3 year anniversary in my house!

I started this post in November, which was my actual three year anniversary. 

November marks three years since I purchased and moved into my first home! About a year ago, Austin and his dog Jack moved in with me and my dogs and now I've got my eyes set on finding a bigger home for us. A 1500 sq ft tri-level is perfect for one human and two dogs - it's crowded for two humans and three dogs!

Anyway, I have a few updates to share today. You can see how far I've come from 6 months in HERE, to ONE YEAR HERE, and to 2.5 years HERE.

The backyard is still a work in progress. It's been a year since they dug up my whole backyard to fix a major plumbing issue that they actually didn't completely fix. In February, I had to call them back again. After a small tantrum, a big breakdown, and a phone call to my dad, they have it fixed again... for now.

I wanted to build a deck this summer, but we didn't get around to it. I think I worked too much so that's on the agenda for next summer.

The major project this spring/summer was to grow the grass. The plumbing company just piled the dirt and left it to settle over last fall/winter. We had to level it out and get the grass growing this spring, but it has finally filled in now.

Summer 2015 I had started re-doing this garden area, but I got chiggers and quit. I wanted to remove the small white fencing and just replace it with the black garden edging.

This summer, I finished it up:

But the main thing that we finally finished this summer was the master bedroom! I did the living room, the main bathroom, and the spare bedroom first. Finally I am done with the master bedroom! My bedroom has essentially looked the same since I moved in.

I sold my bedroom set on Craig's List. Loved my sleigh bed and had it for years, but it was too big for this room. I wanted just a fabric headboard, which I finally found at the At Home store. I also found the rug there, which matches perfectly. I love that place - it's huge and has so much stuff!

The dressers are from Ikea and took weeks to put together. Lighting I ordered from Lamps Plus. July we spent painting - still need to paint the ceiling. The walls are a khaki color with a dark chocolate accent wall. I'm looking for darker chocolate curtains.

The big thing this winter was the new fireplace!

I've lived here for three years and never touched the fireplace. I actually wasn't sure how much we would use it, but for re-sale purposes it needed to be maintenanced anyway. After talking to the guy, it was going to be worth it in the long run (although more expensive up front) to replace it with a vent-free gas log fireplace.

You can read more about vented vs vent-free HERE, but basically if we (or anyone in the future) ever planned on using the fireplace to produce heat, we wanted the heat to stay inside the house, not go out the damper.

We ended up using the heck out of this thing this winter and (what I was really worried about) didn't really notice much of an increase in our gas bill.

fun in the sun.

Vacation page! I was inspired by the March 1 sketch at Let's Get Sketchy. I really liked the diagonal line on the sketch, but I used embellishments instead of strips of paper. I also switched to 8.5x11 size instead of 12x12 in the sketch. Here's my page:

The colors are much brighter and fun in real life!

Thanks for looking!

supplies
patterned paper, stickers, die cuts: Echo Park (Summer Fun)
enamel dots: Prima
gold palm tree: My Mind's Eye (Palm Beach)

hello spring.

Since today is the first day of spring, I'm sharing a spring page today! My day lillies did so good last spring and summer and I found this Instagram photo I took last year just begging to be scrapbooked. I don't know if day lillies can do bad; they're pretty easy flowers to grow, but I have a few plants with issues that I haven't figured out yet so I was thrilled that my day lillies took off like they did.

This page was inspired by the Paper Issues spring crop challenge - all the pretty flowers - to use a floral background. My yellow patterned paper is quite old from my stash, but all the embellishments are brand new. Thanks for looking!

supplies
patterned paper: Lily Bee
cards,, puffy stickers, & die cuts: Elle's Studio (March kit)
stamps: Kellie Winnell (Looks like Summer); Studio Calico (Aloha kit);
ink: Studio Calico (clean slate)

going home / Lasting Memories guest designer.

Today I'm back at Lasting Memories sharing a page for the challenge to use three tags on a layout. Birthdays are the theme this month and this page was a bit of a stretch to meet the theme. My little cousin was born last year and spent some time in the hospital before he was able to go home. This picture was from the day he finally got to go home!

I'm having so much fun guest designing and playing along with these challenges! I can't wait to see what you all make!

supplies
die cuts & stickers: Elle's Studio

on our way.

Today I have a layout to share inspired by the March 1 challenge at Stuck?! Sketches.

 

I had a page idea in mind while I was taking Snapchats of our travel day. A few weeks ago we took a vacation to Isla Mujeres. I love the time stamp filter on Snapchat and it's great for documenting something like this. Plus, I was able to use a lot of travel themed items from my stash!

Supplies

patterned paper: Lily Bee

die cuts: Pink Paislee (Atlas); Bella Blvd; 

enamel dots: My Mind's Eye

puffy stickers: Elle's Studio 

remember.

Last month for my brother's birthday, we had a huge family get together at a local bar/restaurant that is owned by someone in our family. Way more people showed up than we thought so it kind of ended up being a mini-family reunion. It was a super fun night!

These pictures are just silly selfies that my mom, my brother, and I took. I used Sketch #268 from Sketches in Thyme. The sketch calls for one larger photo, but I used two smaller ones.

supplies
patterned paper: Chickaniddy (Scrumptious)
journal cards, tags, die cuts, puffy heart stickers: Elle's Studio
stamps: Elle's Studio; Studio Calico
ink: Versafine (onyx black)

Ethan / Lasting Memories guest designer.

I'm continuing the month guest designing with Lasting Memories and our next challenge is to use a lot of numbers on your layout. Since this month is all about birthdays, I thought the birth of my cousin's son would work to document his his numbers at birth!

supplies
puffy stickers, label stickers, wood veneer: Freckled Fawn (March kit)
alpha stickers: American Crafts

feels like a dream... [guest designer at Scrap it with a Song!]

I'm so excited to be guest designing at Scrap It With a Song! I grew up listing to Mariah so you I chose the song "Emotions." If you're not familiary with this song you can see the lyrics HERE.

I was inspired by the line: feels like a dream

Someone asked me what I like better, the sunrise or the sunset, and is there really an answer for that?! The sunset creates the most amazing colors across the sky. But the sunrise... there's something magical about knowing the sun is going to rise every morning and seeing it peek up over the horizon. To me, there's little better in life than watching the sun rise over the ocean. To me, it feels like a dream.

Thanks so much for looking and I can't wait to see which song inspires YOU!

supplies
patterned paper, sticker, die cuts: Crate Paper (Oasis)
stamps: Kellie Winnell (Looks like Summer); Elle's Studio; Kelly Purkey (Beach Day 2016); Technique Tuesday (Bring on the Sun 20120

29 / Lasting Memories guest designer.

Hey guys! I'm back with Lasting Memories newest challenge - use banners on your project! Here's my page:

My brother's birthday was February 8 and I thought this simple photo of him would be great to use with banners. These banner tags are from Bella Blvd, but you could easily make your own out of whatever patterned papers you had on hand.

Thanks for looking!

supplies
patterned paper: Fancy Pants
die cuts: Bella Blvd (Oh My Stars gift tags); Elle's Studio;
puffy stickers: Freckled Fawn
alpha stickers: American Crafts

weekend trip / Lasting Memories guest designer

I'm so excited that I'm the guest designer at Lasting Memories! For this challenge, we have a sketch by the super talented Laura Whitaker.

Here's my page:

One weekend last November, we went to Ohio to visit my brother. He had recently moved there with his girlfriend and it was her birthday. It was great to see them again and celebrate her special day!

supplies
patterned paper: Simple Stories (Love & Adore)
die cuts, puffy stickers: Elle's Studio 
puffy word stickers: Crate Paper Oasis

the best.

I'm starting to get into vacation mode big time. Next week we'll be in Mexico! I've been dying to dig into some of my My Mind's Eye Palm Beach collection. I printed a photo from last May when we were in South Padre Island because I just can't stand to wait until we return from Mexico to play with this line.

My inspiration (aside from this beautiful line!) came from the tic tac toe challenge at Scrap Our Stash. I used polka dots, hearts, and glitter (in the enamel dots). Here's my page:

Thanks for looking!

supplies
patterned paper, die cuts, chipboard: My Mind's Eye (Palm Beach)
enamel dots: twine + ink (Studio Calico)
heart enamel dots: Amy Tangerine
stamps: Kellie Winnell; Elle's Studio;
washi: Little B

sunshine.

This was a fun challenge at Challenge  YOUrself - use stamping + the color red. I combined that challenge with Paper Issues scraplift challenge. This was the layout to 'lift:

and here is my page:

I got to use up a lot of stuff on this one + summer pages are my favorite!

supplies
patterned paper, die cuts, stickers: Echo Park
flair: Fancy Pants
acrylic word: Elle's Studio
enamel hearts: Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith (She Blooms)
wood veneer: Color Cast Designs
stamps: Kelly Purkey (Out in the Sunshine); Kellie Winnell (Looks Like Summer)
ink: Versafine (Onyx black)

love dogs.

Am I allowed to make this girlie of a page for three boy dogs?! I loved a few pages of this Pebbles line so I didn't get the whole collection, but it mixes nicely with the older Valentina collection from Bella Blvd. I love that I got to play with some new stuff + use up some old stuff on the page.

I used the February 15th sketch from Stuck?! Sketches as inspiration for my page and I followed the sketch loosely. I was more inspired by the layers and the large star. Instead of a star or other large shape, I used a journal card. I trimmed it down and used a border punch along the bottom.

I'm combining this with The Paper Girls Challenge #121 to use hearts.

Thanks for looking!

supplies
patterned paper: Bella Blvd (Valentine); Pebbles (My Funny Valentine)
journal card: Bella Blvd (Riley)
heart stickers: Fancy Pants (Sweet Nothings)
'love' puffy sticker: Fancy Pants (Atwell)
washi: Glitz Design
die cuts: Elle's Studio

most wonderful time of the year!

A couple more Christmas photos to finish up. This year we had to get a new tree and picked out a slim, pencil tree with colorful lights. I love it so much. I also got a new fireplace - a major upgrade - but it's SO warm and it was definitely worth it!

I used Sketch #122 from Sketch N Scrap to document three photos taken throughout December. I combined this challenge with the Lasting Memories challenge to use hearts. That is a super easy challenge for me :)

supplies
paper, journal tags, die cuts: Elle's Studio
puffy heart stickers: Fancy Pants (Sweet Nothings)

yearly tradition.

Finishing up a few Christmas photos and wanted to scrap the pups. Every year we make them pose by the tree and try to get ONE good photo.

This page was inspired by Use Your Stuff challenge #249 to use an animal + this Picture This! tic tac toe challenge.

I used enamel dots, layering, and red. Here's my page:

Thanks for looking!

supplies
patterned paper, die cuts: Illustrated Faith (CHRISTmas)
journal card: Elle's Studio
stickers, wood veneer: Evalicious