garage sale finds May 15-17.

We hit some garage sales last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The weather was pretty crappy [rainy], but we were able to find some goodies. 

several packages of doilies for 75 cents

stamps $2.57

I'm putting this out in my yard. It will be cute with vines growing around it & it was only 75 cents.

tons of sequins, came with the doilies. I think I paid 10 cents.

$2 for four chairs for my brother. he needs more seating in his backyard when people come over.

too late for this year, but will be cute on my door next year. $1

this one's hard to see. I have it on my door already. an Americana wreath 25 cents!

sending all my love|MSB.

I've been on a card-making spree! These sentiment stamps from the My Stamp Box Oval Office - small box stamp set are really great for cards. They make it quick and easy to put together beautiful, but simple cards. I've been sending cards to Operation Write Home and if you haven't heard of them, you need to visit HERE. 

I used up some paper scraps from my stash and two stamp sets from MSB. The green vine on my card is from the Ornamental Flowers stamp set. 

Paper Bakery winner!

I just saw Paper Bakery announced on their Facebook page I won sketch #24 with this page:

You can view my original post HERE.

a little good news to end my weekend...

I got an email this weekend offering a guest designer position for Paper Wings Productions. You can read the announcement HERE.

Some of my favorite clear stamp sets are Scriptures,  Evidence, Limited Edition... cute, right? & photopolymer. 

 

&& they have a pretty amazing selection of cling stamps too. Many awesome texture ones. Love those. My favorites... Big Textures, Art Textures, Punchinella.

SO excited for this opportunity!

pickleback [LCOM 72].

Today it's time for sketch 72 on the Let's Capture our Memories blog! I liked this sketch with its three small photos and found them perfect for my mom's recent birthday "celebration."

Here's our sketch:

I stayed pretty close to the sketch on this page with. My photos were not cropped based on the sketch size and instead of tickets I used stamps for my journaling. Here's what I came up with:

 I used the Studio Calico Print Shop patterned papers and washi. The gold washi is from a 2013 Studio Calico kit. The stamps, wood veneers and the chipboard die cuts are all Studio Calico. The label stickers are My Mind's Eye and Kelly Purkey. For my circle accent I used gold enamel dots by twine + ink (from the May SC Camelot kit).

HERE is where you'll link up your creations and where you can few the rules. You're playing to win a $20 gift certificate to the LCOM store. Good luck!

thanks a latte|My Stamp Box.

Another card to share today! This one using the Enjoy Your Latte stamp set. I colored the coffee cup with gelatos. The sentiment is punched out and the edges inked with Prima chalk ink in ladybug.

I added a strip of washi tape from Freckled Fawn along the bottom to ground the coffee cup. The background patterned paper is from the April Studio Calico kits and the red/white patterned paper is from the December 2013 Studio Calico kits.

Thank you a latte for stopping by today!

may your wish come true|My Stamp Box.

Today I'm sharing a card for My Stamp Box. I used a few different stamp sets on this one. For the 'wish' collage in the center of the frame, I used the Sigh Gush Gasp stamp set. The frame is from Pixel Perfect. The sentiment is from Oval Office - small box.

These patterned papers are from the Print Shop collection by Studio Calico. I added a wood veneer from Freckled Fawn and used pop dots to add dimension to the sentiment.

Thanks for checking in today and may all your wishes come true!

6 month house-iversary.

Today marks my six month-iversary in my house. Yep. I closed November 14, 2013.We've made a lot of progress but still have a long way to go. 

Most recently, I've been working outside on the yard a lot. It's looking SO much better. The house was empty for six months before I moved in. Everything was over grown so tress have been trimmed, dead grasses and plants have been trimmed and pruned, weeds have been pullsed. She [previous owner] has tons of plants and flowers everywhere (entire backyard, around the mailbox, and on the south side of the house) and I'm guessing the backyard is beautiful when everything is blooming.

I haven't shared photos of the house yet! or any progress updates.
These are the photos from the listing, with her furniture and decorations.

View from the front. Not much has been changed with the front. Trees trimmed, weeds pulled. Mulch needs to be added under the windows, the front door needs painted, and I want to rip out the bushes she has along the sidewalk and plant hostas.

You enter the front door to this room. She had it staged as a 'dining room.' I am using it as a second living space because two living areas was on my list while house searching. So far I've painted (walls, trim, ceiling, interior side of the front door), hung drapes and added new lighting. I still need to get a sofa/loveseat and arrange furniture and add a rug, blinds, and decorations. Nothing is hanging on the walls. Oh, and remove the telephone wiring/jack.

 

painted

new lighting/Shades of Light, new curtains

interior of front door

From the front room you enter the kitchen. Love the white cabinets. Hate the counter tops and backsplash. Also hate the light floors. Need to paint everything, update the ceiling fan, and hang drapes across the patio door for some privacy.

My table replaces her table but mostly the kitchen is unchanged so far.

From the kitchen, you can go downstairs. This is the main living area where the TV and sofa are.This room has all my furniture and is basically done. There wasn't much to do here; I ordered and hung blinds. Next: new sofa.

There's also a half bath/laundry room down here that needs some work. Painted, new mirror, decorations, and a toilet paper holder. She [previous owner] removed the one that was here and took it with her.

The fireplace. *sigh*

This was the master bedroom upstairs. I haven't done much up here, other than move in, & not because it doesn't need it. It does need a lot. I need to paint; the walls are grey. I need a rug. I need to hang things on the walls. All I have done so far is a closet overhaul. Had to get my clothes and shoes organized.

This is the office/scrapbook room. This is where my computer is and is my dedicated scrapbook room. I hung blinds and organized the closet for storage space. I have a few things on the walls but plan to add peg boards in the closet for more organization.

 

This is the spare bedroom & is going to stay a spare bedroom Eventually. I have done nothing in here so far but hang blinds. In fact, I'm using it as a storage room right now.

The main bathroom. I need to paint, install a new fan, find a new mirror, and get new lighting. So far we've installed towel bars and toilet paper holders. Hung my shower curtain and threw down a rug. Hung up a cabinet.

the bathroom updates.

goodbye Miami|Scrap Much?!

Today is our first design team reveal at ScrapMuch?! You can see it on the Scrap Much?! blog HERE. Here is the sketch this week: 

 & here is what I did...

Pretty much everything on this page came from my April Studio Calico kits. I added the letter stickers (cork from a previous SC kit) and turquoise letters are SNAP by Simple Stories. The wood anchor is from Creative Embellishments. The sequins are Studio Calico and the puffy geotag sticker is Skipping5.

 

To play along, link up your creations HERE to be entered into a random draw for our monthly prize.    You have until Thursday,  May 29th, at midnight to participate in any of May's sketch challenges, each linkup tool will remain open until that date!  If you are playing along with more than one challenge you will need to link each of them up via a separate blog post for the link up tool to work. (International participants may be required to pay some shipping fees.)

mom's pond.

My brother, my mom, and I all bought and moved into new homes from June - December last year. It's crazy. So we've all had different projects going on at different times over the past several months. My brother's home was a bank owned foreclosure and the yard got a total make over last summer. 

My mom's home was owned by an elderly lady who has lovely flowers and plants everywhere. The highlight of the huge backyard is the pond. Nothing was really done to winterize it so these past few months when it's been getting warmer mom has been working on the water. It smelled like a zoo. No joke. She also started re-working the landscaping rocks  because they were a mess and some were falling into the pond.

We spent most of the day yesterday removing the old rocks, digging out the dirt around the pond, and laying down the rocks again. It looks SO much better - I can hardly believe the difference. Plus, she has the water about 80% clear and the smell is completely gone. That poor filter and pump are working overtime to clear the water.

Just in time for the high of 83 degrees today! Here's the pond last night:

The before photo was taken with mom's phone and during the winter. This after photo was taken with my phone yesterday, which was a beautiful sunny day but all that aside, focus on the pond! The actual pond and the landscaping look SO much better. There are flowers and plants all around that are just beginning to pop up. This summer when everything is blooming and growing and spreading, it is going to be GORGEOUS!

Best.

I found SKETCH 24 at Paper Bakery and combined it with THIS Tic Tac Toe challenge on Kerry's blog to celebrate Sketch N Scrap's second birthday. I chose washi, birthday photos, and doilies. Here's what I came up with...

me - on a birthday. have to ask mom which one.

I dug out my Webster's Pages Recorded collection because I've barely ever touched it. I used some old Maya Road doilies, stamps from Studio Calico + Versafine ink in onyx black. I added some old MME/SC enamel dots and SC chipboard stars. The label stickers are Pink Paislee, Elle's Studio, and Kal Barteski from the April SC kits. Oh, and the washi tapes are both from SC kits.

This was a fun challenge to use up some of my stash. I find that I mostly only use what I am sent for design team work and my SC kits every month. It was fun to mix and match and dig up some old embellishments I had forgotten about!

hello card for NSD | Scrap Much? online crop.

I hope you're getting a lot done today for NSD! It's time for challenge #5at our online crop for Scrap Much? This one is a card challenge!

 

This is a quick card using my April Studio Calico kits + some SC washi from a previous kit.

Hope you'll come join us at our ScrapMuch? NSD online crop Facebook group.

I was also inspired by THIS challenge at Stick It Down - you can use any of their past sketches as inspiration.

check this out - Scrap Much?! NSD online crop challenge #1.

Today is National Scrapbooking day! ScrapMuch?! is hosting an online crop with lots of challenges and prizes. If you haven't already, go join their ScrapMuch?! NSD online crop Facebook group. (& tell them I sent you!:))

The first challenge is live at 9a.m. and is a single page sketch. This is our sketch:
This is my page:

I sized it down to 8.5x11 and documented my night with Dave Ramsey from a week or so ago. Hint: he said hi to me!

I used a lot of my April Studio Calico kits on this page + SC stamps and wood veneer. The ink is StazOn jet black and Versafine onyx black. That's also a SC date stamp and the enamel dots are from an older SC kit.

Thanks for stopping to check out our first challenge! I hope you join the Facebook group and crop with us today - there are plenty more challenges to come!

yeah [LCOM sketch 70].

I've been asked to stay on LCOM for another term and of course I was excited to say YES. This is my first sketch as part of the new term. Sketch 70...It's hard to believe I joined the team in December 2012 with sketch #2! Crazy.

Anyway.

Sketch #70 - 

I converted this sketch to 8.5x11 and used a photo I took with my phone a couple months ago. One morning at work I noticed my coffee mug matched my scrubs. The journaling is about how I have been converted to a 'morning person' after 10 years of being 'not a morning person.' 

 

Everything on my page is from my April Studio Calico kits except the chipboard nurse bag which is by Creative Embellishments. The black ink is StazOn jet black. The gold ink is by EK Success.

The prize for May is a $20 gift certificate to the LCOM store!

 

How to Play Along:

1. Make a newly created project using the provided sketch and upload it to your blog or online gallery.
2. Then leave a link to your project using the Inlinkz widget HERE. Please use a direct link to your LCOM Sketch post and not just your blog address.
3. If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword LCOM70. LCOM products are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want. If you don't have a particular shape indicated in the sketch, feel free to substitute.
4. There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but the linking form will close on the last day of the month at 8:00pm (Atlantic Standard Time) to allow us to find a prize winner.