Retreat Treats 101: Framed Love Quote Designs DIY Project

Oh, how I LOVE me a good retreat!!! I love taking time away from the hustle & bustle to refresh, renew and re-focus. One of my favorite things in the WORLD is to help create these fantabulous and much needed getaways. Give me a day or a weekend and I start dreaming of themes, conversations to be had, decor to doll it up, goodie bags to bless. 

Budget can be one of the biggest road blocks in the move from dreaming it up to pulling it off. The smallest of trinkets or party decor can end up blowing a hole in your budget in no time flat. At this point disappointment and discouragement can begin to settle in dashing all of your previous hopes for an amazing event. Don't you fret.... I have a couple of great ideas to share with you. 

Let's get this ball rollin' with Framed Quote Art. 

The Quote Art I am sharing in this post came from a recent retreat we had focused on what it looks like to... 

I have an entire post coming soon that will be wrapped around the theme of this retreat. For now let's focus on one of my FAVORITE elements to add in: fun Quote Art focused around the retreat theme. The reason I really love this idea is it packs a punch that reaches beyond the event. The framed art is multi-purpose which really gives you a bang for your buck...literally. 

• 1. They beautify in any location, no matter the style of the venue.
• 2. They encourage more thought or conversation on the topic being taught
• 3.They are great give-aways for participants to take home
• Once brought home they are great reminders of the message & the special times shared.

You can find quite a few chalkboard background freebies out in web-land, along with free fonts and design elements (swirls, doodles, etc). You may even find some royalty-free graphics with quotes or verses that are already to go. To really keep the cost down I decided to keep the designs I was creating at either a  5x7 in overall size or 4x6 because I knew printing and frames would be cheaper.

Once I had a good variety of designs I was ready for the next step which is converting them into a .jpg image that can be easily uploaded and printed at a photo developing establishment.

I have a favorite 24 hour neighborhood drugstore with a photo developing section that typically will whip out whatever I send them within an hour or two. I uploaded my .jpg designs on their website as I would any digital photos I would have printed, selected the sizes I wanted them, along with how many copies and VOILA! Super-peasey-easy.

Next step would be to find cheap-o frames that were cute, wouldn't take away from the graphics and had a glass front, not plastic. Check dollar stores or inexpensive box stores - the other option would be to think ahead and go hit some garage sales.

For these designs I was on the hunt for the simplest of frames. I am a believer if you have a lot going on in the graphic design / art then the frame should be next to nothing as far as design. In that case the frame should put the spotlight on the artwork it beholds. If you have an artful, detailed frame let the art contained by it be simple and highlight the frame. It is like a good make-up artist will tell you - choose your focus - pop your eyes or your lips with intense color - not both or it is overdone. 

As you can see these designs are pretty busy or text heavy...yep, keeping the frame simple is a must.

Our retreat was located in a log cabin up on a mountain by a river. Yes, it is okay to be jealous... it was GORGEOUS! The beautiful sunshine greeted us with a warm welcome and lit up the - oh, okay it is hard to call this place a cabin, it was more like a lodge or house.  Our nature rich surroundings were a reminder to us that God loves us, that his creation is something beautiful for us to behold, find rest in and praise him for.

The framed art was placed in different locations throughout the home with flowers and candles to create cute little groupings that would attract the eye and warm the space. 

The total cost for each of these was between $1.20 to $2.49. Yowza! I also had extra 4x6 prints made up @.19 cents a piece that they could grab n' go with to frame for themselves or switch out if they were in love with one that was already taken - and extras were taken. 

It was such an inexpensive idea that added a substantial punch to the party! We ALL know a good retreat has a party atmosphere at some point in the weekend, am I right? 

I have more Retreat Treats 101 ideas coming over the next few days. Hope you enjoy!

-Simply Sublime

Finding your fit: Sometimes we feel less than, when really we are just different

The other day I was putting together some cute little goody bags for a retreat my hubby and I were heading up. A good retreat includes all the special little details as we all know. So I had a lot of fun coming up with some inexpensive baggies of goodness. (another post will follow) 

As I was pouring out the little minty delights from their bag this lone little stranger stumbled out. At first it seemed to just dump out of the bag like all the others. It wasn't until I started picking them for their bag placement that I realized one of them was quite a different shape than the others. Was it bitten already? No, it was sealed on both sides. Somehow this little refresher managed to be created a different shape and size from all of the others.

It left me thinking...aren't we all really different? Don't we all at one time or another feel like we are painfully different from one group or another? Like that moment where we think the whole world can see we do not fit the look. How much time do we spend thinking if only we could be the same as the others who gain so much of our attention. They appear to have it all together. By watching them we find ourselves questioning our own abilities, choices and talents. We spend more time watching captivated in awe while paralyzed at the same time instead of fulfilling our intended moment.

IF ONLY...

we could grasp our own value- right now - just as we are. We were created with a purpose unique to  us. Did you know there is not another person before or after us that will fill the role we were created to act out? Is it possible if we don't fulfill our purpose others will be missing out on something life changing for them? I really believe this to be true. Our ability to love well in this life has a domino effect. Love is life changing, it redeems but when we are paralyzed it has no arms to reach out. 

The other concept we need to really wrap our little brains around is that the reality isn't ever that the majority of peeps out there are all the same. The reality IS if we were to pour out the lives of the people we admire  to view and be used, as I did the lifesavers, it would not be one different or singled out with all the others of likeness gathered together. It would look like a bunch of individual shapes and sizes, some sealed, some not. Some obviously broken, some appearing whole. The overall ingredients would be completely different, they would not all be mint- it would be more like lifesaver fruit candies with a combination of colors and flavors. Who knows, I would guess some of the packaging would even be different. Yet still each uniquely created with an incredible purpose planned just for them. One of them wouldn't fit the need everywhere, but together they would have the ability to appeal to and fulfill the needs of many. After spending some time together they would begin to flavor one another. 

Don't you wonder what is holding us back from grasping this and running towards our destiny? Let's push against fear and disbelief and sprint towards our purpose. Let us not waste another day in the comparison game, or fixing our eyes on our weaknesses. Find your strengths and start running! When that little voice starts to tell you "See, you don't fit!" Remind yourself that we are all much more the same than we are different. To our core we were created to love. Our packaging and flavors may be different, but inside we long for the same things. To be accepted and loved- just as we are.

John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

                                                              -Simply Sublime