Willow & Paisley

My Next DIY Projects

 

This week I received happy mail!  I received my order of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and some Anna Maria Horner fabric for my next DIY projects.  I can hardly contain my excitement people!  If you've never heard of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint you really need to check out this post on the Perfectly Imperfect blog.  Watch the videos!!  Trust me......you will want to place an order as fast as I did once you do.  One of my all time FAV blogs for sure.  That girl is a do-er!

 

I have 2 pieces of furniture that I am going to paint.  One is a fugly curio cabinet that was destined for the donation pile and the other is a dresser that I got for free on Kijiji.  I'm hoping the curio will turn out great and I can actually use it.  The peachy sheen finish on it now is horrid.  So 80's but yet I bought it in the 90's.  Ha.  {{I'll be sure to show before and after photos once I actually do these projects.  I'm just not sure when that will be}}.

 

I won't lie.....this paint costs a pretty penny.  It is about $40 for a pint (+ shipping) but the price is well worth it to me because I will be saving time by not having to do any prep work.  This paint must be magic because no sanding or priming will be required to the furniture before I paint it.  Um, yeah.....SOLD!   If you live in Canada the only current stockist is The Melon Patch in Ontario.  Just contact Elizabeth and she will take care of you.

 

 

 

 

 

Next.  Remember this stool that I bought at a thrift store for $2.00?

 

 

 

 

I ordered this Anna Maria Horner print from Etsy to recover it with.  Oooooh it's purdy and I think it's going to look smashing!  Did I mention I have NO idea how to actually recover anything?  Come to think of it I don't know how to paint either but that's not stopping me.  Huh, how hard can it be?  Now where's my staple gun? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little stool opens up.  How cute, right?  

Have you used or purchased Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?  Do you love it?  Besides Anna Maria Horner {{of course}} my next favorite fabric designer is Joel Dewberry.  Who is your favorite fabric designer?  Do you DIY?

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary.......

......to my Mom & Dad!  {{Wow to 45 years!!}}  Hope you guys enjoy your day!

Here's the card I made for them.

 

Mike and I spent a few days at my parents last weekend and we got to see the wishing well my Dad had made for my Mom as a surprise.  She said she's been holding on to the pattern for it for 25 years and not too long ago she brought it out to look at.  Well my Dad sneaked it away from her after that and had my uncle build it and deliver it a couple of weeks ago.  How sweet is that?  I didn't know my Dad had it in him.  Way to go Dad!  Now my mom just needs to find the perfect spot for it on their property.  I think it's great.

 

p.s.....I haven't forgot about the kitchen update.  I've just been taking it easy and not up to much while the trades are busy working here every day.  Lots of final touches happening but I think we might be looking at another week for some minor stuff.  Next Friday sounds like a good day for the contractor to move the furniture back in.  The Remodelers is also bringing in a cleaner but I'm not sure when that takes place.  Once it does I can start filling the cupboards!!  Anyone want to come help me with that?  It might be a bit of a task I'm sure.

 

 

 

 

It's Treasure to Me!

Yes, I am first and foremost a card maker BUT I do love me some garage sale~ing!  And since I have someone to go with who enjoys it as much as I do....{{STEPH!}}.....I have actually been out twice this year so far.  We have alot of fun hunting for treasures and what better place to share what I love doing than my blog.

Yesterday (Saturday) we started out early.  WAY too early considering it was friggin' SNOWING and I think anyone who listed a garage sale on Craigs List obviously changed their mind.  SO....we went to a thrift store, a charity garage sale (indoors) and a community hall garage sale.

One of my favorite fun finds was the Lite Brite because I remember how much I loved mine.  Didn't every child of the 70's have one of these?  I bought this for my nieces and nephews to play with when they come to visit.  It has tons of patterns inside and a big container of the coloured thingys that you push through the paper.  I paid $7 for all of this including the 2 Giada cookbooks.  The litte wire racks will come in handy when my kitchen is done.  I will find something to put them in.  Plastic lids or pot lids maybe?

 

The thrift store was a perfect fit for my love of all things crafty.  The trim was a crazy good deal. There is a total of 29.5 yards of lace and trim for~~~$5.25!  The pearl head pins are 1000 to a box for $2 each.  The embroidery thread was .10 cents each as was the green thread.

 

My favorite trim....this amazing blue one.  Total of 14 yards for $1.75. 

 

Steph found this great apple peeler at the thrift store but she let me buy it!  It was $5.99 and I am hoping it works as it looks like I am going to have a gazillion apples this year.  Pies for everyone!  But even if it doesn't peel an apple very well I don't care.  It's green and it wants to live in my kitchen.

Oh and here's something I had to buy.  I bought this great top for my niece Shelby.  It's the most amazing green and I hope she loves it like I do.  She's 12 and I think this would be so cute with skinny jeans but she's a picky dresser {and way cooler than her Auntie Char} so we'll see.  It was $5.99.  The tag says Urban Heritage and looks like a decent brand.  I think...but what do I know.  haha.

 

One of my favorite blogs is Southern Hospitality.  I have spent many hours on her blog and the thrifty blogs that link to her each week.  {{The blog world out there is HUGE people...mind boggling really.}}  I will be linking my very first 'thrifty finds' post over there to join the party.  FUN!

I am also linking to Trash To Treasure Tuesday

p.s...I'm super new to these thrifty parties so I am trying to figure out who to link to and where. I am not sure how to make the logo's link back though.
  

 

 

 

 

I am Such a Copy Cat

Click HERE

These were allllll mine!  Mike had his own.  Yep, I ate them all.  YUM!

 

 

 

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.

Old Camera vs. New Camera

Hi All.  Hope you had a great weekend.  My cousin was here till Sunday and we had a great time.  But once her flight left I went straight to my craft room to putter about.  I needed some Thank You cards and ended up making a few extras for my card supply.  Notice that I didn't stamp a sentiment on a few of them?  They can be used for so many occasions and I can stamp one on at the time I need it.  Love that!  They are just a bit of a mish mash of scraps.  Jessica would be so proud!

Anywho......one thing I haven't mentioned before is that I purchased a Nikon D90 camera before Christmas but I have been scared to death of the darned thing.  Well yesterday was my 3rd time using it.  I took pics of my cards using both my tiny well loved HP 5.1 MP Photosmart and my humungo new Nikon D90.  This is only my 3rd time using the Nikon and well I have to tell you I am so not loving the results so far.  It is very clear that there is going to be a huge learning curve for me on this.   You'd think that setting it to "auto" would allow it to do all the work for you but um....not so much it seems.

Oh and hello.....what is with the angle of my Nikon pics?!!  It's like it's so heavy that I can't even hold it right.  ugh.   Ok so here's the comparisons side by side.  Tell me what you think and if you have any tips or websites that a new Nikon D90 owner should visit I'd love to hear all about it!! 

  

    HP 707 vs. Nikon D90

   HP pics all on the left.  Nikon pics all on the right.

    

    

    

 
    
  
  
 

Updates

Hi All.  Hope you are having a great week.  It's been busy busy around here.  I was out of town at my sisters last week and had a great time but I tell ya....when you don't have kids it takes some getting used to!  My 2 yr old niece would say "Auntie Char" over and over for no other reason than to make sure I was there and paying attention her.  LOL.  The 2 and 3 year old always wanted the exact same toy at the exact same time.  I am sure I don't need to tell you how that turned out.  I miss them already but I admit I made the 3 hour drive home in pure silence.  No radio, no noise {except for the noise that was still piercing buzzing in my head}.  Oh yes the silence was pretty heavenly and welcomed by that point. 

My wonderful cousin Leanne is flying in Wednesday night and staying until Sunday.  She's not really into card making (I know....crazy, right?!!) so I am not sure I will be getting any crafting time in but I think we will be shopping alot.  There's a new shopping mall here that I haven't been to.  It's calling our names. 

On another note.....we are really getting close to making a decision on the kitchen renovation as far as the contractor we are going to use.  It's not a quick process and I think it will be about a 6 month duration from the design stage to completion.  Fingers crossed we choose the right contractor.  I was thinking about posting photos of the process along the way.  Is that something you'd want to see? 

I am going to leave you with some published cards updates that I have been meaning to post.  I will be back on Friday with my Loonie card and my Embellish card.  See you then!

CARDS - December issue.

CARDS - January issue

AND last but not least did you see that it is Stamp It! Cards Week over at Paper Crafts Connection blog?  Well it is and this magazine is an awesome issue and a must have issue IMO. 

I have 2 cards in it and this one seem's to be a favorite amongst my friends.

Don't you love those little black and white buttons?

Ciao for now!

 

 

Home!

Hey Everyone!  I am home but only for a day.  My sister had her baby while I was away.  It's a boy and his name is Ryder James.  He was 9lbs 9oz----Ouch!  She had a c-section and has some recovering to do.  I will be driving up there tomorrow (Tuesday) and will be back sometime on the weekend.  I can't wait to meet this little guy and I just love him so much already.  It will be fun to see how his big sisters are reacting to this new little addition in their lives. 

The cruise was fantastic.  We had such a relaxing enjoyable week.  I didn't take as many pics as I would have liked but here's a few I have to share. 

Before the cruise we had some time to kill so we walked around the beach and went for a Margarita at Bubba Gumps...I think that's what the place was called?  I have no idea why we are both standing funny.  Just being silly I guess.

 

 

Our favorite place by far was Orient Beach in St. Maarten.  The water was so warm and we just floated around in the ocean for a very long time.  The sand was amazing and everything was wonderful.  I know we will go back here one day.

 

 

Here we are in St Maarten.  Mike is going to kill me for posting this pic.  He had the funniest sunburn.  Spraying sun tan lotion in the wind isn't such a smart move Hon.  Heehee.

 

 

It was overcast in Princess Cays, Bahamas but still beautiful and warm.  We had to be tendered in and here's a shot of the ship waiting for us.

 

 

The island Grand Turk looks really beautiful from the ship.  We took a cab to a more remote beach than what is at port. It appears to be quite a poor island and is very damaged from a hurricane they had last year.  I was pretty sad for the locals because of that. 

 

 

Here we are in Grand Turk on the remote beach.  Not many people ventured from Margaritaville at the dock but I was glad that we did. 

 

 

 

Now on to the good stuff!!  I have a winner for the Papertrey stamp set I am giving away.  DENISE~~~Please email me at [email protected] to let me know your mailing address.  I will send it out next week.  I had so many comments recommending Alaska so I will be sure to check that out in the future.  Then when I read Denise's comment I had to laugh.  The good thing about Alaska would be that I would not have to worry about a bathing suit.  Now that would be a great thing!  Haha.  Thanks so much to everyone for leaving a comment and playing along.  Have a great week!

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Timestamp: 2009-10-26 22:31:24 UTC

Denise said...

I was suppose to go on that cruise last year! I have never been on one and chickened out! Hope you have a fantastic trip with your hubby. I know lots of people that have taken cruises... Alaska being the top one. I lived there for over 34 years so not sure what the excitement was about it, but know that people think it is fantastic. I have never used a Papertrey Ink stamp, but this recent release I ordered a few of the new ones. Can't wait to get them and try them out. Thank you for the inspiration you give on your blog. I so enjoy your postings.

 

 

 

 

 

Bon Voyage!!

Remember THIS post?  That was the Papertrey~~Stamping Bella~~GinaK cruise I went on almost 1 year ago (364 days to be exact) and I loved the cruise so much that I am on my way again~~~this time with my hubby and without any craft items. Haha.  I am super excited and thought I'd leave you with a little blog give away and my itinerary.   BTW - the picture on that card still applies to me in a bathing suit!  HAHA!

Oct 18 - We leave Fort Lauderdale

Oct 19 - Princess Cays Bahamas

Oct 20 - At Sea

Oct 21 - St Maarten

Oct 22 - St Thomas

Oct 23 - Grand Turk

Oct 24 - At Sea

Oct 26 - We come home (and then I head to my sisters for a week who will have her baby while I am away)

 

Thanks Goodness for my parents who have come to the city to dog sit for me this week!!

OK...on to the give away.  I have an extra Papertrey Everyday Classics 2009 stamp set.  This was earned when you purchased 12 Papertrey stamp sets.  I am sure a gazillion of you already earned this set for yourself but feel free to enter your name for a chance to win it for a friend or family member that you know would love it.  It's a great set with fantastic sentiments.  All you have to do for a chance to win is leave me a comment telling me if you've ever been on a cruise.  Do you know of a specific cruise you'd recommend?  I am thinking I would like to do Hawaii next time.  I will leave the give away open until Sunday October 25 at 11:59 EST when I return.  Good Luck everyone and have a GREAT week.  I will miss you all!

 
  
 
 

I Love Fall.....But Where Did it Go???

LOL...I kid but seriously ....here's what we woke up to this morning.  We didn't even make it 4 full months without snow.  Remember this?  That was June 6.  Such a short summer.  Oh well, it will stop snowing soon and melt away so we can enjoy the fall colours again.  So do you think my plants are done?  Haha.

    

Thank you so much to everyone left me such amazing comments on my WCMD card.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate it and reading all the comments was such a highlight!  I hope you all enjoyed WCMD day and and did tons of celebrating.  Here's a card I also made for WCMD but ended up not being my first choice.  Notice it's the same background paper as the first one?  Isn't it great how one patterned paper can take on 2 totally different looks?

 

The stiched felt word "JOY" was from Michaels $1.50 bins.  Yes, in Canada we pay $1.50.  Have a great day everyone.