A quick update

It's been hard for me to focus on any crafting right now because my little cousin has been fighting off a rare form of cancer. I've been spending my time in a meditative state of prayer for her and my family but today will be a hard day. We'll all be at the hospital today for her big surgery, without this she has no chance but with it she has a 50/50 shot and if she can pull through she has a 50/50 shot of waking back up from the surgery too. Its going to be one long hard day for all of us since it will start at 7am and go to about 8pm.
Any prayers said for Delaney are appreciated, I hope I can have a happy update as I am trying to see her glass half full to perpetuate positive calming thoughts her way.

Take care,
B~

PSC: Guilded Floral Love

Another cute card courtesy of Project Scrap Cleanup. Unfortunatly I can't exactly say where all the elements on this card come from, the only one I know for sure is the SU! Stampin' Wheel I used with the Early Espresso flourish. "Love" stamp is a clear one that for some stupid reason when I first started I thew away the packaging for :/

Until next time,

PSC: Satin & Lace

It felt good to be able to sit down today and just create. I've loved seeing this type of ribbon on other's cards so I decided today would be the day for me to try it out, I had also picked up a bit of lace a few days back so I was excited to use that as well. 


What I used on this card:

• Paper: Kraft (generic), Floral (unknown), Blue (DCWV: Be Mine)
• Ribbon (unknown)
• Flowers: Prima
• Stamps: Baroque Motifs (SU!), Studio G
• Ink: Frayed Burlap, Faded Jeans (TH Distress), Night of Navy (SU!)
• Glue: Sticky Strip (SU!), Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!), ATG (3m)

Thanks for checking in,

PSC: Valentine Card

Even though I've made quite a few cards in my Project Scrap Cleanup, I've barely made a dent in my piles :(...this is going to take quite a bit of time to accomplish. I will press forward though and once I've dwindled it down I will start to kill off my neglected paper stacks so I can bring in some cute new papers to play with.


So for this card I used:

• Tag (K&Co)
• Stamps: Hero Arts mini alphabet, French Foliage (SU!)
• Paper: White Cardstock (SU!), Green (DCWV stack), Flower (unknown paper sheet)
• Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive (SU!), Tattered Rose (TH Distress)
• Marker: Daffodil Delight (SU!)

Have an inspired day,

Closet Curtain

So today was a day of lots of projects since my hubby had the day off. One of them was sewing the curtain cover for my closet with the fabric I showed off a couple posts ago with my revamped room. I'm pretty happy with the results and just had to share!

The lighting is the best at this late of night but you get the idea.  Now looking at this picture I think its time to find that tiny cross a new home. When we moved in there was nail left there and that was the first thing to come out of our first "bedroom" box we unpacked so it just went up and stayed there. I think I need to come up with something different for up there, maybe a cool Vinyl saying or something.

So thats pretty much it, just wanted to give a quick update to show off the use of that fabric, tomorrow my MIL will make our decorative shower curtain so I'll take pics of that to show some other cool cheap fixes we did today in there.


Later,

Mod Podge Medicine Bottles

I always thought these old medicine bottles had potential so I kept hangin on to em even though I wasn't totally into their design but now that I've learned how to use Mod Podge...its like a whole new world of possibilities have opened up to me!

This was Slavic's favorite because 1 it was a vintage car and 2 I made it look dimensional  by placing the grill over one of the edges. I totally did that on purpose too...not really but nobody needs to really know that right?

This is the back side of the bottle above with a cute airplane on it

So for my first adventures into Decoupaging I'd say it was a success! I really had fun and loved the results, I think I'll do a little bit more tomorrow and maybe spruce up a bland mirror.


What I used in this project:

• Various size/shapes antique glass medicine bottles
• Mod Podge with a Sponge Brush
• Paper: Mariposa paper (DSWV), Flowers from a back that lost its cover but I think it might be K&Co, Vintage Images from a massive paper pack (maker unknown)
• Marker: Daffodil Delight (SU!)
• Ink: Frayed Burlap (TH Distress

Thanks for lookin,

Earthy Bathroom

So this was the project that started it all, the bathroom.  I haven't hung up the art piece in here yet or reattached the towel rack but that's a job for another day. This is good progress though for our bathroom, eventually we will change the floors and counters but for now a fresh coat of paint has done wonders.

Our walls are in a mystery earthy "craigslist" green while the trim matches the taupe on our bedroom walls. I must say I love how this turned out and I really love that I was able to do it myself, I only needed help moving the heavier furniture but over all this project was all me. Now I need to still figure out if I want to stencil a boarder or not but I think I'll wait a bit to do that and get some crafting done first.

Toodles,

Tada my freshly painted Bedroom

So here is our freshly painted and newly rearranged bedroom.  The ceiling is in an Eggshell, the walls are a nice warm Taupe and the trims/baseboards are in a soft Green.

Our room felt pretty cramped before with just too much in here so when i went to paint that left wall I moved our dresser to the foot of the bed to get it out of the way but I liked the look of it there so that was what inspired the rearranging of the room. I was initially just going to paint and do nothing else but....once I get started I just run with it.

I haven't put the curtains up yet, I'll leave that for Slavic to do, I've done everything else :). His one complaint about the room was that I didn't paint the vent Taupe, he wanted it to blend and not be noticed.

This dresser used to hold the mirror that is now on the vanity so I decided to decorate the dresser with some of my antique books and the little chest. I also swiped the 2 candle holders from the bathroom which was framed the whole thing rather nicely.

This is a cute space but I've never really done much with it other then putting all of my books in a nice neat row. This time I wanted to let more of the light through from the little window that sits behind all of these.

I saved a few of the bottles from the Trader Joe's Sparkling Pink Lemonade but had no use for them, I'm happy to report they now have a purpose. Those little balls up there are a couple of my glass Christmas ornaments too.  

So I think I'm going to do a little Mod Podge project with those Lemonade glasses. In the morning the sun rises though that window and having the glass up there really lets through a lot of light as well as some sparkle.

There is my pup Cheba, I wouldn't let her make a mess of her pillow on the floor so she jumped onto my bed to get comfy.

Okay check out my ugly white closet doors and now look at all of that pretty double sided fabric. Since we've moved into this house a few years back we've wanted to somehow hide those doors and now that we've put our bed right in front of them we really want them gone. Our idea is to make 3 large curtains to hang above the doors to cover them up but still give full access to the closet.

Let me share with you the MAJOR deal I scored on this fabric. I'm sure quite a few of you are aware of the 50% off fabric sale going on on Joann's right now, well I thought I'd head down there with my MIL and see if we could find something to go with our new wall color. Luba was a bit put off by the $39.00 price tag on many of the fabrics but then we found the Red Tag area and this lovely fabric (regularly $30.99 p/yard) was residing there at the low low price of $6.00 a yard! Luba loved that price since that kept me under the budget I set for this project but due to the 1/2 off sale we ended up scoring this fabric for $3.00 a yard!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes we got this fabric for 90% off, can you believe it?!? Luba was in total shock and kept giggling so we just bought the rest of the bolt because at that price how can you not?
So in total we got 12 yards of fabric, leaving us with 5 yards extra that will now be used to make a decorative shower curtain (we have the ugly silver and glass enclosure now) that will run floor to ceiling, matching mini Curtain in the bathroom and maybe a Valance to dress up our bedroom Curtains.

So if anyone wants to score on some fabric, hit up J's and take a look at the Red Tag sections to score the majorly sweet deals!

Thanks for stopping by,

 p.s. Painting was just what my sickly body needed, I casted those vile viruses out :D

Painting Update

Okay so I tried to use my cellphone to work mobile blogger but that was unsuccessful so I'm just doing a regular post.

Here are two quick pics via my camera phone so the color isnt all that great. I'll take good pics once my painting is all complete.

The bathroom is a pretty earthy green and the walls of the bedroom are a rich taupe. Eventually I'll paint the doors in a shade of chocolate but I haven't decided if I'd like a 58%, 65% or a 78% yet (sorry geeky culinary humor alert!) so till I decide they'll just stay white.

Still sick :(

Its hard to get me sick but once I am it sticks around. I've been dying to create but cant be in the loft so what is a girl to do....well I came up the a rather brilliant idea on how to cure myself and accomplish something at the same time. Yesterday I set out to paint my Master Bath, figuring good physical labor will help cast these demons from my body, today I'm still coughing so maybe a bit more painting will help. I just have to paint our baseboards and decided if I want to stencil a boarder up on the walls and then that is done...well then I have to paint the door. Oh but now that I've painted our bathroom I think I need to paint my bedroom too, surely this will cast out the evil and vile Musinex looking creature from my chest!

Anyways the real thing I wanted to share was the cost for this project, my grand total as of right now is $0.00!!!! I don't think I will need to buy any supplies for painting my bedroom either so it should all go down for a total cost of $0.00! How you ask? Did I already have the paint before?

The paint I just got maybe a couple of weeks ago but I got it for free using the great and wondrous thing called Craigslist! See there is a company that cleans out foreclosed homes and constructions sites, they have gallons but figure they cant resell them so they give them away for free. Since Sacramento has lots of new construction going on there is lots of left over paint so they also had 5 gal buckets and that is what me and Slavic went and found one day. We got 4 colors each in a 5 gal bucket, I've already modified 1 shade by adding white to it to create the perfect honey color for our bedroom. That bucket of white was left in our house when we moved in so that was free too. I already had brushes and rollers so that has made this an awesomely cheap project.

So if any of you are looking to save cash, give the "Free" section of Craigslist a gander, its amazing what you can find there because someones trash can always be another's treasure with the right frame of mind.

I'll post pics of my bathroom when I finish it tonight

I (Heart) You!!!

Sorry the lighting is totally horrible on this card, I blame the cat! Prior to taking pics using my desk as my background I used the kitchen island to do my pics but usually my nosy little kitty wake up and decide to play with my cards or background. Anyways, I love making my own card backgrounds and here is a perfect example of me doing what I love. This has to be one of my favorite and hands down most used stamp sets (French Foliage) since I first layed my hands on it back in Oct. I love the small block of script, the vainy faded tipped leaf and the water/paint splotches...this is a all around perfect stamp set in my eyes. I mean I use this thing religiously, how could one not?!?

...deep breath, okay enough of the love ballad to a stamp set here is what I used:

• Stamps: French Foliage (SU!), Mini Wood Block Alphabet (Hero Arts), Frames with a Flourish (SU!)
• Inks: Early Espresso, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler (SU!-Classics)
• I embossed the heart with gold but I'm not sure who or where that powder came from.

Thanks for looking,

ps. want to meet the kitty I was talking about?

That is Mirepoix (pronounced Meeer-pwaw), notice what has little bum just landed on, can you see it?

If you can't I'll tell you, its this card! I guess he thought it would make for a great chair while he ate his dinner. 

Re-Purposing of a Tea Crate

My MIL got me this cool glass tea pot with flowering teas for christmas but I must say when I first unwrapped the gift my first thought was what a cool storage crate this will make on my new desk! I love flowering teas so this was an all around perfect gift and the fact that I got a cool new container, shredded fluff and pretty cardboard was like 5 gifts in one :D....yes I was excited when I found well formed corrugated cardboard under all of that fluff, I'm easy to please.

So here is what I did:

Take one tea crate and carefully un-stick the paper logo stuff. This had glue dots on it that hung on for dear life!

One the bog was free of the paper I was left with shredded fluff, I stuffed this into a ziplock for later use. I never imagined when I started this craft that it was as "eco-friendly" as it is. I re-purpose stuff like crazy now!

Next I started to stamp. I used wood blocks and clear stamps on this box. I really didn't have much of a theme I just started going for it, figuring it would probably turn out perfect in the end. I did discover that using Early Espresso wasn't dark enough to really show up and that I actually had a use for black ink after all.

Since I had already stamped lots of things onto the box in Early Espresso I just went and stamped over some with the Basic Black and with others I off set the stamp to create a layering affect on it the image. I like the was it turned out with the 2 colors, gave it a old burned wood kinda feel to it.

I added a little bling to it to make the flowers pop a bit more, I like it so far but I think the box as a whole needs something else so for now its just a work in progress until I figure out what that thing is. 

Here is where I will store my ink overflow and clear stamp overflow for the time being.

What I used on this project:

• 1 Numi flowering tea create
• Early Espresso and Basic Black (SU!)
• Stamps: French Foliage (SU!),  Cantaria (Prima), Vintage Stamps in Liberty and Paris (Hero Arts), and some various other stamps that I do not know the names to.

Thanks for looking,

Fighting my way back from the dead

So last weekend I held 2 open houses and both of those houses were REO's (foreclosures) so they hadn't been heated in awhile. So for 4 hours at each open house is sat/stood/ and mingled in 52°f  temps but I thought ahead and had layers on. Sadly wed night right after my fun bbq dinner party I got a chill but then that chill turned into a shake and when my back shivers bad things happen. Now its Sat and I feel a little better, got a cough (which is aggravating the back & neck injury) that feels deeply rooted but at least there is no arthritis pain today, THANK GOD!!!!!

So whilst in a fever stuper I to tidy up my picture files on my computer and came across a couple cards I never posted. That makes me happy because I've been quarantined to my room or the living room, I cannot go anywhere near the loft for fear of getting Babushka sick (she's 89 and we don't want to chance it) so that kills craft time. Enough with the ramble check out this card...

This card was a collaboration piece with my friend Tracy for a class we taught together.

What we used on this card:

• Paper: Whisper White (SU!)
• Cardboard 
• Stamps: Vague Vintage, French Foliage, Frames with a Flourish (all SU!)
• Ink: Rich Razzelberry, More Mustard, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Soft Suede (SU!)
• Stickles: Cinnamon
• Big Shot with Sizzix Alphabet (name unknown)

Thanks for visiting,

PSC: Quickie

Here is a quick card I put together with a piece of scrap kraft. I have been dying to use this super cute folksy looking stamp since I got it for Christmas, I'm in love, what about you?

What I used on this card:

• Paper: Scrap of Kraft 3.5" x 3.5", Mini White Scrap
• Ink Antique Linen (TH Distress Inks)
• Stamps: Day of Gratitude (SU!), St. Patricks Day set(Studio G)
• Snaps (Making Memories)
• Embossing Powder in Lavander (Zing by American Crafts)

Thanks for lookin,

Sketch Challenge

This card is for the OWH S&S Sunday Sketch challenge #50.

This is also part of my PSC mission as well.

What I used on this card:

Paper: Kraft (generic), Patterned blue (DCWV)

Stamps: Flower (Memory Box), Baroque Motifs (SU!), Simple Sentiments (SU! Exclusive Hostess Set), Ancient Motifs (Hero Arts)

Boarder Punch (SU!)

Snaps (Making Memories)

Chalk (Inkadinkado)

Ink: Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen (TH Distress), Bronze (Cat's Eyes), Basic Black (SU!)

Fibers (unknown)

Thanks for stoppin' in,

The Story of my Bone Folder

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I would tell you all the story of my Bone Folder so I thought today would be a fun day to share that story since I finally remembered to take a picture of it. So behold my Bone Folder!

I little funky looking huh? Thats because unlike the bone folders that many of you have this one is made from actual bone and not plastic. 

Take a trip back with me to last year, late spring/early summer...my living room.

I've just started making cards and realized that I need a bone folder so I tell Slav that I was going to run out to go get one but he popped his head out of the other room and asked "Bone what?"

So I pulled up a picture of the little tool, explained what it was and was about to head out on my way when he asked why it was made of plastic and not bone. I said I dunno but I gotta run out now so I can make it before the store closes. About this time one of my dog gets up on the couch and flops down to chew on its toy. All of a sudden Slav is yelling don't leave yet and give me 30 min. I asked why and he said it was a surprise and dashed into the garage.

So I went about some project I was working not thinking much of it until I smelled a very strange smell. In about 45 min Slav was back in the living room asking me to close my eyes and open my hand.

I opened my eyes to that little tool and asked, Honey where did this come from?

Right then the dog on the couch started trying to snatch my little tool by ever so quietly creeping onto my lap.

Slav had snatched the dog bone and used his dremel to cut, shape and buff out this tool. 

For about the next 3 months or so I had to make sure I didn't leave this thing lying around because the dogs tried to snag it at any chance they got. 

This tool is great, its strong, soft and it actually has an edge to it so I could use it as a not so sharp knife but if Slav had his way it'd be sharp enough to split atoms :p.

I love my wonderful husband in all his cheap silly glory.

Hope you liked the story,

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I pray that this year will bring all of us everything we need and maybe bless us with a few of the things that we want too.

Take care,