My Tie-Dye T-Shirt

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 by Alyice

Have you ever tie-dyed a shirt before? Simply Spray was gracious enough to send me a sample of their product to test out on the basis that my daughter would create some of her graffiti art with it.

She has an idea brewing, but until it comes to fruition I thought it would be fun to give the product a try myself. So while shopping the other day, I asked my daughter for an idea.

She said, “I think it would be cool to create a tie-dye/hippie t-shirt that says ‘Costume’ across the front. Then I can wear it to school for Halloween.”

“And if we use glow-in-the-dark puff paint, it can glow when we go to the Haunted House this year, under those special lights,” I replied excitedly.

So we bought some foam letters and shapes to use as stencils, some glow-in-the-dark puffy paint, and two $4 white t-shirts and went home.

After arriving home, I washed and dried the t-shirts. Then I laid one of the t-shirts out on my table and commenced to lay out our design.

To create the vest, I put a small t-shirt board inside a large t-shirt. Then I pulled the t-shirt to fit the board and used masking tape to hold the excess material on the back of the t-shirt board.

Next, I laid the foam shapes in place, and sprayed the paint. Once dried, I removed all foam pieces, except the letters. Then I cut two pieces of freezer paper and adhered them to the top and bottom of the t-shirt, leaving ample room to spray a bold rectangle over the word “costume”.

Once dry, I removed the letters. Then I used black puffy paint to trace the objects and glow-in-the-dark puffy paint to outline the word and to create drips over the design. I also created a drip outline around the vest.

She thought the t-shirt was okay, but it wasn’t what she wanted so this t-shirt is going to find a good home via one of her friends, or perhaps one of her cousins. Then it’s back to the drawing board.

Only next time, I’ll let her create the tie-dyed t-shirt—and choose a more flattering shirt, too..

Good thing this was just a practice shirt! And thankfully Halloween is still 60 days away—plenty of time for her to “get it right”.

While I may not be a great tie-dye, t-shirt designer, I can say this much. I had FUN playing with Simply Spray. It was easy to use, it didn’t make a huge mess, there are no fumes, and it is essentially odorless—which is fantastic since I usually have allergic reactions to chemicals, and I had none, not a migraine, not burning skin, nothing!

Oh, and a bit of warning here, the spray drips when you first squeeze the trigger so make sure you start your spray on a scrap piece of material (as suggested per instructions), then continue holding down the trigger as you move the spray over the t-shirt. And if there is an area you don’t want the spray to touch, cover it with freezer paper.

Keep Creating

Disclosure: I received a review sample of Simply Spray, which may be ordered at www.simplyspray.com

Posted in Art How-Tos Children | No Comments »

Thanks For Lifestyle Photography

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 by Alyice

There was a time when I really wanted to become a paid photographer, but then I tried it and I realized that I had a long ways to go before I could even consider calling myself a “professional” photographer. So I pulled down my shingles, so to speak.

Over the next four years, I would use my camera for personal pleasure, to accentuate my blog, to help illustrate articles, and to create beautiful greeting cards—but not to photograph people for pay.

As time passed, I would discover a style of photography that naturally gravitates towards me. I would find a style, that should I ever want to go into the photography business, would be a natural for me—LIFESTYLE photography.

To me, lifestyle photography is all about shooting ordinary people doing ordinary stuff. It’s about capturing the real world, and the real person—the one actively involved in the moment. It’s about facial expressions and natural landscapes and living creatures. It’s about capturing the realism of the moment; a movement, an expression, a feeling.

It’s a style of photography that makes you feel complete-and-utter appreciation for your life and the little moments that led up to that captured moment.

It’s about being able to grab hold of a part of history—a play date with your child, a romantic picnic with your better half, chasing butterflies with your toddler, helping your tween cook his first meal, playing cards with grandma—and still be able to share in those emotions years later.

It’s all about the people, the places, the things, and the events that fill our lives with purpose, and joy, and happiness.

So today, I am grateful for the person who invented the very first camera. And I am grateful for all the technological advances that have occured since then; especially since I recently discovered how truly blessed I am to have a digital camera.

Give thanks…

Posted in It's Gratitude, Dude! | No Comments »

Goodbye Denver, Colorado

Saturday, August 28th, 2010 by Alyice

By the end of our trip, we were ready to get back home—to get back to our own beds and some sort of routine. That’s the thing about vacations, isn’t it? You love to get away and explore new places—have new adventures—but at the end of the day, there simply is no place like home.

While I thoroughly enjoyed our trip, I have to admit that the best part about my vacation had absolutely nothing to do with the destination, the area attractions, or the food. The best part of my vacation had EVERYTHING to do with the quality time my family and I spent together.

I have always, ALWAYS, loved getting away from the house, getting away from the worries and stress of everyday living, getting away from distractions and chores, to fully engage myself in the lives of my children and my husband. I am a HUGE fan of leaving the house to spend time with the family—whether it’s a barbecue at the local park, a canoeing trip on a nearby river, or a mini-vacation five hours away, I believed families need to get away from the everydayness of things to truly engage in each other’s lives.

This particular vacation, my children and I were able to spend some much needed quality time with their dad—my husband. And for that, I am very grateful.

My husband has been working so hard at work, and so much overtime, that it was finally starting to take its toll on our marriage and our family. I know that it’s a huge blessing in this economy and it’s allowing us to get our finances in order from his layoff and cut hours at the onset of our economic crisis; especially since things have been ridiculously slow in my own business, but it’s still hard on the family at times. And his body!

My husband works so hard that he often comes home too exhausted to do anything more than shower, eat, and sleep. If we’re lucky, we’ll get an hour of interaction with him before his body shuts down. Then Sunday rolls around, his only day off, and he’s essentially dead to the world. He tries, bless his heart, to give himself to us, but the man’s just beat so we often try to keep things on the down low.

That’s why this vacation was so important to us. It wasn’t that we were financially ready to take this vacation, because we weren’t. A financially savvy person would’ve waited, but we needed this time to remind us that there is more to life than work and stress, to have a little fun in life, to experience an adventure. And most importantly to reconnect.

In the end, my husband went back to work well-rested and invigorated. My children got to spend some much needed time laughing with their dad, and getting his undivided attention. And on some level, my husband and I got to work out a few issues that were developing because of all his overtime.

So my word of advice, for what it’s worth, is that if your family is feeling the stress of this economic downturn and you can find a way to get away—if even for a weekend—take it! Your marriage, your relationship with your kids, and your overall well-being will thank you for it!

Until next time…

Posted in Get-A-Ways, It's Gratitude, Dude! | No Comments »

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AlyiceEdrich.com
I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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