June Ideas

Here are some excellent ideas for June's Hostess and Customer specials with Uppercase Living. I'd love to know what you think and if you have your own ideas you'd like to share!

SUNSHINE

Showcase the “sunshine” in your life with this adorable photo display. To keep things coordinated, spray paint the MDF Board, knobs, and frames all the same color.

• “You are my sunshine” Two-Part Expression 15701: part 1, Honey Wheat (9003); part 2, Chocolate Brown (9080)

• MDF Board — Square (300109)

• Round Knobs — White (300135)

• Spray paint — olive green

• 4" x 6" photo frames (2)

• 1 ½ yards of beaded gold ribbon

• Hot glue

• Drill

WELCOME A NEW DAY

It seems every magazine we open lately has a bit of a country flair found among its pages, and this expression is keeping with the trends. Create a fabulous rustic home décor piece using a rich, deep color like Terra Cotta paired with a Sage Brush backdrop. A tip for applying your expression to canvas is to burnish it from the backside.

• “Welcome a new day” expression 15698: Terra Cotta (9083)

• Toolbox Paint — Sage Brush & Terra Cotta (300146, 300150)

• 12" x 12" canvas

• 1 ½" wide brass handles (4)

• Metal glue

HOME SWEET HOME

Home sweet home is a great welcoming sentiment for any home. It lets your guests know the love and comfort you feel while at home and with the right color choices, this cute, tiered sign can compliment any décor.

• “Home sweet home” Two-Part Expression 15700: part 1, Herb Garden (9064); part 2, Sugared Plum (9008)

• Vinyl Effects (300155)

• Toolbox Paint — Bright White & Matte Black (300143, 300148)

• 5" x 11" wood planks (3)

• Sandpaper

• Eye hooks (10)

• 18" silver chain

BREATHE

Breathe—seems like a simple concept, but the mere action of breathing ignites a chain reaction with innumerable benefits. A conscious breath can release stress, calm the nerves, and so much more. Display this desk-sized sign where you find yourself needing that gentle reminder to just…breathe.

• “Breathe” expression 15703: Caribbean Blue (9007)

• Toolbox Paint — Fresh Linen (300145)

• 5" x 12" wood plank

• Embossed decorative paper

• Glue

Personalize A Special Event!

If you can’t find a pre-designed expression that perfectly fits your event, there’s no need to worry! Create their own! Text, Graphic and Photo Print options are available on MyDesign Suite at http://Iowa.UppercaseLiving.net, you can create décor for a one-of-a-kind, personalized event people will be talking about for years.  

Here are just a few ideas:

 

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Feature a life-sized Photo Print of the “original” bride and groom or the entire wedding party, and personalize with a Text and Graphic expression.

GRADUATION

As you celebrate your child’s accomplishments, remember their early school days with a too-cute Photo Print and custom MyDesign Suite expression.

 

WELCOME HOME

Welcome home your favorite soldier (or anyone who has been away) with personalized décor and a Photo Print that honors them and lets them know how much you missed them while they were gone.

 

REUNIONS

Watch your yearbook come to life on the walls of your reunion party.  Whether it has been 10, 20, or even 50 years since you graduated from high school, everyone will get a kick out of the walk down memory lane. 

The MyDesign Suite can be used to add a personal touch to any of the décor theme packs in the Celebrations Mini. There is nothing like adding a name or a date to party décor to let that special person in your life know that today really is “their” day.

What is on the internet about YOU?

Go to www.spokeo.com and type in your name. It's pretty scary to go out on the internet to find information about yourself. This is what I found out that was listed about ME.

It listed my name (middle initial is incorrect) address and my old home phone number that we no longer have as of July 2009. It also listed my husband's name, but his age isn't correct. I would guess that is because he and his Dad have the same name so instead of giving his approximate age of 30 years old they put him at approximately 60 years old.

Under my Photos & Profiles there is a picture from Uppercase Living. I sell this and I'm guessing they pulled it from an aviator/photo from one of the message boards I've posted to or even the Twitter account I use for the business or could be my Facebook account. My age, gender, ethnicity, zodiac sign, marital status, that I DO have children, hobbies, I'm a home owner, how long I've been in my home, estimated value of my home and my neighborhood listed as below average (which it isn't) is listed. There are also other facts about my house posted on the page.

Okay, so some of this is public knowledge that can be looked up on a county assessor site, but what is scary to me is that it lists that I have children. It also shows an ariel view of my home and my address is listed. Some of my coworkers and friends have actual street view pictures posted of their homes. You can also click on the picture and move the camera 360 degrees and look at neighbor's houses up and down the street!

I’d recommend that you look up your name. If you want to make your information private, click on the privacy setting or go to http://www.spokeo.com/privacy to request that your information be removed.

Pass this onto your friends and family! I’m sure that they don’t know there is so much information out there about themselves!

Tricia

Uppercase Living
http://Iowa.UppercaseLiving.net
http://www.facebook.com/ULCreativeGal

Remembering Photos

When I was really young I remember my mom taking me and my younger sisters to an auction with a friend of hers. I can even remember a couple things we bought including a record player and a very old camera. Although I didn't have many records, I do remember playing one song over and over again. Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head. When it rains, I think about sitting in my room and playing that over and over. I also remember my first camera even more so fondly.

I was so excited when my mom purchased that very old camera. My first camera! Oh the things I would take pictures of! But first we had to see if it worked. At my mother's suggestion we took it to my Grandpa Detje. At the time I didn't know this, but he was a bit of a photographer himself. At least I thought so after he passed away and found out he had a beautiful Canon with all kinds of colored lenses and attachments. 

Grandpa took that old camera, got it cleaned up and working. I don't remember what kind of camera it was, but I do remember it being very old, maybe from the 1940's or 1950's. It had a metal light bulb flash on top and only took black and white photos. 

The day my Grandpa brought that camera over so I could try it out is also memorable for me. My two younger sisters and I were in the backyard of our first home playing. Grandpa came out with the camera. He proudly showed it to me and tried to explain how to take a picture. Of course I was only six or seven years old at the time, maybe younger, so I had no understanding of the things he was telling me. He took my two younger sisters and knelt to the ground between them. With my back to the west and the hot summer sun beating down on us, I clicked my first photograph with that old camera. 

About a week or so later Grandpa brought me the photos from the camera. I don't remember any of the other pictures, but I remember that particular picture of my Grandpa and my sisters very vividly. What happened to that camera and that photo is a mystery to me. I wish I could find them, as they are very treasured memories for me.

As the years have passed my interests in photography have continued. I belonged to the yearbook staff my senior year of high school. Took photography classes in college while attend Waldorf College and Iowa State University. Developing my own film and printing black and white photos I took was amazing! Although I preferred the artistic side of producing printed material over developing film in that stinky dark room. My love for photography grew, but the cost wasn't something I could afford on a college budget. Photography took the back seat for several years. 

On Christmas Eve 1999, my father-in-law and I were admiring the moon from the formal living room window. He commented how that moon would make an interesting photograph. I didn't know that he had an interest in photography or that he had an enlarger and dark room equipment sitting in his basement that had been unused for years! It all belonged to his older brother who had past away several years earlier. That next summer Rob and I moved into our first little house. Rob had taken the moving truck to his Dad's house to pick up some furniture and to my surprise Rob and his step-sister unloaded that enlarger and dark room equipment! I was thrilled, yet curious where I was going to set up a dark room.

Sadly ten years have passed and that dark room has never been established. Photography has changed dramatically this past decade with digital cameras becoming the simplest and most cost effective form of photography for everyone. As sad as I am that I've never started up that dark room, I must admit that I’m thrilled for the convenience of my digital camera!

Over the past year and a half I've allowed my creative senses to reintroduce themselves to me. While in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on vacation with my husband and mother-in-law, I took our new Canon out on a little self exploration of the resort. I was beyond pleased with what my eye captured. Through that winter, I made mental notes of what to photograph that next summer. My broken leg that summer put those ideas on the back burner for a little while; however, I was so pleased to make it to Saylorville Lake that September with my husband and beautiful daughter to photograph her playing carelessly on the beach. 

Once again I was thrilled with what my eyes caught! I was able to catch Emilie being Emilie. My child's timeless childhood memories captured in a few minutes on a warm September afternoon. Emilie’s first visit to the beach, finding her first pet rock, naming it and giving it a home is something I know she won’t forget. Emilie sat quietly in the wet sand trying to make sandcastles and moats all while I took endless photos of her at play. Ruining that beautiful white dress her father and I bought in Mexico by running along the beach, splashing wildly in the water without a care in the world is something I won’t forget thanks to my creative vision.
 
(Read more of my blog at http://thecreativegal.blogspot.com/)