A Finish and a Beginning… and lots in the Middle too!

I finished and washed the throw quilt last week… and it became a wall hanging!!!

My honey loved it soo much he wants Stars Among Us hanging on the quilt hanger in the kitchen 🙂  So here it is!!!  The colored chalk was completely gone after my traditional first TWO washings… when I took it out after the first there was a bit of pink chalk still in it… but I had used pink pounce AND pink cartridge chalk on marking the center… so back in the washer it for 1 more wash and all looked great… dried it and look how wonderful the texture turned out… we are soo pleased ❤

One day is all I could handle having empty nest syndrome…..

This is my Spiral Log Cabin quilt flimsy that has been fixed (the outer border was waving too much!) and is now became one with the frame and a flimsy no more on the Tuesday!!!

The rest of that day was spent at doctor appointments for my honey’s upcoming surgery for his hip replacement.  It is our first joint replacement in this house so we are starting the prep work in earnest now!  Keep reading you will see 🙂

Then Wednesday errands for prep and more doctor appointments for both of us locally… then it was Thursday!!!  Happy Valentine’s to me from my honey…

This expensive chocolate is our tradition for him to get me… I got him a bit of chocolate this year too and he loved the new tradition of getting some himself 😀

Here is hoping you had a great Valentine’s Day… if you celebrate where you live!

We also put this cool little Singer sewing machine up for sale on Valentine’s.. it sold out quick too!!

It is special because most of the metal parts are black.. this is called a “blackside” finish on those parts made around the 40’s in wartime to preserve the best metal for war time needs.  This machine was actually produced according to our information… in the mid 1950’s… but with parts in the 1940’s primarily on it … and sketchy records kept during this time on these machines anyway… it makes it more valuable… but it is on it’s way to a great home where it will be loved and appreciated ❤

Finally Friday rolled around and we were rested and I took a few photos and made some progress on this project…

 After assembling the tools I would use I did some stitching… this was the initial look… I knew it needed more depth though…

 So I phoned my bestie Connie and she had some perle 8 in a light brown… PERFECT  for this quilt… she said she would pitch it in the mail for me… well Saturday I got it to my surprise!!!

 And I made headway with it earlier…

 I have the bottom border mainly marked now… you can see the blue lines of what will be a natural YLI thread stitching…

 And I took a photo to include the new ball of perle in this beautiful color ..

 And here is a photo I shot this morning 🙂

I don’t have any plans for stencils on this quilt… but the center is yet to be decided… do you have ideas that strike you when you look at this photo for quilting the center inside the black border???

Linking the quilting in this post to:

Kathy’s Quilts… Slow Stitching Sunday HERE

& Wendy’s Quilts and More … Peacock Party HERE

Along with the 2 spools of thread was a surprise….

 Connie made us this most BEAUTIFUL doily to go on our wood shelf… you can see this wall in our kitchen below houses lots of vintage stuff and a while back I had asked her if she could crochet us something for this long shelf…

 I think it turned out perfect too ❤ 

I mentioned last week that a friend asked me to make something for her sewing room on her farm.  The girl in the photo below on the far left is Holli… she is standing with her hubby who is a Chief in the Navy…

 Holli is such a joyful friend… that is rare these days too!  So when she sent me a charm pack of her theme fabric I was thrilled to play with it and make her a banner bunting personalized for her…

 Here I am sewing on my Singer 319w… boy did this baby handle all that thickness like a dream!!!

I got to use this special applique foot too… and I see why people love it now… and I love it too for applique to look more professional… I think I could use this on bags too!!!

So that bunting is about 2/3 done or a bit more… and we have a “mock up ” area in our kitchen set up so I can hang it when finished and custom fit it to her windows where this will be hanging 😀  YAY!!!

Finally … what I am most excited about!!!!

Yesterday this happened!!!  My honey was out in his man cave building and came in to tell me he found a drawer that matched our kitchen.

And the day ended with the floor removed on this part of the kitchen proper… 

 And another view…

 And here is the bar top marked for removal…

The sample just to the left of the demolition line is a 12 foot by 8 foot piece of vinyl thick flooring we have had about a year… waiting for the opportunity to move the bar out and change about the kitchen… well that is happening NOW! lol

This prep for surgery is taking on lots of angles for sure… Rick understands as the day for surgery gets closer that he will be recuperating for A WHILE and unable to get down and up so much and learning new ways of doing things so he doesn’t make his new joint pop out … oh my!

Meanwhile the weather here has been mainly rainy but that took a hiatus yesterday and we did a ride about on the golf cart… things are starting to bud out a bit… I am getting excited that during Rick’s recuperation we may have the windows open at night again… I sure miss that about winter… I am not wishing away the seasons .. I love each one.. but this has been a very cold winter and we haven’t gotten the worst of it for sure!

I hope this post has brought you thoughtfulness about what you could do to shake up your own life .. or at least brought YOU some joy in reading about our escapades this week! lol  Take time to evaluate and be in love with your life my friends <3… every minute of it too.. if not make changes so you are!!!  No time like the present 🙂

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Happy Sunday Catch Up!

Happy Sunday Y’all!

Hoping your day is Peaceful like this cool ocean shot 🙂

We have had a very busy week here at Casa Del Loro… 

But first I want to share progress on my hand quilting of Starlight… Starbright…

I am finally on the last block of the queen sized quilt and so happy about that!!!

Linking this progress to Kathy’s Quilts Sunday Linky Party HERE <<<

Yesterday I got the left side remarked…

I am using a Mark-B-Gone water soluble pen for this… I don’t like the fine point but love the regular tip size available at my local Walmart now that they have started selling fabric and notions again!!!

I had initially marked with the stencil and a mechanical pencil… but several areas require remarking now for more continuity in the stippled stars and moons… so I am doing that free hand in blue 🙂

Most of my time this week has gotten eaten up with redefining our living room space at Casa Del Loro!!!  Kathy talks about your view while stitching.. well this will be my view when this quilt is finished… it was NOT zen at all… but now it is!!!!

We got rid of the chair and ottoman and the sleeper sofa we had (all heavy big furniture that crowded our space)… and now we have a much cooler looking recliner set we found in very nice condition on our local Craigslist… and it is sooo roomy now!

Here is a collage I made of our sweet Daisy in my honey’s recliner peeking over the edge…

Then yesterday I found this on our local swap/shop Facebook group for only cheap!!!!

I love the scene that is painted on this real glass and wood window.. .it measures 32″ x 32″  🙂

Here is a view a bit further back…

I will enjoy daydreaming at this window once I start working on the quilt below it.  Our living room has very few windows but 2 nice skylights that let in light .. so I thought this would be a fun way to add some nature to a fairly closed in room !

I also splurged and got a pedicure this week with fall colored nails!!!

Initially I felt guilty .. but I have very bad arthritis in my feet and legs and the massaging they do was heavenly for sure!

Today I plan to slow stitch away on Starlight… and be happy I have a few true friends in my life too!

How many true friends are you lucky enough to have?  I can tell you at 50 years young… I feel a true friend is very hard to come by and very LUCKY to have!

Have a blessed week y’all! And make sure to let those you trust know it!  I encourage you to take time to …

Just quilting away here! Starlight… Starbright update and MORE!

Welcome to my blog y’all!  I am so happy to be linking today’s post to Kathy’s Quilts… she is chatting about forest bathing and is doing the cutest little stitchery… check it out HERE!

Well best I can recall from a couple posts ago… I started block #8 of this quilt on September 5 or before… and I am now nearing the end of this block !!!  Take a look 🙂

I am so excited that I am able to focus and quilt so much on this quilt currently!  Just one more move in the frame to see the end of the wheel 🙂   I am recovering from a bout of bronchitis so stitching and reading are the main focuses in my time!

Here is a closer up of the right lower section I am focused on presently…

Funny Fact:  When I started this quilt I loved the straight line quilting… now that I am comfortable with how to make the stars and moon stippling though… that has become my favorite to stitch!!!!  lol

This quilt was not a project I should have taken on earlier in my quilting career either though… It was bought as a top already machine pieced… they did a better job than I could have done and most points match well… but the fabrics (only 3 fabrics used to make this queen sized quilt) are all different densities of weave… so sometimes I can make my thread knot 3 loops… sometimes I need 4 to catch the batting and fabric well though… so I have learned a lot of in depth things about myself and quilting while doing this quilt!!!

Isn’t quilting fun like that though when you have a project that challenges you??!!!

Also, on a facebook group I am in someone asked for how do you store your stash… so I made a collage to share there and thought you may enjoy seeing my Fabric Chest too!

My fabric chest is a cabinet we bought unmade from a big box hardware store .. thinking Lowe’s but could have been Home Depot too!  Anyway it was a closet for a room that was designed as a dining room so no closet was there… when that son who used it moved out he left it .. so I inherited this gem and my honey made shelves of plywood and boards from luan thin wood that I could wrap my stash and still see it all…

The pic above is not my whole stash really… but it is organized and ready to go there… I pull from it frequently and I have boards in projects I am working on too! hahaha!

How do you store your stash of fabric??

Also this month we are just about done with our guest bath renovation… here is a teaser photo I made…

If you are interested in seeing more shots of this cool bathroom redo… just follow THIS link to easily view that post in a separate window 🙂

Our next home reno focus is redoing a very abused bedroom… it was my sweet daughter’s room and now she has been moved out 2 months … so once we saw the repairs it needed we totally have it cleaned out now… and ready to donate and sell all she left behind saying she wasn’t interested in anything left.  She does have a very cool shelf she and my honey built several years back… it is filled with her snowglobe collection… we agreed to keep that for a while until she gets her own place and is more settled.  Currently she is living with friends and finishing her senior year of high school.

The quilt I am working on now for her will NOT be gifted to her until I see her graduate and she knows this… so for now when I finish this quilting adventure… I will sew on the binding and wait to finish and label it until she has met that goal!

I hope I have peaked your interest with this post… and maybe even left you smiling somewhere along the way so I issue this challenge!!!!

BUT… IF YOU STILL NEED A SMILE!!!!

Check out Queen Latifah in “Last Holiday” from 2006… currently on Netflix!

Do you have any heart touching and funny too movies you have watched recently??

Hope you have a blessed Sunday and a great week ahead.  Remember also to…

Guest Bath REVEAL!!!

I can’t believe our guest bath is renovated and now looks completely delicious!!! Come on in for a visit and look around 🙂

I got 2 hand towels in this motif.. that way one is always ready to receive guests and serve their neeeds!

As we were painting and fixing and finishing the much deserved renovation to this bathroom for updating…  I found these cute hand towels custom embroidered in my color choices by Jeanelle (an eBay seller who also sells on Etsy… here is a LINK to her eBay store where I found her beautifully embroidered hand towels.. she also does bar towels, and kitchen towels, and wash cloths 🙂  

THEN yesterday we went to Hobby Lobby and I got this gorgeous mermaid I had been ogling online!!

 The starfish was part of a grouping of starfish from elsewhere in our home… wouldn’t be missed there and now will be a highlight of the room they have taken over I think… check out the pics and tell me what YOU think!!!!

Above you can see the mermaid and starfish in the reflection of the mirror…

We added a different light to the vanity area… it had gold “beauty lights” from 1980’s that were hideous and gold with round bulbs! lol

My honey designed a board to mount the light to… dress it up and mix it with the space and hide some wires from the previous owners… all electrical in that room is now safe!

This light fixture is one we picked up a couple years ago meant for this renovation!  It has waited a long time but isn’t it pretty there now??!!!  We found it thrift shopping somewhere we think… neither of us can remember exactly though…  it is silver and gold mottled colors of metal with pretty milky white frosted shades and the board they are mounted on is white with routed edges for a bit of fanciness!

And here is the vanity/sink area…

I love the cool white starfish… we found all the starfish in this room from many trips previous before actually moving to the beach… I am happy to see them displayed!  The ring dish is a find from a thrift shop… and there is the second towel of the 2 I got from Jeanelle 🙂

More grey and dark red around the toilet area…

 And check out the window decor too!

The valance I made and enjoyed it… took all of 1 hour to construct… the Relax was found at Hobby Lobby and the starfish also from our collection…

And above is a cute collage I made on a new program on my computer I am trying to learn for photo editing.. thought you may enjoy it!!!

And here is a great quote I found earlier this week when perusing facebook…

I am making steady progress on Starlight… Starbright quilt… I will update that in a new post soon!!!

So for now… until I am ready to show off my quilting efforts I pray you each have a blessed weekend and…

Good Monday Morning Catch Up ;)

 ~ I have been soooo busy y’all! ~

As I write this to you… I am enjoying a cup of coffee… why not grab a cup of something yummy and enjoy this post! 🙂

Our Kitchen is Finished!!!

Above is our counter top bar all finished!!  With our “new to us” rolling island 🙂

Below is a shot of our finished kitchen…

I love the bar area and I wanted to share some other close ups too! 🙂

The cabinets in our kitchen have a space for the same formica we used on the bar to go on the cabinets… so my honey took the left overs from the bar and made inserts for ALL the cabinets!!!!

 I just love how it coordinates with the cabinets and softens the overall effect of the kitchen!!

Here is a great shot I took showing the new bar and rolling island…

 My current layout of shots on my refrigerator…

Here is a close up of the curtains I made for the window in my kitchen…

 And a closer up of the tie backs I designed for this kitchen too! …

So the kitchen is now set… a few little things left we want to do… but my honey hasn’t been feeling up to working on them yet.. but he will.. he NEVER leaves a job unfinished 🙂

We Cut The Cord!!!!
 Have you thought about it???

The main thing that has worn him out??

When Connie was here she gifted me and Rick an indoor amplified antennae… she knew we were fed up with the ever increasing cost of having Directv on 2 tv’s with DVR’s…

So her giving us this antennae and us using it to see what we could get… about 30 of the 45 channels available to us after searching youtube about “air tv”.  There is great information on this process there if you are interested….  There are also websites if you google air tv to find what channels you should be getting along with what shows are actually on… if you don’t have a receiver /dvr to translate that info…lol!

So we bought a UHF/VHF antennae to add to her indoor amplified antennae in our attic…

 With THIS… we get ALL the channels most of the time now 🙂

And the best part.. after the initial investment of things we needed… we now have in about 3 DirecTv payments… we have NO MORE PAYMENTS due to have local and fun TV too!

This has been a wonderful switch!!!  We still pay for internet and cell phones… but the TV cord has been officially and happily cut!!!

So have you ever pondered this for you home??  Just curious actually!

Piecing Progress!!!

I finally got all the pieces and parts for my next quilt done!!!

Here they are as I am readying to make my first 2 blocks…

And here are 6 blocks!!!!

I am LOVING this quilt to be for me and my honey 🙂

Here is a drawing I did for a pattern for this… to see how it would look…

Are you piecing anything right now???  I like to never run out of things to hand quilt on .. so I try to piece some so there is a ready supply! lol

Slow Stitching Progress!!!

Starlight… Starbright is moving along.. slow but sure!

I am on the 3rd of 4 parts of Block 7… here is a closer up of what is left to quilt on this section…

 Some of the stippled areas with stars and moons is getting redone as I come to those sections that need it.. for that I am using a blue wash away marker by Clover! …

 My Daughter Has Moved out…
and is starting her Senior Year of high school!!!

 <<< Here is a pic of her with her new roomie Kylie….
It has been a difficult transition for me … but the quote above by unknown is very VERY true for me!

I am now an EMPTY NESTER 🙂

Off to get some more accomplished!  Just glad I got to check in and catch you all up though!

Hope whatever you have planned this week.. you Love one Another while doing it!!

Happy National Ice Cream Day in the USA!!!

Did you know there was a National Ice Cream Day in the USA???  It was started by President Ronald Reagan!!

And here is a patriotic view from my foyer … all hand quilted with buttons making a star shape in the blue… I enjoy having made this quilt and caught this shot this morning to share with you!

This week has flown by for me!  I have stayed very focused on Starlight.. Starbright!!!!

First I will share my happiest moment yesterday when I took this shot…

Which makes me 2/3 complete on all the quilting!!!   YIPPEE!!!!!!

Slow stitching is the ONLY way I could produce such a cool stipple… and I love using such bold colors to quilt with on this quilt!!!

When I started quilting this project the last day of February I thought I would be done by the time my daughter returned from her summer vacation… she is gone to Tennesse for 5 1/2 weeks… to be home first part of August to prepare for her Senior year of high school starting soon after.  But this quilt still has more time needed devoted to it and a bit more time.  I don’t want to rush and leave poor stitches or incomplete areas.. I want all the quilt to be contiguous when I finally see it in full complete!!! lol  And for when I gift it too!

I am hoping to find a special short verse of some sort.. to add to the label I will put on the back once the quilting is complete… 

Any ideas y’all???!!!!

So I have now started on Block #7 on this quilt for my daughter… here is a shot I took this morning…

I am hoping to have this block done by end of the month or when Brandi gets home 😀
Each block finishes at 28″… it takes for frame moves to finish a block.. this one may take 5 as I will have the outer border to get also as this is an outer corner block.. 🙂

Linking this portion of my blog post to Kathy’s Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching HERE… the remaining post is an update to those that follow me whilst I am writing a post for linking! lol

Anyone is welcome to read and enjoy but Kathy prefers we link only hand quilting items and below are home reno pictures and stories… Have a happy slow stitching Sunday Y’all… that is my focus for the day also! lol (Kathy talks about focus in her post too.. hope you go take a look today!)

My machine quilted finish got used this week…

My honey uses it to cover the table and blend in with the backdrop.. it makes the black cases and Featherweight Sewing Machines just pop with black against the white background.

Here is a close up of just the quilt and backdrop….

So I will call this successful!  lol  It has a few puckers at intersections but those mainly disappeared with it’s first washing and drying… so as it get’s used and washed more it will continue (hopefully) to hide these areas as machine quilting is just not my joy! lol

Also this week my honey has been working on the bar in our kitchen and I went on a walk down memory lane to the house we first moved into… before we started giving it some personality! lol
Here is a pic from the real estate ad….

Notice the kitchen on the left… see how there was a doorway and a pass through window??? What were they thinking!!!

So we improved it fairly soon after we moved in to this …

Although the bar wasn’t super sturdy or even very functional… Rick improved it by opening the doorway up and the wall between the doorway and the pass through was checked and NOT load bearing.. 🙂  Lucky my honey is very smart with home reno!!!

Well now he is putting the finishing touches on the bar … but look at this long shot I took this morning… how the opening to the kitchen looks now!!!!

If you scroll back to our original kitchen from 1980… it was dark and not a part of the house… now our home is very cool and interactive … I love the open concept we have been able to capture here 😀

So let’s look more closely at the process of turning the flimsy half wall into a functional sturdy bar that really integrates all the spaces in the main of our home…

Adding a perpendicular shorter length wall was integral to getting the wall to be sturdy…

 That wall is screwed into the tile then down into the concrete.. there is NO JIGGLING of the bar at all now!!!

Then he added 2 pieces of plywood to make the shape of the top and covered it with the beautiful formica we got online (lucky there as it was more perfect and completely different in person than it was when we chose it online)!!!

This is a good shot of the variegated greys in the formica and how well it matches those 1980’s existing formica covered dove grey cabinets in the kitchen! lol

Once the bar was made he surrounded it with wood edging and stained it to coordinate with the living room ceiling fan and other woods in our home … lots of secret stuff happened during this step!

My honey has had many professions in his life and home reno guru is one of them… he had many high end clients and saw and made many high end dreams come true so when we plan a project like this… he does the very best to make OUR dreams now come true.. on a tight budget! hahaha!

 Check out the cart we found speaking of budgets!

This rolling island cart (we havent’ decided what we should call this piece… any ideas???) was found on our local swap on facebook and cost us a whopping $30 cash and gas to go get it (10 minutes from our home to theirs!).. YIPPEE!!!!  We were planning a cart very similar to this one… with heavy duty lockable casters and we had planned to use the remaining formica for the top of it but this one has nice butcher block wood top!!!

It is a bit worn but not terrible… so my honey will strip it by sanding it down to fresh wood and restain to match our bar edging… then the house will have this wood color throughout mixed with white wainscotting and light/med grey walls… neutral but classy!!!

Here is another shot I took this morning…

My honey let the stain cure then is adding layer upon layer upon layer (very light layers) of varnish to give this bar it’s final step for a long life… then the blue painters tape can come off and we are free to enjoy it!!!!

And ideas on decorating this space??  It needs something next to the wall… and maybe a table topper in a circle or hexi on the hexi part of the bar… what do YOU think???

Also this week we had to replace our post light in the front yard.  Another thing for my honey to do.. using his electrical skills! lol

You see when the yard folks came around to mow they were on a loaner mower as their was being fixed… not acclimated to the subpar loaner mower they hit our post and the light fell off! lol

No harm done though as we found one inexpensively that I really liked… so before long after the little incident… we had this shot to share with our mowing friend…

And this morning I caught it at sunrise while the light was still on for you to see!!!

So Casa Del Loro has had a good tune up… We may take a break now.. not sure.  There are many things we still want to accomplish before Brandi returns from her summer break.

So now until my next post … be safe!  And do a good deed today.. just because you can!!! 🙂

Card Kit Series ~ Post 1 of 5

I am going to do a series using a kit I bought from Wendy Coffman here!  I was so excited to get it and showed you the kit in the package here… but watch that flat paper come to life in this series!!!

The review on this kit overall is WONDERFUL!  The pieces came all cut and ready for me to stamp, embellish, and complete with one stamp set that I got also in the Whoo’s your valentine set I bought from Wendy as well!  All this loveliness in one package must be completed soon… so to work I went!

First I followed Wendy’s EXCELLENT directions with pics for each card and the card box… each post will feature one card or the card box to make the series of 5 😉  Hope you enjoy this and see if there are more of these available if you are interested in playing along!  Wendy ROCKS!

The first card is a Valentines card that my daughter fell in love with… she picked the Valentine I would give to her when she saw this card!  lol

As I said in my previous post I got 2 kits thinking me and my daughter would do this together but she wasn’t in the mood so she kept me company while I crafted 2 cards at a time… one with Wendy’s suggestions and one I did with my own style injected!

Here is the card she designed and I put together…

 She instructed me to use chocolate ink on all my edges.. and I did do that some but I am more light and bright and less vintage in my style… here is a close up of the cute owls 🙂

 This card was cut with the Cricut Artiste cart and is called an “s” fold card… there are several designs on the cart with the heart being one of my faves 🙂

 And this is a lighter brighter version I made with the second card… I still inked but I used all different colors that brought out the pinks and blues in this card… and I got the owls stamped just as I liked them too!  This one is going to my daughter as she put the eyes on and feels a sense of ownership in this card… it is just waiting for me to write a sweet note in it!

 In my daughter’s eyes the mommy owl is looking down on the baby owl protecting it and the baby owl is looking at the sun and adoring it and feeling safe.  That is what she said!  She cracks me up with how she makes a story!

 The kit comes with Glitz Glitter Gel in 2 colors for embellishing your cards and gift box… and as I said Wendy’s directions and pictures are professional and spot on to replicate her work … or do like I did and do your own thing a little bit!  Like popping up the little owl on the branch 🙂

Next on my desk is another card you will see tomorrow.. I am making one for a neighbor who suffered a loss in their cable supplying internet, tv, phone, and security system when our fence installer accidently sliced their cable.

Next up also is how to decorate my new FAVE wall in the house… the kitchen wall… it was this…

 and now it is this color… a creamy light peach!  My son’s idea but he wanted a bolder peach…. I am happy with this peach with pops of brighter peach…. I thought a banner on the wreath would be cute … what do you think????  The ceiling fixture is getting replaced with something silver or brushed nickel… in the meantime help me out please with ideas!

Don’t forget about my giveaway.  There is still time to enter… for details click here!

Have a blessed day!

Kathi

A designing dilemma and HAPPY MAIL!

Today I have a few things to share with you… grab a cup of something refreshing and visit for a bit 😉

First I want to share the mag I won on Kathy Martin’s blog Card-Blanc…..

My very own copy of September 2012’s Scrapbook Trends

Have you ever had one of these mags?  It is published by Northridge publishing and is a monthly publication with scrapbook, card, and tag ideas by the millions!!!!!  Truly it is 130 pages and maybe 20 are advertising… and blogs are listed so you can find a style you like and try them out as fresh ideas to try!  LOVE this mag!!!  I have been drooling over the pages of creative goodness for an hour or so before I could stop to write this post!  LMBO 😉

Also in the mail… yep, there is more!

Was an order I placed from  Pick your Plum.  I saw it recently featured on a blog.. now I see it frequently… but I initially saw it here at Craftaholics Anonymous 😉

They sent me my order of WASHI TAPE!!!!  and included a Laffy Taffy too!  Shipping was only $2.99 and each roll of the tape was only $1.50!  I spent less than $10 and got a huge smile!  Thanks Pick you Plum and Craftaholics Anonymous for turning me on to it… now I get email updates whenever they have an item at discount… about 3 times a week.  Shipping took 9 days and I got emails letting me know they got my payment.  Overall an A experience because shipping took a few extra days… but wow what a deal!  Have you heard of this company before???  Have you ordered from them ???  What was your experience like???

Before all the excitement of mail time I had started working on a card I wanted to make with scraps I had left over… and one sheet of paper from a stack that I felt went well with the whole card… but it was too teal.

So I added more of the light paper to try to get the card to jive…

but I really didn’t like it so nothing is glued down… and that is why the K stamp is there… I wasn’t sure the final design so I was unsure the ink I would use.

Finally after a shout out to my bff Joyce I came up with this…

The butterfly is 3D from heavy cardstock and I added wire while the glue was wet from making the butterfly 3D .. for the antenae.

I dry embossed the teal paper and used a Creative Memories fancy corner rounder for the striped paper… the inside is dressed up too!

And while I have been having all this fun Daisy has been begging for treats… every time her Daddy takes a break from fixing the wall in the kitchen!

See how smooth the wall is now… and no wall paper … painting will begin tonite!!!  Yay 🙂

Have a blessed day and thanks for taking time for me!  I hope I have inspired you. 

Kathi

Casa Del Loro UPDATE >>> 4th Bedroom

If you follow my blog, occasionally I will post home DIY photos.  We just moved into a 22 year old home and it needed some remodeling to fit a family of 5… that’s right … 5 of us.. My oldest son is almost 28, then my middle son is 18, and my daughter is 14… lots of hormones in this house so everyone needs their own space!!!

We named our home Casa Del Loro… more on how our house got a name like that here!

This home is perfect for us because with the formal dining room we were able to buy a 3 bedroom home and convert the unused space into a bedroom.. for now.. now closet will be installed so if we do sell it it can return to a dining room… but for us… a bedroom for my 28 year old son, DL was key.  (He helps me with my video btw!)

First we installed doors where there was an opening….

And it now has trim and a door knob 🙂

The problem still remained that there was a door to the kitchen as well….

 So my honey got to that this weekend and as you can see… he won’t be able to hear us in the kitchen much longer!

Uninsulated and the door isn’t filled in yet to…

Insulated and door framed in for a sound barrier!

Mudded & taped 🙂  My honey is a good finisher!

And the finished wall… all white and boring…

With new base molding!  Yay!

In my next Casa Del Loro update look forward to learning about how to remove 22 year old wallpaper in the kitchen…

And how we fill in this hole!

Hope you had a blessed MLK Day!  What have you been up to?

I am finding great things for my blog candy give away!  Don’t forget to comment per the requirements here to win some free stuff!  Hint.. some of it is Valentiney.. some is not!

Kathi