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Love is Patient (shirts & a coupon code)

September 29, 2014 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

The problem with having a creative household is we don’t rest well. I guess I should say I don’t rest well (in the traditional sense of unplugging from everything and just sitting still for a while). I can thank my grandma for these genes. As long as I can remember, she was always busy pouring herself into something. But the truth is resting to me can look like embroidering a hoop while I watch a show or process my day with Matt. I LOVE creating. It fuels me on, so I do count it as rest.

This past weekend was amazing. I look back on it and think it was so restful, yet I made three wood signs, three embroidery hoops, taught Caleb to do embroidery hoops, painted with Reagan, picked up the house for a showing, and packaged up and mailed four packages.

You might not be as crazy as me, but when something is a part of you and you get to do it…doesn’t it fuel you on!?

One of my all time favorites is when we can dive into projects as a family. Everyone expressing themselves and together using our gifts is something very special to me.

That is how I look at our Love is Patient shirts.

walking_in_woodsThe pictures in our first post are from my talented sister-in-law. Most pictures since then have been taken by my seven-year old son, Caleb. Including every single picture in this post.

sitting_in_the_woods

mom_and_meHere is how this little dream has gone.

I designed a shirt that has been a huge part of our heart beat this year.

Matt found the perfect local printing company and has worked directly with them to pick shirts and order.

My kids have modeled, photographed and sacrificed hours as I have promoted and packaged up shirts.

And all along the way we have talked and brainstormed new ways to love and show patience in our day-to-day lives.

It is a family project that we all have had a part in. I think we are all proud of it, and it’s been so fun to do something together.

dance_and_enjoy_life

thinking
My tired model.

mom_and_daughter

I love that in this journey of selling shirts, Caleb has found a love for photography. I am no pro photographer but we have had conversations about lighting, framing, angles, posed vs. natural shots, etc. He now knows our DSLR better than me. These moments have been part of our homeschool day, and I love that my “job” gets to included special moments like these. We are truly blessed.

In an exhausting time of transition waiting on our house to sell, there has been so much joy and learning. There have also been hard days of doubt and struggle. Every time an order comes in for a shirt though, I scream to the kids, “Someone bought our shirt!” and we all jump up and down and cheer. Not only does the purchase help support us, but every order gives us a moment of joy and celebration. Thank you for being tools used in our story!

love_is_patientWe committed to selling this shirt for September and I can’t believe we are already at the end of the month. I don’t know yet, if we will sell these particular shirts again. It might be a one time project or we may be at the start of something new. We have not processed it yet.

So for now, today (September 30, 2014)  is the last day to order your shirt! We hope and pray that these shirts can bless you, your friends, family, whoever as much as they have us. I truly love the feel and wear of this shirt as much as the message and my design.

For being the best readers ever, use coupon code “loveispatient”to get 15% off your shirt purchase.

You can order your shirt today here.

i_want_a_shirtFor the many that have already ordered a shirt, thank you so so much! If you want to help us get a little movement of people walking in belief that love is patient, share a pic from this post or from our store with the hashtag #raisingloveshirts. Thank you!!

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Love is Patient

September 4, 2014 By Erica Deuel 2 Comments

Love is complex. In my 31 years on the earth, I feel like I am still trying to figure it out.

Do you understand love?

How do you feel loved?

Love is Patient PrintWe can all experience love in different ways. Gifts, actions, words, and time are a few ways we can feel love.

What is true of love? I turn to 1 Corinthians 13 to find the answer.

You probably have heard it a few times at weddings. It is one of the bible’s most famous passages, and for good reason… It gives a beautiful definition for the word Love.

sibling_loveLove is patient. Love is kind. Are the first two things we hear about love in this passage.

It wasn’t until our foster son came to live with us that I started to really break down this verse to how I live my life now.

As I realized we couldn’t expect changes and behaviors from our foster son (that we had been working on from birth with our children), I found myself learning to live love is patient. As we tried to teach our foster son, what love is by our actions and words we started using a simple parenting method based off this verse.

What is love? Love is patient. Love is kind.

This phrase became a constant in and around our house. We said it. We believed it. We held on to it.

love_is_patient_reminderI wanted to create some kind of reminder for this phrase. We knew it held a powerful message. One that has been used largely in shaping our lives. And to be honest, is still shaping our lives as we are trying to be patient with the sale of our house.

love_is_patientThis message needs to be heard from the tree tops. We all need to be reminded to truly live love.

With this thought in mind, I found myself designing t-shirts.

I love these shirts. We worked hard to find a shirt that was soft, vintage like. We were successful with the adults. It has that favorite shirt feel from the very start. The design has been sublimated into the shirt, so you don’t feel it by touch. The kids shirt is a more standard 50/50 shirt, but I tell you when I see it on one of my kids….it is like a walking billboard or a memo note on your frig that brings a world of perspective in my impatient moments.

love_is_patient_shirtI don’t know about you but I need all the reminders I can get. I am one call away from my realtor asking me to leave the house (after we just started school) for a house showing, from losing my cool. Patience is not naturally in my blood, yet I desperately want to love well.

I will continue to strive for a life bigger than me and to love bigger than me….as I work on patience with my here and now.

If you too need this reminder, you can purchase this design as a 4″ x 6″ print, a magnet, or preorder your shirt.

Thanks for being in this journey with us!

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The Graffiti T-shirt

May 29, 2013 By Erica Deuel 5 Comments

little girls alphabet tshirt

Sometimes the basics are just the best. A soft comfy t-shirt + the alphabet = a wonderful item for any little ones wardrobe!

My little girl sings the ABC’s all the time. That song and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” are her two favorites. I made this graffiti type design shirt for her, and she and I both love the results. I love the faintness of the design. It’s subtle by striking. You only need a few items to make a screen print type shirt like this one and here they are:

Materials:

  • T-shirt
  • FabricMate Chisel Tip Fabric Marker, Black
  • Alphabet Stencils
  • Piece of cardboard (to insert shirt while designing)
  • Iron (to heat set design)

materials to screen print

I found my t-shirt on clearance for about $4.00. It was soft and I knew it would be a great basic piece for my daughter’s wardrobe or I could spice it up a bit. I decide to add a little subtle but fun life to it with the alphabet. This DIY shirt is so easy and really can be done quickly and modified for so many other designs.

The first step I did was bend an old cereal box to go inside my shirt. This way my design did not bleed through to the back of the t-shirt.

Next, I laid out my alphabet stencil onto the t-shirt. I needed to see if my stencil would fit or if my letters were going to be too big. They fit! Depending on the size shirt you have will depend what kind of size stencil looks best.  The important part is to just configure the placement of the letters that will fit per line across the chest of your t-shirt.

stencil a tshirtOnce you have your stenciled layed out like you like it, carefully move it to the side of your t-shirt. That way you will remember how you liked it lined up, but you can adjust as you go with one letter at a time being painted on.

alphabet tshirt

Carefully hold your stencil down and your t-shirt stretched and take your paint pen and start filling in the letter stencil. It is important to say here, to follow the instructions of your paint pen. My paint marker said to pre-wash my t-shirt, allow my design to dry for 24 hours, and to heat set the ink to preserve the design. If you use a different kind of paint pen/marker be sure to follow the instructions to get the best results. I love the paint marker I used. It transferred the color ink nicely and didn’t leave a hard, stiff result that would make the t-shirt uncomfortable to wear.

stenciling a tshirtOnce you fill in that first letter, place the next stencil and start filling it in as well. I didn’t want my design to be straight across and perfect, so I placed my stencils slightly higher or lower and tilted different angles ever so slightly all the way down the alphabet. I think it creates a more graffiti look and is more forgiving in not having to be “perfect.”

the letter aKeep adding stencils and filling in the letters. I didn’t worry about filling my stencil in to be a solid black filled letter. I liked the look of it being a little more worn.

stencil the alphabetOnce I finished my alphabet, my t-shirt was almost done! I waited 24 hours for it to dry, gave it a quick iron to help set the design, and it was done! I love how quick and easy this craft was. I made my daughter a fun t-shirt for less than $7 ($4.00 shirt + $2.70 marker). I now want to make a bunch of shirts with fun quotes and maybe even a Minnie Mouse silhouette like the sign I created for her bedroom. There are so many possibilities!

DIY screen print tshirt

make your own screen print type shirtI adore my little model! She was so excited about her shirt. Here’s a few pics that capture her fun personality…

DIY shirt for little girl

She’s a blast! Have you ever painted a t-shirt and actually worn it? The only shirts I had ever painted till this one had been done as a kid with acrylic paint and always left a hard stiff feature to the design that made the shirt uncomfortable to wear. There are so many fun fabric type markers and paints now that prevent that effect. The possibilities to becoming a clothing designer are at your finger tips! 🙂

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