Little Beans . . . Little Pillow . . . Little Giveaway

In January, I participated in the Grow Your Blog party at 2 Bags Full.

We were encouraged to do a giveaway and in the end I chose four names in my giveaway.

The third and fourth prizes were mailed off right away.

First and second place were customized for the winners and I just finished them last weekend.

Second place was a hand painted pillow.

The pillow was won by Nicole of My Garden Diaries.

Steve stretches his own canvases so I always have a stash of canvas scraps.

For all the pillows pictured above I used canvas, but for Nicole's I used a painter's drop cloth from Lowe's.

I really like the feel and color of the drop cloth.

I thought for a long time about what to paint on the pillow, scoured Nicole's blog for the color, and finally settled on green for the stripes.

I love reading her blog as she talks about gardening and life with her "little beans".

I painted "LITTLE BEANS" on the pillow

because she is the only person I have ever heard call her children that.

This morning I received this e-mail from Nicole. 

OHHH Carol!!!  I just received the pillow today!!!  WE LOVE it!!!  It is fantastic!!!  I mean it is the cutest thing anyone has ever made for me!!  I will cherish it!!!  You are one creative lady and I can not thank you enough.  I have nothing in my home that has "little beans" on it!  Thank you for capturing something about me in a creative way!  How wonderful!  I hope you are doing well and that your husband is feeling a bit better. And I hope you are having fun creating and working in the garden!  We still have snow so we aren't doing anything like that here yet,,,just making igloos and snowmen!  You take care!  Thanks again and all the best!  Nicole

I read Nicole's sweet e-mail before heading out for our morning walk and

as we were walking and I told Steve how Nicole's reaction made me feel.

Her love of the pillow made me feel very good.

So good, that I have decided to do another pillow Giveaway.

If you would like to win a custom pillow, leave a comment about what you would like.

I am not an artist, so you are limited to stripes and words.

I can do hearts and stars and probably checks.

Life is totally hectic this week -

I am taking 90 students to a UCLA basketball game ALL DAY tomorrow

and

my yearbook deadline is March 4.

So, I will leave the Giveaway open until Tuesday, March 5.

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You can find me partying at

No Minimalist Here

Funky Junk Interiors

My Romantic Home

Life on Lakeshore Drive

The Gingerbread Blog

A Humble Creation

Lovely Crafty Weekend

Using Up The Leftovers

Most people, upon hearing the word - leftovers - would assume this post will be about food.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not cook which is why I have time for projects.

In this case, leftovers refers to a bag filled with leftover canvas.

Steve stretches his own canvas and there are always bits and pieces left over.

Earlier in the summer, I used some of his scraps to make a rug for my porch.

I love the textures of the different grades of canvas he uses, so I washed everything and put them into a bag for future projects.

This is my last full week of summer vacation, so yesterday I rose early, with plans to accomplish a few things on my list.

I saw this pillow last Friday in Laguna Beach and knew that I could make something similar.

I dug out some canvas, masked the stripes and then looked for stencils.

I know I have some.

Somewhere.

But, I didn't find them.

Instead, I found these alphabet magnets I purchased for my classroom at the Dollar Store.

I love the font.

I traced around the letters and liked how it was looking 

so I began another pillow at the same time

Left over Annie Sloan Chalk Paint was used for the stripes and words.

The finished products were on my sofa 5 hours after they were started.

I didn't have any zippers so to keep this project "no cost", I finished one pillow off with ties

and the other off with buttons.

The total cost:

canvas - $0

paint - $0

pillow inserts - $0

Definitely affordable!

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I am linked up at

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday's Treasures

Sew Chatty - Made With Love

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 

Boogie Board Cottage - Masterpiece Monday