great love.

free.

for freedom You set me free
and yes, i am free indeed
You rewrote my name
and shackled my shame
You opened my eyes to see
i am free.

-shane & shane

{please excuse my lack of blogging...}

when the day comes that i'll be free from this office desk, i promise i'll blog more frequently!  i can not WAIT until that day!  i'm dreaming of being a wordsmith of more words than a random thought thrown together, being able to take pictures during the yummy daylight (darn you daylights savings time!!), and blogging galore!  i will do my best to keep blogging when i find time, but right now my crazy life as a single lady is keeping me BU-SY which is bad and good... thankfully it's mostly good because it keeps my days and nights full of friends, family, and fabulousness, but it has me ALL over the place! until my blogging is less sporadic you can find me here...

twitter.com/aprilmwalker  

pinterest.com/aprilmwalker

facebook.com/photo366

 instagram

much love to you all!!

{happy.pinterwebiphoning}

aw

{DIY :: repurposing.frames :: inspiration.chalkboard.frame}

i'm a sucker for a good frame "repurposing."  especially when they move from one of my closet floors to actually being used.  ahem...  moving forward.  i have a couple "repurposing" projects to show you today. 
project#1
first up is a little photo that's been hanging in my room that i just don't love anymore.  i bought this at target about 5 years ago and it's nice, but i wanted to change it up.  how nice of target to sell this where it's totally closed off (insert sarcasm) ...enter the handy dandy exacto knife. 

  anyone else remember exacto knifes from "technology" class in middle school??  i do.  i was that crazy kid that wanted to cut perfect straight lines in everything.  ok.  back to the point here...i was determined to use that frame because it was the perfect size for this...

  after cutting off the backing to the target frame and digging out the picture that was in there (wasn't as easy as i thought, but i DID IT!) ... this is the newest addition to my bedroom.  i love the pop of color it brings to gray walls.

katie daisy prints make my house so beautiful!

project#2

last week i found an awesome frame at goodwill for $4.99 that i knew would be perfect for finally making a project that my friend mary austin recommended to me after i tweeted that i could hang quotes in every inch of my house.  she recommended a chalkboard for changing out inspiring verses and quotes.  done.  well fast forward a few months and then it's "done." so here it it goes... a little DIY.  are you ready for this goodness?  well the AFTER is goodness, the BEFORE is straight up hideous...

here's what i needed for my inspiration chalkboard frame.  spray paint color of your choice.  not sure if this is even the appropriate type of spray paint, but it was the only one wal-mart had in the color i wanted, so i made it work. cost $3.77  the dry non-sanded grout i found at my local hardware store for $2.59.  this stuff will last forever. the paint is from wallyworld as well $2.47... we're going for a total cost of about $14 bucks folks.  that's not too shabby.  chalkboard paint alone can be that much.  plus making it this way you can actually make it any color you want AND make as much as you want.

here's our BEFORE frame after i took out the "lovely" picture.

throw on a few coats of turquoise goodness and booyah! 
it already looks SO much better.

back inside while i let that dry, i poured about 1.5 tsp of the grout into a cup and added about 1/4 cup of black paint.  i used a sponge paint brush to paint on the chalkboard paint.

time to say goodbye to this and HELLO to a brand new chalkboard.

 once i finished painting 3 coats on that one i realized i had a lot of chalkboard paint left.  insert stack of frames on my coat closet floor.  awww... how cute was my sister and how LONG was her hair?!?.  sorry sister... i'm not hanging you in my house, but thanks mom and dad for the frame!

so i threw some spray paint on that one too and painted the cardboard backing that was behind my sister's picture with the chalkboard paint.  once the chalkboard paint dried on both, i "primed" them by covering the whole board in chalk then washing them off.  honestly i don't think this step is necessary at all, but oh well...

and there you have it folks, not one, but TWO chalkboard inspiration frames for mi casa.  i'm in love with them. 

{happy.DIYing}

aw

{light lovers :: root sharers}

i love this quote from max lucado.  i blogged it a while back, 

but yesterday decided to make a little graphic of it.

{DIY :: inspiration board}

my "office" at home is still a wreck work in progress, but a few months ago i stumbled across a picture of a little inspiration board that i loved, but knew i could make much less expensive than buying so i set out to do just that!  sadly, i can't find the original image, but upon seeing it i knew it was definitely something i wanted beside my desk at home that i could change out whatever may be inspiring me at any given moment.   here's what you will need...

the hardware :: clear pushpins, bulldog clips, & a hanger

the pushpins i had, the bulldog clips i purchased at walmart, & the hanger i had. 

cost = $8

next you will need a board.  

you choose the size.  i just went into the plywood department at lowe's where they have a scrap section.  i found this lovely piece of wood below.  i loved the texture and knew it'd be pretty easy to press the pins into as well as the hanger. the guy working gave it to me for $FREE.99! yep.  he even cut the piece that i wanted in half so i could make 2.  

cost  = $0

so while you're at lowe's getting your wood, head on over to the paint department for the best part!  picking your color. lowe's and probably a few other paint places have these awesome "samples" you can buy for about $3 of most colors.  i actually bought 2 different colors a grey and a red.

cost = $6

so then i went to work... painting, measuring, pushing pins.  hard work i tell ya.  hard. work.

depending on the size of your board and the amount of clips you use, your space will vary in between clips.  i am definitely not too great at math so this was the hardest part for my feeble creative mind.

and there you have it!  

the most lovely (and cheapest... $14 buckaroos for 2!) little inspiration board. change out whatever whenever to what inspires you the most.  i threw a few things in there that have inspired me lately and just love how it turned out.  please excuse the unfinished state that is my office shelves.  i cringe at their lack of completion, but i digress. maybe one day i'll have some more pictures of that project.

 

so what are you waiting for?!?  get out there & make your own!

{happy.DIYing!}

aw

{creativity :: finishing as an art}

"i think half the battle of a creator is in finishing their projects. i wonder how many of the worlds greatest creators never created anything great, because while they may have had the intelligence and even the skill, they weren’t finishers. finishing is part of the art." :: donald miller

i've had a burst of creativity over the last few weeks.  i've felt inspired and it's felt really good.  i've felt the need to create... to make something with my hands.  yet i find myself beginning and then being stuck.  the ideas swarm and swirl in my head and i get started and then get about half finished and my mind has wandered to the next thing...

all of my life i've had trouble nailing down those last details and finishing. it's a great effort for me.  i tend to make excuses and blame it on lack of time, other activities, etc, but it's almost as if my interest dwindles and i am not fully satisfied with what i'm creating...  or i like to blame it on my non-existent ADD.  does anyone else suffer this problem?  well obviously donald miller has and after reading his blog post a few weeks ago i was very happy to know that as a creative, i was not alone.

i long though in my heart of hearts to finish my art and finish well.  to follow through with my projects, and as donald miller said in the quote i first listed, "finishing is part of the art."  i want my creations to be a complete work of art... not half finished.  reminds sort of how God must feel about us as His creations.  i definitely know that He doesn't have a problem finishing his art, but I wonder if he longs for us not to remain half finished, but ultimately for us to become the finished work He's started.  finishing is part of the art.  i would have to say that this is a lifelong process, but a beautiful creative process at that.  always changing, always growing.  a beautiful ebb and flow that gradually moves progressively towards the flow.  the sweet spot of this life we've been given.

i will be finishing these projects and for that goal i am very excited.  as soon as they're finished i will post my final projects here.

{happy.thursday.friends}

aw

you can now find some of my

photos hanging out over at flickr

click here to browse

{enjoy}
aw

aw

{aw}

created by me on www.picnik.com

{created on picnik.com}

just call me the camp director

yesterday i channeled my inner hippie & old camp

director skills & organized some fun tie-dying for the fam!

here we are in the dying process. fun stuff!

my sister with her new shirt

i love all the colors!

and we made some ones for niece#1. how cute!

before & after

i can't really stomach how much frames cost today,

so my solution? goodwill!

exhibit A - $3.99 "map of kenya"

exhibit B - a little white spray paint

& voila!! the perfect frame that didn't cost $30

gotta love a bargain!

now i just have to figure out where

i'm going to hang this lovely little print!

goodwill frame = $5.99

spray paint = $2.19

pretty post cards on etsy = $9.00

seeing an artistic vision in your head come to fruition = priceless

**not to mention i FINALLY have something on the walls in my room**