LiFe {unscripted}

Currently

Last real photo taken of me by me:

a head shot I took with my big camera, tripod, and remote a day after my 36th birthday.  Taken for this website that my super talented and kind team leader, Kristina, created for our oil biz. Side note: I just had to look up how old I am...I honestly couldn’t remember if I turned 36 or 37. Some days I feel 25 and others I feel 65. I know I can’t be alone in that. 

time: 3:04 PM
location: Austin Center for Endodontics. Ellis and I brought my sister here to have her tooth worked on...hoping for a bonus Target run after...if the patient is up to it, of course.
watching: thinking about starting 9-1-1 after a friend recommended it.
eating: Nothing right now, but made a delicious cucumber and tomato salad last night with extra lemon juice and salt.  That sounds good right now.
drinking: water with lime...I’m sensing a trend here, but I am always up for salt and sour.
wanting: the weather to warm up a bit...I am not quite ready for summer, but 50s/60s would be nice.
needing: to start planning Ellis’ fifth birthday party...gah, how is my baby already almost five?!
loving: finding her drawings on my iPad Pro. And also hearing the stories or descriptions that come along with anything she draws.  

She is also very into writing names. Nearly every paper that comes home from school now has “Ellis Becky Adam” written on the top of it with hearts. 

 

This one, from the IPad, also has her cousin, Orren’s name...she is very excited to see him this weekend. 

 

How To Make Alphabet Letters from Scratch

I've had a few sweet people email me asking for a step by step process that I used to make the letters for E's Alphabet wall. 

They truly are fun to make so I decided to take out my iPhone and snap a few step by step pictures of the process.  

Supplies I used:

• 14 ply Chipboard - You could probably use cardboard, but chipboard paints better without warping too much.
• Craft Knife
• Insulation foam OR 3 oz paper Dixie Cups - depending on how thick you want your letter to be. 
• Ruler
• Elmers glue
• Paper Tape - it's basically brown kraft packing tape that is like an envelope.

A photo of the chipboard to show the thickness:

Step 1: Draw your letter out on the chipboard.  I used the edges of my chipboard for my letter so that I would not waste time cutting the edges or waste chipboard. But this is the part where you could be super creative and do a cursive letter, an upper case or lower case letter, OR even print a certain letter from your favorite font and give that a try.  All of mine, I hand drew to make it easier/faster, but I am sure it would be fun to have one in your favorite font, too.

Step 2: Use your craft knife and a ruler (on straight edges a ruler helps!) to begin cutting the letter out.  Because the chipboard is thick, it takes more than one cut to cut all the way through AND a craft mat to cut would also help make this process easier. 

Step 3: use your cut out letter to trace another out on chipboard and repeat step 2.

Step 4: Slice your insulation foam into 1 inch sized squares.  These do not have to be precisely one inch, just small enough so they do not go over the edges when put on the letter.

Step 5: Begin using Elmer's glue to glue your insulation pieces to the bottom layer letter - spreading them about an inch apart and being sure that they do not go over the sides of the chipboard.

Step 6: Put glue on the tops of the pieces of insulation foam.

Step 7: Carefully place your other chipboard letter on top of the gluey insulation foam, looking over the very top of it and "1-eyeballing" it to make sure the edges line up just so.  Especially the bottom edge if you are going to want your letter to stand upright. 

A side view

Step 8: Carefully place a book or a thick catalog on top of the letter as a weight to hold the chipboard down while the glue dries.  Step away from your letter and let the glue dry before moving on.  I generally do this process one day, let it sit a night, and then come back to it the next day.

Once the glue is dry continue with the following steps.

I used this paper tape from DickBlick.com. You will also need a paper plate and a damp sponge to wet your paper tape.

Step 9: Tear about 3-4 inch strips of paper tape.  you can tear a lot of them at once, or tear as you go. 

Step 10: Begin by wetting the shiny side of the tape with your sponge.  You do not want it to be drippy wet, just wet enough so that it becomes sticky. 

Step 11: Begin covering your letter with the strip of tape.  Pull and press the tape firmly over the side, but do not pull it too much or your will make the edges pucker together.  This part is all about craftsmanship and neatness.  It takes patience so you might practice a bit with the paper tape a bit to get the right technique down. 

Tips for using Paper Tape:

1. Don't use too much water on your sponge.  You want the tape damp, not drippy.
2. Smooth the edges of the tape down using a damp finger.  Gently pulling the tape around the side - too much pull, and your sides will squeeze together.
3. Overlap the tape so you do not have gaps in between your tape. 
4. When you get to the corners, get as close with the tape as you can, and then use the next tip to properly seal your corners. 
5. Fold and crease the paper tape before wetting it, then wetting it and placing it on a corner to get a sharp corner. 

Again, the paper tape takes some practice and play and patience to get the hang of. 

I made this short video to demonstrate the first steps of using paper tape.  It was challenging to video with one hand and apply paper tape with the other hand, so it might not be extremely helpful, but it's a start. 

 

I also suggest using at least two layers of the paper tape to ensure a sturdy monogram.  

From there, you can decorate your letters however you would like.  Here is how I decorated Ellis':

A - Mod Podge with fabric strips
B, F, K, O - Mod Podge with tissue paper
C - Mod Podge with an old map
D, I, J, L, M, N, P, Q, Y, Z - Painted with acrylic paint
E, W - Painted then drawn on with a Sharpie, then Mod Podge.
H, U - Mod Podge with old book pages on sides, then painted on lots of glue to the front and glittered.
G, X - Painted with acrylic paint, Mod Podge paper dots or hearts.
R - Painted with acrylic paint, then used a craft knife to cut the paper design and Mod Podge to front.
S - Mod Podge with notebook paper
V - Ornamented with toilet paper rolls cut down, then painted with acrylic paint.
T - Decorated with washi tape, then Mod Podge'd

Notice a commonality?  MOD PODGE!!!  It was my BFF during this project :)

And because we just had an impromptu photo shoot a couple nights ago with my baby bean standing and playing in her crib:

Just exactly the kind of picture I imagined while I was making each letter of the alphabet for my sweet butterbean's nursery. 

 

 

Confidence

I have not been the best blogger lately.  The nights come and go before I realize it's past 11:00 PM, and seriously this mama-to-be is loving sleep too much lately (smile). 

Lately, I have gotten back into drawing again, and it's such a great feeling.  I decided to make a little sketch book out of watercolor paper and thread one day, and I've been drawing + water-coloring in it at least twice a week.  Something about having a little 6X6 sketchbook to carry in around in my purse that inspires me.  I just draw what inspires me that day.  A layout in a magazine, a funny thought from a t.v. show, or a quote that resonates with me.

Today, I found a great quote and wanted to illustrate it BLT style. 

This quote speaks to me on so many levels lately.  At work with my students, at home when I think of the fact that I'm going to be a mama in less than 5 months and sometimes still think "what am I doing?!", when I am on stage teaching Body Combat with a baby bump, and just in everyday life. 

My mom always taught my sister and I to "Fake it till you make it...Even if you don't feel like you know what you are doing (or supposed to be doing), fake it.  And before you know it, you will find purpose and meaning in that situation, and soon, you will feel confident." 

Her words ring so true to me.  It may not always be easy, but I'd rather be confident (and sometimes faking confidence) than constantly insecure and afraid. 

And with that, baby girl is kicking me from the inside...I can finally feel her moving around in there and it's THE coolest feeling!

Thanks for dropping by :)

 

 

ABC's

I've had my huge box o' Sharpies out in my classroom lately.  If you are like me, you can understand the excitement both high school and middle school kids get from a large selection of Sharpies.  I share that excitement. 

The huge box o' Sharpies sparked my creativity to start doodling and within a couple days this print for the butterbean's nursery was created. 

I love to doodle and experiement with different ways to make patterns...and with a huge box o' Sharpies, both ultra fine point and fine point, I can truly get carried away for hours. 

Cool thing, once scanned in, I can change the colors with a few tweaks of Photoshop.

Both prints are available in my Etsy store now. 

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Psalm 139:44

I started this last Saturday and decided on the colors just yesterday.  Of course, I will frame it and hang it in the nursery. 

Thank you all so much for your kind and lovely comments on our "finding out" story.  We truly are blessed to know and call each of you friends. 

This print is also now available for purchase, here in my Etsy store, BaconLettuceTomato. 

Thanks for dropping by :)

Cameo Cut Share

I'll be completely honest.  A lot of my summer vacation has been spent lounging on our bed.  Not the couch - that would take too much energy to go that far.

I've had lots of time to play with my Silhouette Studio software, Google tutorials on how to make your own Cameo cuts, and basically any computer activity that does not require me getting up too often.  I'm really not joking. 

That said, I decided to try my hand a few cut designs that I have promised myself I will actually cut and use as soon as I get up  (okay, here I'm sort of joking - I have gotten up some to craft and sew...I do get a few bursts of energy every now and then).

First up, these journaling cards so that I can journal what Adam and I both said when we first found out we were expecting, but they could be used for many other subjects as well.

This one was made using Photo shop shapes and Bebas font.  You can download if you would like to use it.

Download SheSaidHeSaid

Second, OMG! Pregnant

I used Cheap Pine font, Marmellata Jam font, and Miska Ornament font.  It cuts much better if you cut it at a larger size - at least 4X5 inches or larger. 

Download OMGpregnant

The last one came about because I watched this tutorial and realized that I could basically make any cut based on a picture that has been scanned in.  A light bulb went off and I immediately decided to try making a Cameo cut from my Linocut of Henry. 

First cut, this one did not cut so well (argh!).  So I decided to go back and simplify my design so that it might cut out more clean and crisp. 

( pre-simplify and retry)

  (post simplify)

Download HenryCleanCut

So.  Not only have I created these cuts from lé bed, but I have also created a blog post using them, too.  Go me!  See, babe, I'm not just being completely lazy (wink, wink). 

***If you do have a Silhouette Cameo and download these, I would love to see what you do with them- just drop me a link in the comments section :) ***

Thanks for dropping by :)

Labor of Love

I've been working on this labor of love for a while now.  a loooooong while.  several years kind of long while. Going back and forth - the should I, shouldn't I, kind of ordeal that always played over and over in my head and heart. 

Well, today, at 11:10 PM, I am happy to say that BaconLettuceTomato is now open for business. 

Artwork that I have created over the past four years, is now for sale in the form of digital prints.  All of my artwork has been highly inspired by this girl's wonderfully simple life.  I've taken favorite songs and put them into my own interpretations, heartfelt people and moments and created these pieces to forever remember those special times. 

I chose the name BaconLettuceTomato, BLT is also my initials as a married girl.  I'd love to say that I have a sophisticated name like Rebecca (I do, it's on my birth certificate), but the truth is, people who know and love me call me Becky.  Becky Leighann Trump - BLT.

Like all things me, I have definitely taken my time getting on the Etsy train, but I must say, I am super excited to finally take the dive in. Get my hair wet, let the mascara run, and everything.  Dive it. 

As my dear friends and I say, "BOOM (with fist pump)!" There it is. 

 

I'd love for you to take a gander, take a peek, and just browse my labor of love. 

Thanks for dropping by :)

 

Artwork=decor in our house

I do actually frame some of my artwork.  We've actually run out flat surfaces to put frames, so I've started hanging things on the wall.  Yesterday's edition?  Bathroom art. 

The idea of this artwork actually came from a piece that is not mine.  A lovely positive/negative shape cut out that a student of mine completed this past year and gave to me instead of taking it with her.  The color completely matches our guest bathroom shower curtain, so I bought a frame for it and found two more frames that match the curtain.  I decided to use my Cameo to cut out a couple designs for the same positve/negative shape look. 

The middle piece is my students artwork.  Sorry about the reflection in the frame - but that's the shower curtain. Also, I'm not sure why, but the color on the walls looks much better in person than in these photos - it's Behr Grass Cloth.

image via

I chose to use the Cameo store to find other scenic cuts.  The Golden Gate Bridge by Hero Arts, and a hot air balloon from Loni Stevens, were exactly what I had in mine.  I added a few more cuts using to the balloon using  the Cameo software to give it a more scenic look. 

I cut them out of black textured cardstock, and decided to mount them on watercolored paper for a slight bit of color. 

I traced the edges of the cutout onto my watercolor paper, and then used my Sakura watercolors to add a bit of color. 

I used Tombow Mono Multi permanent glue with the pen tip to adhere the cutout onto the dried watercolored paper. 

Trimmed off the excess watercolor paper, and popped it in to the frame.

Easy wall art (and cheap!) in less than a few hours. 

Thanks for dropping by :)

"Life's a ride..."

We hung a new piece of functional decor in our butler's pantry on Saturday. 

This piece was given to us by some of our most closest friends, Max's parents ;), and they totally hit the nail on the head when it came to this quote.

"We must take every opportunity to make the most of our very remarkable life...Life's a ride.  You've gotta buy a ticket, hang on tight and keep going around 'til they kick ya off."

It is such a thoughtful and adorable piece.  We hung it just above a piece of artwork I made the year we got married.  The two make me smile each time I pass by and see it. 

The drawing is actually just a Sharpie drawing-type doodle that I created in the months leading up to our wedding - it has lots of little tidbits and images of things that described Adam and I at that time in our lives. 

Sorry for the crooked photo (blush).

I think the two pieces compliment each other so nicely and are such a true reflection of who we were, who we are, and how things are going (smile). 

Life's a ride...and we are certainly hanging on tight! 

Thanks for dropping by :)

 

Artwork Share

I finally got out my watercolors yesterday.

It's been a while since I've used them.  I've had a piece of artwork that I finished the pen & ink part in the beginning of May.  It lacked the last step of watercolor.  Last night it was finally finished.

I saw this poem via Pinterest a while ago.  I loved it the minute I saw it - and before you wonder, NO, I am not preggers (insert shocked face, right!).  This poem just reminded me of some special friends of mine who have their own child/children. 

The words are all handwritten, and I used this technique to keep the centers of the caps white.  I used Photoshop to add the author of the poem, Maryann K. Cusimano, at the bottom.

And now that my watercolors are out, I can't wait to keep painting.

Thanks for dropping by :)