re-vamping a rocker

BEFORE (although i forgot to take the "before" shot before i had spray painted) meets AFTER:

i am just in love with how it came out! this fabric is phenominal (thanks wal*mart for finally carrying beautiful and current appolstry fabric!!) and it matches our decor. I did my dining set (you'll see that soon) in it along with a window valance for the kitchen.

We actually had a large garage sale once we decided to move, and tried to sell all of our furniture. i was so sick of looking at it, i came to the conclusion that it had to go! well, it didn't sell. none of it. so i got to spray painting! i sprayed it a glossy white then did a clear overcoat. my aunt (thanks aunt z!) has been helping me learn to sew now that i have a machine, so i decided to take apart the padding on the current chair and re-use it with better fabric. YEAH!! i'm so proud i didn't mess it up, well, that you can see in the photo anyways. "just flip it over!", that's what i say!

PS: i'm aware that i spelled appolstry wrong. wish i could find the spell check...

Happy in love

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Just because

well, not just because. my sister came to visit (both of my sisters, actually) a couple of weeks ago. they were joined by a large part of my family. a mini-reunion, if you will. they were all in town to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and a local once-per-year festival. is your family like mine? the most valuable thing to us is our time. sooo, we grouped my mothers 60th, my sisters 33rd, my other sisters 30th, my brothers 28th, and my parents 20th anniversary all into one afternoon. it was the same weekend as "cheese days" (friday-sunday annual gathering of locals in our small town celebrating our towns heritage involving manufacturing of cheese. describing the joy of cheese days would take far too long. maybe another time...). anyways, this card was done for my sisters 30th birthday. i hope she loved it and had a fantastic birthday. love you sis! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Grown up birthday card

this was done for my mothers birthday. it's rich, elegant, sophisticated, and appears complex. just like her. i love this nature set by SU. i used blender pens w/ chalk to color it for that perfect "soft" look. colors are feminine and warm. any chance i get to use my embossing folders with my cuttlebug, i jump on. LOVE the look! happy birthday mom! here's to many, many more! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fathers day cards

another take on the card below Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fairy birthday card

this card was made for the sweetest little girly on her birthday. she is an absolute princess, BUT, this little fairy stamp is the closest i have to a princess. after i colored her with blender pens & chalk, i used sakura glitter pens & stickles to make it sparkle, just like her personality does. happy birthday, charley! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fathers day card

EMPTY YOUR SCRAP PILE!! super easy cards. i got the idea from a card i saw made by layering ribbons. i decided to use paper instead. i dug through my scrap drawer & pulled out the colors i liked together and cut one edge with a scallop border punch. ink distressed them all and there we have it! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fathers day card

this was made for my fantastic mr. he is the kind of guy who loves to get dressed up and collects ties. he is also the kind of guy who adopts his wife's kids from a previous marriage to make sure they have the best father figure around & that they always know that he considers them "his" kids. the kind of guy women dream of meeting. yep, he's a pretty fantastic guy. know what else he is? MINE. i made my own patterned paper (background) by stamping ties in a pattern on white cardstock. these stamps are 2-step stamps. that means the outline is one image & the fill in is the other. for the main image of the tie, i stamped just the outline onto patterned paper & cut it out. the rest of it is layered & ink distressed. to all the fathers out there, happy day to you! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Be original card

so this was me trying to be creative. honestly, i'm not too keen on the outcome. started with white cardstock. stamped the fish in walnut ink and the original fish in a yellow. then i got out my sponges & chalk ink to play for a bit. started sponging at the bottom of the paper with the darkest blue,worked up to mid blue, finished up top with lighter blue. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Watercolor bday card

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BBQ invites

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2 page wedding layout

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Anniversary card

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2 page layout- wedding

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Single page, wedding

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Child bday card

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I'm pregnant?! One page layout

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2 page Easter layout

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1 page layout

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Vintage mothers day card

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Single page layout

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Double page christmas layout

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Baby shower invite

A big thank you to my sis-in-law for making my baby shower invitations, they turned out super cute! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Vintage Mothers Day card

Yeah!! I love it! Used vintage sheet music as the background, ink distressed with tim holtz frayed burlap. Stamped sentiment on a nestability cut out of ivory (also ink distressed), embellished with pearls. Used lace and ribbon for the finishing touches. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fathers day card

Another super simple card. The great thing is, just change the color scheme for a feminine card. Tag (SU) is stamped in brown, used twine to keep it with the thick chocolate ribbon. Used my SU scallop edge punch on the green patterned paper then punched edges in it using crop-o-dile. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Tissue paper birthday card

Well, the focal point is obviously that ginormous, incredible yellow flower!! It's yellow tissue paper, folded over several times, ran through the cuttlebug using a flower sizzix die. Kept it together and embellished at the same time with a rhinestone brad. Patterned paper is feux stitched, layered on white cardstock that was dry embossed with dots. Sentiment (SU) is stamped with pink on white, layered on green. Used pink ribbon to tie it all together. Happy birthday, Lexi! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Juicy color thank you card

Another simple card. Great colors though, right?! stamped flowers (SU) on scrap pieces of white in the different colors. Stamped flowers blue on blue for side panel. Sentiment (SU) is stamped on another scrap. The hardest thing about this card was getting those cute little buttons on that darn floss. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Blue bird card

Get it? This birdie is blue cause it's thinking of you (and it misses you)! :) Background piece is embossed with cuttlebug then sanded for that distressed look I love so much. Birdie (SU) is paper pieced with some great blue paper. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Grocery bag card

Super simple card, right here. To save time, money, and paper, I go to my local michaels store and buy their card/envelope sets that are blank inside from the $1 bin. This is cheaper than just buying envelopes, plus then I have the right sized cards already made and just have to make a "card front" to adhere to it (saving my white cardstock). The background is actually cut from a safeway grocery bag, I used the inside of it. I stamped buggy (stampin' up) on front and again on a piece of patterned paper. I fussy cut only the basket part of the buggy out of the patterned paper and adhered to the card front on top of the other stamped image. Layered ribbon (from $1 bin at michaels) & adhered. This card would be super simple to mass produce, I'll just have to go shopping first to get more grocery bags =D Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Finished nursery!

So my little Mr. will be here soon and we will be ready!! We had the baby shower last weekend, and it went great. My two favorite girls, my sisters, even came up for it! We got almost everything we need to enjoy our son when he decides it's time to grace us with his presence. It's funny how stuff works out. We were not going to have a theme, just a color scheme. Well, monkeys kept popping up, so we embraced them and ran with it. I love it and am sure our little guy wi ll too. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

White on white happiness card

Went for a simple white-on-white card. Are you surprised there's no ink distressing? Well I was told to "branch out", so I'm trying the cleaner look. I prefer inky over clean, just saying. Stamps are from stampin' up, stamped in a black stazon ink. I used stickles on the flowers to give it some dimension and sparkle. Turned out ok, I wanted to ink it all up and make it shabby soooo bad! =) Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Watercolor card

Make your own background paper! I stamped flowers (SU) in a black stazon ink randomly on thick white cardstock. I colored in center of flowers with watercolor pencils (SU) and blended with watercolor brush. When dry, I cut paper into four equal pieces (each 4 1/4 x 5 1/2) to use as four different backgrounds. Layered it with black on green to make colors if flowers pop. Added sentiment panel and ribbon, card is complete! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Manly birthday

This is for my father-in-laws birthday. Stamped truck (SU) in stazon black on white cardstock. Lightly colored in with watercolor pencils (SU) then used watercolor brush to blend. After dry, I cut it out. Layered truck on scallop circle (nestabilities used with my cuttlebug) which was pierced around the edges. Partner a truck with some manly patterned paper and ink distressing and you've got a great card for that special man in your life! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Grad card

My sis-in-law just graduated medical school!! Great job Sam, we're so proud of you! I used my slice for the girl. Hat and sentiment are stamps from a $1 bin set from michaels. Embossed swirls with cuttle bug then sanded & ink distressed them. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Girl bday invite

Made this for my daughters birthday invitations. The only thing she cared about was pink glitter, and that image (girl walking the poodle). The image is from the stampin up set "she's all that". I stamped her in versamark ink and heat embossed her with a mixture of black embossing powder and pink glitter. I used 3 little dots of pink stickles on the edge of her paper. The sentiment, "let's party", is part of a michaels dollar bin acrylic set. I stamped it in pink and wrote over it with my sakura glitter pen. The edges of the black paper underneath are scalloped with my martha stewart rolling handheld scallopper. Patterned paper is k & co. Best place to get this is michaels with your 40% off coupon, just fyi. Ribbon is also from michaels. well she liked it, I think its adorable, let's hope they make it to the parents! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

2nd quilt

Well here's quilt #2. I picked up this fabric at the same time a the first, it just didn't fit in with the first and there was so much if it, I made a whole other quilt. The inside is a cut to fit fleece blanket and the backing is a brown sheet, both from goodwill. This one us much smaller than the first, it'll be a great one for him to lay on the floor with or use in his play pen. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

First quilt

Yeah! I borrowed a friends sewing machine and got a lesson on how to use it. I scoured the clearance bin at walmart for fabric pieces. I went to the goodwill for the back piece (a yellow striped sheet) and for the inside (a fleece blanket cut to size). Over all, I think I paid less than $12 for everything. My sister-in-law just moved here from Alaska and when she saw I was learning to sew, gave me her sewing machine. She had only used it once! So I've made him another quilt (will post pics soon), and got some fabric and payed to try to make the girls sundresses. We'll side how those go.... I'm a bit scared. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Little Mr.'s bedroom

Only 10 more weeks till he's due! Hubby and I are going with a green & brown color scheme (could you tell?), and this is one side of his nursery. Hubby drew the tree on with pencil and we all helped paint it. It was nice to have the girls help with his room too. I've tried my hand at sewing lately, I've made my little guy two quilts! I'll try to post pics if them next. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

One page, three photos

Every year we try to go to our local fair. It never fails that the girls favorite thing to do is go on the "big slide", this year dad went with them! I my family scrapbook, I've challenged myself to use regular lined notebook paper on every layout. Since this page is about having fun, I decided to kinda doodle with my journaling and make it a but more fun too. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Happiness 2 page layout

This is a layout I picked up at a quick quotes class last fall. They have awesome page kits, great chalk ink, and just amazing canvas sets (check out their website, I didn't know what you could do with canvas until I saw it!). I think the best thing about these pages are the ginormous flowers. Now if you're anything like me, you've never bought these before because you're too cheap. Well, I have some money saving tips for you when it comes to flowers. -typically, those awesome ginormous flowers are a little cheaper in white rather than in color. Buy them in white & color them yourself! Use a sponge with ink, you can make it your own perfectly matched embellishment! -those large flowers look great cut in half, like on my page. Double your usage of them! -if you have a cuttle bug, cricut, or slice, invest in flower dies or cartridges. Its always cheaper to make your own embellishments plus you get to pick the material they're made out of. Great way to use up scraps and match your pages/projects perfectly. -make your own paper flowers using scallop punches or scissors -if your mind is set on using silk flowers, there's three places I recommend you pick them up. The dollar store has bundles of flowers for, drum roll please, a dollar! michaels has the best flowers, get them on sale or make sure to use a coupon. The thrift store usually has bags of miscellaneous silk flowers for cheap, you just can't confirm what you're buying. Buying flowers on the stem is cheaper, you just have to take them apart yourself, plus they already have a hole in the middle for your brads! Well there's my 2 cents on how to save some cents on flowers! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fussy cut flowers

Finished card is a top fold 4x4. I'm just not sure of it. Took me forever to pick out that ribbon, and I'm still not happy. Maybe its missing something... Opinions welcome! Small flowers are not punched, they were stamped in chalk ink and fussy cut (it made me "fussy" to take so much time to intricately cut them out. Great name for the technique, right!). "fussy cut" can be very cool. A lot of us have some pretty phenomenal patterned paper that we don't want to cover up. Well you don't have to, fussy cut the parts of it you like and use as focal point on your next project! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Elegant embossing

Was going for a clean, simple card. Imagine that, I didn't really achieve it. I think the ivory embossing looks great with the neutral colors I chose, the lace goes perfect with the ivory, and that stamp is definitely the focal point. So not my original "vision", but sophisticated and kinda classy. Maybe I'll put this away until someone gets engaged or married....? Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

New paper flower technique

I did this card for the sole purpose of making these new flowers. I started by punching 1.5" circles out if dictionary paper (don't have a punch? Wing it by hand! Trust me, you won't be able to tell the difference!). Ok, now you cut into the circle to create a thin spiral shape to the core of the circle, I cut maybe 5 spirals into my circle. Starting with the edge you cut into, start rolling paper into itself until you get to the middle. The tighter you roll, the smaller your flower will be. I used a scrap piece of paper covered in adhesive to lay down my "bud" on, to keep it nice 'n rolled up. Remember, there's no mistakes, especially with flowers. They're all supposed to be unique anyways. Have fun playing around! Try different textured paper, like tissue! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Lots of dimension

I got this cute owl stamp from the $1 bin at michaels and was just messing around to use it. I stamped him on patterned paper twice, fussy cut his eye balls & tummy from one and paper pieced them to the other stamped image. Used patterned paper and scallop nestabilities with my cuttlebug, also dry embossed them. Crimped the bottom chunk of patterned paper. LOTS of dimension going on with this one! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Did you know?

So I was in michaels yesterday (had to get some adhesive), and the lady asked if I got their online coupons. I told her I Did but couldn't use them as I don't have a computer, i just use my phone. I told her it would be nice if they came out with mobile coupons, and guess what?!

Did you know that if you have a coupon for michaels and you can show the person at the register, paper or on your phone, they'll give you the discount!

I've never been so excited to go back to michaels!

Layered & inked

This reminds newer is strawberry shortcake piled high. Absolutely mouth wateringly delicious! Look at all those flourishes (TAC)! What great layers! My birdie (SU) is adorable! And ribbon on top of lace?! I love this card. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android