a measuring tape, a straight edge, and painter's tape and got to work.  I laid an old sheet down beneath the one I would be painting, then added stripes with the painter's tape.  My stripes eight inches wide and there are twelve total stripes.  The top of the curtain started with the terracotta color and the bottom is the tan color that the sheets are. When I laid out the tape I made the areas that would be terracotta colored have the painter's tape on the outside of the markings I made and the parts that the color of the sheets would show through had tape on the inside of the markings.  Are you confused yet? It looked a bit like this once I started painting.  

Do you see how the tan stripes look smaller?  That is because the tape is laid on them as opposed to outside since they wont be painted on!

Anyway, once I finished I was a little nervous about how the stripes would come out.  Thankfully, they turned out awesome! 

As straight as I could have wanted!

Here are a few tips that I learned while painting.  

1. The acrylic paint I used was very thick, so the textile medium helped a lot to thin it out and allow the paint to cover more area.  

2. I originally tried to use a roller...that was a complete fail.  I used less paint and got the job done faster with a paint brush (the wider the better).  Then I did the edges of the stripes (where the tape was) with a small paint brush to help with keeping the lines straight.  I'm not really sure if that part mattered but it helped me to not completely cover the painter's tape.

3. Be patient.  These took me a bit longer than I expected because I planned out the lines and made sure they were straight across. Also, I hate taping when painting, so it made the process seem longer.  They could  probably be done painting in a couple of hours and dry completely by the next day (I could also only do one a day since I don't have enough space to lay out two in my kitchen or anywhere else).

They look like this now and I love them! I am also using sheets to make curtains for Naomi's room and our bedroom if that tells you how awesome they are...and inexpensive! 

On this picture you can see that some of the spots didn't get enough paint. This was partially because I couldn't tell when they were on the floor with no sun shining through them.  I didn't like it at first and I was going to fix it, but it has grown on me! It gives them a vintage look!

Sheet Curtains

Check out my new curtains! They're made of sheets! The best part? Each panel was five dollars (not including the stripes I added later)! I will make a post later for a description of how I made them (they're so easy)! For now though I am off to tend to a sick baby.