GETTING IT TOGETHER & A CLASS CARD

Finishing is definitely harder than starting! We are ALMOST done with all the renovations that we've been doing around here......now it is mostly getting things put in place and back together.

Tonight we put together the last of the desks.....a computer desk in the family room for the kids to use for their schoolwork. In order of us to put the desk up, it had to be assembled, the piano and all the furniture needed moving, then the floors and baseboards needed cleaned under and behind where the furniture was, then we were ready to set up the desk. Whew!!! That is what we did this evening. I'll take a picture of that too once I clear away all the other junk that is piled up.

Here is what the room looks like right this very minute.....

Actually, the room looks better in the picture than it does in real life :-)

I have been working at putting all my stamps and supplies away......here is some of what I have done so far.....

I have organized all my paper into the boxes and labeled them. The large black boxes are perfect for 12x12 sheets and the smaller white and green boxes are just right for 8-1/2x11 sheets. I've broken them up by color family and also I sorted my big scrap bin into color families as well. I also used one of the black boxes for a neutrals scrap bin.

It's been soooo nice to be able to have the space to spread out.....I think it will be much easier to be (and STAY) organized!

With all this home makeover business.....I haven't had ANY time for personal stamping. I have been going to Karen's class each Monday and have gotten my "ink" fix. Below is a Halloween card that we made a couple of weeks ago. The background is made using a technique that uses wax paper that has been embossed using the Big Shot. I don't have time (or the brain energy) to post the instructions now....but if you're interested, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

Well....that's about all I can post tonight. Once all is done, I'll try and figure out how to do a virtual tour of some kind of all our changes.

Until next time,

Blessings........Cindy

CLASS CARDS

Hi!! Thanks for checkin' in!

Today I have been doing some major cleaning and organizing.....moving into my new space!! It feels good to clear out some things (junk is more like it!!) that has just piled up.....my garbage is getting quite full! I'm having a ton of fun though!!

As you probably know....on Mondays I go to a stamping class that my friend Karen Angel teaches. She always has great projects for us to make. (Thanks Karen for all your hard work!!!) Below are the 2 cards that we made this past Monday......

This card was made using the Eastern Blooms stamp set.....this card has a great layout and can easily be changed up depending on the colors and stamp sets used. LOVE IT!! She provides us with envelopes that we are able to stamp to match our cards.....I normally don't think to take a photo of the envelope, but....behind the card is the envelope I made for this card.

The next card was just too clever and too cute!!! The crow is made entirely from punches. If you are interested in all the punches used just leave me a comment and I will email those to you. It was fun to put him together!!

Well....that is it for today. It has been hard for me to sit still and blog when most of my house is torn up....I've been totally pre-occupied with getting "my world" back together. So, I apologize for not being more detailed.

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!! or getting organized!!!

Blessings......Cindy

ROOM UPDATE

Hello! I know it has been some time since I posted, but we've been busy beavers over here! I thought that I would show you how my stamp room (and oh yeah....and Steve's office) is progressing.

Here's a picture of some storage units being built.....These were originally going to be mounted on the wall above the desk units, but when Steve held them up they just didn't look quite right...too much space between the cabinets and the desks. So since they could also be for the floor, we just switched them.

Now....here's what they look like all done!! Steve did a GREAT job, plus he has worked like a dog!!!

I've now got TONS of storage......ummmm..... what can I store in there?? :-D

I bought a bunch of their paper boxes.....I LOVE these boxes!!! They are not only great for storage, but they also add some color! Those 2 middle openings were originally going to have cabinet doors, but I was afraid it would look to stark.....so I axed the doors and added the boxes for color.

By the way....the green is a perfect match to Stampin' Up!'s Old Olive :-)

Well....we're still not quite done! I will post the other side of the room when it gets done.....but here's a sneak peek......

This almost seems too good to be true!!! What an outrageous blessing!!!

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings......Cindy

PS: Don't get too jealous!!! :-D

CLUB - DASHER CARD

Hi and thanks for checking in. We are still in a "construction" mode over here so my blogging is going to be hit and miss. But hopefully not for long :-)

On Monday I was able to clear out my stamp room enough to make room for my club to actually stamp in it....I am working out of boxes. Despite the surroundings and my having to dig around and find a couple of things.....we had a great time!!

We made a couple of cards.....but one card was based on the card that I had made in my stamping class with Karen....I just changed it up a bit. Here it is......

I just added some DSP and ribbon and a small eyelet punched piece. This card just might become my Christmas card for this year. I love the layout....you can do so many things by just changing the colors and the images. Love it!!

ROOM UPDATE

Well....Steve has been busy assembling all the Ikea pieces....our family room has become his workshop. He is just about done. Here is a picture of him and his handiwork.....

The above drawer units will not be stacked.....they will be supports for the desk tops. He has Friday off from work and from what I understand we will be installing some things. I will be sure to take some pictures. I am going to have to disconnect the computer, but will post some pictures as soon as possible. Can't wait to get it all together!!! I'm so excited!!

Well....that's it for today! I will not be posting tomorrow. So, until next time,

Find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings......Cindy

PS: This is my first time posting on our new iMac! I might add that I've been quite iFrustrated in learning how to get around.....but overall I'm in iLOVE with it.

NEW COMPUTER

Happy Saturday! Thanks for popping in!

We are all pretty excited around here.....yesterday we sat up our new iMac computer!! It's pretty fantastic! It is going to take some time getting use to since we have been PC users AND are not very techy. Here's what our new toy looks like.....pretty cool!!!

I sat down to post a card...and then realized that all my pictures are still on our PC :-( So, I am going to have to transfer all those files to this.

Well....I'll be back later....I'm off to get more acquainted with the newest member of our household!

Blessings.....Cindy

PUNCHED PUMPKIN

Happy Friday! Hope you had a good week....I did.

Today I have spent the day making sense of all the heaps and piles in the office. I've got LOTS of stuff!!! But what's crazy is that I "need" all that stuff! :-D Over the last year, I have even weeded out bunches of things that I don't use anymore....but I guess I've added just as much as I've gotten rid of because the volume seems to stay the same :-)

Do you remember the Dasher card from this post? Remember, how I said that I wanted to try doing the exact same layout but for autumn....well, I gave it a try about a week ago. I changed it up just a slight bit....but not too much.
What do you think?

The card's base is a half sheet of More Mustard. The scallop circle and the eyelet strip is cut from Always Artichoke. I also used a small piece of Always Artichoke DSP. The sentiment is from the Holiday Best Level 1 Hostess set and the background stamps are from a couple of sets....Bitty Basics (retired) and Autumn Harvest. The scallop circle was cut with the Big Shot using the Scallop Circle #2 bigz die. The inner circle was cut using Nestabilities.

The pumpkin was punched using the large oval punch with More Mustard cardstock that I sponged with Pumpkin Pie Classic ink. The stem is a bit piece of Chocolate Chip and the leaves were die cut using the SU Little Leaves sizzlet. This pumpkin is the same one used in this post.

Well....I better quit stalling and get back to work on my room. The kids will be home from school in about an hour and I want to be able to hang out with them. Friday night is usually our "hang out and watch a movie" night.

Until next time....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings.......Cindy

HALLOWEEN, BONES & A MESS!

HELLO!! I know, I know.....I will probably never be known for my blogging! But I do have some pretty good excuses for my absence.

Actually, the first thing that de-railed my blogging efforts was the fact that our office/stamp room has been torn to smithereens!!! ( is that how you spell it???) It is torn up, though, for a fantastic reason.....we are beginning to put built ins in! Yipppeee!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Steve and I drove up to IKEA (which I might add is a 3 HOUR DRIVE) and met with a space planner. She helped us draw up plans and then we purchased what we needed for space. Here is most of the stuff in the garage....Steve is already working on the assembly.
But in order to make way for the new.....we had to get rid of the old.....so, last weekend, we had a yard sale and sold a bunch of the office stuff, along with a bunch of other "junk". We sold a big bookshelf which held almost all of my stamp stuff.....so now what I am left with a quite a mess! Below is how my area looks right now....this table is where I usually do my stamping!
Here is another picture of another part of the room....
We emptied out Steve's desk and 2 filing cabinets and put that stuff into boxes....brother!

Anyway....good things are coming out of this so I am thrilled! I will definitely show pictures of my new and improved stamping room when we're done.....oh yeah....I need to remember that Steve has an office in there too :-D

Enough about that....now to something with ink on it.

Well.... we are going to have a Halloween party for the kids and a few of their friends from school....so Madison, who is a pretty good little stamper, designed and made the invites. She did all the design work and stamping, I just helped out a bit here and there.
We printed the party information from the computer and then mounted it on cardstock. You can't really tell from the photo, but the turned down edge of the pocket card is torn. I think they turned out pretty darn good!!! Good job!!!

Well, this post is getting quite long....but I did want to share a quick update on our runt kitten, Bones. Do you remember when he looked like this?
Well, now he looks likes this......
He is still the ABSOLUTELY SWEETEST cat in the entire world!!! He begins purring the minute you pick him up and he can sleep anywhere!!! Makes all those days of feeding him with an eyedropper and a bottle worth it!!!

Well....that's all for today. I will try and post more consistently.....I have a TON of cute cards to show you that I've made in my stamp classes......I will work hard to get all that "junk" organized so that I can take pictures of them.

So, until next time....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings.....Cindy