Temporary Endings: Our Last Window Project of the Season

Yesterday (10/29), you likely woke up to a thin layer of wet white fluff on your vehicle (if you're around our area).

We're bummed about that. Because snow is Stuff No One Wants.

Ok, not the case for everyone. Not even the case for me. The Lifewall crew likes snow! It leads to memories you can use to create some awesome wall art. Like skiing in Colorado, building a snow fort in the backyard, or waking up to an amazing shot of your backyard covered in a light, fluffy layer of white.

But it does signify the temporary end of something for us -- the outdoor use of 'some' of our materials we can use outdoors. Mainly, our perforated window stick.

A couple of weeks ago (before the snow hit, thankfully), we finished up our last window project of the season -- at none other than the Lyon County Museum!

Voilà!

It was a pretty straightforward project -- two panels that together make a sign for the museum. Here are some quick shots of the process.

The before shot. It's a good looking window! But lacking that "glam" every window needs.

From the inside. Believe it or not, the whole display is up at this point. You just can't see it. Like a phantom.

This project wasn't too daunting. Two panels, one window, piece of cake. The most challenging part was avoiding the bird poop & nest remains scattered beneath our feet. We had to stand on the ledge at the bottom of the window to reach properly (see picture below), and so things were just a little messy. 

But the Lifewall crew does what it does, willingly and proudly. 

Jacob as he finishes up double cutting the seam. 

After the panels were up, we came back later to apply some edge sealer around the perimeter of the window. This will help keep dust & stuff from sneaking into the edges, ensuring things stay nice and clean.

And that's that (cue tears). For now.

The reason we have to put outdoor window stick installation to a halt is due to the temperature. The material is only recommended to go up above a certain temp. If it's under that, conditions just aren't ideal.

And we're a bunch of idealists.

So... we have to wait.

But like I said, there is a bright side to cold weather & snow. We'll be busy working indoors on some projects we've been planning, and when spring hits, we'll be back at it, ready to rock & window.

Happy winter!

---

Authored by Alex MacArthur. Interested in more of what's happening at Lifewall? Follow us on Facebook. , Google+, and at yourlifewall.com.

Read More

Maxx may have taken "wear your brand" too far.

This is Maxx, our beloved you-still-don't-know-his-original-name team member. Maxx is cool, Maxx is fun, and he's definitely an "all or nothing" sort of dude. We loved that about him!

Until he took our "wear your brand" recommendation to a whole new, terrifying level.

Exhibit A: 

He calls himself the "brand warrior."

Exhibit B: 

... which is more or less warrior-like.

And the most terrifying of all... Exhibit C: 

Do we love Maxx's enthusiasm? Sure. Are we concerned that his enthusiasm may affect the psychological well-being of some of our customers? Only sometimes. 

But there is some good news! Once you earn knowledge of Maxx's original name, he's agreed to tone it down a bit. 

For the sake of not only our customers, but also passers-by, this is fantastic. 

So, tell your friends, alert your family, yell it to the world: Once we get 650 likes on our Facebook page, you'll get to know Maxx's original name, and things will get a little more normal around here. Whatever that is. 

Like us on Facebook here! 

---

Authored by Alex MacArthur. Interested in more of what's happening at Lifewall? Follow us on Facebook. , Google+, and at yourlifewall.com.

Read More

Brick Wall Lifewalled in Tiger Pride

You've known about StickIt, our peel & stick fabric for quite some time now, and you've seen all the projects we've completed with it. But if you think all we can tackle is your typical, regular drywall walls,

THINK. 

AGAIN. 

We just finished up a rather exciting wall project that had nothing to do with drywall. Instead... brick. Here's the finished project. (Note: we did the wall mural itself -- not the bulletin board placed on top.)

In short, here's how it went down: a thin, peel & stick vinyl was carefully applied to a wall with some heat and pressure. The result is a clean, vibrant display that has a painted appearance.

In long (and picture form), here's how it went down: 

We first had to remove the bulletin board to make way for the print. After that, we wiped down the wall to remove any dirt, dust, etc. that could allow bubbles to form or the print to weakly cling to the wall. The high school walls are pretty clean & smooth, so this didn't take too long.

After that, the fun officially began. We very very very carefully applied the first panel, and used heat guns and a series of rollers to adhere it in the grooves. 

Just a few of the rollers we used.

Disclaimer: This heat gun was not loaded with any heat during the capture of this shot. 

And on to panel #2. Just like any other mural, we made an overlap with the seams of this mural, but didn't double cut this time. Because the material is so thin, the seams are virtually invisible (trust me, we lost them several times). 

By the time we got to the third panel, we were feeling fairly confident. The most challenging part at this point was maneuvering around the windows to make sure the print remained straight and the lines of the design lined up. 

After the panels were up, the main goal was to makes sure every groove was accounted for, and no bubbles were on the wall. And after that, it was time to put the board back up. 

The final product. After this, we stepped back, took a deep breath, and said, "Oh, yeah."

From start to finish, it took about 5 hours, which is actually exactly what we were expecting. In all, it was definitely one of the more tedious projects, but also worth the time. The mural has a really cool painted look to it, as if it's not actually made of vinyl at all. You'll have to check it out for yourself, but here's a closeup to give you an idea:

Several have asked what type of brick works best for this material. Answer: just about anything that's dry & not crumbling apart! We've tried it on a rough, course brick, as well as smooth, painted brick. The only difficulty might be the depth of the grooves. For grooves between the bricks that are super deep, we have to take a mosaic approach to things, and simply cut out the grooves, leaving the print on the flat part of the brick (it makes for a pretty cool effect). But in general, if it's dry, clean, and hard, we could probably tackle it!

Personal opinion: this was probably one of the most exciting projects to put together and install. Maybe I'm just a biased Tiger alum, but probably not. It was awesome. 

Tigers, I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments below, and show people who think it might be cool!

---

Authored by Alex MacArthur. Interested in more of what's happening at Lifewall? Follow us on Facebook. , Google+, and at yourlifewall.com.

Read More