a giveaway (for reals!) & easy diy gift

last week was m's last day of school (well, until summer school in july), and i haven't even had a chance to write about it. it was bittersweet- so proud of my big girl, so grateful for this last year & her amazing teachers and therapist and school community. simultaneously grieving the loss of some dear schoolmates (and let's face it, getting to see their mommies three days a week), and the loss of just three days of school a week.

i made a little something for a few of the moms i am friends with (although a couple weren't there, so they'll just have to collect their goodness later.) it was a relatively simple project that you could tweak for teachers, grandparents, friends, or colleagues.

(you can get all of these supplies at any basic art store, michaels or online. that said, dick blick is my fave-they have great selection.)

i started out with a couple of colors of gouache (you could also use watercolor- it would actually work better.) you don't need a million colors- i used a pink, green, teal and yellow. (don't be intimidated-my "palette" (aka an ikea kids plate) just looks like that because i use it for all sorts of projects)

 i also used some colored pencils and a mechanical pencil

 basically i just dolloped a bit of paint on a page of watercolor paper, loaded my brush up with water and then diluted the color so it looked all dreamy but still colorful and bright. you don't need to be a painter-just channel your inner preschooler.

 i painted two sheets of paper and cut each piece into three pieces, to fit the 5 x 7 frames i'd bought.

i'd chosen the words lovely & amazing to write on each piece- because, well, my friends at school are lovely and amazing in so many ways. it says so much in so few words. i played with the lettering; you could also print up a cool font and trace it onto your page if you'd prefer something more uniform. i did the lettering in mechanical pencil and then added little circles, doo-dads and lines with the colored pencil.

i liked that each one was different, and the colors and lettering seemed to fit each person.

i used ribba frames by ikea and decided to use the matting. i think this project would also work great with the ribba square frame (the square one is so modern & elegant-a standby that i use to frame m's artwork for our house and as gifts)

viola!

perfect for a little gift or as a reminder to yourself!

i happen to have one extra lovely & amazing framed piece left.

in honor of my friend amy (who is lovely & amazing herself) who is in labor right now 

& will hopefully give birth today, 

i'd like to give away the last one i have!

all you have to do is leave a comment, 

telling me who in your life is lovely & amazing and why they are,

 and i will send one along to our winner to gift to that person!

(of course i'll throw in a little treat for you too)

please leave your email info in the comment so that i can contact you

if you win

i'll choose a winner on monday, so hurry up!

enter until sunday june 19th at midnight!