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!

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

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13 things you could do with Maxx's original name.

In case you haven't heard, we're giving out Maxx's original legal name (first AND last) once we hit 650 likes on Facebook. 

The face value of information like this is crazy huge. But why? How could you actually USE information like this? The possibilities are certainly endless, but here are thirteen ideas to get you started:

13 Things You Could Do w/ Maxx's Original Name

1. Throw out Maxx's original name in casual conversation as a way to prove you're pretty tight with him.

2. Firmly address him by his original legal name if he ever crosses you or behaves rudely.

3. Change your name to his original name (now that it's vacant). Make a game out of it. Musical Chairs --> "Musical Names."

4. Google his original name and see what kind of dirt you can dig up. Assume every person by that name must be Maxx. Like this: 

5. Seriously question what else you NEVER knew about Maxx, and then make a point to socialize with him over a couple of Keurigs. Get to know him more intimately. 

6. Imagine what Rachel's (his fiancé's) last name would have been had he never changed it.

7. Approach Rachel and ask her which name she would have preferred: ____ or "Raths." (No matter what she says, tell Maxx it's "Raths.")

8. Ponder how different the universe might be if Maxx had never changed his name.

9. Give Maxx suggestions for how he could use his original name now that he's switched it. (Ex. give it to his dog, use it to name his child, etc.)

10. Name your dog Maxx's original name.

11. Name your child Maxx's original name.

12. Creatively theorize why he changed it to begin with. (And I mean creatively. Government conspiracy, Russian mafia, etc. aren't out of the question.)

13. Use those creative theories to turn Maxx's story into a novel.

Have more ideas? Post them here! And keep spreading the news about what's going on, because all of these ideas will be useless unless we get to 650 likes!

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

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What's this man's original name? We get 650 likes, you get answers.

Below is a "mug" shot of the newest guy of our crew. He's finishing up school at SMSU this semester in Public Relations (+ a minor in Marketing), and helping us get out there and Lifewall some places ("Lifewall" is now a verb, by the way).

He goes by "Maxx Raths," and that is, in fact, the name on his driver's license (I checked). Maxx is a cool guy. Engaged to a great girl, involved in a great church, and has great aspirations for a great life. A solid, fairly trustworthy guy, I thought. Until I found out THIS: "Maxx Raths" has not always been his real, legal name. In fact, his first and last names were once very different.

What was his original name?

That's for us to guard, and you to like our page to find out. Because when we hit 650 likes on Facebook, we're releasing his original legal name to the entire world and beyond. Maybe the entire universe.

For those of you who know Maxx, this secret could very well shake the foundation on which your relationship with Maxx lies. But even so, consider this task an irrefutable duty to Truth (note the capital "T") itself.

650 likes, you get the name. Better get crackin'.

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

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Back to school! ...And we're excited about it. What?

I mean, I think that's what I mean.

As all the little kiddies, young adults, and everyone in-between head back to their favorite refuge this fall, we're pretty pumped to see it happen. Not because we're out of school, but because we just finished up a super amazingly cool project at Park Side Elementary in town.

If you don't know Park Side's layout very well, it has large open space as you enter -- an open space with walls. Walls that were previously pretty open. What we did was tackle six of those walls with some various artwork. You've seen one of them ("Welcome to Park Side"). Now check out the rest:

The first wall we installed was just to the right of the "Welcome to Park Side" prints. Obviously, we were hard at work right from the start:

And that hard work turned into this: 

Then we moved on. The next wall was a bit more detailed/intricate, but it fit the theme of the first one very well. Trees, children, knowledge. What's better? 

After we planted the tree, we mixed things up a bit and worked on a dry erase calendar board for the entry way. A little different from what we normally do, but still fun! 

Not missing a beat, we moved right on over to a nearby wall and began hanging this inspirational banner!

And that didn't slow us down one bit. Because WHAM,  few minutes later, we were going to town on the "Attitude Tree."

That's it! All of the actual 'wall' projects were printed on StickIt, our peel & stick fabric, and the dry erase board was put together with a peel & stick vinyl and laminate. We loved having people walk by and cheer us on/give their thoughts throughout the process. It made installation a lot more fun.

We hope the kids & students are loving it now that school has OFFICIALLY started! Happy learning!

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Behind the Camera: Jayne Salentiny Photography

So... it's been a while since we've given a shout-out to a great photographer. Since photography is sort of the life blood of what we do (you can't print too many pictures without pictures), I think it's time we get back into the swing of things with another Behind the Camera feature! 

But first, flashback. Remember these? 

If you missed them, these were some Grad Boards we made a while back for the Kruger family from Tyler, MN. They were celebrating their daughter Hannah's graduation and had some BIG ideas for how they wanted things to look. (We're continually blown by some of the ideas our customer's bring us). 

Anyway, the boards are great, but check out the pictures. Credit for those beauts (that's "beauties" in English) goes to Jayne Salentiny out in Tyler, MN.

It's obvious that Jayne loves what she does, and we loved bumping into her stuff, so let's take a look... 

...Behind the Camera w/ Jayne Salentiny 

How long have you been into photography (both professionally and personally)?
I did 2 years of schooling for photography, 1 year of photographing under another photographer, and 5 years now photographing on my own. It's kind of hard to believe its been that long.

Why did you first get into photography? Could you tell us what led you into it?
I loved painting and drawing and was always a "right" brain person. I knew I wasn't Picasso, or even close...so I decided I'd try this whole photography thing out and ended up loving it. It allowed me to capture lighting, subjects, and emotions without spending hours on a subject only to spill a big glob of paint in the wrong spot!

What are you favorite subjects to photograph (people, nature, etc.)?
I love photographing babies and children. Every session can be so different. Emotions just come natural with kids, which always gives me so much to work with. There's nothing better then to capture the wonder in a child.

If you had to choose your all-time favorite photograph (not necessarily taken by you), what would it be? 
Hmm...I'm not sure I have an all-time favorite, but my favorite photographer is Mandy Lynne Photography. (www.mandylynne.com)
Her work is always an inspiration.

Canon or Nikon?
Canon

Aside from photographing, what do you love doing? 
I love spending time with the hubby, doing home improvements (it's a love hate thing), chilln' with my basset hound, LeRoy and visiting my hilarious niece and nephew.

Favorite breakfast food? 
Homemade egg and cheese on a toasted sour dough muffin.

Name your favorite kitchen utensil or appliance. 
Though I love to cook, I would say the microwave. I have no idea how people survived without them!

What drives you as a photographer?
I would say the constant need to always keep improving and learning. Without that, I think photography would become stagnant for me. 

That's an extremely brief overview of Jayne. Did you catch her favorite things to photograph? Babies & children? If I were a photographer, I'd probably pick the same - I love babies & youngsters. Get a better taste of her style below:

It's awesome to get to know some great photographers that are right around the corner, and we can't wait to see some more of her work come our way. Jayne's work very well captures some heart-melting emotions, unforgettable moments, and valuable people - exactly the kind of pictures we love to print. Click around to see some more of her work and to learn more about Jayne's services!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jayne-Salentiny-Photography/122306577850435
Website: http://www.jaynesalentiny.com/

That's that! If you liked what you saw/read, shoot Jayne a comment under this post!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

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New Life to Old Memories: Some of our Favorite Photo Restoration Projects

Maybe it's the nerd in me, but I'm so excited about this post. Over the past few months, we've had the privilege of putting lives on the wall in a really cool way: by bringing new life to photos that tell some valuable stories.

I'm not talking about 'old' vacation pics on your computer from 5 years ago, and I'm not talking about printing on the same material at the same size. I'm talking about scanning, fixing up, enhancing, and reproducing aged, damaged photos in a BIG way.

How old and how big? Glad you asked, because I'd love to show you just a little bit of what we've done.

Lyon County Historical Society

If you haven't been to the new Lyon County Museum, do yourself a favor and check it out. Not just because our work is there, but because there's some incredible history ready to be rediscovered. Right now, the early healthcare in the county is being highlighted, with the help of several 6-foot-tall panels designed, printed, and installed by us. (Content of the panels was provided by Jennifer Andries.)

The first panel you'll see when entering the exhibit. 

For just about all of the panels, we scanned, enhanced, and enlarged a series of photographs several decades old. They included doctor notes, staff portraits, building pictures, and much more. By scanning them at a high DPI, we were able to preserve the detail of the images incredibly well, allowing us to blow up even an 8"x10" (approx.) photo to 12 FEET wide.

An 8"x10" photo before we edited & enhanced it. Note the scratches & creasing. 

The print-ready digital file, removed of major flaws. 

The 12-foot-wide finished product, on display! 

WWII Submarine Print 

This one was brought to us by Tom Geske of Marshall, and initially, we didn't have much hope for it. It's an old print of a submarine he purchased a while back. It had been folded up and stored for quite some time, so it had significant creases in it. To make it harder, we didn't have a flatbed scanner capable of scanning it. 

But, with a digital camera and some quality time with Photoshop, we managed to not only enhance the image, but remove nearly all the creases and fix it up quite a bit. In the end, it was reproduced into a 48"x36" stretched canvas print, ready to be displayed & enjoyed. 

The print in its original state, creased and faded. 

 The print-ready image, edited & enhanced.

The finished canvas print.

Family Memory Lifewall Canvas

C.J. Molitor has a great family with some great memories, and we had a great time putting together a canvas collage (Lifewall Canvas) featuring just a handful of those memories. This finished print wasn't that large itself, but it did entail enhancing quite a few photos. Here are just a couple of them. 

KirPatrick's Pub & Grill

Aside from all of these, we've had a few other projects involving reproducing old photos. KirtPatrick's Pub & Grill in Balaton, MN ordered this series of canvas prints, plus a few more not pictured. All offer a taste of Balaton history.

Here are just a few of the prints we reproduced for KirPatrick's.

....More to Come!

We're already in talks with multiple business interested in bringing their stories to life. Stay tuned for more to come! 

If you're interested in getting a print restored & reproduced, stop by, give us a call, email us, or submit a form online. We absolutely love helping people and places tell the stories of how they came to be, and reminding them of the history they have yet to make.

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Happy Birthday to Us!

Hard to believe, but Lifewall's been printing some awesome stuff at 212 W. College Drive for a full YEAR now!

It's been challenging, fun, transforming, and SO enlightening.

We're celebrating with 10% discount on everything online and in-store, just from June 7th - June 14th. 

Throughout the past year, we've had the opportunity to do some cool stuff, and even some bigger projects. Like... 

Caldo Italian Kitchen

SMSU

Ralco Technology Campus

Crazy things are bound to happen this next year, and we hope you stick around to watch it all happen with us! Stay tuned to Facebook, yourlifewall.com, and here for more updates to come. 

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