I've got an organized mess

Another Sale-a-Bration is behind us...so sad it went by so fast! A big thanks to everyone who placed orders with me or attended one of my classes during SAB...it sure was fun and I appreciate it! I drew a name from those who placed orders for the Everyday Enchantment Note Pad Set and Mary was the lucky winner! I hope to have that mailed out to you in the next couple days Mary, but as I said in my email to you I'm hoping to be able to find my tools & supplies needed to personalize your set. I'm in the middle of my Rubber Room Renovation! and there are boxes of stuff EVERYWHERE!!!

I really did try to plan and keep a small space open with my most used tools available so I could stamp if I needed to BUT...where did all this stuff come from!? I think I may have been only a few packs of paper short of being on an episode of Hoarders!

I think I need a bigger box! I didn't think I had that much ribbon!? (shhh...I also have a whole other large bin hidden away) Look at this unorganized mess I found...I don't know who could have done this???

At least I didn't find any long lost pets under any of my piles of stuff! (Hey, I saw it on an episode of Hoarders...so I'm not that bad!) I intend to make much better use of this 2 drawer cabinet once I put my room back together. (where have I heard that before?) These drawers held mostly painting supplies, (and whatever else I could cram in there) which are now better organized on a shelf in my utility room. Don't worry...I had help packing up my room...

I think Stevie had to jump inside every box I tried to fill...here I even started to pile paper in on top of him, and he didn't seem to mind. (I guess he missed that episode of  Hoarders I mentioned above!)

"Why do you have so much stuff!?", is what he was asking me in this photo. Hmmm...I asked myself the same thing!

Besides Stevie, I actually had some real help. Thanks to my wonderful hubby, the ugly carpet is now outta there! (Along with all the heavy furniture.) He even removed all the trim for me. (The previous owner had the room painted turquoise.) By the window I tested out my paint colors...Certainly Celery on the walls and Pool party for my peg board.

The room looks so much better without that nasty carpet! Here's another view, looking towards the closet.

Yesterday I put two coats of bright white on my ceiling, painted my peg board in Pool Party, and painted some of the trim in a glossy white. I'm so glad to be done with the ceiling...that has to be one of my least favorite things to do. It's such a killer on the neck, not to mention paint splatters all over face & hair...and trust me, I don't need any more white hair! Today I'm on to the walls, and I think Certainly Celery will look so much nicer in my hair than the white ceiling paint did!

Vintage Thanks

Today is the last day of SAB! WOW, that went fast! But don't worry, f you get your order in with me by the end of the day today you can still be included in my personalized note set giveaway. You could then choose the beautiful Everyday Enchantment papers and the Kindness Matters set (both used below) for free.

I inked up my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder with Crumb Cake and then ran the Very Vanilla card stock through the Big Shot...gives a more vintage feel.

I made the little paper flower by punching out 3 flowers using the Boho Blossoms punch, and then just kind of twisted & mangled them, for lack of better description,  and layered them together.

I've been making pretty good progress on my rubber room renovation. What a HUGE job it was emptying out my room! That part is all done, and painting comes next! So for a while I won't have very many stamping projects to share.

Have a great weekend!

There's no turning back now!

Guess what project I started on Tuesday? I am re-doing my stampin' space! Not just re-organizing, but I'm finally going to paint and get new carpet! When we moved into our home 16 years ago, the entire house needed to be painted...which we did before we moved in. To keep it simple, we went with a blah, off white in every room. At the time I was a decorative painter who sold my wood crafts at craft shows and consignment shops, so I used my room for that. Like I said, it was painted quickly in Blah Off White (I'm pretty sure that was the paint chip color! ;-) and the horrible brown & gold carpet was left as my room was filled with supplies.

Not too long after moving in I knocked over a container of Black Magic India Ink while working on a calligraphy project. It fell onto the floor and messed up the "beautiful carpet" I described above. Remember in the story The Cat in the Hat where they tried to clean up a spot and it just kept getter bigger? That's what happened when I tried to clean up the ink stain on my carpet. So I had to let it stay and put a throw rug over it. Here's a look at my dirty little secret.

It will be so nice to get rid of that carpet and the throw rug I always trip over! I already picked out my wall color...it will be a little lighter than Certainly Celery, and it certainly will make the room brighter and more inspiring! If you want to take a "tour" of how my room looked before, check out these posts. My room looks basically the same, only picture more tools & supplies out growing my present storage solutions, (amazing how that happens!) thus creating more clutter than shown in the last photos.

With the addition of pretty color on the wall and new carpet on the floor, I hope to also create better storage, have a space where a friend can join me to stamp in my room (instead of dragging out all my supplies to adjoining room) and I also plan to add a Big Shot work station...which is now in the room right outside my stamping space.

So far I've cleaned out a lot of my supplies, picked out and tested paint samples and gotten rid of some stuff. Tomorrow my husband has the day off, so I hope to be ready to move out the big pieces of furniture and be ready to paint the ceiling.

Funny thing...back in June of 2010 when I last shared my stampin' space here, this is how I ended my tour: "Next time I share my stampin' space with you I hope it's because I got ambitious enough to haul everything out of there to paint and replace the hideous carpet!"

That time has come...and there's no turning back!

Fresh Vintage Calypso

Here's a fairly quick and easy card we did at my free Sale-a-Bration class last month, but I forgot to share here. It uses several different items available during SAB...which ends this Saturday the 31st.

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (FREE) & Three Little Words
Card stock: Calypso Coral, Pool Party (both FREE In Color Card stock Pack) Very Vanilla & Everyday Enchantment DSP (FREE)
Ink: Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party & Crumb Cake
Accessories: Designer Frames Embossing Folder (FREE) Framed Tulip EF, Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad Pack (FREE), Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch

Several of the items used above will not be available again after Sale-a-Bration ends, so don't miss out! If you place your order with me, I will register you in my drawing to win the personalized note set shown here.

Fresh Vintage Note Case Giveaway

I cannot believe that there is only one week left of Sale-a-Bration! My absolute favorite SAB item this year would have to be the Everyday Enchantment papers! Love {love} LOVE them! Of course the coordinating stamp set Fresh Vintage is a favorite as well. I used both of those along with the Loving Thoughts set from the Occasions Mini to create this pretty, and very useful, notebook set. I will be giving this set away to a lucky winner! Read on for all the details...

This is one of Stampin' Ups! clear mount stamp cases decorated to hold a matching pen and note pad. Use it to jot down your wish list, draw up sketches or write down ideas for future projects.

Then keep your notes, coupons, etc... in the handy inside pocket.

Now you may be asking how can I win this? Everyone who places their SAB order with me this week (March 24-31st) will be entered in a drawing to receive this. (The winner will have their correct initial on it...so don't worry...your name doesn't have to begin with an "L" to enter. ;-) Each $50 SAB order will receive 1 entry. If your order totals $150 or more...you will also receive one as an extra hostess gift from me (along with your other Hostess Rewards).

Place your order by contacting me today or visit my online store. Hurry...there's only one week left to place your SAB order! I'll announce the winner here on April 1st.

Have a great weekend!

Enchanted Butterfly Post it Notes

This project was inspired by Angie at Chic 'n Scratch. After seeing her idea on Pinterest, I couldn't wait to make some of these cute post it holders using the Two Tags Die .

They are perfect size to keep in your purse or handy in the car. I decorated them with DSP from the Everyday Enchantment pack (as you can see, I just cannot stop using these pretty prints!) and the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet.

I made grommets using  1/4" & 1/8" Circle Punches and then covered them with Crystal Effects to make them look like they have a shiny, epoxy finish. The easiest way to do this is to first glue the grommet in place, then cover with Crystal Effects being careful not to go off the edge. You will need to set these aside for at least an hour to dry before adding the ribbon.

Have a great day!

Enchanted Kindness Matters

Kindness Matters is such a pretty little set...I'm glad it is one of the free sets during SAB. This is my first time using it, but I'm sure I'll be grabbing this one often.

This card has lots of texture. I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder over the Everyday Enchantment DSP...but first I stamped the cute doily border along the edge of the Calypso Coral print using Early Espresso Ink.

Don't you love the Designer Frame embossed inside one of the Label Framelits? I've seen several others do this and I was delighted to see how great it fit and couldn't wait to try it myself! I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up both the center butterfly and the frame. Here's a closer look.

For embellishments I added a few Basic Pearls and layered some Calypso Coral Organdy over Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon.

I cannot beleive there is already less than 2 weeks left of Sale-a-Bration! If you like this card, most of the items used here are available as free choices with your SAB order:

• Kindness Matters stamp set (127723)
• Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper (126154)
• Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad Pack (127279)
• Designer Frames Embossing Folders (127709)

Visit my online store or contact me to place your SAB order today. Thanks for visiting today!

Regal Indigo Pear Thanks

I want to start off todays post by saying thank you for the recent comments here on my blog. I've been having a real problem lately with spam comments, so it's nice to receive some legitimate comments. I've played with a few settings. so hopefully it will help a bit without having to add word verification moderation. I don't know about you...but sometimes those are really hard to read!

Here's a card with a color combo I've never used before. I had some scraps sitting in my work area and thought they looked good together and came up with this.

Like the title says, I used Regal Rose, Pear Pizzazz & Island Indigo...makes for a cheery, spring like color combo, don't you think? The flower image from Mixed Bunch was first inked in Baja Breeze and then rolled in Island Indigo along the edges of the stamp. The "Thanks" sentiment is from Kindness Matters...which is a FREE selection during SAB.

Thanks for visting me today!

Enchanted Cupcakes

A while back I shared this card and it received some nice comments both here and from friends seeing it on my display board, so I decided to try it in some other color combos for my Birthday Card Class.

This one uses the Everyday Enchantment paper with a Pear Pizzazz base and Calypso Coral flowers. This next one is a masculine version using paper from the Brights Print stack of DSP.

The base for this one is Daffodil Delight. Here is a look at all three cards that the group made at my Birthday Card Class.

The first card was my original inspiration card made using the now retired Spice Cake papers with a Peach Parfait base. The stamp used here is from the Hostess Set called Happiest Birthday Wishes.

Have a great day!

Just Believe Sunset

Unfortunately I had to take a break from my scrapbooking projects to make a sympathy card for a friend. It seems like the Just Believe set is one of my go to sets when creating a sympathy card. I thought it would look nice and peaceful to have a pretty sunset as the background...I really love the way this turned out. I hope it brings my friend some comfort.

I sponged on several different shades of Classic Ink onto my Whisper White card stock to create this background. First, was Daffodil Delight sponged inside of a circle I cut out of a post it note. Then I removed the post it mask and covered the yellow circle I had just sponged with a circle the same size - also punched from a post it. Then I sponged the sky surrounding the sun with Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum, Regal Rose, Marina Mist and a bit of Always Artichoke as it got to the bottom, grassy area. After it was good and dry, I used my Embossing Buddy on top and then inked the image with VersaMark and heat embossed with Black EP.

The sentiment is from the new set Loving Thoughts available in the Occasions Mini. That was also embossed in black. Here's the complete recipe...

Stamps: Just Believe & Loving Thoughts
Card stock: Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Basic Gray & Whisper White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum, Regal Rose, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke & VersaMark
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Basic Rhinestones, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Edgelits Dies, Adorning Accents Embossing Folders, Perfect Details Texturz Plate & Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die

Thanks for stopping by...have a wonderful weekend!

More Partying This Way

On my last post I showed you a couple fun birthday pages I created using the Party This Way stamp set. (FREE during Sale-a-Bration!) Here are a couple more pages that go with the first two.

I had a lot of photos to use, so I cropped several of them to 3 inches tall and matted them on Basic Black card stock punched with the now retired Spiral Edge Punch to look like a film strip. This way I was able to fit a whopping 11 photos on these two pages! While there are still a lot of fun elements to look at, I still think the photos stand out as the most important elements of all. Here's a closer look at the left page...

The stamped images on these pages were stamped in VersaMark and embossed using Black EP. The "strings" on the balloons and to hold the banner is Basic Black card stock cut into very thin strips.

Check out my scrappin' buddy...Stevie. I got up to go get something from the other room and when I came back he was sitting in my spot looking like he was ready to work on the page. He even had his little paws up on the table, but by the time I grabbed the camera this is what I got. Still cute tho...but I'm kinda partial!

For more details on these pages, keep scrolling down to my last post.Thanks for stopping by today...it's always nice to know that people are actually looking/reading this stuff I take time to post, so as always, I'd LOVE to hear any comments you may have.

Party This Way Pages

Can you guess the main reason I got into Stampin' Up! originally? It's because, I was...no,  I AM a scrapbooker. Of course all the beautiful, coordinating products really drew me in...but bottom line it was my love of scrapbooking that made me really love Stampin' Up! But guess what? Sadly, it seems as time went on I have been doing less & less scrapbooking. However, I keep collecting ideas, a mountain of photos keep piling up & of course I continue purchasing things with the intention of creating pages.

I'm really working to try and change that and get back into scrapbooking mode. Now, since I've put it in writing here, I need to stick to my word, right? ;-)  Well, since you've listened to my ramblings, the least I can do is share this two page 12x12 spread I made using the Party This Way stamp set along with photos from my hubby's 50th birthday party (YIKES...I'm married to an old dude! hehe) You can click on the photos to see a larger size.

I've had my eye on the Letter It Alphabet since it first came out...but I finally just recently purchased it. I must say, I think it may be one of my favorite alpha sets to date. I used it here embossed in Black EP, and it was easy to cut out. The other letters used were from the Billboard Strip Sizzlet Die. They fit perfectly on the pennant punch outs. I use the Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive on the back of my card stock or DSP before cutting out the letters...makes it so much easier when working with these tiny letters! Here's a closer look at the left page...

I used DSP from the Brights Patterns Stack in Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point & Old Olive. The fun images from Party This Way were embossed in black on coordinating colors of card stock listed above and then cut out. The 50 was cut using the Simple Numbers Bigz Dies. If you look at the top left photo you can see the "super cool" party hat I made for Mike and there is also a 50 on there that I cut out with these dies and Red Glimmer Paper, along with a pennant topper that says "50 rocks!". As you can see by these photos he got all kinds of crazy gifts and he was good about modeling them all. We sure had a lot of laughs that night! Here's a closer look at the right page of this layout.

The Label Framelits make the perfect journaling block...I'm sure I'll be using them a lot on future pages. If you look closely at the top right photo, you can see a personalized banner I created for the occasion using the Perfect Pennants Die. It went together really quickly using the same papers I used here on these pages. On each end is a photo of the birthday boy. It was the perfect touch hanging over the food table, and got lots of comments from our guests. Here's another photo that better shows the banner.

The Party This Way stamp set is one of the FREE choices available to you during Sale-a-Bration. If you haven't added this one to your collection yet, I highly recommend it!