Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Looks like closing on our new house has been delayed until Thursday, so we will be in the hotel for a little while longer.  The girls (two little Min Pins) are getting restless with no yard to run in.  I am sure they will be happy to be able to run and play again soon. 

Here is a card I made last Christmas.

I stamped the poinsettia twice with Versamark on blue cardstock and embossed them both with silver glitter embossing powder. Next I colored them with the Pearlescent Watercolors, cut them apart and layered them with dimensionals. I used the large square and scallop Nestibilities for the mat and more of the silver glitter embossing powder on the edges of the blue mats. The Pearlescent Watercolors really added a lot of shimmer to the poinsettia… the photo just doesn’t capture it that well. Thanks for stopping by.

A Santa Christmas Card

Because the movers will be here on Wednesday to pack everything, I have not bothered to decorate for Christmas this year.  Once we get to Texas, we will be in corporate housing until after Christmas, so I won't be decorating at all this year.  Needless to say, I am feeling the need to do something Christmassy and thought I would make a card.  I purchased one of the DCWV stacks of scrapbook paper a few years ago and still haven't used it all... so all papers on this card are from that stack.

 













I'm linking up to the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge, be sure to check out all the other lovely cards. 

Thanks for stopping by.  :-)

My Kitchen Island Makeover

I actually did this makeover back during the summer and am just now posting photos... yes, I am THAT on top of things.  :-)  Back in May, The Thrifty Decor Chick posted her kitchen island makeover.  I loved that she painted her island black so her island became my inspiration. 

When I told the hubby that I planned to paint our kitchen island black, he went out and bought me an electric sander.... such a brave man. :-) I waited until he was out of town for a week to tackle the project.  I wanted to have plenty of time, just in case I totally messed it up.... you know, so I could call in the pros if I needed to.

Here are a few before photos.  Nothing really wrong with my island, I just wanted more of a piece of furniture type of look. 

Notice how there is no trim along the bottom and you can see the screws? That bugged me from the day we moved in.   The first thing I did was carefully remove the corner trim pieces so that I could reuse them.  Then I removed the door and drawers and sanded everything down (with my new electric sander) then primed with a tinted primer and painted with black Valspar paint.  I bought some trim pieces at Lowes and used a miter box to cut them to size.  It was a pretty easy project.  Here are the after photos. 

Pretty and black and no more ugly screws showing. 

I even added a small decorative wood piece to the corners.  I love how it turned out.... and now I am moving and I will miss it very much.  :-)

Thanks for visiting. 

My Studio

I am linking up with Room Remix Craft Organization and Inspiration Party.  Be sure to go check out all the inspiration.  :-)

So our house is now officially on the market... I have cleaned, decluttered, painted, rearranged, etc and quite frankly I am tired.  Since my studio is cleaner than it has ever been, I thought it would be a great time to post photos of it. 

It is just me and hubby here, so I am fortunate enough to have the upstairs to myself.  My studio consists of a game room (my studio) and a bedroom (my office) and a bathroom (so I don't have to go downstairs).  I love all the space that I have, however I don't like being upstairs away from the action.    In our new house (in Texas), my studio will be in the office right off the living room... I really think I will like that better, however I will definitely have to keep things tiddy. 

This is the view when you come up the stairs into my studio, my office is to the left.  I have two desks together in an "L" shape so I can have a friend over to play.  The two doors are a closet with lots of shelves... the shelves are very full with my supplies.  I saw the desks in Ballard Designs catalog and loved them... but I didn't love the price.  I found very similiar desks at Target for a much more budget friendly price and found the baskets at Michaels, on sale of course.

This space looks down at the front door... so I can see who is there before I go down to answer the door.  :-)  If it's a salesman, I don't waste a trip down stairs.  Seriously, this opening lets in a lot of natural light.  It would be very dark up here without that opening, and the girls (my two little Min Pin's) love to stand there and look out. 

This is the wall opposite from the desks.  To the right are the stairs.  The door in the corner is to the attic.  The shelves and small desk are from Target.

This is the view standing in the doorway of my office.  The armoire holds lots of supplies... I found it at Lowes (several years ago), unfinished and painted it white.  That's Priscilla asleep in the basket, she will be 14 years old on December 20. 

My desk, from the Christopher Lowell collection at Office Depot.  The cork board is similiar to one I saw in the Ballard Designs catalog and again the price was a bit much for my taste... so half off frame sale at Hobby Lobby plus one can of black spray paint plus a standard office corkboard that I already had and there you have it.  Same look, much less expensive.  :-)

This chest is another Target piece.  The framed art on the wall is scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby in 12x12 frames from Michaels (all on sale at half off).   The picture frame is from Hobby Lobby at half off as well, and I printed a free download from The Graphics Fairy to go inside.  I love that quote.  She has some really neat graphics on her site, you NEED to go check it out.

Another shot of the armoire and decorative things on the wall... all from Hobby Lobby. 

This is Sophia (she just turned 3 years old), she watched me take all the photos while Priscilla slept in her basket.  Thank you for visiting. 

Bird and Bird Nest Gift Tags

First of all... if you like Pottery Barn, you need to visit Get Your Martha On.  She is giving away a $25 gift certificate to Pottery Barn... what girl couldn't use that?  While you are there, be sure to check out her blog, I promise you will find many nifty ideas.

Now for my tags.... you can never go wrong with birds and bird nests.  I stamped them on ivory cardstock with chocolate ink then aged them with tea dye ink and added a little blue to the eggs.  Thanks for looking!

Christmas Tags

I haven't been posting much lately and will most likely continue to not post much through the end of December.  Reason being, we found out we will be moving to Texas at the end of December so I have been very busy with getting our house ready to go on the market... painting, cleaning, rearranging, etc.  as well as making a trip to Texas to purchase a house.  We were lucky enough to find one on our first trip there.  So much to do. 

I did find time to make some cute Christmas tags (a little sanity time for me) yesterday.  I think they would look great attached to a hostess gift, bottle of wine, baked goods, etc.  Thanks for looking.

A Cupcake Giveaway and Halloween Decor

If you like cupcakes, then you need to visit Liz over at Hoosier Homemade. She is having a giveaway today for a set of my cupcake notecards and while you are there be sure to check out all the yummy cupcake recipes.  You can even add link to your favorite cupcake recipe.  Liz has Cupcake Tuesday every Tuesday, so be sure to subscribe to her blog while you are there so you don't miss out.

I have never been one to decorate for Halloween, not sure why, just never did.  However, a few weeks ago, Carole and I were at the Dollar Tree and I saw the skulls, eyeballs and hands.  I thought for just a dollar each, what did I have to lose?  Maybe I could come up with something.  I have seen several similiar displays around blogland decided to give it a try.  The jars are from my studio, they usually hold ribbon, I just took out the ribbon and added the Dollar Tree items.  Quick and Easy.  Thank you for visiting.

Cupcakes!!!

Lots of cupcakes!  I used a Sizzix die for the cupcake, cut several times and layered together.  The icing is from glitter paper.  Thanks for looking.

Girlfriends & Everything Etsy

Here is a scrapbook page I made a while back and never posted (that's why it has my old watermark).  I love the cool pinks, blue and green together accented with black... kind of sets off the colors. 

Today a set of my cards are featured over on Everything Etsy... how cool is that?  Every Wednesday, Kim has a link up for Wow Wednesday where Etsy sellers can post links to their specials.  Be sure to go by and check out all the fabulous deals and if you have an Etsy shop, be sure to add a link to your special.

Thanks for visiting me today!

Halloween - Witch Cards & Tags

A few more Halloween cards and tags.  These are so fun to make.  Love the spooky eyes behind the witch.  Thanks for looking.

More Fleur de leis Cards

I really like this Fleur de leis stamp, it just looks so classy to me.  I thought I would try it in other colors... two of my favorites... pink and green.  Thanks for looking.

Christmas Tags

I made several different Christmas tags this week.  Always good to have on hand and I just love the vintage feel.  I stamped them on white cardstock, then used tea dye ink to give them an aged look and added glitter to the snowflakes and stars.  Thanks for looking!

Fleur de leis Cards

I love the crisp clean look of black and white... I also love the look of a fleur de leis... so I put them together for this card.  Linking up with Twice Remembered for Make Your Monday... go check out all the other great projects. Thanks for looking!

Haunted House Card

I found this stamp in my supplies yesterday... a nice little surprise.  I completely forgot I had it, and it had never been used.  I must have purchased it on sale last year after Halloween.  Anyway, I decided I had to use it immediately and made this quick little 3x3 card with a matching envelope.  Thanks for looking.

Halloween Tags

Today I made several sets of Halloween tags.  These are so fun to make and a great way to use up scrap paper.  I am linking up with Twice Remembered for Make Your Monday... go check out all the other great projects.  Thanks for looking!