Leen the Graphics Queen

Thrift Store Painting Turned Wall Word Art

2012-02-07T11:31:00.000-05:00

I've been using decals as stencils for years. Don't get me wrong, I love decals in their regular form but sometimes a project calls for distressing or other custom touches that you just can't do with decals. Like this picture frame I made a few months ago.

When I found this oil painting at my local thrift store for $2 I actually bought it for the frame. Then James saw it and really liked the painting. Well, not really the painting itself but he liked that it was a painting of an old truck covered in foliage, nature taking over. We see things like this a lot on our occasional Sunday drives through the country roads around our home. He's pretty bummed that they removed one old truck (and the dilapidated house that accompanied it) to build a new pharmacy.

OK, back to the project. After much ~~begging~~ persuading on my part, James realized that ~~he was fighting a losing battle~~ this painting wasn't a perfect fit for our new gallery wall (which is almost done, post coming soon!) and he agreed to let me turn it into something fabulous!

First, I designed my saying in my signmaking software. If you have a Cricut or Sillouette you can use it (I think...I don't really know anything about either of them). You could also use letter stickers from the craft store. Then I cut it on my plotter, weeded and taped the letters and applied them to my painting. I didn't think to take any pics of this part because I do these things every day and it didn't occur to me that you may want to see how it's done, sorry!

There's no reason for the lettering being dark red, it's just what was in the cutter at the time. Since the letters were removed it doesn't matter what color you make them.

Then using regular acrylic paint, cover the entire project, letters and all. I was going for a distressed look so I left the paint thin in some spots.

Some people prefer to remove the letters when the paint is dry...I have tried it several times and I prefer to peel them while the paint is still pretty wet, just a bit tacky. Whatever you do, don't use a blowdryer to rush the drying process, you won't be able to get the letters off without removing big hunks of paint, ruining your project.

After all the letters are removed, let the paint dry and your done! I put this back in it's original frame. It's got a great burlap border around it, so cool!

Here is mine, in it's spot on my gallery wall. Ignore the frames with their generic paper photos in them, I'm getting to them!

What do you think? Is this a project that you would try?

Linking up to

Gray Nurseries- Customer Pics

2012-02-02T17:42:00.000-05:00

We love to see pics of your finished projects! It's so fun to see what our decals look like in your space!

Gray nurseries are SO hot right now.

Erin recently sent these pics of her gray nursery with our Fun Retro Circles in tangerine and white.

I love the orange, gray, white and blue together! SO fun and funky!!

Lane sent us these pics of her No More Monkeys with Sock Monkeys decal in her darker gray nursery.

LOVE IT!!

Got a great pic for us? We would love to see it! Send it to pics@leenthegraphcisqueen.com

New Designs

2012-01-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

here are a few of our newer designs. I've been working on many more and will list them as they are complete.

Hope you like them :)

Car Monogram

Family Rules

This can be made with or without your family last name

Tree Branch with Bird House

Lower Case Circle Monogram

Love You Forever

Charcoal Grey Nursery

2012-01-04T21:34:00.000-05:00

Last year James and I had the pleasure of working with a sweet woman named Jennifer who was expecting a baby girl. She wanted to use our Cherry Branch decal along with some birds and butterflies in little Hazel's nursery. Jennifer had painted the walls a beautiful charcoal gray. While it's probably not the first color you think of when you think "baby girl nursery", don't dismiss it til you see these pics!

Jennifer did an amazing job adding pops of colors like raspberry and turquoise and lots of white to keep this room bright and fresh.

what girl wouldn't want this gorgeous dresser in her room?

Don't you love the matching raspberry rocking chairs?

See all those bright colors in the quilt? Gorgeous!

I am so impressed with this room. I think Jennifer did a great job making this nursery a room that little Hazel can grow into and enjoy for a long time.
What are your thoughts? Do you love the colors? or not so much?

Christmas Lights at Soundside Park

2011-12-19T16:45:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, James and I surprised the boys by leaving work at 4:30 and taking them out. We've been needing to spend some extra time with them. You know, time that doesn't involve nagging about homework or college applications, time that doesn't involve fixing or cleaning something, and definitely time that doesn't involve us working and peeking in at them every few minutes while they watch tv.

We are blessed to live close to the beach and the Intracoastal Waterway and our favorite spot on "our" island (Topsail Island) is Soundside Park. It's right next to the coolest swing bridge ever...

...and you can catch the most amazing sunsets there...

... and when decorated for the holidays, it's absolutely gorgeous!

We'll be spending lots of time there over Christmas break for sure!

Holiday Shipping & Gift Wrapping

2011-12-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

Hi friends! We hope you are enjoying this holiday season.

We wanted to remind you that tomorrow, Friday, December 16th is the last day to order and get your US order shipped by Christmas. Our last US shipping day before Christmas will be Tuesday, December 20th.

Missed the shipping deadline? No worries, we offer Leen the Graphics Queen.com gift certificates that we will email directly to you or your loved one. We've extended our gift certificate sale so you can still get a $20 gift certificate with every $100 gift certificate you purchase.

Did you know that we will ship your gift right to the recipient? Just let us know in the message to seller section of checkout of our site and we'll wrap it up, tag it with your message and get it right out :)

Have a great day!

Holiday Savings and Shipping Deadlines

2011-12-08T15:02:00.001-05:00

It's a bit hectic around the studio this month but we are loving it! We truly enjoy what we do and it's always a pleasure to create decals that we know you and your loved ones are going to enjoy.

Our Gift To You!
Now through Sunday December 11th, enjoy and additional 15% off your entire order over $20 on our site! Just enter coupon code DEC15 at checkout. This will be our last sale before Christmas, don't miss it!

Holiday Shipping Deadlines

International orders must be placed by the end of today (Thursday, December 8th) to ensure Christmas delivery.
US orders must be placed by Friday, December 16th to ensure Christmas delivery.
If you have any questions, please contact Eileen at eileen@leenthegraphicsqueen.com

Turquoise White and Silver Holiday Decorating

2011-12-05T08:57:00.003-05:00

Our Christmas decorations are mostly very colorful and made by little hands. To us those are the best decorations.

I do, however, have to get my bling on a little so I emptied the hutch and grabbed everything turquoise, white and silver that I could find and started putting it together.

I couldn't resist adding a beach touch here and there so I included a white starfish and a sand dollar. They fit right in :)

Lots of sparkles and twinkle lights make this one of my favorite spots in the house!

Linking up here
and here

Cyber Monday Decal Deal

2011-11-27T22:56:00.000-05:00

Cyber Monday's Decal Deal!

Monday, November 28th
EVERYTHING on our site is 15% off!
Exceptions are Gift Certificates and Custom Listings

Super Saturday's Daily Decal Deal

2011-11-26T00:01:00.002-05:00

Super Saturday's Decal Deal!

Saturday, November 26th all of our Door Decals are 20% off!

Street Number Door Decal

Front Door Decal

All are 20% off Saturday Only!

Be sure to stop by every day now through Cyber Monday for more Daily Decal Deals!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! We'll be doing fun giveaways and specials all weekend!

Black Friday's Daily Decal Deal

2011-11-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

Black Friday's Decal Deal!

Friday, November 25th all of our Monogram and Name Decals are 20% off!

All are 20% off Friday Only!

Be sure to stop by every day now through Cyber Monday for more Daily Decal Deals!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! We'll be doing fun giveaways and specials all weekend!

Thanksgiving Thursday's Decal Deal

2011-11-23T21:21:00.001-05:00

Thursdays Decal Deal!

We are thrilled to announce that all of our popular chalkboard decals now come in four colors! Deep Teal, Burgundy, Dark Slate and Lime Green.

Thursday, November 24th all of our Chalkboard wall decals are 15% off and every order will receive SIX chalkboard tags for FREE!

We've added lots of new designs for this sale like our Skateboarder,

USA Map, Airplane and more!

All are 15% off Thursday Only!

Be sure to stop by every day now through Cyber Monday for more Daily Decal Deals!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales!

2011-11-23T18:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, we hope you have a great day filled with family time, relaxing, and lots of delish foods! We're planning a fun filled day at home with the kids and James sister, Carrie. James is going to try to deep fry the turkey this year, I'll let you know how that turns out!

We're excited to tell you about the great sales and specials we're having over the next few days! Every day Thursday through Monday, we will have a different sale. We'll also be randomly selecting winners for cool prizes throughout the next few days too! So be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you'll know when the next drawing will be.

I will announce Thursday's Decal Deal soon but for now here's a sneak peek!

Mountain Vacation

2011-11-18T16:52:00.000-05:00

Remember a couple weeks ago, I told you we were heading to the mountains of NC to tour some colleges with this guy?

We've been pretty busy since we've been home and I haven't had a chance to tell you what an A.MAZE.ING time we had.

It was so quiet and peaceful where we stayed wwwayyyy up in the mountains near Boone, NC. And it was gorgeous!

There was no internet, no cell phone service (although being a teenager, Mike did find one spot in the cabin where he could occasionally send and receive texts), and we only watched television once and that was Monsters Inc, all of us snuggled up in the King Size bed.

What we did do~

rolled down the mountain (about 5676 times)

Caught leaves

Played in above mentioned leaves

Played with the above mentioned leaves

Enjoyed the beautiful views

there was even some tooth losing going on!

We also baked, did a LOT of hiking, built with Legos, and put together jigsaw puzzles.

Mike trying to look the part of jerky teenager...doesn't work for him

We even took the time to figure out the self timer on my camera to get a pic.

I am so glad that we made the time to turn what could have been a quick whirlwind trip to tour colleges into an awesome family bonding weekend. I can't wait to do it again!

35% off Today Only!

2011-11-08T07:40:00.001-05:00

*****SALE IS OVER******
Now through Midnight take 35% off everything on our site (with the exception of custom listings and gift certificates).

Just use Coupon Code NOV35OFF

Hurry, it's a One Day Only Sale!

Great Plans...Ok Results

2011-11-04T15:44:00.000-04:00

My plans for today were to~

list about ten new items

(including Christmas designs, yay!),

finish up a couple custom designs I am in the middle of,

publish our November newsletter

and catch up on a few emails.

When I started work early this morning I had a bit of a sore throat but as the day progressed I slowly started feeling worse and worse.

I did get a few new designs listed. You can see them here.

I won't be publishing the newsletter until Monday but I will let you know that you won't want to miss this one!

(Hint Hint, there's a ONE DAY SALE coming up soon!)

You can join here

Family Time

2011-10-25T00:08:00.000-04:00

**** We'll be out of the studio until Monday October 31st... All orders placed between now and then will be shipped by Thursday, November 3rd****

We will be spending the next few days here

We're heading to Boone & Asheville, NC to tour colleges with this guy.

We thought we would take advantage of this opportunity to spend some quiet family time in the mountains. James and I realized that our kids are really needing some QUALITY time with us and each other.

We've been so busy that we rarely take the time to do things like play board games and bake cookies together, you know, that special stuff that they will remember when they get older.

No laptop, emails, Facebook, Nintendo DS, or IPods...just us enjoying each others company.

The only thing that we'll be missing is the girl (who turned 21 today).

She's 800 miles away and we wish she were here. Our family time just isn't the same without her.

Well, we'll chat with you next week. I plan on coming home relaxed and fulfilled...oh and I hope the tours go well too!

Small Changes

2011-10-19T10:07:00.001-04:00

We had some technical issues with our website yesterday. But, they're all fixed now (what a relief!)

We also made a few changes to the site.

We added a new, easier to use search.

There's also a link to a great wall decal installation tutorial by Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl

and a link to our Matte Vinyl Color Chart.

Enlarging the pics of our designs has been on my list for a while and I am glad to have that done. Check!

We'll continue to make small changes to ensure that our site is as easy to navigate as possible.

Is there anything we've missed that you think would hep make our site more user friendly?

Busy Weekend and Fall Decorating

2011-10-14T14:32:00.000-04:00

We have a busy weekend planned. My favorite aunt is here visiting and James' birthday is tomorrow(42!)

We're planning on taking a trip to Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach for their Fall Festival and then going to a local Haunted Barn/Hayride where Mike will working for school (he's a juggler, I'll take pics and post them next week).

Sunday, after teaching Sunday School we're going to Autumn with Topsail. That's a fun festival on the island near us, always lots of great crafts/art vendors, good food and games for the kids.

I also need to finish up my Fall decorating. I know, I know, everyone else has been done for weeks...I'm a little behind, don't judge. I should be done just in time to take everything down and start decorating for Christmas :)
Here's what I have done so far...

I found these great chargers at Michael's for $1.50 and I instantly knew what I wanted to do with them. I had a lot of fun making this cute decal for it. I forget sometimes how much fun it is to make decals for myself :)

I was so smitten with Myra's specimen art

that I had to make my own. I used leaves instead of pumpkins because that's the punch I had.

My aunt and I are going to try to make pumpkins like Kellie's (Nest of Posies). She's got a great tutorial here.

I couldn't find velvet in colors that I liked so I bought corduroy instead.

Hopefully, they will turn out cute. I will post about them if they do. If you don't hear about them again that means it was a flop ;)

That's a packed full weekend! Whatever your plans are this weekend I hope you have a great one!

New Chalkboard & Dry Erase Designs

2011-10-10T17:18:00.000-04:00

I love our chalkboard and dry erase (new) vinyl. We have several in our home and they get used daily. Judging by our sales you love them too!

But sometimes I would like something a little prettier on my wall. Living in a house full of boys I like to add feminine touches here and there. So I created these beautiful frames!

First, you choose one of the three frames (more to come soon). I think the one that looks like a sunburst may be my fave :)

Second, you choose one of our 45 matte vinyl colors for the frame .

Third, choose whether you prefer dry erase vinyl (white) or chalkboard vinyl (charcoal gray). With the new chalk markers working so well on our chalkboard vinyl you can write just as pretty on it as you can the dry erase vinyl.

Measuring 22.50" round with the chalkboard/dry erase middle measuring 11.25". These will be listed in our store tomorrow (on my way to a bible study so I can't list them now) for $35 through October.

While I love the regular chalkboard and dry erase designs, I am really digging these pretty frames! How about you?

Winners of our HGTV Magazine Giveaway

2011-10-10T10:12:00.001-04:00

Thanks for all the nice comments, we're excited that you're excited about our decals being in the new HGTV magazine!

We randomly chose our three winners and they are...

twelfthzodiac who said...

Congrats! That is *so* cool! I didn't know there was a magazine coming out! I used to love HGTV, sadly, we don't get that channel anymore & I miss it.

jjuliejones who said...

Thanks for the giveaway opportunity... would love a subscription!! And CONGRATS to you, Leen for being featured in their mag!!!

KittenJen who said...

I saw those door numbers in HGTV magazine! They are so cute! I may need to order some myself.

Congrats to our winners! I will send y'all a message to get your contact info for your subscriptions :)

HGTV Magazine A Giveaway to Celebrate!

2011-10-05T08:29:00.001-04:00

We are so thrilled to be a part (albeit a small part) of the very first issue of HGTV Magazine!

Our door number decal is right there on page 5.

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy yet, you should! It's amazing! Tons of easy makeover ideas, fun decorating ideas, tool advice and a section with the most darling bungalows you've ever seen. You know I LOVE me a bungalow!

Of course, all your favorite HGTV stars are in there too, including a home tour of Sarah Richardson's gorgeous farmhouse.

Because we are loving this first edition so much and know you will too, we're giving away three ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to HGTV magazine! All you have to do is leave us a comment here between now and Friday.
We'll randomly select the winners Friday afternoon.
Good luck!!

Pic A Winner Contest #2 Winners

2011-10-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

With 42% of the vote Melissa's Monogram Circle with Dots is this month's Pic a Winner contest winner! Congrats Melissa, you've won a $50 Leen the Graphics Queen gift certificate!

Rachel is the winner randomly selected from the voters to win a $25 LTGQ gift certificate! Congrats Rachel!

Thanks to everyone who submitted pics and also everyone who voted. Want a chance to win next month? Just email me a pic of your LTGQ decal to pics@leenthegraphicsqueen.com.

We're looking forward to seeing the new submissions!

Pic A Winner Contest #2

2011-09-30T10:08:00.000-04:00

It's that time again! Time for this months Pic A Winner Contest!

Every month we will choose five of our favorite customer submitted pics from the previous month and put a poll here on our blog. Then our readers vote for their very favorite. The pic with the most votes wins a $50 LTGQ gift certificate! We will randomly choose a voter to win a $25 LTGQ gift certificate!

To vote, just choose your favorite from the options. Click on the pics to enlarge. Then post a comment telling us you voted. You have to leave a comment to be eligible to win the gift certificate. Be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you if you are our winner!

Good Luck!

More online polls on pollsb.com

Don't forget to leave a comment letting us know you voted. We'll announce the winners on Monday!

New Designs

2011-09-24T18:29:00.002-04:00

We hope you are having a great weekend. It's rainy here so I've been working on some new designs

I love my job so much I do it on my day off! How lucky am I?

I realized that it's been a while since I posted new designs here. I always post them to Facebook so if you follow us on FB you've probably seen some of these already.

Click on the caption below each pic for more details.

Be Awesome Today

Chalkboard Calendar

Butterfly Name

Circle Initial Name Monogram

Girl Owl in Flower Tree

Ladybug on Flowers

Girl Owl on Branch with Name

Girl Owl on Flower Branch

Cute Boy Owl on Branch with Name

Nautical Rope Name Monogram

Name with Sailboat

http://www.leenthegraphicsqueen.com/feseamaanwad.html

Masculine Sea Animals

Sports Fan Monogram

Sometimes the Smallest Things

Star Monogram

Star Monogram comes with FREE Star Decals!

I'll be listing more over the next few days!

Pic a Winner Contest #1 Winners!!

2011-09-06T10:31:00.001-04:00

Wow, 202 people voted in our first Pic a Winner Contest and with 33% of the vote, Claudia's Canister Labels pic is the winner!

Check out Claudia's blog to see more of her great organization ideas :)

Claudia will receive a $50 Leen the Graphics Queen gift certificate to our site!

The randomly selected voter comment was Genine who commented "I love your stuff! I just voted"

Genine will receive a $25 Leen the Graphics Queen gift certificate to our site!

Congratulations to Claudia and Genine!!

It's not too early to submit your best pic for our October Pic a Winner Contest! Just send it to pics@leenthegraphicsqueen@gmail.com or post it to our Facebook page.

Pic A Winner Contest #1

2011-09-01T10:40:00.002-04:00

To vote, just choose your favorite from the options. Click on the pics to enlarge. Then post a comment telling us you voted. Be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you if you are our winner!

create a free poll on pollsb.com

Pic a Winner Contest!

2011-08-30T10:59:00.001-04:00

A while ago I dropped a hint that our "Take a pic and win" contest was going to be changing up a bit. No worries, it's a good change. Previously, customers submitted a pic of their applied LTGQ wall decal and we randomly chose a winner.

We decided it would be more fun to get our readers involved in the process. So every month we will choose five of our favorite customer submitted pics from the previous month and put a poll here on our blog. Then our readers will vote for their very favorite. The pic with the most votes wins a $50 LTGQ gift certificate! We will randomly choose a voter to win a $25 LTGQ gift certifcate!

Sounds fun, right?

To submit a pic, email it to pics@leenthegraphicsqueen.com or post on our Facebook page. Got a blog of your own? Include a link with your pic, we love to link up to our customers blogs! We'll post our fave pics on the 1st Thursday of every month and leave the poll up til the following Monday. We'll announce the winner that day.

To vote, just choose your favorite from the options. Then post a comment telling us you voted. Be sure that we can reach you if you are the winner.

Small print~ Sorry, you can't enter the same pic more than once but you can submit one pic for every LTGQ decal you have. So if you get a new LTGQ decal next month, take it's pic and send it in! We may post your pic on our website, shops, pinterest, facebook and here on the blog.

The first contest begins this Thursday so get your pics sent in before Wednesday! Good luck!

Master Bath Reveal

2011-08-25T13:24:00.002-04:00

So, this is how it started~

Me~ "Babe, there's water on the floor in the master bath"

JC~ "I'll need to replace the seal this weekend"

Me~ "Will that involve removing the toilet?"

JC~ "Yes, but it's an easy $5 one hour project" (this is the part where I snicker to myself "that's what you think!")

Me~ "Well, since you have to remove the toilet we may as well redo the floor while you are at it."

JC~ "Well....ok"

Me~ "Will you have to take out the vanity cabinet to do the floor?"

JC~ "Yes, why?"

Me~ "We may as well replace that too while you're at it."

JC~ silence (he knows when he's been tricked!)

Of course, it continued..."we may as well paint the walls while you have the floor out"..."we may as well replace the mirror and fixtures since we'll be painting"...and on and on.

So our easy one hour $5 fix turned into a two and a half month, over $300 project (we already had a few of the major pieces). We (read James) took everything except the shower out. Our four year old, Eli walked in one day while James was painting the empty room and said "Dad, this is quite a situation!"

After we selected the flooring (we went with the same dark laminate that we have in the Mudroom) we started the search for the perfect vanity. We knew we wanted the look of an old table like Kevin and Layla have in their guest bath

but were having some trouble finding something that would fit our tiny space. Then in the middle of Home Depot while looking for fixtures I realized that with some love the little blue desk in the living room would be perfect!

I've painted a lot of furniture in my day but I was a bit apprehensive about this one. I knew what color I wanted it (Gypsy Teal) but wasn't sure if I wanted to distress it or how to seal it. For the answers to my questions I turned to the furniture fixer Shaunna, of course! I bought her ebook and it was TONS of help!

Since it's such a small room with a big pop of color we kept things simple. We used glass knobs for the shower curtain rings, the curtain hanger and the small drawer of the vanity.

I tend to go for Oil Rubbed Bronze fixtures but with the floor and mirror being so dark we opted for chrome instead. I think that and the use of glass jars really helps keep it bright in there.

It wasn't until a couple days after we finished that I realized the carved wooden mirror that I bought at an auction (PB has a similar one) matches the box I ~~swiped~~ borrowed from my sister 20 years ago!

See the matching flower and vine pattern? It was meant to be!

I found this gorgeous antique toolbox at an antique shop in Fernandina Beach. Not sure if it will stay in here but I like it for now.

We kept our Battenburg Lace shower curtain and I made a matching curtain for the window. You can see how we made the curtain hanger out of salvaged tongue and groove panels here.

We tied the chippy salvaged boards and distressed vanity together by placing these plaques made from antique ceiling tiles on the wall between them.

On the wall opposite the vanity is a towel bar and new medicine cabinet.

Since there's not much storage space I had to stash TP under the towels in the basket (pretty clever huh?)

So, that's our master bath! I am ready to start the boys bathroom...almost!

Linking up to

Master Bath Remodel Sneak Peek 2

2011-08-22T17:58:00.000-04:00

In my last post I showed you how James and I (ok, mostly James) made the curtain hanger for our master bath out of salvaged tongue and groove boards. Well, after two and a half months we are finally done with the entire room. Whew, what a relief!

It's a bit too cloudy today to take lots of pics so I will have to post the entire thing tomorrow (hopefully) but for now here are a few more sneak peeks.

What do you think so far? Me, I am loving it!

Custom Curtain with Chippy Hanger

2011-08-08T18:40:00.006-04:00

***Edited 11/18, complete bathroom can be seen here***

The renovations in our master bathroom are taking much longer than expected. Seems like every time we make progress we have a little setback.

I can't show you how absolutely amazing our desk turned vanity came out because right now it's covered in sheetrock dust.

I can't show you how beautiful the shiny chrome fixtures look because honestly most of them are still in the box (but the ones that are installed...gorgeous!)

I also can't show you our pretty Battenburg Lace shower curtain because it's in a box...or bag...somewhere around here...I think...

I can however, show you the table cloth turned curtain and clever curtain thingy it's hanging from!

So I found these amazingly old and chippy pieces of tongue and groove paneling at my local salvage yard and immediately knew they would be perfect in our bathroom. The color is a great compliment to the gypsy teal I painted the vanity.

First we measured out the area where I envisioned them hanging

sad empty area isn't it?

Then James cut them to fit & I lined up the glass knobs. This step took longer than expected because I couldn't decide how low I wanted the curtain to swag.

The he drilled the hole for the screw

Because the boards were going right up against the wall he had to countersink the screws in the back of the board.

After we nailed the boards in with small finishing nails, I cut a Battenburg Lace tablecloth in half (don't fret, I have several!),

ironed a seam at the top, attached jute string to create the hangers and hung it up. I absolutely adore the rugged jute against the shiny glass knobs.

There you have it, one small piece of our bathroom is complete! Hopefully, we will have more progress to share soon!

Linking up to

Vacation Sale!

2011-07-29T12:46:00.001-04:00

Vacation Sale!
Now through August 8th

www.LeenTheGraphicsQueen.com

$10 OFF

orders $40 or more

Coupon Code VAC10

$15 OFF

orders $60 or more

Coupon Code VAC15

$25 OFF

orders $100 or more

Coupon Code VAC25

all orders placed while we are away will ship by August 11th

New Ways to Win!

2011-07-27T17:11:00.001-04:00

We're so excited to tell you about a new way to win LTGQ gift certificates!

All you have to do is send us a pic of your LTGQ decal and/or vote!

Yes, we're switching up our "Take a Pic and Win" contest a bit. Now every month we will select the top five (or ten, we haven't decided yet) customer submitted pics and open up the voting to our blog readers. Whichever pic our readers vote to be THE BEST WINS! We will send the winner

a $50 gift certificate to our website!

What about the voters? They work hard submitting their honest opinions, shouldn't they get something too? Of course! We'll select one voter each month to win

a $25 gift certificate!

Start submitting your pics to pics@leenthegraphicsqueen.com

or post them on our Facebook page

the first contest begins September 1st!

We'll provide more details as it draws nearer. We can't wait to see your Best Pics!!

Beach Birthday Party Ideas

2011-07-25T12:02:00.000-04:00

Our son, James, will be ten years old tomorrow, where did the time go?

Since we'll be vacationing at this beach house beginning on Saturday, we figured we would have a beach birthday party. What could possibly be more fun than that? Nothing, I say, nothing!

I designed some cute Surfs Up! invites (free on Vistaprint)

This evening I am heading into Wilmington to get the rest of the supplies I need for the decorations and goody bags.

Here are a few ideas that I am loving. If you follow me on Pinterest, you've probably seen these ( I HEART Pinterest!)

via

How cute is this banner with little swim trunks hung by mini clothespins? LOVE!

via

This watermelon shark is a must! Isn't he so great?!

via

I don't have the budget, time or energy that a few of these require but I am going to do my best to make sure my little guy has the best birthday party ever. After all, you only turn ten once!

New Customer Pics & a Winner

2011-07-17T20:31:00.000-04:00

The winner of this rounds Take a Pic and Win contest is Steffany! Steffany sent us this sweet pic of her daughter's nursery with our His Eye is on the Sparrow design.

Congrats Steffany! You won a $20 gift certificate to our store! Send me an email to leen@leenthegraphicsqueen.com and I will send you the code.

Here are a few other pics that were sent in.

Monkey Tree


Girlie Monogram

Girlie Monogram

Butterfly Name

Thanks to everyone who sent pics in, we love to see them!

Soon we'll be doing our pic contest a little differently. Still working out the details but it's going to be pretty cool with more chances to win! We'll keep you posted!

New Customer Pics

2011-07-13T17:41:00.000-04:00

I am going through my email (still trying to get caught up from vacation and JC being way last week) and thought I would share with you some of the customer pics that were patiently waiting in my inbox.

We are loving Kelly's cool idea of using our Three Initial Monogram with Dots decal to spice up a vinyl rug!

Can you even take this compass on the ceiling? It's 4' round! It's an amazing finishing touch to Alexandria's new nursery!

pic taken from floor

I love the way this custom monogram design turned out so much, I may list it on our website. Travis did a great job picking out colors, white and silver on dark blue walls, Gorgeous!

Melissa used our Two Roads design on her Chiropractic office. Cool wall color, huh?

Laura sent us two pics. One of her fun clocks with city names over them. This idea is becoming very popular, we get requests for it often. So fun!

Here Laura used our Custom Number decals on her stairs. Makes me wish we had stairs!

Maria applied out Home is Where the Happiest Memories are Made design to a mirror above her fireplace. Doesn't it look amazing?

Melissa used our Scalloped Circle Monogram in her 7 year old daughter's room. This design is very popular with little girls :)

Amy added hand painted vines above her baby's crib along with our popular No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed design. Looks great with her cute bedding!

I have lots more that customers have posted on Facebook recently. I will post them here soon!

This week....

2011-07-08T15:24:00.001-04:00

I've gotten less than five hours of sleep every night this week

We haven't had a homecooked meal yet this week, the closest we got was bologna sandwiches and chips for dinner last night

My bathroom remodel project is at a complete stand-still, if it weren't for the sink in the middle of my bedroom I would have completely forgot I was even working on the bathroom

The lawn desperately needs mowing

I haven't even checked on the vegetable garden, there are probably 20 tomatoes rotting on the plants

The house is a complete and total disaster area

My inbox is overflowing with emails waiting to be answered

BUT I have been filling and shipping orders! 67 in the last two days!

part of today's shipment

Not bad for a one man band :)

James and Mike will be home soon from West Virginia soon ~read about what they are doing here~ and everything will be back to normal. I am ready!

Where and Especially Why

2011-07-07T13:07:00.002-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that half of my guys are missing. I am a one man band in the studio this week although I must admit, I wish I were with them.

Wondering where they went? and Why they went there?

James and our oldest boy, Mike, are in Lincoln County, West Virginia, nine long hours away from home, making homes warmer, safer and drier with The Appalachian Service Project. This organization brings thousands of volunteers from around the country to rural Central Appalachia to repair homes for low-income families. The need there is heart wrenching. Some of the walls in the home that James is working on are made of cardboard. Seriously, cardboard. In the past, teams from our church have installed a bathroom in a 40 year old home that never had a bathroom before. They have helped build a home for a woman who had previously lived in a barn with tarps over the holes in the walls.

I can't even express to you how in awe I am that people (mostly teenagers) from a "well off" town participate in multiple fundraisers, give up a week of their summer vacation, to go hours away from home, sleep on the floor of a school or church (one year the only shower they had was a hose with garbage bags around it for privacy), and work hard digging trenches, installing roofs (in 95 degree heat), laying in the dirt under a trailer putting in underpinning to help someone they have never met before.

It truly makes you believe that there is hope for the future.

James with his hardworking crew last year

I can't tell you more about it because my eyes are tearing up just thinking about it but here's a quote from the ASP website.

"How can a region so rich in natural resources be so poor? You can't build factories on mountainsides. You can't plant crops. And for more than a hundred years, large corporations have extracted natural resources while putting little back in the form of taxes or community support. The result is that jobs are few and far between. For many of these families, their modest houses-handed down from generation to generation-are the only real possession they have. But houses need maintenance. And when you don't even have money to put shoes on your kids' feet, fixing a hole in the roof is a low priority. As a result, the homes are crumbling. Walls buckle. Roofs leak. And sagging floors pose hazards to the elderly and the very young. Into this bleak environment, ASP shines a ray of hope."

So, now you know where half my crew is and why I am cutting, weeding, taping and shipping decals, answering emails, running the household and taking care of my little guys alone this week.
I am so proud of my guys and a little inconvenience on my part is so small compared to the HUGE amount of good they are doing in WV!

Master Bath Remodel Sneak Peek

2011-07-05T12:33:00.000-04:00

I am back in the studio today!

Notice I said "I am" not "we are"?

A vacation for us means a Deal for you!

2011-06-23T15:48:00.000-04:00

We are officially on vacation! Florida here we come!

Who goes to Florida in June, you ask? We do!

Who leaves the beach in NC to go the beach in Florida? We do!

There are reasons for our baffling behavior that I will explain when we return, trust me, it'll all make sense ;)

We appreciate your business while we are away so every order on our site over $20 will receive a free set of chalkboard tags!
AND... if you are a facebook fan you will receive an additional gift! Want to know what it is? You'll have to "like" our page to find out!

All orders placed while we are away will ship by Monday, July 11th.

So, head on over to our site and get your Free Chalkboard Tags!!
See you in July!

New Designs

2011-06-01T22:01:00.000-04:00

Wow, new designs three weeks in a row! I am on a roll :)

This first one I actually designed for my own kitchen canisters but I knew you would love them too.

Jar Labels

This next one is a cute Circle Monogram. You can choose two colors for this one.

Circle Name Wall Decal

You know that I am crazy about beach decor and I realized I didn't have a name design to go with our Let Your Dreams Set Sail design.

Name with Sailboat

And last but not least, our new Sports Fan Name Decal. This one was actually a customer request and it turned out so cute I had to share.

Sports Fan Name Wall Decal

Thanks for checking out our new designs. Hopefully I can keep this momentum going and will have more next week :)

This Weeks New Designs

2011-05-25T19:27:00.000-04:00

Here are our new designs for this week. We hope you like them :)

This first one is shown above a crib but I also think it would be great on a family photo gallery wall.

All Because Two People Fell in Love

There are two option for this design. You can use a couple names and monogram...

Damask Style Monogram

Or a girl's first and middle names. A very versatile design indeed :)

Damask Style Monogram

I've gotten a few requests for this Princess design, I think it's so sweet!

Princess Daughter of a Heavenly King

I just did a custom design of this saying for a sweet customer and I like the saying so much I decided to list it. You know I can't resist beachy decor ;)

Lifes a Beach Enjoy the Waves

As always, these new designs are on sale for a limited time!

Fun New Coastal Inspired Designs

2011-05-18T20:37:00.001-04:00

I am so excited to be finally showing you these new designs. They were a lot of hard work but I love the way they turned out and I hope you do too!

First, just in time for Father's Day is our Crab Shack Grunge style design. It's so funky and fun, perfect for his man cave!

Next our new Masculine Sea Animals.

Masculine Style Sea Animals

Five animals are included in this set!

I decided after the first set was done that they might be a bit to masculine for my girly-girls out there so I made another batch with more feminine designs.

Feminine Sea Animals

All three of these new designs are on sale for a limited time. Check out out other sale items too.

I'll be listing more designs over the next week or so. Lots of fun things :)

Fundraiser Update and an Introduction

2011-05-09T10:57:00.000-04:00

We want to send a huge THANK YOU! to everyone who supported our fundraiser for the victims of last weeks tornado outbreaks. We are amazed how many people stepped up to purchase and/or promote the fundraiser!

When we first started this I thought if we could raise $100 that would be awesome.

We raised $472!

That's 118 number decals! I can't tell you how thankful we are!

To me, one of the hardest parts of this fundraiser was finding the right organization to give the proceeds to. We were adamant that we wanted 100% of the money raised to go to the victims (not saying anything against other organizations, we know that they need to keep their lights on as well).

Saturday morning I had a few emails to catch up on and while I was working I clicked on TweetDeck which is something that I never do on the weekends. There I saw a tweet from Rhonda leading me to this post. Call it divine intervention, a Godwink, pure coincidence, whatever you like, but I knew as my eyes were tearing up reading Rachel's post that I had found my answer.

So this morning we will be sending $500 to Mommies Helping Mommies (the extra is from us, we like even numbers :)

If you were unable to help with our fundraiser or are still feeling led to give there are lots of fundraisers going on right now.

And if you did purchase a number decal (again THANK YOU!) you may be wondering who "Leen's #1 Employee" is.

It's our oldest son, Mike. He's been working with us for a few months now. Isn't he cute? You may be hearing more from him, hopefully, I can talk him into doing a blog post soon :)

Mike hard at work

Fundraiser Extended

2011-05-02T09:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported our fundraiser, we are off to an amazing start! We raised more on the first day than I thought we would all weekend!

This morning GMA reported that there are still more than 400 people missing in the tornado disaster areas. I can't even relay how this hurts my heart. I ache for the people that have lost their loved ones and their homes.

I feel this strong pull to jump in my minivan and drive the ten hours to go there, move rubble, feed people, search for the missing, comfort the mourning, ANYTHING!


Source

That's my heart speaking. My head and rational thinking husband know that I can be of more help here so we have extended our fundraiser through Wednesday.

100% of the proceeds from the sale of our number decals will go to the victims of last weeks tornado outbreaks. Please support this worthy cause and help us spread the word.

A Way to Help Tornado Victims

2011-04-29T15:25:00.000-04:00

Like many people, Eileen and I are deeply saddened by the loss of lives and homes in the south this week from the tornado outbreaks. We are feeling so blessed that our immediate area wasn't impacted.

Source

Over breakfast this morning, we were discussing this and how we wish there was something we could do to help.

We decided that the best way we could help is to involve YOU!

We will donate 100% of the proceeds of our Number Decals to the victims. We're paying the shipping so every cent of your purchase goes directly to the victims now through Sunday.

Number Decal

Order as many as you like & get cute decals while helping others.

Thanks so much for helping Eileen and I do what we can for the victims of this weeks tornado outbreaks. We truly appreciate it!

James

Pottery Barn Knock Off Lamp

2011-04-26T08:32:00.004-04:00

I've been admiring these jar lamps from Pottery Barn for a while now but their price tag...not so much.

Source

So James and I made this

I recently won a $25 gift certificate in Home Goods' Mom cave Sweepstakes (thanks Home Goods!) and since they are the best place to go for lamps I figured I would look there. They always have great finds, low prices and their inventory is constantly changing.

Instead, I found this jar and snatched it right up because I knew if I didn't grab it, it may not be there next time.

$16.99! Awesome price.

A trip to the lamp section led me to the perfect shade for $11.99! It's exactly what I was hoping to find.

I love the texture of it!

I had planned to put these treasures away until I had more time to make the lamp but I was so excited I headed straight to Lowes for one of these lamp kits.

If I were to do this again I would check the thrift store for a cheap lamp to take apart first because this kit was about $10.

I asked James to help me with this next part. He used two part epoxy to hold the metal lamp kit to the glass. Apparently there is some timing involved because he had to hold the metal straight until the epoxy "kicked".

Source

He then simply screwed the shade on! Done! Right?

Not quite...

last night as I was winding down with a PB catalog from a busy three day weekend, I spotted this

Source

and being a total copy cat I knew that my lamp was lacking! So we added an etched glass vinyl 5 to it and now it's really done.

The decal was so simple but really completely changed the look of the lamp. I like it so much more than the tiny monogram on the PB lamp.

If you have any questions about this project leave a comment for James since he did the hard part. Thanks for checking out our lamp! We're linking this one up to

Spring Decorating

2011-04-06T22:09:00.001-04:00

We haven't had a chance to get up to the attic to get the Spring decorations down yet (Read I haven't nagged James enough to get him to do it). With the warm weather and flowers blooming all over our yard, I had to add some Spring touches inside the house so I moved some things around and used what I had.

We don't have a mantle so I decorated the table behind the sofa instead. I love the casual look of the mirror leaning against the wall.

I bought those gorgeous sap buckets at The Hooked Fish, I love them! The cute little bunny was from a boutique in Wilmington, I can't remember which one. He was in our front window looking out before he moved over to this table.

The bird cage was from Lowe's, it came in a set with a smaller one. They have been in just about every room of the house!

For the dining room table I simply put some wisteria and daffodils from the flower garden in a Bell jar (my very favorite thing to decorate with). I love this pretty look.

On top of the hutch, I tucked a couple little things in my old soda crate from Pottery Barn. Then just added some candle holders with pieces of a wreath wrapped around them. On the other side is another candle holder and one of my favorite Willow Tree figurines.

Now I am not in any rush for James to drag the Spring decorations down. I kinda like the clean and simple look we have now.

Linking up to

The Stories of A2Z

Gallery Wall Reposted

2011-04-06T09:25:00.000-04:00

This is an older post that I wanted to reshare with you. I did this gallery wall and I loved it so much! But, it had to come down when we added board and batten to the dining room. I am now scouring my favorite blogs looking for inspiring gallery walls with board and batten. I'll be sure to post when I am done :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In April I started to collect black photo frames and photos for a grouping for my dining room wall. Yes, I do realize that was SIX whole months ago. Mostly what took so long was working up the nerve to start it. I knew that it would be quite a project and I was really concerned that it would come out terrible and all I would have to show for my efforts was a wall that looked like swiss cheese! Well, my fears were unfounded because I LOVE the way it turned out!

My first photos were these from Shaded Memories aren't they fabulous?

Then I found these beauties from Kimberly of Mimi Charmante She is so talented and has a great blog too!

Then I found these (among many others) from Layla and Kevin of Lettered Cottage Art. I especially love the red door photo.

I took this photo, below, myself with a little help from my friend, Gerry. It was taken at Airlie Gardens. If you are ever in Wilmington, you should take a couple hours to tour their amazing gardens!

So yesterday I was feeling down because it was my baby girl's birthday and she is now living 800 miles away. I decided to tackle this project that has been waiting so patiently for me. This is an older picture. Since it was taken we have repainted, replaced the table and chairs with ones that actually match and replaced the light fixture with a new chandelier.

Before

After

First I gathered the frames and the above photos along with some family favorites. I placed all the photos in frames and made white mats for some of them out of white card stock. Then I laid them out on the dining room table, then I rearranged them, then I rearranged them again, and again, you get the idea! This part took me literally HOURS! Because I have such a varied mix of photos I had to be careful that I didn't bunch the family photos together and that I evenly spread out the color photos among the black and white photos, etc. Finally I was ready.

I cut scrapbook paper to the size of every frame (no newspaper to be found) and place them on the wall in their correct place (another hour). I don't have pics of this part because Hubby had the camera at Cub Scout camp. Sorry!

Then we had dinner (I needed a break by this point). Then I re-spaced some of the papers and then started hanging the photos. This was the easiest part of the entire process.

See how I have four "layered" on top of the others? Well, just before I got to those last four I looked at the wall and almost cried!
It looked like I just randomly hung them! It was a mess! I thought I was going to be up all night filling the nail holes and repainting the wall! Then I decided to finish with the layering and then decide if all my work for for naught. I am so glad that I didn't give up because those four really brought it all together.

I am so happy with it! And so happy that it is all finished!

Now what project can I fret over for the next six months?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Linking up to

Inspired Room

Thifty Decor Chick

St. Augustine Here We Come!

2011-03-27T22:09:00.000-04:00

We are so very excited to be heading to St. Augustine, Florida tomorrow morning! Kortney flew in from Syracuse yesterday so it's all six of us! We haven't been on a full family trip in years...before Eli was born I am sure.

We've never been to St. Augustine before so we are looking forward to checking out the pier and lighthouse, playing on the beach and of course, shopping in the boutiques!

This is going to be a total vacation, no work at all. I am not even bringing my laptop. I will have my smart'er than me phone in case there are any decal emergencies! ;)

Hope you have a great week!

Spring Break

2011-03-25T15:53:00.000-04:00

We are enjoying Spring Break with our children and will be out of the studio until Monday, April 4th. All orders placed between now and then will ship by Friday April 8th. Thank you for understanding.

Living Room Inspiration & a Little Bragging

2011-03-15T10:25:00.000-04:00

I am so excited that our new living room furniture will be here this afternoon! In all of my adult life I've only purchased one piece of furniture brand new and that was the sofa that we gave to friends yesterday.

Here's a sneak peek at one of the pieces that is coming.

yeah baby!

We still aren't sure about the arrangement for the living room so I woke up early this morning to do some inspiration searching. Of course, when on the hunt for inspiration my first stop is always Houzz. Here's what I found.

Creative Little Daisy

It's The Little Things...

Whimages

The Old Painted Cottage

Seaside Interiors

If I know me (and I do) I am sure I will be up most of the night moving furniture and my new PB area rug around into dozens of arrangements.

Then onto accessorizing!

On to the bragging. This guy here

is all dressed up today, complete with tie! He was one of 13 junior boys nominated by their teachers to be interviewed by
Tar Heels Boy's State! Only three or four boys will be selected. I hear that colleges are very impressed if you are selected to attend this one week program and these days we are all about what is going to impress colleges!

Baby Boy Nursery

2011-03-11T05:30:00.002-05:00

You may remember Misty, she won one of our Take a Pic and Win contests with pics of her son, Jack's nursery. You can see them here.

Well, Misty is about to have another baby! Jack's room turned out so cute, I knew his little brother's room was going to be equally fabulous and Misty did not disappoint! When she sent me the pics of the monogram decal we made for her I had to ask her if I could share them with you. Can you even take how sweet this room is?

I especially love that she made Jack a special reading corner so he can feel included when Mommy is taking care of Baby!

You can see more pics of this gorgeous room at Misty's blog.

New Monogram and Saying designs

2011-03-10T08:33:00.000-05:00

It looks like we are about to get hit with a pretty bad storm but before I turn off the computers I wanted to show you a couple new designs that I've been working on.

This saying reads "Enjoy Life, God has given us these times of Joy" It measures 22" x 22" and features a pretty font and some neat swirls.

Enjoy Life!

You know I love monograms, I just had to make another with this gorgeous font. This decal measures 22" high x approx 35" wide, depending on the letters used.

Fancy Script Monogram

I hope you like these new designs. I hope to be adding more next week!

Forcing Forsythia

2011-03-08T08:26:00.003-05:00

Bring a touch of springtime indoors. Force Forsythia! It's harder to say than it is to do. It's an easy and fun project with Spring-y, Sunshine-y results! What more can you ask for in a project, I ask!

Since the Forsythia is already starting to bloom here, I am a little late doing this project but I just got my plants. I got them at an estate sale auction for $2 each!! Now, that's a deal!

You can force many different flowering shrubs like Spirea, Dogwood, Honeysuckle, Serviceberry or Spicebush.

1. Cut branches on a day above freezing. Don't go too wild, you don't want to disfigure the plant. 6-18" is a good length.

2. Bring branches indoors and cut a second time about an inch above the first cut. Then cut up the branches about an inch. Some people use a hammer on the ends instead, I am not sure if it matters. You just need to rough up that end a bit.

3. Place stems in a container with floral preservative. I made my own. The "recipe" is 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 Tbsp of bleach, one quart of water. Then place the container in a cool dark spot.

4. When buds start to show color move the branches into a lighter room but not in direct sunlight.

5. Enjoy your Spring-y bouquet, even if there's still 2 feet of snow outside!

This is what mine are looking like this morning! Lovely!

Linking up to

New Customer Pics and a Winner

2011-03-04T12:03:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts of my day is when customers send me pics of our work in their homes, it really makes my day :)

Here are a few that we have received lately. Lots more coming soon, they are saved on my other computer.

Fancy Frame Monogram

Dandelion Blowing in the Wind

Girlie Name Monogram


Ornate Crystal Chandelier

Flower Tree in the Wind

I Can Do All Things Through Christ

Monkey Name

Girlie Name Monogram

Gorgeous Tree Branches

And the winner of our latest "Take a Pic and Win" contest is Jodie! Congrats Jodie, you won a $25 gift certificate to our store! Woot!

Where have we been?

2011-02-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent well wishes to me and my family, it really means a lot to us! We could just hug each and every one of you! But, I doubt you would want to come that close so virtual hugs to you!!

In case you weren't aware, my entire family has been sick off and on (mostly on) for going on a month now. First it was a vicious head cold that just wouldn't go away and now the flu. Around here, head colds and the flu go hand in hand with ear and sinus infections and bronchitis. Three of us are now on antibiotics so there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Mike has barely left his room over the last four days. He staggers out for a drink and medicine once in a while then disappears again to bury himself in his covers. At 17, he prefers to hide rather than be babied by his mom!

Little James hasn't been to school in over a week. He spends most of his time laying on the couch working in a puzzle book. He doesn't mind Mommy babying him at all :)

Eli's antibiotic has upset his tummy so now our poor four year old has an ear infection, a sinus infection, the flu and a messy tummy. Every time I look at him it makes me to sad to see him suffering.

James has been working getting orders out every day. I even caught him raking leaves on Saturday! He so rarely gets sick, he has no idea how to rest.

I am working in the studio a little bit every day and trying to answers emails from my spot on the couch with the laptop. We're trying to get orders out as quickly as we can, please be patient with us. We'll be back up to full speed soon, hopefully!