My Husband's Study Reno

What sold my husband on this house was the idea of his study, located on the main floor and a very nice space just for him.  While I have been busy this last year taking on one room at a time and making it specific to our style, I saved his study for one of the last to conquer.  This space has 10 foot ceilings and I fear heights, YIKES!!!  Nevertheless, it had to be faced sooner or later and I couldn't keep ignoring it.



My original plan was to start on Wednesday and have it finished on Friday.  Three days, no problem, I have done this lots.  I was wrong...

I started steaming the wallpaper off, as I have done many times before, and it would not come off.  While I struggled to remove this paper, I learned that it was not a prepasted wallpaper, therefore it had been pasted on.  Eventually the wallpaper was removed, but it came off with pieces of the drywall and left a glue residue on the walls.  I was left with a messy, uneven surface.  I knew I had to sand down the wall, and "resurface" the wall.  

After days of sanding, mudding, sanding, patching, sanding, I finally had new walls.  Next was the primer and finally the paint.  YAY!!!

I loved how the colors turned out, I had the swatches hanging on the wall for 6 months, lol.

And most importantly, he LOVES it!  I notice that he keeps going in and just looking and admiring, awwwwwww!  









Happy Mother's Day

I always love an excuse to make cards for the ones I love and Mother's Day is my favorite holiday for this.  This is a time I get to express how much I love these beautiful women in my life through my craft. 

So, yesterday afternoon I sat down and started, I never know where my creativity will take me, I just dive in and start.  With much surprise, I came up with some beauties right away and fell in love with them and couldn't stop after I had started (as usual).  I also believe the messier my studio becomes during the processs the better the project turns out.  And yes, now the studio is "missing", the floor is cluttered, the table is under a pile of papers, chipboard pieces, ribbon, etc, lol!  My husband never thinks this is as funny as I do, but he is very patient with my creativity, Love You Honey!

Please enjoy!

To all the Mother's out there, please have a very happy Mother's Day!

We Flew The Friendly Skies

As a flight attendant for United Airlines, I met some amazing people, and to this day I still keep in contact with many.  Especially my dear friend Bryanna, I met Bryanna just before our training started in Chicago.  She was living in Ohio and I in Iowa, both preparing for our move to the Windy City.  We were both nervous and extremely excited for our future in this new career we had chosen.  Now fast forward 14 years, neither of us are with United Airlines, but still share many of the same interests, our children and art. 

We hadn't seen each other for nearly 8 years, and the opportunity came up this past week for her to visit us here with her family.   They arrived Monday evening and she and I stayed up talking into the morning hours.  It was great to catch up with her.  She is such a lovely person!

The next morning we took our sons to the park, each are three years old.

They too share the same interests, trains, cars, and planes.  Each had a great time sharing and playing with each other's toys. 

Bryanna brought me same wonderful goodies.  She makes these amazing button bracelets and cuffs, BEAUTIFUL!  Check out her blog, The Canary's Cupcake, cute title, huh?!?  And on top of these precious gifts, she bestowed upon me her scrapbooking items.  An amazing collection, I can't wait to jump in and get my hands dirty, tee hee!

After the park, she taught me how to make these gorgeous flowers, great for scrapbooking, cards, headbands, etc.  I also inherited some of her stash to get started.

Before they arrived, I too wanted to gift her with items I had made.  I didn't have a lot of time but this is what I came up with. 

I painted these with chalkboard paint and used an enamel paint marker to identify each terra cotta pot.  I was very happy how these turned out.  It is a great idea for Mother's Day.  The kids could use actual chalk and decorate the outsides and varnish to preserve. 

I didn't want to leave her son out, and this is what I made for him.

A mini album made from coasters, the ones you find in the chain resteraunts, usually the steak houses.

Thank you for letting me share with you my week thus far.  It has been fun!  We are off to Iowa this weekend to see some of our favorite mothers and spend some time at the cemetary.  May every one of you have a fantastic Mother's Day weekend!



 

What Is A Girl To Do...

I found myself with a lot of free time this past weekend.  My husband was busy working on a project for his job and the kiddos wanted to be outside, it was close to 90 degrees here and they were loving it.  So I took this time to myself and made the absolute most of it! 

With spring as my inspiration, I created my own vintage floral beauties.  My obsession with these started by my ever-growing scrap pile.  You know that pile, the scraps we can't throw away because we are "scrap"bookers and that is a big "no-no".  But at times, it does seem we continually pull from our new pretty papers and forget about our ol' faithfuls in that box.

So, I dove right into that scrap pile and this is what I came up with Friday evening.

I was very happy with what "bloomed" in my studio, now I couldn't stop. 

Saturday bloomed with these.

More neutral, but just as pretty.

Then came the tedious task of cutting very fragile, thin hymnal paper with the Cricut.  After many cuts and lots of patience I created these and then took a much needed break.

Now I know many of you are just like me, once your mind starts creating, it is hard to turn it off.  Needless to say, Saturday night didn't bring much sleep.  My mind was going with new ideas.  And here they are.

With the help of Ranger's Liquid Pearls and Stickles, they all "bloomed" perfectly!

What has spring inspired you to do or create?

If in fact you would like to purchase any of these for your own scrapbooking and card making needs, they are all for sale.  Feel free to contact me.  I will also be selling on Etsy soon!

Now I have a date with my little man and his Play-Doh!  Tah, Tah!

Very Proud Parents!

Another project has occupied our time here at home this week.  Our eldest had her first Science Fair at her new school which involved the third through sixth grades.  My husband and I have never attended or participated in a science fair, so this was going to be a learning experience for all.  She had an idea of comparing and measuring the flight distances of three different paper airplanes with the only difference between them would be the type of paper (copy paper, card stock, and cardboard).   Being the happy-go-lucky child she is, her excitement for the project never ended.  She never grew tired of the long hours, no complaining, and she stayed very focused on the final project.  As the end was drawing closer, we explained to her that this would be her "practice" year since none of us knew what to expect or what was expected.  Knowing that the other students had been through this year after year and had a lot more practice and knowledge of the competition, we promised her we would come out of this with lots of ideas for the next year.  She understood, but still had the dream of coming home with that First Place ribbon.

Then it was time to take the project board to school to be judged.  She marched in with her prepared board with so much confidence, while I looked around the room and noticed her board was definitely different from the others and my heart was sinking fast.  What had we done?  We made her prepare it exactly as the directions told her to.  But I had to remind myself that this was her "practice" year and she was very proud of her project and that was the most important thing.  Plus, I was so proud of the effort and time she had put into this. 

The next day was the Science Fair Open House and Award Ceremony.  Her excitement was building.  All the proud family members were there to encourage and show their support for all their young scientists.  The room was filled with smiles and eagerness to learn the results. 



Her science teacher started out by announcing the participants first then moved to the ribbon winners.  Our daughter's name hadn't been announced yet, and they were announcing Honorable Mention.  This award was a tie, surely she would be one of them.  I clinched my camera closer, and her name wasn't called for either of those.  Now it's time for the Third Place to be announced, no, it wasn't her either.  Okay, two more students left, her best friend and herself, Second place winner was... her best friend.  The only student left was our (now beaming) daughter.  Tears started building in my eyes, trying to hold them back long enough to take the picture of her award acceptance.  She had WON!!!

 I can not explain how proud we were of her, and the excitement we felt, even now, I am tearing up again just thinking of that moment.  Our daughter is the type of student who has to work extra hard to keep an above average grade, school does not come easy to her at all.  And her hard work finally paid off!  Time to celebrate!  Ice cream at Braum's!!!

And finally, here she is posing with her big Blue Ribbon!

I am very proud of the little lady you have become!  I love you Baby Girl!!!

The Formal Dining Room Makeover

I have neglected my blog recently and I apologize.  We have had a few snow days which means those days have been spent with the kiddos, we LOVE being snowed in!!!  However, I have something exciting to share with you, our new formal dining room.  Here is a before picture.

I started by stripping the wallpaper with the steamer I purchased this past summer.  There are several rooms in our home that are papered and it was a great investment.  Using a steamer is the fastest, easiest way I have found to strip wallpaper.  Trust me, I have taken off a lot of wallpaper in the past!

A deep burgundy was painted below the chair rail.  I started with 2 coats of primer, then finished with 2 coats of paint.  Little by little, I have been refinishing the woodwork throughout the home.  For the woodwork, I used 2 coats of primer and paint as well.

Are you ready to see the finished project???  Drum roll, please...

I painted the tray ceiling the same color as the walls, I loved how it turned out, it gave a lot of (much needed) dimension to the small room.

While I was in the middle of this project, my little one and I took a "field trip" to my new favorite place, Goodwill.  I try to repurpose as much as possible and well, I just love the hunt and finding treasures.  Look at what I found.

I found the pair for $4.99.  I fell in love with them right away, look at the clean lines.  Beautiful!!!

I also found a vase at Goodwill for $.99 and a candlestick holder for the same price at the Dollar General.  And with some Gorilla Glue this is what I came up with, a hurricane lamp for $2.00!

Now the wow factor, this makeover was done for around $50.00!  I already had the primer and creamy white paint for the woodwork and bottom half of the room.  I always use the same paint and primer for my woodwork in the home, it allows the rooms to flow together and is easier on the pocket book!  With taking care of your paint brushes, drop clothes, and other miscellaneous painting tools, you never have to endure those costs again.  I have had the same paint brush since 2008, and it has been used for a chocolate brown room, a steel blue room, bright purple and lime green room, and not to forget about the stark red and yellow Mickey Mouse room.  Reuse what you have and repurpose those treasures you find.

Now, your turn, take the next step to a stunning makeover in your own home!

Thanks for stopping by!

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