Willow & Paisley

Loonie Stampers I Love You (oh yes I do!)

Hi all.  Today we have a FUN colour combo for you.  I LOVE these colours together.  Way to go Maria!

And you can't say I didn't warn you that you'd be seeing the {way over used} heart today.  When I was making a card for Papertrey blog hop last weekend I thought why not put tissue on the heart! (tissue was the blog hop requirement).  Why not indeed.  I cut about 8 layers and stitched them on.  To keep them in place while sewing I used a staple which is covered up with the button. 

Could this sentiment be any cuter?  No I think not.  It's by Technique Tuesday.

Check out the girls.

Dee    Jewels    Regan    Maria    Wendy

Gabi, see the little paper strips in the button holes?

I will be back this weekend to show my end of week 2 reno pics.  Things are moving along surprisingly fast and I couldn't be happier.

 

 

 

 

Have You Heard of the Eat From The Pantry Challenge?

One of my most favorite blogs is Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs.  Do you know her blog?  Do you already subscribe to it?  The girl is a total riot when she posts her grocery shopping deals that she gets using coupon. And boy are they deals.  I can't believe how much free food she gets.  We can't even get close to that kind of coupon usage here in Canada.

Anywho....back in January I found the EAT FROM THE PANTRY CHALLENGE through a link on Kelleigh's blog and it was perfect timing for me with the upcoming reno.....I needed to empty my cupboards!

So starting in January I did my own Eat from the Pantry AND Freezer challenge for about 2.5 months.  I cannot get over how much money I saved and how much food I used up.  All it took was a little planning ahead and thawing out what we had on hand rather than buying something on our way home from work.

During this process I tackled the pantry.  I can't believe how much I had to throw away when I was cleaning it out because SO much was expired.  It was a deep dark hole and a sorry excuse for a pantry.

BEFORE

  

For example:  This cookie bar mix.....expired in March 2007. 

This gum expired in April 2006.  I can't even tell you how old those candy's were.

Here's another example of an out of control pantry.  I had no idea that I even had 3 containers of Cocoa let alone Costco size ones.

Some other examples of what was thrown out:

• Microwave Popcorn - Exp Jan 2008
• Many many boxes of tea....every one of them stale.
• Boxes of cookies - Exp March 2008
• 2 bags of Trail mix - Exp June 2006
• Oreo baking crumbs - Exp Nov 2007
• Jars of sauces
• Boxes of instant oatmeal
• SO SO SO much more!

Just check out the amount of packaging that went to recycling~~all from expired food.  Seriously...what ever happened to me between 2006 & 2008 that I stopped using food in my house?!!

The amount of waste was so not a good feeling that I can't even tell you how much this has changed my way of thinking when I go grocery shopping now.  I find I don't buy something unless I have plans for it.  I won't buy something just because it's on sale and I certainly won't buy multiples. {{but having said that if I could shop like Kelleigh using the coupons I'd be ALL over that!}}.  I now always have it in the back of my mind that I can use up what is at home.  We tried some great new recipes and had some not so good meals (ick).

AFTER

 
During the pack up for the reno I kept boxes nearby to put stuff in that was going to be donated.  I think I have about 8 or 9 of these boxes that are destined to Goodwill. 

However, I did change my mind and kept this casserole dish.  I think my mom gave it to me and a girl can always use a casserole dish, right?

There you have it.  A little peek into my reno preparation.  So tell me......have you heard of the Eat From The Pantry challenge before?  Will you give it a try?  I say go for it.  You will be amazed at how much money you save and it's super easy to find and try some new recipes.

Scrap Card

Hey All.  The other night (Fri) I pulled a late night making cards.  Like 11:00pm~3:30am late.   I haven't done that for a while and to be honest I don't like doing it because I swear it ages me.  It's not like I even whip out a dozen cards or anything.  Nope, just 3 cards including this scrap card. 

As I was calling it a night I went to go clean up scraps of card stock near my paper cutter and remembered Jessica's 10 min scrap pile challenge.  Sure it took me a whole lot more than 10 mins and the strips are technically from what was my garbage pile but it was fun to do. 

My sentiment is from Technique Tuesday's Thanks For Everything stamp set.  Awesome stuff.

Even my button us "threaded" with little bitty strips of paper from my garbage pile.  Love that.   I'll be back Friday with my Loonie card.  It may or may not have one of my chipboard hearts on it.  Consider yourself warned.

 

 

 

 

Tissue Paper Blog Hop

I love that the blog hop actually landed on a Sunday and I ACTUALLY remembered it this month.  With everything going on with our kitchen reno I am surprised that I am remembering anything these days. lol.

My rolled tissue papers were inspired by a card of Courtney's in the current issue of Paper Crafts.  She used material and they are gorgeous.  Mine don't even come close but they were fun to do.  I also sewed 2 layers of tissue to my card base and then ruffled it up to give texture.

I also love how the tissue paper took ink.  This fabulous Thank You stamp is from Technique Tuesdays Thanks For Everything stamp set.  It's a fun stamp for a fun card.  

Thanks so much for hopping by.  Have a great day and have fun!

  

Kitchen Renovation ~ End of Week 1

Just thought I'd pop in to post some pics of where our kitchen renovation /main floor remodel is at the end of Week 1.  We have NO family living here so blogging about the progress will be a way for us to share the process with them.  Now if my dad would get more than just dial-up internet he might actually be able to look at these photos too.

I came home at lunch time on Wed to find this.  They didn't waste any time removing the window.  This is where our sink used to be.  As you can see we didn't give up any kind of view and the window was seriously a design problem when planning the new kitchen layout.  My new stove will go in this area now.  Sink will be in the island.

 

 They had it boarded up by the time we came home at the end of the day.

 

   Obviously the stucco will need to be patched to match as close as possible. 

 

An electrician wired us up for our pot lights (7), pendant lights (2 large ones), plugs, light switches and new stove, fridge, dw, and garburator wiring as they are all moving locations.

 

The electrician also removed the wiring from the wall that came out so the rest of the framing was able to come out too.  You can see they did re-frame 27" on the left hand side.  That is so my cabinets will appear to be sunken into the wall and framed in rather than exposed ends of cabinets on the dining room side.

 A few pieces of the floor came up as they were trying to determine how the gas line will get plumbed in for the dual fuel range.

AND last but not least.  This morning at 10AM I was standing at the landing at the top of our stairs and I was amazed at how much light there was.  It's a bit overcast of a day here and I still am getting this much light now that the wall is gone.  So very happy about that.

 

 

 

 

Loonie Stampers FLOWERS

Hi All.  Another fun Loonie Stampers Challenge for you.  It's fun and easy {{ kinda like Dee herself....lol }}.  What?  She's pregnant and I couldn't resist.

Anywho....we were to use flowers.  Yep simple like that!  Love it.

I know I don't ever explain much about my cards but if you ever have any questions just leave me a comment and I will be sure to get back to you.  Or you can email me.

Here's the girls blogs.  Go see their designs using FLOWERS!  I know they will be FAB.

Dee    Jewels    Regan    Maria    Wendy

I am happy to say my picture improved over yesterdays but I can't say the conditions did.  Enter one cardboard box.  High tech stuff.

 
  
   

Embellish Magazine - Embossing with Practicing Creativity

Embellish Time!  We have some really happy colours for you to start your weekend with!  {{Check out the photos above that Ashley's husband Mac took on their trip to Thailand.  Such vibrancy!}}

I am so thrilled to work with these amazing stamps by Practicing Creativity.  If you are not familiar you must check them out.  Courtney is the owner of this wonderful stamp company and I was so lucky to meet her at CHA in January.  This girl is the epitome of awesomeness and the nicest person you could ever know.  You absolutely must visit her blog and see how talented she is for yourself.

Then you must hurry on over to Embellish Magazine and play along in the current challenge.  The requirements of this weeks challenge are:

• Use the colours listed above....Pink, Green, Blue and Yellow. 
• Use embossing on your card.  Dry or heat. 

You will find more details of this challenge on Embellish Magazine as well as be able to see the rest of the design teams cards using embossing and these colours.  I am always amazed at how very different each of our cards turns out using the very same elements.   Enjoy!

I stamped and heat embossed the hot air balloon onto all 4 colours of card stock.  Then I proceeded to cut them apart and paper piece the balloons back together.  How fun is that?  I even have enough of those cut up pieces to make 2 more balloons.  The cloud is dry embossed with polka dots.  Ca-ute!

PLEASE forgive my terrible photo.  I am not working with the best conditions to take a decent shot.  See below.  lol.   This is directly above where I used to take pics on my stand. 

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope we see you over at Embellish Magazine Blog.  We love seeing your amazing creations.

 

 

 

 

What We Came Home to on Sunday

Hi Everyone.  It's a busy busy crazy week!  There is a ton going on right now but I wanted to share with you what we came home to on Sunday after the demolition of the kitchen was complete.

Remember this?

This was the condition of the kitchen just before we left town~~~without appliances and completely emptied.  Nice pink counter tops hey?

 

 Yeah, well that was then ......and THIS is now.  Lord help me survive this!

My friend Kristina came by during the demo to take pics for me which show the daily progress.  It was quite the mess and I will spare you seeing those.  So glad we didn't stick around.  Thanks KS for taking these pictures for me!

 There's been some changes since these were taken and I will share more updates soon.

And now we begin the very exciting process of our kitchen renovation, main floor remodel.  Yay!  Ciao for now!

 

 

 

 

Loonie Stampers Challenge - CASE a Card

Hi All!  Hope you are having a wonderful Friday. 

This week Regan's challenge was for us to CASE one of each other's cards.  I love doing this!  So who did I pick?  Well you can check it out HERE.  Surprise!  I so love that card.  It's awesome.

And here is my take on CASE~ING it.

I used a Cricut cartridge to cut out the frame and branch.  Thank you Steph for letting me borrow it.  I am not sure you will be getting it back anytime soon...heeheehee!

I love these cards but I know they are a bit too cutesy for Mother's Day cards.  However I am just thrilled to be so ahead of the game and have them done already!  Still I think my mom and my MIL will like them as they are fun and so springy and should bring a smile to their face.

Have a great day everyone.  I will be home tomorrow and I will post an update on my reno demo as soon as I recover from the shock.  lol.

Be sure to check out the other girls.  It'll be great to see what cards they were inspired by.

Dee    Jewels    Regan    Maria    Wendy

 

 

 

 

Thank Goodness for Wireless & my 10 Minute Challenge Card(s)

Hi Hi..... 
  
Mike and I are sitting in a Motel in what seems like the middle of no where.  Hanna, Alberta.  We left home around 10:30am this morning and about 3 hours later we pulled in and decided to stay put.  A pretty hefty snow storm went through last night and while it looks decent enough out there right now the roads are terrible.

The snow drifts are deep and rough.  We saw many vehicles in the ditches ---some with people still in them.  At the gas station a tow truck driver told us the roads for the next 1.5 hours were bad and if we hit the ditch we'd likely be there for the night.  We have our little dogs with us so that's not an option for me.

Sooooo....while I'd much rather have made it to my mom and dad's today this is fine.  And Thank Goodness for wireless internet.  Or "interless wirenet" as I was calling it earlier---and Mike thought he was so funny making fun of me.  lol.

The reason we are on the road is because the demo of our kitchen reno started today.  My neighbor even emailed me today and said she saw them already throwing stuff into the dumpster.  Awesome.

While I am sitting in this motel waiting for time to pass I thought I'd go ahead and share my mini cards I made for Jessica's 10 minute scrap challenge this past weekend.  

The "petals" are actually the wings from Stampin Up's bird punch.  I had several of them cut out already as well as a few vases.  The "stem" is the branch from the same punch.  Even the little hearts were in the bottom of my scrap pile.  In order to make 4 of these mini cards I did end up punching out some more petals and vases....but all out of paper from my scrap pile.  

 I didn't time myself on how long it took to make these but they were easy and fun.  Hope you likey.

  
 Well it's around 5pm.  I think I need to send Mike out to find us some dinner before everything in this small town closes.  Oh...fun times for us!