Dear Autumn, Love Emily.

24 October 2014

Dear Autumn,

You're back and that makes me happy.

Every time I see the first leaves drop and the sky turn grey and I find myself seeking out new candles, I know you've arrived and that makes me smile.

But autumn as much as I love you, I think it might be odd for me to have such positive feelings for this season.

Not because something is wrong with you, its me. Really. It's actually because every time this season rolls around things are sad. Life turns unhappy. This season always brings with it the most unhappy of times. Unfortunately, its come around again as well. 

But I've began to think that maybe, just maybe, I welcome that feeling. I don't like being sad, but I'm used to this feeling so I am comfortable this way. Maybe I'm the one who messed things up this time. Was it possibly my fault? Was it me who made things worse than they are? Was I overreacting? Because as real as the hurt was from it, and as real as my feelings were, I don't know if I escalated things myself.

Autumn, you've been around for a long time. I'm certain you've seen a lot in your time. Relationships of all sorts fall apart. Friends parting ways. Children being born and people dying. You must understand these things well, so if I ask for your help, would you lend me your hand? Offer me advice about making it through the cold months to find my way into your excited young sister, spring. Into renewed hope and an abundance of happiness. If you find yourself thinking of anyways to help, please allow your brisk winds to whisper your long kept secrets in my ear. I would love if you brought a rainstorm to wash away the troubles. Or allowed the smell of freshly fallen leaves and pumpkin everything wipe away the scent of distress.

Thank you for listening my old friend.

Lots of love and best wishes,

Emily.

 Inspired by a YouTuber called ItsWayPastMyBedtime or Carrie Fletcher. I would love to see others continue this. If you write a letter to autumn link it here somehow and I would love to read it.

Simple Dorm (Or Bedroom) Craft : Personalized Wooden Wall Letters

The school year is back! 

Its getting to be that time of year again where everyone is purchasing new clothes for the coming academic year, looking for the perfect, brand new backpack, that fits in with the latest fads or finding the perfect furnishings for their new dorm room (or should I say, their cramped closet-like space). Personalized wooden letters are the perfect addition to any dorm or bedroom wall!

I just purchased a bunch of 5-inch white wooden letters from Micheals for two dollars a piece.

They add up in price quickly so make sure to decide what you want your wooden sign to read before purchasing the actual letters.  You can do a motivational word, like love, peace or dream.  I, however, personally decided on writing both mine and my roommates name. 

First I started by painting each of name a decided base color with Craft Smart Acrylic Paint. I matched each of our names to our choice of dorm colors but you can do any color that your heart desires! 

Once two coats of the base color been painted on and have finally dried, its time to decide on what design you want your letters to have. Below I will included two separate tutorials, each with a step to step demonstration on how to get the two basic designs (polka dots and sparkly zig-zag stripes) however you can paint whatever design you want, you don't have to follow my designs unless you want too. 

Zig-Zag Stipes Pattern

Zig zags are the harder design of the two. To get to zig zags I placed tape in the zig zag design I wanted and then painted the whole letter white. Once the white paint was dry I went back in with both the light blue/green and the white paint for touch ups. Most letters look like the ending "A" before the touchups were done. Touchups make a huge difference. The finishing touch was going over the white zig zags with sparkly mod podge to get a sparkle effect. This step is optional. 

This is the finished letter with Zig Zags.
(The sparkles aren't very visible but in person they
definitely add a great unique element to the letters) 

Polka Dotted Pattern

Polka Dots are as easy as they sound! To get the golden polka dots I drew the dots free-hand with golden metallic acrylic paint and a thin point paintbrush. The thin point brush allowed me to have control over the size, width and shape of each dot. I varied the sizes of the polka dots in order to have a variety and give the letters a funky whimsical feel! 

Here is a close up shot of the finished dots!

No matter what design you ended up choosing the next step is the same for all wooden letters that you want to hang on your wall!  

Bisous, 

Emily & Liana (Limly)