Blogging Break

I won't be hosting Sunday Blog Love Linky Party this weekend.

Instead I will be taking a two week break.....things to do and not enough time in the day.

Giveaway Winner Announced!

The winnner of this gorgeous papercrafting kit is......

Ricki

Huge thank you to Linda at Funkie Junkie!

Don't forget to stop over and check out her Etsy store,

Funkie Junkie's Boutique.

Changes to Our Living Room

This summer, one of my(our) bigger projects was to update our living room.

This was our living room and while it really did look nice, the sofa was not all that comfortable..

So I sold it on craigslist this summer..

and bought this leather loveseat and matching oversized chair..

also off Craigslist...

and started playing around with how to arrange the furniture...

The oak table came from Goodwill, I think we paid $8 for it.

And yes, I knew the chairs didn't look good together.

I tried to cover up the chair with a big pillow until I could decide what to do....

I tried a slip cover and it was too big...although Charlie found it comfy for a nap right away!

So back to the store it went...and I went looking for a different chair..

The other part of this project was the wood furniture

The antique dresser came from a junk sale last December

and I knew right away that this would be painted..as well as

the coffee table and end tables..

A few weekends ago, we painted the tables, so let me show you the after...

First up is our newly painted coffee table...I love how it brightens up the room..

That problem chair is now in our family room and this chair is from my daugher.

She's getting ready to move and while she loves this chair, she was happy to sell it to me..

The pillow is made from my tattered quilt...(I think I have enough quilt to make one more pillow.)

Here's the two chairs together with the newly painted table..love it!

Foot stool is from Target(found it on clearance!)

Oh and new lamps from Pier One...thanks DH!!

Next week, I'll show you how the dresser turned out and my wonderful find off eBay...

If you haven't already done so, please check out the giveaway going on right now...

I'm linking to these parties<./a>...



Papercrafting With Sunflowers - Giveaway

I came across this beautiful sunflower recently on

Pinterest...do you love as much as I do?

Well I did some clicking around to find out how it was made

and I came across this blog...

Linda makes the most beautiful cards and tags.

Let me show you some of my favorites... 

love all the textures used to make this card

can't decide if I love the color of this box or the embellishments more

such a beautiful Christmas card to make for someone special

Linda has a wonderful Etsy shop...and I grabbed the Sunflower kit...

the kit comes with two large sunflowers and three smaller sunflower

Click here for the entire list of products included in this kit.

If this doesn't catch your eye...

Linda has lots of other paper crafting products for sale..

Filigree Embellishments

Burlap String

Stick Pins

If you'd like to win a Sunflower Kit, courtesy of The Funkie Junkie

just leave one comment on this post between now and Saturday, Sept 16, 2011(12 pm Central Time)
Extra entry if you're a follower - be sure to let me know..
Sorry, but this is for US only.

I'll announce the winner on Sunday, Sept 18, 2011.

September 11, 2001 - I'll Never Forget That Day

The morning of Sept 11, 2001 was a day that started like everyday...

driving to work and listening to the radio and thinking what

a beautiful day it was..

Got to work and turned on my radio and heard that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers...

I didn't even know what the Twin Towers were...

and I thought that the radio anouncer was playing a very bad joke

by reporting this...

but very soon I found out that the story was true 

and there was a fear that that White House was next...

I wasn't able to see any images until I got home that night...

driving home was different experience...

many places were closed due to bomb threats....

Once I made it home,

I still didn't feel safe...which was so scary and foreign to me..

But my family was lucky, none of us were hurt...we were all safe and alive..

and we didn't know anyone who lost their life that day..

but my thoughts never stop thinking of the people

who lost their loved ones...

So many people lost their lives that day...

innocent people just living their lives..

so many courageous people...

September, 11, 2001

It's a day I'll never forget...

Sunday Blog Love - Linky Party

It's the weekend! I hope you've been having nice cool weather like we've been having...

DH and I will be spending tomorrow re-arranging our garage and cleaning out the clutter..

and do I dare say...making room for the snow blower?

Let me show you some of my favorites from last week....

and big thank you to all who linked up!

Harvest Banner

Canvas Art

Lampshade Redone

Dome Clock Redone

Feel free to grab the "I'm featured" button, the code is in the right hand column.

And you'll also find yourself featured on my Pinterest Board

Now it's onto this week's party...

Just a few guidelines..

Become a follower - then you know if you've been featured....

All kinds of posts are welcome--whether it's about your family, a craft project, thrifty find, a favorite recipe or maybe it's decorating your home....

Please don't link if your blog is a business blog, Etsy store or a giveaway....

And finally...please..please..please...link back to my party....

(besides it's blogger ettiquette to link back...)

A Tour of My Scrapbook Room

This past weekend, DH and I rearranged my crafting/office room...There wasn't enough room to hold my things not to mention the room wasn't being used to it's full potential..

Let me show you what it looked like before...

 It was a nice space but the workspace was so small....

And DH hung up 3 shelves for my scrapbook supplies..

back then I didn't have very many items..

I love this cubbies from Michaels...and it was the perfect height to hold my Cricut and Cuttlebug...

but it this corner was so dark not to mention not enough room to use the Cricut...

Now let me show you what happened after I acquired more product....

Wow, a picture does tell the story...very crowded and a little overwhelming..

okay maybe a lot of over whelming..

This is the TV area, we even added shelves here to store supplies and ended up going all around the TV..I love to watch Real Housewives, Nate Berkus, Keeping Up With the Kardashians...

okay the list is endless....

and it was just overflowing...

the other side of the room held the desk and computer...another catch all..

Now I'll show you the after...

We flip flopped the areas and the two tables are where the desk use to be..

The area around the TV is now cleared out...much easier to look at now..

(for all my TV shows...)

And we moved the desk over to where the table use to be,

removed the hutch off the desk..

the hutch wasn't storing anything but misc items...

Another look at the table set up...so much room and I love it..

I use this cutting mat all the time...

And we added two more shelves....

All ready to work on another project...

I moved my Cricut machine down to the table and know I'll use it

much more having it in a convenient place..and with lots of natural light..

I stacked my cubbies up four high and moved the bulletin board up on top..

everything needed to be moved up several inches.

and it's a great place for Max to sit and look out the window...

DH and I are working to truly declutter our home, next week I'll show you our living room...

almost done...and really open and updated..

I'm linking to these parties...

Metamorphis Monday

Michael's House

I typically don't talk about my kids on my blog but I'm going to start a new feature and show what they're up too...

Michael is my middle child, works as a CPA at an accounting firm and is competely

remodeling this house he bought this summer. First all let me say, when I first saw this place..I asked Michael if he really wanted to work on something that needed so much work...and I mean..it needed to be gutted and redone.. Let me give you a tour as it was last weekend....

This is the doorway coming into the dining room from the garage...

The main floor has all new windows, new wiring and as soon as the wiring is inspected..

new insulation and the sheetrocking and texturing will start..

hopefully this week!

Next to the dining room is the kitchen...it's a shell...the former owners took out the cabinets and appliances when they left - interestingly - they were foreclosed on beause they weren't paying the mortage and felt they deserved the cabinets!. In the end - they did Michael a favor...less to tear out and haul to the landfill. Cabinets and appliances are ordered and waiting to be installed...

The living room has s super sized window now and will have hardwood floors as well as in the kitchen and dining room...It used to be carpeted and as you can imagine..very dirty...

As I'm looking at this picture, the new front door was recently installed..this picture shows the old door which really wasn't all that bad..but the new door is gorgeous!!

This is the old dining room, I'm not sure what the plan is for this room...formal dining room..or since he's a bachelor - a poker room...not sure..

I have trouble calling this a home at this stage, and can you blame me? There are three bedrooms with  hardwood floors. This bedroom had mirrors on this wall and this is mural was underneath.

Michael plans on converting this room into his office...

Here's the second bedroom, the window in front is larger now and of course..more wallpaper..

not a bad space at all, but will be used as the guest room...or maybe for future babies??

Oh and can't forget to mention, the window on the left side is no more...all boarded up!

The master bedroom has a huge closet and more wallpaper..thankfully it's not as much of it as the other rooms...the window on the left faces the backyard and really makes the room bright..

the other window is boarded up now..

And because the inside was needing a lot of work...the outside is all that bad..

but it'll need some loving care...most likely next spring...

I realized I haven't taken any pictures of the front of the house...

but new siding and shingles are up very soon and should really transform it from a house into a home..

Stay tuned for more updates, the plan is to be done by the end of the month or at least that Michael will be able to live there...

Side note: I told Michael I need to apply for him to HGTV'd..seriously...wouldn't that be so neat?

And Michael - cause I know you'll be reading this...I am so proud of you...this is a huge project!!

I'm linking to these parties...

Metamorphis Monday