Girls' Bedrooms -- Before & After

I need to get ready for my library class today, but in the meantime, I thought I would quickly post some before & after photos of my girls' bedrooms. Whew! Painting is exhausting. The prep work takes so long! I know why people hire painters! Anyway, I'm glad their rooms are done, and they LOVE them!

Here's some before and after shots of Emily's room.

In the photo above, you can see the desk that my husband made for Emily. Very cool!

Here are some shots of Jessica's room.

I'll try to get some photos posted tomorrow of their rooms with ALL of their furniture in there. They are totally in love with their new spaces, AND their rooms were rearranged, and they love that too! I just love my girls, and it's so fun to see them so excited about their bedrooms! Love it!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

BBTB - George - Star Challenge

The challenge this week at the Bitten By The Bug site is to use the star cut that is available on the George cartridge. It's such a simple cut, but it has so many possibilities. You will be amazed at what the design team created, so be sure to check it out! Also, the very talented Regina is looking to add a couple more design team members to the team. Be sure to check that out too! It's so much FUN! Why not give it a try? Here's my card for this week's challenge.


I decided to use the stars on a graduation card for my nephew. I cut two stars and two shadows. I ran the stars through my Cuttlebug using the swiss dots embossing folder. The "you did it!" is also from a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The "Happy Graduation!" and "Reach For The Stars" are both stickers that I had in my stash. The photo corners are Heidi Swapp. My nephews high school colors are burgundy and gold, so I decided to add some burgundy to the card. The dotted ribbon is from Michael's.

I have lots to do today. I have a craft class at the library tomorrow, and I'm not completely prepared for it yet. I need to finish some cutting and get a lot of glue sticks! I'm so behind on blog hopping again, and I'm so sorry about that! I hope to catch up with everyone soon! Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!!

What A Wonderful Day!

We had a WONDERFUL 4th of July! The parade was great, the girls both marched with the Junior High band, I walked with them as a chaperone, and my husband and my sister-in-law (my husband's sister) watched the parade. Afterwards, we came home and painted the girls' rooms. It took us the rest of the day all the way up to when we left to watch the fireworks at the main park. It was a lot of work, it was exhausting, but it was well worth the effort, because the painting is done! My sister-in-law came over for a day of fun, and instead, we put her to work! She said she didn't mind, thank goodness! She said she actually had fun helping us paint!


Here we are at the main park waiting for the fireworks to start. We were all so sweaty from painting!! Here are some firework photos for you to enjoy! I was impressed with how well these photos turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 4th of July & Hi Girlfriend Card

I want to wish all of my United States visitors a very Happy 4th of July! I love celebrating the 4th of July with my family. My girls are both marching in the annual parade, and when it gets dark, we go see the fireworks in the main park. We always have so much fun!

I wanted to share another card that I made for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol. Once again, this card didn't get me a spot in the top 20, and it's my second favorite that I submitted. I really LOVE the way this card turned out!


I cut "Girlfriend" on my Cricut using Opposites Attract. I used Bo Bonny dotted paper. The card base is black, and I cut a part of the front of the card off so that I could add the threading water punched piece in pink to the bottom of the card. I love the way that turned out! I then put a gorgeous piece of velvet ric rac over the seam. I added a strip of pink ribbon to the top of the card for another border. I used two gorgeous silk Primas with Making Memories brads. The little tag is Making Memories, and I stamped "hi" on it with my Karen Foster snap stamps.


Here's another view of the card. I just think it's really bold and totally cute!

Well, I scheduled this post . . . how cool that we can do that! Have a wonderful Friday and an awesome weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Card Sketch #51

It's card sketch day on Sketches! {by Tamara}. Here is my card for Card Sketch #51. Be sure to link your card back to Tamara's blog if you create a card using her sketch!


The sketch was definitely patriotic, but I decided to challenge myself to create a card that wasn't patriotic. I really love the way this card turned out. I used Love, Elsie Toby paper. I really like the way the paper was already striped, so it worked well with the sketch. I cut the star and the star shadow on my Cricut. I cut "superstar" with my QuicKutz squeeze and my Zelda alphabet. I added Toby ribbon around the card front, popped up the star, and attached three light blue dew drops. Love it!

So, the painting of the girls' rooms continues. All of the prep work is done. We got the ceilings done and the primer on the walls. It's so much work! My husband did the ceilings, and we all did the walls. Today, hopefully, we'll get to the color!! I took the "before" photos, and the "after" photos will be so BOLD! I'll show you when we're all done. The girls are so excited. Of course, with their rooms completely empty, the rest of the house is a MESS! We put their mattresses on the floor in the family room, and that's where they're sleeping! FUN!

I'm very excited about the 4th of July! Can't wait! I'll be walking along with the girls' marching band. We chaperone and squirt the kids when they get too hot. Our village also does an amazing fireworks show. Love it! Have a fantastic day, and thanks for stopping by!

Your fault!

This was the second card that I uploaded to the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol (see yesterday's post). This one didn't actually come together the way I wanted it to, but I spent too much time on it NOT to post it!


I used Basic Grey Romani papers. I found the sentiment on the computer while searching for friendship quotes. It says, "We've been through a lot together, and most of it was your fault!" I thought that was pretty funny! I typed in on the computer and printed it on the Basic Grey tag.


I used a gorgeous Autumn Leaves French Twist chipboard tag. I love the way it coordinates with the Basic Grey papers. However, maybe it coordinates too much. It didn't really pop off of the card the way I wanted it to. I added a trio of flower rhinestones to the ribbon.


Here's a close up of the tag. It's tied to the card with American Crafts ribbon. I added various Primas, buttons, and other ribbon to secure the buttons. So, that's card number two! My other favorite card that I entered is card number three, and I'll get that posted on Friday.

Well, we're still working on the painting prep work. We're taping off the door frames, window frames, closet door frames, etc. Prep work for painting takes FOREVER! My husband is doing most of it, because he's must better at that detail work, plus he's a pecfectionist, so he does everything very well! I'm very behind on blog hopping, but that's pretty much my story for the summer I think. Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Special Friend Always - Hi

I submitted four cards to the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest, and unfortunately, I was NOT selected to be in the top 20, so I can now post my cards on my blog. This is the first card I submitted, and it's my favorite out of my entries.


I used Basic Grey Pheobe papers. The flower center is a Scrappy Cat circular stamp that I cut with my Coluzzle. The large flower I got from my very good blogging friend Kristy, and I stamped an Autumn Leaves swirl on the flower. I got the chipboard letters from a wonderful kit that I purchased at 4 Scrappy Sisters. The velvet ric rac is Basic Grey, and the flower is a Prima. I also added some sheer ribbon, tickey punched the corners, and added a swirl stamp on the upper right of the card front. I really love the way this card turned out!


Here's a close up of the flower, stamped sentiment flower center, and the sheer bow.


Here's a close up of the chipboard letters, the ric rac detail, and the silk Prima.

I am happy to report that a blogger that I admire very much made the top 20! Beatriz is also a fellow BBTB design team member. Bety's cards are always gorgeous, and they are true works of art! Congratulations to her!! Well deserved top 20 spot for her!

Well, lots to do this week. We're painting the girls rooms. It's a lot of work. We just about have the rooms emptied, and we need to get the paint today. I hope we make a lot of progress in the next few days. I'll try to remember to take some pictures!

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

BBTB - Accents Essentials - Circle Challenge

This week our Bitten By The Bug challenge was to use one of the circle cuts from the Accents Essentials cartridge. I don't have that cartridge, so DeeDee sent me the cuts. I love the colors she sent to me, and I had no problem letting them inspire me to make this card!


The stamps are from Stampin' Up. I just love these stamps! I used the circles as frames. I popped up all three of the stamped images. The card front is Cuttlebug embossed, and I sanded the paper to let the white core show. The gorgeous ribbon is from Maya Road, and I received it as a RAK from Jen over at ScrapCity. The flower is a Prima. I just love the colors of this card!

It's going to be a busy week, and I can't wait until the 4th of July. I love celebrating the 4th of July with my family! I hope you all have a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

Guest Designer Featured Today!

I am happy to feature a gorgeous card that my oldest daughter Emily made for her pen pal. Hi Kendall!


I just love this stamp! This primitive man is just so cool to me! Emily found this stamp at a rubber stamp flea market. She created the "Hello!" panels using the Making Memories Rummage alphabet stamps. She added some Primas with a brad flower center. I love this color combination too! Well done, Emily!! I love it!

It's still so hot and humid! Ugh! Go away humidity! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Baby Card & A Tag

I never got around to posting this baby card that I made for Patsy's baby, sweet little Eleanor! I had to get a photo of it from Patsy, because when I finished making it, I sent it off without photographing it first! I was very pleased with the way it turned out.


I used My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie papers and sentiment. The paper is gorgeous and double-sided, and I used a strip of the reverse at the bottom of the card after using my threading water punch on it. I bought the lace at a garage sale, and it looks so pretty on this baby card. Just to make sure that the lace stayed in placed, I held it in place with five brads. I used up some of my alphabet beads and added Eleanor's name to the front of the card. Last, some buttons, ribbon, and a safety pin were my finishing touches. I think this is sweet and so cute! As long as Patsy liked it, that's all that matters!

I was tagged by Deborah. Here are the rules. Link person that tagged you and people you are tagging and notify them! Have fun!

My 6 "quirks" / things that drive me crazy!
1. People who chew with their mouth open.
2. People who chew gum with their mouth open and smack their gum.
3. Someone having a loud cell phone conversation in public.
4. My inability to declutter and throw things out! (I'm trying!!)
5. Walking barefoot on a wet floor. You know, like through a locker room! Ugh! I need to have flip flops on!!
6. Not having enough time in the day! I always want to get so much done, but that never happens!

I'm NOT going to tag anyone else, because I don't like to leave anyone out! So, if you want to put this tag on your blog, please do! Consider yourself tagged!

Whew, it's hot and humid here today. I hate the humidity! I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a fantastic weekend! Thanks for stopping by!