TBT... some earlier kits presented by Lisa Bearnson

     This is one of my first attempts at a TBT (Throw Back Thursday) post.  And yes, I'm still learning cyber abbreviations lol.  I thought that I would share some of my previous layouts that I created utilizing kits that Lisa Bearnson presented on HSN over the past couple of years.
 
      I love how this black and white layout works so well with most of the colors in these two pages, especially Dakota's thick, beautiful black, gray and white coat, as well as some of the winter wear and sleds used during the sledding part!  On the left page and the lower right page,  I dry embossed some swirls/flourishes to help carry out the snowy weather theme.

       

       The top of these two photos is the page kit as it came.  I've been mixing and matching a lot over the past several years.  Above,  I replaced the light blue with darker blue cardstock as the base, to match some of the colors in my photos, specifically the birthday boy's winter coat... I also left out the striped borders as well. 

     This layout is somewhat a mirror/upside down reflection of the suggested layout.  The 3 photo frames are on my lower right page, theirs are on the upper left, and so on.  Again, the colors of this layout kit went well with the photos, as we had a Star Wars themed party this year!    
     The 3 layouts above documented the long and fun packed day of Wesley's sledding birthday party.  Yes, Dakota enjoyed it as well!

      When I saw the colors in this kit, along with the layout suggested, I knew it would work really well these photos!  Again, the black, gray and white draw attention to Dakota's coat, but Wesley wears a LOT of blue, which until this past year, was his favorite color.  In this case, he was wearing black, gray and red, but his mini dirt bike is blue...  I love to scrap not only by theme, but by color! 
     I love to document how Wesley & I (and yes, Dakota too) spend our summers together.  On weekends, Wesley has a lot of what I used to call "Daddy dates", and now refer to as "Guy time".  Michael works a lot of hours, especially spring through summer, including 5-6 hours on Saturdays, because it is his busy season at work.  Once he gets home on Saturday, if the weather is right, they usually take off to the State Park or other local spot for MAJOR bike rides (which I can't do lol), fly kites next to Lake Michigan, etc.  Therefore, I have several "me and my dad" and "me and my mom" mini albums.  These 12" pages will have to go into a different album.

      You will see bits and pieces of this 3 Birds "All About Fall" kit in the 2 page layout below, again mixed with another Top Pages kit!  Both kits even have chipboard.

     These are some of the pages that I completed or started during one of our local Crop For A Cure, a 12 hour crop that we have twice a year in one of our local churches.  I apologize for the glare on some of the photos above.   Hurrying to get things photographed while trying to catch up on household chores is not a good thing lol.

      This kit ended up being used on TWO different layouts already!  Immediately below you will see a two page spread that I tried to complete, covering two different days and topics, because of the colors. Ultimately, the mint green still called out to be only used on the ice cream layout because of my mint chocolate chip blizzard, and the pink/purple ended up on the separate layout about my studio pellet stove.

     

      I ended up converting my photos to b/w because of Wesley's sweater, but still wanted to use the mint embellishments.  I NEEDED (lol) to include that adorable photo of Dakota enjoying our trip to Dairy Queen, therefore it became part of a second page of that layout. 

          Wow, those covered a fair amount of time, both in the events, and the time period over which they were scrapped.  I think I may be doing this on a regular basis.  Have a wonderful TBT!

My first shabby chic mirror....

     Over the years my design preferences have evolved into something rather eclectic: from rustic to shabby chic/victorian.
     After seeing some beautiful altered mirrors online, I was inspired to scour my little town for something to work on.  I found the mirror at Wal-Mart, and also bought some more lace, flowers, & other goodies in shades of white and cream to add to my stash of products I already planned to use.
     This is my first attempt at using a fair amount of Mod Podge on a project.  Several layers of white/cream paints, ribbons, straight pins with beads added, a Prima flourish, flowers and lace, and this is what I created.

 

     Several of the flowers are made from paper, either from my 3 Birds kits, or on my own after practicing with the 3 Birds flower kits.
      It hangs in my scrap 'studio', on an unfinished wall, but wow, does it look nice.  Thanks for reading!

More studio progress.... Documenting it with 3 Birds Graceful Seasons collection, &....I have HEAT!!!

    
     Wesley helped Michael install the venting for my stove recently.  Michael and Wesley built the stove pedestal frame, Michael and I tiled it, then we were finally able to place the stove on the pedestal (photo 1). Wesley always enjoys some good bubble wrap, and after adding the doors and lid to the stove, I knew he'd want to play with it, but I didn't expect him to WEAR it like a cape or robe! LOL. 
    The 2nd photo is of Wesley and Dakota's 1st cuddling opportunity in front of the stove after Michael and Wesley installed the venting and I was able to FIRE IT UP WOO HOO!
    Now I am able to walk down to my studio, turn the stove on, and within a few minutes the room is warming up, with myself enjoying the cozy warmth of wood heat in the upper 70s within an hour!  I could heat it more quickly, but we are still burning off the new paint and ceramic log smell, which increases greatly when it's run at the higher heat outputs, so I run it on the lower 2 settings most of the time, otherwise the odor gives me a headache and makes me nautious.  I just turn on the furnace fan or open my door and the odor dissipates quickly.
  AHHH warmth!

I did not make the design team, but am continuing to work on improving my blog, create shabby chic scrapbook pages, as well as delve back into home decor projects.

     The 3 Birds Design Team has been announced, the ladies' blogs listed and introductions have been made.  3 Birds has even been posting SNEAK PEEKS of the new products which will be offered on HSN in March.
    Although I did not make the dt, I continue to make efforts to improve my crafting skills, expand my range of abilities, and ATTEMPT to continue my blog here.
    Since I was not chosen for the dt, I now feel that I can post the projects which I submitted. I KNOW that the scrapbook layout that I created for the submission (although we could submit already created projects) is NOT my best work, I felt terribly compelled to create it.  I even submitted it in time for the first deadline (they reposted the dt call on SCRAPBOOK UPDATE, and extended the submission date).  My poor hubby and son got the rath of my stress from trying to make the earlier deadline while I was waist-deep in deep cleaning and decorating our home for the Gleason Christmas which I had already committed to hosting. 
 

I am NOT a cardmaker, but I actually like this one.  Yes, there is 'trapped whitespace' between the lamp post, lace and doily, but I still like it.

    My JOY card is created mostly with 3 Birds products: card base, doily, lamp, yellow star as light, 'joy', pearl, snowflakes and clock face.  Lace is by Melissa Frances, sprayed with unknown mist and Mr Huey's "Shine" spray.  Ink pads, CTMH.  Adhesives: Hermafix, This to That adhesive runner and Glossy Accents.

Since banners are popular, and I wanted to make things that actually fit into my preferred style and would look good in my studio, I chose to create this 'scrap on' banner, with lots of lace, roses and of course, purple!

 

 

 

   Although I KNEW this was NOT an example of my best work, I felt compelled to create an "Oh, Christmas tree" page, rather than submit something I had already created and narrowed down to 2 projects.  Flocked papers from My Mind's Eye LUSH collection.  Lace unknown, purchased at WalMart.  Adhesives:  Hermafix, This To That, and Glossy Accents.  All other products from 3 Birds.
 
     At last I am able to complete this post... SCRAP ON!

I am FINALLY able to access my blog, sign in, and create again!

     It has been a LONG time, several months in fact, since I was able to readily access my blog!  YEY!  I'm back in!  I don't know what was going on with google, not allowing me to sign in, etc. but I am SO very happy to be able to work here again.
    I just found out about an opportunity to apply for a DESIGN TEAM, TWEET, TWEET, TWEET!  I hope I can quality, even if not during this first 6 month round, but sometime in the near future! 
    I am currently doing major pre-Christmas cleaning, not only to prepare for our own Christmas enjoyment, but also for hosting the Gleason family (MY family) Christmas here as well. I , as well as several others, hope to meet one of my two nieces for the first time, and she will be 17 months old at the time. 
     Okay, I need to get back to a little more cleaning, then I hope to be able to post some photos of what has been going on here over the past 3 months.

Studio updates, which I forgot last time, lol... & a different surprise in the morning.

When I got up the other day, Wesley said "Mom, there's a bat in here".  I asked him if it was dead or alive...

 ..... apparently Squirrel caught a bat (again)?  Wesley told me that he remembers being out in the front yard w/ Dad one night and Squirrel had jumped up at a bat that had flown down near our birch tree.  We had broke her of the bad habit of bringing her 'kills' indoors to show them to us w/ pride... now she's back to doing it again.

Wesley, our diyer in training, has a special talent..... fitting into small places!  We utilized that talent to have him mark the cutout for the new egress window.

In action.....

     After he had completed the task, Michael wanted to double-check his accuracy, so I crawled in.  My post-child hips are too wide to turn sideways in the window, so we opened it and I marked the side and bottom from outside lol.  Wesley had done a great job after all!

     YEY!  I now have drywall on all my walls again!!!!!!  And a large window to boot!  Now the tedious work of 'mudding' the drywall ...argh!  I will keep telling myself "It's worth all the time and work!"

Progress on the egress window stairwell....

 The egress window stairwell is framed in & we began backfilling with dirt. The outside cut through the foundation blocks was done with a diamond tip skillsaw blade.  Michael needs to do the same cuts on the inside, and then we need to chip the remaining block depth by hand.  Today Wesley & I finished with the backfilling of the stairs after I put in the bottom stair and added more stones.  Hopefully by the Sunday night I will have an egress window installed!!!

Foundation blocks had to be cut with a diamond tipped skillsaw blade.

Wesley is a hair shy of being tall enough to reach out of the hole with a shovel full of dirt.

Yes, those are screws in my mouth... don't you love the fashion statement that I am making while working both inside and outside of my studio lol!

YEY!  All but the bottom step is framed in in this photo.

 Today's early afternoon photo, showing the soil that Wesley & I backfilled this afternoon, along with more stone added.  I am going to create a garden in the terraced stairwell, with miniature roses and other English garden plants, as well as any that reflect the purple, white & pink in my studio.

We're installing an egress window after all!

     I had been asking for an egress window for a couple of months now, originally enticed by the idea after we began seriously discussing a complete reno of my basement studio space.  Originally the hubby did not like the idea (I'm assuming because of cost), but the very day I had completed cutting the foam insulation for the only original window we are keeping in that area, he told me 'you might want to stop'.  ARGHHHH!  Another case of his 'thinking' without 'sharing' the ideas/thoughts!
     He even went so far as suggest that I consider installing a SLIDING GLASS DOOR instead of only a window, due to the cost of a 'custom' window that was 36" by (up to) 60", compared to the price of a slider.  After researching the options online through our local big box stores, Home Depot and Lowe's, this idea became awfully appealing, but then I thought "What about STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY of the foundation if installing such a large piece of glass?"..... My concern was correct.  We are NOT going to go that way due to the fact that work would have to be done that includes the work of  PROFESSIONAL MASON.  Our pockets aren't that deep.
     Unfortunately, in order to get the version with grills (window pane dividers), I would have to special order it and pay DOUBLE or more of the price without grills..... So we came home with my 36"x60" double hung window (in stock, no special or custom order required).   This is larger than what is required  if we were to ever have a bedroom in this space, so we are covered in that area.  We are looking for as much NATURAL LIGHT as possible but energy efficiency as well, since the whole reason behind this reno is to keep it WARM down there!

As is routine for the past year or so, Wesley is more involved with our family projects both in & out of the home...  Note that Michael was able to place the new window just to the west of the large rambling roses and yet we don't have to disturb the climbing roses that are a hair further to the west.  Awesome!  BTW This is going to be a GARDEN EGRESS WINDOW!!!!!

Proof that Wesley helped with the carpentry prep work!

A fine, red line outlines the size and location of the new egress window!   Can you say 'window seat' anyone???

     One large hole and a little carpentry work later, this is where we stand.  HOPEFULLY  we can install the egress opening's framework OR cut the block and install the window tonight.  This all depends upon whether we need to enlarge the hole for ease of access for cutting the block, Michael's back, etc....  Wish us well!

Insulation, dry wall & framing materials are all ordered...

and will be delivered TOMORROW WOO HOO!  I was really disappointed that Lowe's no longer rents trucks from our location, so I have to bite the bullet and wait until it is delivered tomorrow.  Therefore, I have reopened my yard sale for a few hours today to make a little more money toward the cost and pass some time.  Have a SAFE & happy Memorials Weekend!

Old carpet, carpet padding, and two, yes, TWO layers of tile are gone!

    Last night I was happily surprised to find Michael beginning to remove the old, nasty carpet padding, so I jumped right in!  We were able to remove it all within about an hour because, as with the walls, it was NOT properly installed.  It's as if they occasionally spilled a foot wide area of adhesive, and the rest was barely attached.  This could also be because of the age of the adhesive, possibly installed 20 years or so ago???  Anyway, it is so nice to have that nasty stuff OUT of here!  The timing of doing this while I suffer from terrible sinus/allergy problems is not great, but oh well... I'm already severely congested. 
     Wesley also helped, even though he is also fighting allergies.  Last weekend he even had a fever and his sore throat, which I believe is from the sinus drainage, knocked him down, so I kept him out of school on Monday.  He has been feeling much better and tomorrow is their (rain day from today) Track & Field day at school.  He is VERY excited about that... He is participating in 4 or 5 events including a relay.  That should be interesting, and be fodder (sp?) for SEVERAL scrapbook pages lol.
     I have been planning my annual Memorial weekend yard sale for months, and after purging so much during the Organizing FUNdamentals class through BPC, I am adding my SCRAPBOOK PURGE to the sale;   Michael apparently forgot... he is planning to start installing my floor on Saturday... He'll have to wait until 3pm for my help.  I had planned to do most of it myself, but oh well... I hope to have the floor insulation and underlayment done by Monday!  Wish us luck!

New 3 Birds goodies are on their way to me & DOWN come the WALLS! YEY!

    I have received my shipment confirmations from HSN so I should be holding the wonderful new goodies in my little chickadee wings within a few days... Woo hoo!!!!
     We didn't get ALL the walls down last night, but they are about 2/3 complete.  Wesley's soccer practice was replaced by a make up game that was rained out earlier this season, so the work was interrupted a bit, plus I had stopped the demo around 2 pm when I discovered that a previous owner HAD installed some insulation.  I didn't want to remove the entire wall in case Michael wanted to keep it and only paint over it.  This is the only wall that is not covered in that nasty textural material that always reaches out and grabs the skin from your hands as you approach it, so it could have been painted instead of removed if we had wanted. 
     I'm glad we are removing it as planned, because the installations they had done were very poor.  Not only are all the trim pieces barely attached, easily popping off the walls & ceiling with very little effort, but the insulation panels are literally 'scabbed' in.... bits and pieces were used in several places, and even the adhesive they only used in SOME areas of the wall wasn't holding onto the insulation either.  Even the framing (whose pattern doesn't make much sense either) is easily removed!  Michael had anticipated that it would be a bear to remove the nail-gun-driven attachments but he has easily removed them with a crowbar!  YEY for us, as this is making the demo go very quickly and SO VERY easy compared to what it SHOULD have been. 
     I do wish that they would have done a higher quality job in terms of the insulating that they had done though, as that would save us a fair chunk of money if we didn't have to replace it all.  Also, the basement walls are not entirely insulated, only a portion of it, so we have to insulate the remainder as well.  The floor is not insulated at ALL, so between those two situations, that's why I've been freezing down there for the past 8 years.... onward and upward we go.  It can (hopefully) only get better from here lol.
    

Purging continues in my scrap studio!

    Continuing to purge as part of my Organizing FUNdamentals class through BigPictureClasses, I have purged so much paper.... Yes Dawn,  I purged PAPER... a ton of it in fact... so much that I have emptied a 3 section 4' high paper rack.  Not all at one sitting, but over the past year.  I gave in to the inspiration and emptied the last third or so of it the other day.  I then took a hammer to it, began tearing it apart, hubby finished the demo and carried the scraps outside!  Dakota IMMEDIATELY came down and claimed the empy space!  " MOM!  FINALLY..... an empty spot on  the floor for me to take a nap!"

For my bpc classmates, this is the "nasty popcorn walls' that I've been complaining about...  EVERYTIME you even THINK about reaching for something as it rolls to the back of your table, or you try to move a paper rack to a new space...... ouch.  Less skin on your fingers, knuckles, etc.  OFF IT IS COMING!  We are going to be RIPPING OUT ALL THESE WALLS, reframing, insulating, and putting up new drywall.  YEY FOR ME!!!!!  WOO HOO! 

A new heat source, as we are no longer dependent upon the furnace, raised floors for further insulation from the cold, a bar height island to replace my current 4x8' crop table,... WOW will I be one happy scrapper!

Organizing FUNdaments class from Big Picture Classes (BPC) is great!

  I am in the midst of the sort/organize session of this class, as we are in week 3.  Wendy Smedley and Aly Dosdall have offered this great class to help us to practice methods, make realizations & insights into how WE think and craft, & therefore make OUR spaces more useful & pleasant for US.
  Although I have been purging my studio at least twice a year for the past 3 years or so, there is ALWAYS something to be discovered which we no longer love, have absolutely no use for as we move on to other stages in our children's/grandchildren's lives (ie I no longer really need all that cutesy newborn boy product since Wesley is now 9 years old),  does not fit our current 'style' of scrapbooking, cardmaking or papercrafting (I'm very into shabby chic and layering now), or is simply taking up TOO MUCH SPACE and cluttering our lives, minds & hearts.
  Because this class is offered through BPC, it is a "FOREVER" CLASS.....all the material listings, handouts, VIDEO tutorials, etc are ARCHIVED on their website...you can access it at ANY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT, even on CHRISTMAS EVE as a gift to yourself if you see fit!
  Come on over to www.bigpictureclasses.com to check it out, as well as see all the other wonderful offerings, including FREE CLASSES!

New wall color.... & much clearer work spaces!

     I was not happy with the first color of paint, as it did not seem rich enough. The second color which I purchased was darker than the chip/sample, so.....after living with each color for a few days, I made myself two color mixtures to try out on my wall for a bit. The mixture of 2:1 dark to light color won out over the 1:1 mixture, so......here it is. I still have to put up the wainscoting & stenciling, but I'm on my way to a happier wall.

     I have been brutally honest with myself as I sort through my "stash", adding PILES of product to my already over-flowing "scrap sale" items.  It is very freeing to have more space in my studio & clearer countertops!

  Now I have to find a spot to store my "scrap sale" products!  I always give my niece Sarah first choice of my yardsale stash, which helps fuel her scrapbooking while helping to clear out my own space.  She has a lot of shopping to do!

EXTRA Valentine's Day treats & Studio Update

  This year I received EXTRA Valentine's Day treats....a 3 Birds & HSN delivery!  This shipment contained the newest 3 Birds Estate Collection piece, their Estate Collection Doily Elegant Card Kit & Claudine Hellmuth's chipboard kit.  The doily card kit is GORGEOUS & I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the PURPLES & PINKS used in this kit, along with the 3 dimensional embellishments....they've even included TWINE!  I've been waiting to try this new medium....yey! 
     Claudine launched her first series of products on HSN recently, and of course, I HAD to try it!  The chipboard embellishments are contained within an adorable ICE CREAM TRUCK!  As I quickly sorted through the HUNDREDS of pieces in this kit, I quickly imagined several pages that I can create utilizing these adorable pieces.  In fact, I wish I had several of them to use on layouts I recently created.
     Both the permanent packaging & the shipping packaging of these two kits is AWESOME, some of the best I've seen in a long time!

          Now for my Scrap Studio update:  My new studio wall is becoming dusty lavender!  This is the first base coat with the second coat to be applied later this afternoon.  I hope to be able to stencil tomorrow.  I'll have to see if I'm happy with the colors first.  I didn't want to use too dark a shade since it's in the basement & I only have one window to supply any natural light.  That window isn't even on this side of the basement, so I dream of one day having a large fire-easement window installed, or maybe even two of them.
      Uh-oh...Michael just discovered that with some color on the wall, we can now see that the drywall seams need to be re-mudded.  The drywall is contoured along the edges & so he needs to make up for that.  I guess we should have gone with the non-rounded drywall.  Live & learn.  He thought that his seams were nice & smooth.  They were pretty smooth, but you couldn't see the wave in the wall before there was any color added.  Take 2.

My Studio wall is closer to being complete...& Wesley is a 3 Birds & Teresa Collins scrapbooking product user & fan!

     A few more pics of the ongoing upgrade to my studio.....      




  




 
     Now, for Wesley's Valentine's Day gift projects.  Wesley has ALWAYS loved to craft & scrapbook, & getting 3 Birds shipments is always a GREAT day!
      Wesley made his teacher's card with...of course...3 Birds supplies, which HE SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR!  He has GREAT taste!  Since I couldn't find a heart-shape in the new Honey of a Card kit, I tried altering the shape of one of them...it worked pretty well, so WE USED TWO! 

      I received my Signature Series Teresa Collins book in the mail yesterday & I later discovered that Wesley finished his teacher's gift using ....wait for it....TERESA COLLINS scrapbooking supplies! I told him who made them & that we HAD to take a picture of it with her book! I always take pics of his gift projects, but this one needed extra photos!

Our son is VERY creative & has GREAT TASTE in scrapbooking & paper crafting supplies!

3 BIRDS, DONNA STORK & HSN...GREAT DAY!!!! Plus, my new STUDIO WALL is up!!!

    A few days ago, I told you that 3 Birds' Donna Stork would be presenting their new ESTATE COLLECTION DOILY CARD KIT...I just HAD to reschedule my day to fit around the HSN SCRAPBOOKING PRESENTATION schedule haha!!!
    Also, I had mentioned that we were going to be drywalling my STUDIO WALL from nearly 2 years ago...."THERE BE WHALES".... NO, DRYWALL "HERE, CAPTAIN!"  That was an edited quote from my favorite movie EVER....Star Trek V, where they go back in time to retrieve/rescue 2 HUMPBACK WHALES to SAVE THE EARTH (my favorite mammal ever, which I had originally planned to study as they migrate between Hawaii & Australia, or California & Alaska each year)...sorry I'm rambling....back to MY SCRAPBOOKING STUDIO!
   After only a couple of hours, the wall was up, and in only a few minutes the following night, the very small corner wall was up!!!!!  This should NOT have taken us nearly 2 years to complete!  Anyway, after getting home from work tonight without my drywall compound, etc.....I asked Michael to make me a list of supplies needed, or him to pick them up tomorrow after work....he'll be bringing them home for me tomorrow (HOPEFULLY)....gee can you guess what I'LL BE DOING THIS WEEKEND!!!!

    Anyway, I have included a couple of pics....