A Flower from Miss Heather..

My lovely neighbor Heather bought down a Peonie for me the other day, it made a very fun photography subject.

I played with my back button autofocus, and I LIKE IT.

I Heart Faces Fix-It Friday

This is my first I Heart Faces Fix-It Friday entry. I'm nervous....

Before:


After:


I used Photoshop CS5 along with CoffeeShop's Perfect Portrait and then CoffeeShop's Orton Effect.

My first blog award!

Pretty cool! I just got my first blog award, thanks to Brittney at Brittneys Budget Crafts!

Here are the rules of receiving this award:


1. Thank the person who gave you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic! (in no particular order...)

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.


Let's see, 7 things about myself (blush)

1. I have an obsession with my toenails, they always have to be painted (no chips) and I refuse to let anyone, other then myself, give me a pedicure....I just have a certain way I like things done when it comes to my toesies.

2. I used to fly a Cessna 150...that's right, a 150...not a 152.

3. ...then I had two children.

4. I was knocked out of the Miss Teen Michigan pageant after saying that volunteer work gave me a "high". Come on people, I was NERVOUS!

5. I'm a dog person.

6. My favorite musician is Sarah Mclachlan.

7. My favorite color is orange.


And now on to the blog awards....

I'm would like to present the Versatile Blog Award to the following sites, in no particular order:

fowlsinglefile
imtopsyturvy
lovinmylovebugs
missbblogs
thecraftinme
mamathompson
madebystephie
madebylex
scrapallday
createanddelegate
alittlelovelyblog
frostedgardner
terelauritsen
team-t-adventures
indietutes

Party Wreath

An easy way to let your guests know, "hey, the party's here!". I plan on hanging this one on the front door on party days. Very fun and festive, cheap and easy.

Supplies:
Small foam wreath
push pins
balloons
curling ribbon



The result:

Photoshop "before and after"

A few weeks ago I killed my PC so of course I needed a new computer and why not go big? I chose a MAC but because I had Photoshop on my PC it wouldn't transfer to a MAC, I needed to get a whole new version (darn ;). So I got CS5 for my Mac and have been playing around with my photographs.

Some of my friends have been asking, "what kind of camera do you use? how do you get such good shots?" Well, the answer isn't really in my camera (which is a Canon Rebel) but it's in the tweaking I do in Photoshop.

See for yourself....

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:

Garage Sale Treasure

I found this darling at a garage sale a few weeks ago, how much you say? It was $3.00!





A little TLC and she's smilin'.

Logo Design Winner!!

I used Random.org (for the first time, it's pretty neat) and the number generated was lucky #7!

Congratulations to Renee at ReneeBeads!

I can't wait to work with you Renee!

More Painted Countertop Pics...

A few days ago I posted about painting countertops, here are a few more pictures of the 'after'.






After having completed my second kitchen full of countertops I'm officially hanging my hat up with Envirotex. At least for the large projects. It was an extremely difficult product to work with. Don't get me wrong, the result is still beautiful and durable but I don't know if it's possible to get out all of the air bubbles and to get an even pour. For some reason the two inch circumference around the sink was lumpy and in some places the Envirotex didn't even take to. It could very well have been the humidity in that area but still, that's a lot of hard work to not have it turn out.

Also, if you're contemplating painting your countertops let me just tell you....it will (no matter how well you tape off your kitchen) find a way to your floor, your faucet, your stove and your fingers. And it doesn't just wipe up, it smears and turns into a sticky, hair and dust catching mess. Envirotex is better left to the professionals....in a warehouse.

SIDE NOTE:

Funny, I just saw this post on Blue Cricket Design on how to make candy necklaces by Texas Monkey...using Envirotex. This is a great idea and a wonderful way to get the most out of Envirotex. I'd highly recommend sticking with the smaller projects when using this medium.

Snakin' Sinks Girly Style

Don't forget to enter the logo giveaway while your here!

I couldn't find our snake to clean out the sinks the other day and hubby had no clue as to where it might have been so I fashioned a quick make-do snake to get the job done.




Yup, a bobby pin and dental floss. She worked like a charm.

Thrifty Find

(Don't forget to enter the logo design giveaway while your here!)

You've gotta love Habitat for Humanity's Restore, if you're not sure if there's one by you then check here for your nearest locations.

I stopped in today and found a set of 3 closet rods and this $2.00 roll of wallpaper.



I think it's just lovely and was thrilled to have found it. Once back at home I cut out some pics to go into my IKEA frames. They may be headed to a spot on my new headboard....any thoughts?

Logo Giveaway!!

I was going to wait until I had 25 followers but I found myself refreshing my screen all day waiting for that number to go from 24 to 25. I'm too impatient so let's do it now. Here's celebrating 24 followers. ;)

In case you didn't know, I own and operate Bayberry Announcements. Bayberry offers custom photo announcements and invitations at affordable prices, with no minimum order requirements and flexibility on each and every design.

(Enough pitching right?!)

Okay, so I'd love to offer a free logo design for your blog, business, whatever it might be. You can either tell me what you're looking for or I can come up with 3-4 ideas for you to look at and we can tweak it from there.

To enter,

Become a follower of Westbrooke Drive or tell me you already are,

Help spread the word about this giveaway by blogging, tweeting, or facebooking about it with a link back to this post.

Winner will be announced on Saturday! The giveaway is open to everyone.

Have a great day!!

Painted Countertops

(Don't forget to enter the logo design giveaway while your here!)

A few months ago I painted my countertops and I've gotten compliments from everyone who's seen them, including a good friend of mine, Machele. She compared the price of granite versus diy and the diy version won by a long shot. So I went over and helped her paint her countertops. We used craft paint, sea sponges and Envirotex (ugh).

Here they are before......






During







And stunning after photos will soon follow so stay tuned!