Lovin' It...

I was hoping to have a project to share with you tonight, but since I don't, I thought I would share some kitchen photos. I hope you are not sick to death of hearing me talk about it! I almost am, so I wouldn't blame you if you felt the same way...lol! Anyway, I thought I'd share some "before" and "during" shots of the remodel. Here is my kitchen in all of its 1980's glory, complete with rounded oak cabinets, over sized recessed light boxes and bad space planning (goodness, this is embarrassing!):

Notice I didn't try to make it look any better by cleaning off the countertops. Yikes! And now, here's a few shots of the "during," also known as the "dust bowl" days:

Yes, scary, I know. But it gets better. Much better. Now, the kitchen is not quite complete. We're waiting on the back splash tile to arrive and the under cabinet lights are not yet installed. And we still need to trim out the window, but here is what we have so far, which is about 90% done:

Isn't it a dramatic change?!? I feel like we are living in a brand new house! Our kitchen is one big open space that includes the dining area and a (one day soon) sitting area with a television. Here are a few pictures from those areas. We went from an old wood stove, ceramic tile and popcorn textured ceilings:

To this! Notice the nice clean walls, smooth ceilings and Brazilian Cherry hardwood! This will be our new sitting area:

And the dining area, complete with new lighting and a funky light fixture that my husband actually agreed on:

What do you think of that accent wall color, on the left? It's called Lynnhurst Rich Brown but it's so much more than just brown - it's almost a purple/burgundy/maroon. And it was so thick, it was like painting with melted chocolate! It was a bold choice, but it looks so great in person. It picks up on some of the darker specks of color in the granite countertops.

So now you can see why I've been such a bad blogger lately! While we still have some painting and other minor projects to complete, the space is functional...and clean! No more living in a dust bowl!

Now be sure to stop back by on Thursday. I'm planning a special post for a special day. Any guesses as to what it may be?!?

For the Birds...

This will be a quick post, as I have a huge "to do" list for the weekend. There's painting, laundry, cleaning, quality time with the child...you know the drill. But I'll be back later! I wanted to share a card I made with some new Basic Grey paper for Purple Onion Designs. I love this Lime Rickey collection:

This was a quick, simple card to make. I cut out one of the birds from the paper to make it look like he was holding part of the sentiment in his beak. I used more dimensional glaze on his eyes and randomly used it on some of the other birds. I love that stuff!

Hope you are having a super weekend so far. What's on your "to do" list today?






Stamps: Purple Onion Designs
Ink: New Leaf , Vintage Touch Tea Dye - Chamomile & Chai (PTI)
Patterned Paper: Howdy Doody, Tart & Tiny from the Lime Rickey Collection (Basic Grey)
Other: Glossy Accents (Ranger)

Hi...

My name is Jennifer, and I'm a bad blogger. It's been over a week since my last post.

At the risk of jinxing everything, I'm going to go ahead and say that I believe our kitchen remodel will be done this week. Yeah! There will still be some touch ups and detail work to finish, but it will be about 85% done, which is a total relief. I can't wait to cook again. And I never thought I'd say that...lol! Eating out gets real old, real fast. For those of you who have asked, yes, I will post some before and after pictures soon. Until then, I want to get back into my craft room and do some serious stamping!

I made this card for Purple Onion Designs this month. I like the bright, cheery colors. It's hard to tell, but if you click on the picture you can see that I added some dimensional glaze on the clouds and flowers. It's been a long time since I've used that product and it's very addicting. The stitches around the card were made with a ruler and white gel pen. I haven't gotten into sewing on my cards yet, so this is a great alternative!

Okay, so I promise you'll be "seeing" more of me real soon as my chaotic life settles down. Until then, please leave me a comment and tell me what you've been up to! Any big plans for the summer?

Stamps: Purple Onion Designs
Ink: True Black, New Leaf, Dark Chocolate, Chamomile and Chai Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo (PTI)
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI)
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey
Other: foam mounting tape (3M), Uni-Ball Signo pen, Glossy Accents (Ranger), colored pencils

Introducing...

ETA: I have to mention that this adorable photo was taken by Jen Mooney of Moon Eye Photography. She took this photo just a few days after Julian was born, while he was still in the hospital. Yes, he was a big baby - 10 pounds, 3 ounces!

The newest addition to our family! This is my brand new nephew, Julian:

Isn't he just too cute? I finally got my Internet connection back Friday (there's a frustrating electrician story there, but I'll spare you) and I had to post the baby announcement right away! I just finished these up tonight. They were more labor intensive than I wanted them to be, but I am very happy with the end result! Especially the ribbon/star/button embellishment. It was a last minute add on, but I think it really finished it off:

My favorite part of this card (besides the adorable baby photo) is the "quilted" strip of cream paper. I used my Scor-Pal to create it, then used my paper piercing needle to add some detail where the scored lines intersected. There's just something about this quilted piece that says, "baby" to me. I think it adds just the right touch. As a matter of fact, I am so happy with this project, I entered it into the Guest Star Stamper contest at Papertrey Ink. It's been months since I've had the time to participate and this project really got my creative juices flowin' again. It was a nice change from dealing with the dust bowl that is my kitchen (I'll save an update and pics for another day - I'm too exhausted to go there tonight!)

Hope you are all having a great weekend! I still have a ton to do on my list, so I better get some z's so I can conquer it all tomorrow!







Stamps: Star Prints, Fancy Flourishes (PTI)
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Kraft, Vintage Cream (PTI)
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Water Lily Green (PTI)
Ribbon: Aqua Mist swiss dot (PTI)
Tools: Long scallop rectangle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders), star punch (Fiskars), paper piercing needle, Scor Pal
Other: button, twine, foam mounting tape (3M)

Unplugged

I'm still without an Internet connection. I'm actually posting from work right now (shhh...don't tell). I knew this would be tough, but it's getting old now. I have some serious blogging to do! So tonight I'm going to move my computer to my bedroom so that I can plug back in and get back on the information super highway! By the way, I haven't finished the baby announcements yet. I'm having a little bit of a dilemma: keep it simple for mass production, or go with a super cute (more labor intensive) design. I hate to skimp on the cuteness, but I need to get these done. Maybe I can find some sort of compromise. I'll post a picture as soon as I get one done. Don't tell my sister-in-law that I haven't even started them yet! Yikes!

Slow This Thing Down!

Life, that is! The past week has been filled to the brim. While I was recovering from sinus surgery, my brother-in-law and his wife welcomed their fourth baby, Julian. He is super adorable and now I've got to get to work on baby announcements! I can't wait to get into some cute baby projects - it's been a long time since I've needed to do any of those.

In addition, we're actually making some progress with our kitchen. The drywall went up today and tomorrow it's tape and texture time. We're hoping to paint this weekend so that cabinets can get installed Monday. Then it's just a hop, skip and a jump until we have new floors and a countertop! At least that's the way I hope it goes. Tonight I'm posting before I lose my Internet connection. It's just temporary - the cable needs to be moved as part of the remodel. Hopefully it's just a day or two at most. I'm very reliant on technology!

So on to a little card I made this month for Purple Onion Designs. This was my first card using the clear cardstock from Papertrey Ink. It's very cool and I can't wait to use it again.

I stamped the front of the card with one of the vintage snowflake stamps from Purple Onion. I love these stamps! They are a lot more versatile than you'd imagine a snowflake could be. The rest of the card is simple layering with a touch of ribbon a little button to top it off. I like the yellow and orange on this card - reminds me that summer is coming soon!

Take care and I'll post again when I'm reconnected! I'm hoping to have adorable baby stuff to share soon!

Stamps: Vintage Snowflakes, Blossom, Stems & Grass (Purple Onion Designs)
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, Summer Sunrise and Melon Berry (PTI), white StazOn
Patterned Paper: Bitty Dots (PTI)
Cardstock: Summer Sunrise, SS white, clear (PTI)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), classic long rectangle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)
Ribbon: Berry Sorbet satin (PTI)
Other: button