Wishing...

...For two things:

1. Lisa M. was still on the Bachelor so that she could at least make me feel like I was in Costa Rica with all the stories/amazing experiences they all come home with (i.e. If Alli and Brad sank on their date, how scary it really is zip lining in the rain, how awkward it would have been if Brad sent Alli home when they were stuck deep in that cave together - well that is just wishful thinking for my own selfish entertainment)
2. That I was still in Cabo San Lucas where I took this picture for Lisa.  We've lived in our house for nearly TWO years and still have frames hanging up in our living room filled with random strangers because we've simply been too lazy to switch them out.  I thought why not kill two birds with one stone.  Get Lisa a "gift" from Cabo while I was there and personalize our frames a bit by framing it for her Christmas gift. 

Picture Perfect!

Today was the day! I ordered my Mia picture that Matt made me (Walt gave to me for Christmas) from CanvasOnDemand a couple of weeks ago and I finally got it in!!!

I was ecstatic! I couldn't have imagined my picture to look any better than it did.  It was perfect.  Perfect size. Perfect color. Perfect artwork. Perfect gift. 

I highly recommend this PERFECT gift to anyone looking for gift ideas for a friend, significant other, family, especially if they have a pet! Matt did a great job as did CanvasOnDemand with getting it to look PERFECT on a canvas, and Walt did a great job on his present :) 

Mia was trying to figure out if she had a giant twin or not

Matt Shaw the Designer

For Christmas this past year I told you part of what I gave Walt. Now I want to tell you about his gift to me.

Recently Angela's fiance, Matt Shaw, made an awesome picture of her Italian Greyhound, Carmine.

 Carmine by Matt Shaw

I quickly became obsessed with her picture and was dying to have my own of Mia. Well as it so happens, Walt had asked me what I wanted for Christmas and this was one of the first things that popped into my head!  Walt tracked down Matt Shaw and asked if he would make a picture of Mia for my Christmas gift. Matt said YES! I was SO excited to see the final result. 

Mia by Matt Shaw

I absolutely LOVED it.  Matt was so sweet and altered the background to whatever color I wanted and got it done pretty quickly considering the holiday business and his getting engaged and all :)

If you or someone you know is interested in getting your pet's photo designed, or have another picture in mind, I would highly recommend Matt Shaw.  He gets his work done in a timely manner and for a great deal. To reach him, you can email him at: mshaw8730@gmail.com.  Additional details on getting that perfect gift or decoration for your house:

Price: Negotiable

Timing: Takes about 3 weeks

Requirement: Provide 3 pictures of your pet/subject you would like him to work with and choose from

I plan on using my Groupon from CanvasOnDemand to get mine put on a canvas and so pumped to hang it up in my room!

Off I Go....

With this being my first start to the new year post, I got a little nervous. What do I say?  What should I show as my first picture of the year? Will people even like the things I post?  But then I realized, I'm doing this for ME.  This is a blog right, you can say what you what and how you feel and people can judge you however they want but I'm doing something that will make me happy.

So, with that said, here is my first picture of the year: Walt's Christmas present.

Walt is my boyfriend of four years, who I love and adore.  We met at The Hawk, a popular college bar at the University of Kansas where we both went to school. I actually saw him from across the room and marched on over to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and just said "You're Walt!" He looked at me like I was a weirdo at first and then I let him know how I knew of him.  He was my best friend/teammate (for KU Cross Country Track) Lisa's boyfriend's friend/teammate for  the KU golf team.  How we had never met in the past was beyond me... All I knew was that I  got myself a catch and plan on holding on to him. 

For Christmas this year I had some trouble thinking of a Christmas gift for him, and after tossing some ideas around with friends ,I narrowed it down to taking a picture of the place we met and giving him a little piece of me. After a quite a few attempts I captured this one.  Coincidentally enough, I got it by jumping in a tree to goof around with my roommate, Lisa, and it turned out to be the best one!

After getting the picture I wanted I  searched high and low for the best deals on canvases.  I narrowed it down to Snapfish (where I recently ordered one for my mom) and Canvas on Demand (which came highly recommended by my friend Megan.  Both canvases turned out to cost less than $100 with the coupons that I found on RetailMeNot (my favorite coupon site EVER) and some other deals when I just Googled Snapfish or Canvas On Demand Coupon Codes.   Canvas On Demand also tends to have Groupons in various cities, so search through Groupon's cities to see if you can find a deal.  Last Groupon was pay $45 for a canvas valued at $126.  I of course bought it for my next project I have yet to determine.

The end result was that Walt LOVED it, as did I when I saw the finished product. If you are looking for gift ideas, I highly recommend using a photo and blowing it up on a canvas, it adds a personal touch and you can never have too many pictures, right?