Custom Speed Portrait [Small Shop Shoutout + Giveaway]

Oh. My. Goodness.  I've said it before and I'll say it again. I LOVE small businesses and creative humans.  Not only do I get real quality (versus the mass produced junk you get at box stores) but I find the most creative random stuff. I was scrolling through Instagram the other  day and stumbled upon a very talented woman under the username lucyrosetillcampbell.  Not only does she draw portraits of people, she does these SPEED PORTRAITS (basically 2 minutes per person in the photo).

How stinkin' cool is that?  I couldn't draw a person that actually looks like a person if I had 200 minutes and she does it in only 2. I contacted her and asked if she could make one for me:

[Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I reached out to the artist Lucy Rose Till Campbell and solicited her work for my blog. She did offer me a discount to pay standard price for commercial use rights. All opinions are my own and giveaway is sponsored by the artist.]

Amazing isn't it?  I even asked her if she could add a coffee cup and a pair of scissors for me because I wanted to use this fun portrait on my blog and blog's social media pages.  She was so responsive and willing to make these additions for me and she was SO SWEET through it all! And guys, these portraits actually look like who they are supposed to look like.  Here's one of the photos I sent to her next to the portraits she drew:

The eyes, the nose, the mouth... it's all so good!  And I totally wear sweaters like that all the time (I didn't even tell her that! haha)  I love the sketched look and the way the color fills the picture, especially on the sweater.  Every time I look at this I like it more and more.  Here's a few other examples I borrowed from her instagram page:

That's right.  She does couples, families, backgrounds and even ANIMALS!  And all in just 2 minutes a body (human or animal). For example, the photo on the left with two people and an animal took 6 minutes to create.  Same for the photo on the right with the two adults and baby.  Full disclosure: she actually spent a few more minutes on mine than the standard "2" but I did ask her for some extras to be added!  Either way, her work shows multiple examples of how awesome her art is!



It's crazy affordable too!
Custom work can often be a pretty penny. And generally, I'm willing to pay because it's worth it for quality, personalized creations.  But these portraits are only $4/person.  If you haven't bought custom art before, that is a STEAL! That means you can get a portrait of your entire family for less than it costs to eat at a restaurant (even the cheapest ones!) There's no reason not to get one.


Maybe the best thing of all? She is just so sweet.  I love building my community and because of this brief collaboration, I've made a new friend.  I feel good sharing her page because she does quality work and really seems to be a good quality person.   Also- holy cow, how creative is her idea to make speed portraits?!

I know you want one now, don't you?  Well today is YOUR LUCKY DAY!  She's offering one of you sweets a FREE speed portrait (up to 4 individuals- *people or animals*) of your choice.  It's super easy to enter, just follow the widget prompts below:



a Rafflecopter giveaway


Contest ends 2/26/19 at 12:00 AM.  Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Tutus & Tools Birthday Party

I have this fun thing I do where I decide to pick birthday party themes that don't really exist anywhere on pinterest (ha!)  But really, I had a GREAT idea for my daughter's second birthday and wanted to share it with y'all.  If you have a daughter who loves the frilly tutu side of life but also likes to play in the dirt and fix things with dad... this is the party for her.

I give you... TUTUS AND TOOLS! The perfect blend of sweet and tough for your daughter who is all that and more.

[Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to products I used. Purchasing through these links earns me a small commission at no extra charge to you.  This allows me to continue to bring you more new content! Thank you for supporting my blog]

If you've been following my blog for long, you may remember that we throw *simple* birthday parties. (See some of our past parties here: 'favorite books' , construction, and big adventure)  They are "family only" parties but I still like to make it themed and special.  It gets tricky to "do it up" without all the kid's games that are usually present at "friend" birthday parties.  As might be expected... I also really like to DIY most of it! 

Let's take a look at some easy but great ideas that you can use too:

You can make your own banner!  I made the tulle balls using a tutorial similar to this one (except I wrapped the string around the disk AFTER wrapping the tulle around it, which seems a little easier to me. It's all about the same)  For the words I cut 4 inch tall letters with my Silhouette Cameo and glued all the pieces to clear fishing line (I tied the balls onto the fishing line but you could glue them too!)

I used the same tulle balls to hang from our chandelier light.  You could also hang them around doorframes or anything like that!


For the cake, I made "ruffles" with a leaf tip.  For the cupcakes, I used this AH-MAZING chocolate "tools" mold. I used the same mold for my son's birthday cupcakes and it's just so cool! To get the duel color, I first painted the pink parts with Wilton chocolate melts (with pink food coloring) and then filled the rest of the molds with the white.  After it set, I sprayed the white areas with Wilton Silver Food Spray.  If you've never used this, it's like spray paint but it's edible!!! It's. So. Cool.

The decorations were even more simple.  On the tables I set out some of her favorite dress up items and a mini body mold that I made a tiny tutu for! I then sat out a simple frame with some fun facts about the birthday girl.  I try to always include something like this in birthday parties because it's an easy way to look back and remember and also... I believe birthdays should be ABOUT the birthday boy or girl! Don't you think? 

I also put her favorite tool toys on the food table but I forgot to take a photo of it (grr!)  But I did get a few more photos of simple décor that all parties should have.  Balloons and a fun drink dispenser add color and decoration to any party theme!

Last but not least...  the outfit!  My daughter wore the same tulle skirt she wore for her first birthday and added a new shirt.  I designed the shirt and cut it out with my Silhouette Cameo.


Last year's outfit:

 

 

 

This year's outfit:

 

 



Do you know a little one who would LOVE a theme like this?