Monday, August 20, 2012

Gratitude!

Hi there!  I have a new card for you today.  I am kind of in love with it!
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I used PTI's ad sense and circle stamps.  I have a new leaf base with ad sense die cuts.  The inks are blueberry sky and new leaf.  The white frame is drawn with a t square and gel pen.  Its that simple.

Can I talk to you a minute about gratitude?  I just have to say I am feeling so grateful today!  Why?  Because my latest Donor's Choose project just got funded- mostly by my friends and family- but also by total strangers who are trusting me with their hard earned cash.  In case you dont know Donor's choose is a non profit that matches teachers in need with donors.  You submit a project, go shopping (online) for the supplies and then you wait and hope people will pick you.  When you get funded all your supplies are shipped to your school.  You use them, take pictures, and have the kids write thank you letters.  Its simple, its amazing, and its so worth while.  I have a link to the page in my side bar.  I don't have any projects up right now but hundreds of other hard working teachers do.  Check it out if you have the chance.  You can donate as little as 5 dollars.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #111

Hi Friends!  Long time, no write!  Its been busy here the last couple of weeks!  I have a few pictures and stories for you but first I wanted to check in with my take on the Waltzingmouse sketch challenge! You can find all the details for the challenge here.
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My 17th wedding anniversary is tomorrow and I needed a little something for the hubby. I used a couple of different sets on this card.  The background is from Heirloom Patterns.  The tree and wee birds are from Teeny Trees.  The heart is from Lil Buddies (I think...), and the sentiments are from Compact Family and Compact Sentiments.  I used a variety of inks from a wide variety of manufactures.  Ribbon from my stash, twine from May Arts.  That's it for the card making portion.  Below is a little update on the goings on around here:

Edit:  Just clarify... the bride below is NOT me.  That is my husband's cousin and we went to her wedding in S. Ca.  You can see us dressed in our wedding finery in the pics following.
We have been in and out of town and all over for the past two weeks.  We were at a wedding in Southern California where my husbands cousin got married.
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The bride and her dad.
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My little darlings.
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Me and the hubby.

Both my kids had birthdays and we celebrated with a pool party at the local pool.
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I cleaned out and reorganized my closet!  Oh it was such a pig stye!  I am too embarrassed to show the before pics!
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I recovered all the dining room chairs.  The kids ripped one and of course no matching fabric on hand I had to redo them all.  I do like the way they turned out.
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Before
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After! So anyway its been busy around here!  My daughter started jr. high this week and my son will be back in school on Monday.  The count down for me has started as well and I have been spending time down at my job getting ready for the new year to start up.  Thanks as always for coming by.  I know its annoying when the posts don't update every day!  I'm going to try to do better!


Friday, August 10, 2012

Using Up the Old

Good Morning Friends!  I have a couple more cards for you from the set I made the other day.  I love that I was able to clear out a huge batch of patterned paper and older cardstock to get these made.  Not only that I was able to incorporate the matching chipboard stickers that I paid a good sum for and then never used.  A couple of tips: gather your old pp and your matching embellies before you start so you can see what you have to work with.  Add in anything else that might go well.  I picked out some coordinating ribbon and some matching PTI cardstock.  Look in your stamp collection to see what might go well for envies and sentiments.
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On this card you can see the big chipboard sticker is my focal point.  Unfortunately the middle of the sticker has some silly word on it that I would have never added to a card, not in a million years.  So I went and found a punch to match the size of the center circle.  I punched a piece of coordinating paper and I stamped it with a sentiment I do like.  Then I just glued it right over the top!  And now its exactly as I wanted it.

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 Below is another card where I did the same thing.  I cut a square to cover up the old (and ridiculous) sentiment and then added a new one with my stamps.  Fun and frugal!
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Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Flip Box Tutorial

Hello friends! I put together a little photo tutorial of yesterday's box. Please email me or ask in the comments if you have questions. Writing a tutorial is not something I have done a whole lot of so forgive me if I lead you astray! Each picture has directions on it so feel free to enlarge. IMG_1445 IMG_1446 IMG_1447
Now we start the lid.  My pictures here are not as good and I made some mistakes so be sure to read the captions.
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The caption above is full of typos!  Sorry!  It should say that the middle flaps should be shorter while the top ones need to be 2.5 inches.  I cut it wrong.  I had to throw it out and start anew.  Technically you could glue it that way and it would work but it looks nicer if the top flaps are a full 2.5 inches.
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 This is the box with the patterned paper added in. P1070336
 This is the finished box.  All the little details are what make it so much fun.

Monday, August 06, 2012

Patterned Paper Gift Box Set

Good Morning Friends! I have a boxed gift set today to share with you.  I edited all these pictures last night and then added a watermark and it appears I did not save it properly.  ACK!  So please forgive my unedited pictures.  I have two sets of cards and because of the pictures I will share the second set and second box tomorrow.  I also have some basic instructions on how to make the box.  I created it myself although I am sure there are similar things out there on the web.
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Both boxes are pictured above.   I made the yellow one first and then refined some things with the orange one.  All the patterned paper is from the WeRMemory Keepers White Out collection.  Its really old.  I know this because the price tag was on the back of the chipboard stickers and its from a scrapbook store that went out of business at least two years ago, if not more. 
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I have always loved that paper and I am so glad I got a chance to use up a ton of it here.  The box is made from 12x12 bazzill cardstock.  The tag uses the PTI tag sale die.  Ribbon and inks are from PTI.
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Inside the box.  Its quite roomy.  The lid is nice and tall.  One refinement on the new box is an inner rim to facilitate opening and closing the box.  I will point that out tomorrow.
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Card one:  Lots of patterned paper, ribbon and a cardstock sticker.  The CS stickers all had really stupid things printed on them.  So I covered the words with paper and stamped my own sentiments!  I used Fillable Frames, Framed Out and Across the Miles.
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Same idea different embellies.
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Same idea here as well.  You can also see the envelopes I made to coordinate.
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Close up of the cardstock sticker.  I added the banner across to change out the lame sentiment to make it a thank you card. 

Tomorrow I will be back with the other box, the rest of the cards, and a few tips on how to make the box if you are interested.  This was a great way to burn through my 12x12 stash. 

Sunday, August 05, 2012

The Great Faucet Catastrophe!

Hi there friends!  Today I have something a little different.  Instead of a card or box I have my first foray into plumbing.  Something that was suppose to be pretty easy but instead turned out to be CRAZY!  I knew there was a reason to call people for these types of things.
It started because the faucet looked like this.  Yes, it is 1990's brass.  It's hideous.  This is the children's bathroom where I am positive they care nothing about how the faucet looks.  They also care nothing about hanging towels and picking up their clothes.  One day after picking up their towels again (they were not home to be summoned to pick up their own towels) I decided to forgo the (completely beat up hideous brass) towel racks and purchase some new hooks.  Down at the store I realized that brass is so "out" they don't even sell it anymore!  So I purchased brushed nickel hooks.  I installed them and they looked great except the brass now stood out ten times more!  So I thought, "Self, you should just replace that faucet".  Self and I looked it up on Google where we were assured it would be an easy task.   I can't tell you how many websites, youtube videos, and facebook friends told me it would be a piece of cake.  I should have known better, after all I am the queen of the glass is half empty.

So it was off to the Home Depot where I purchased a new brushed nickel faucet and toilet paper holder.  Next I went home and made sure I had all the necessary tools that Google recommended.  I cleaned out from under the sink and contemplated on how exactly I was going to wedge my body in there.
 Above is the tiny hole into which I had to squeeze my entire upper body.  I am fairly certain having smaller boobs would have helped immensely here.  Once you have your body in there you block all the light and then you need a lantern.
Above is the original brass toilet paper holder that came with the house when it was built back in 1990.  Charming, no?  Notice how the center is silver.  My husband bought a replacement a few years back and decided it was just easier to add the middle part then replace the whole thing.

I began with the demolition of the old faucet.  I carefully followed Google and You Tubes instructions for the dismantle.  Everything was going swimmingly until I had unbolted every part and the faucet still would not lift out.   Apparently you need to pull kind of hard.   After discovering this tidbit the sink look liked this:
 Everything is out.  No more faucet and no more drain.   Getting the drain out was harder then the faucet and I had to draft my 11 year old daughter to help me out.  She is a princess and did not wish to dirty her hands.   To get the drain out you need to remove the trap- the u shaped pipe under the sink- when you do that dirty water will come pouring out.  Hopefully you put a bowl under there.  I did!  But it also got all over my hands and it was sooo gross and smelly.
This is the bag of disgusting faucet parts.  I was using it for trash.  Everything that went in was so grimy and gross.  But at this point I was really happy.  I felt like putting in a faucet was easy and I was contemplating doing even more faucets!  I should have known...

The next step is installing the new stuff.   I got in the new drain and the new faucet fairly easily but as I was going to rehook the supply lines (where the water goes into the faucet) I noticed one line looked different from the other.  One had a little black gasket on it.  The other was plain silver.  This I knew could not be good.  I went looking for the other black gasket and found it wedged into the old faucet.  I tried to dig it out but it just crumbled everywhere.  So I naively thought I would just go buy a new gasket.  Naive....very naive... and this is where the faucet installation takes a turn to the dark side.

At the Home Depot I ask the helpful man where I might find these little gaskets.  I am informed there are no such things.  You must replace the entire supply line.  I have the old kind of lines (I had no idea) and you must remove everything- the line and the angle stop valve it is hooked to.  This will involve shutting off the water to the entire house and getting down there with two wrenches, dismantling the old angle stop and putting in a new one.  Clearly not easy.  Mr. Helpful gave me the parts I needed and then recommended I do both lines.  I told him no, the other isn't broken.  Well let me say this- if the guy at Home Depot says you need two, save a trip and buy two.  Lesson learned.
Above is the bad supply line.  Before attempting faucet replacements check your lines!  Lesson learned!  Whats bad is that the line is integrated into the valve.  The line can not be replaced without the valve being replaced.  Replacing the valve is not easy.

These are good valves.  You can remove just the supply line if needed.  These are the ones I (with tons of help from my husband- umm maybe he actually did it while I held the second wrench) installed.  Notice there are two new ones.  That guy at the Home Depot knew what he was talking about.   Installing these took like three hours.  All the water to the house has to be turned off and our main shut off valve was acting up.  I got sprayed in the face once.  I flooded the bathroom and by the time I was done I looked as if I had gone swimming in my clothes.  And all that was after my hubby graciously decided to help me.   At one point both me and my husband had to stuff our upper bodies into that tiny cabinet.  Go ahead scroll up and look at that tiny cabinet.  Me and my husband... laying belly to belly in those tiny openings.  Did I mention I had gotten him out of bed and he hadn't brushed his teeth yet?  Yeah it doesn't take long to foul up  2 cubic feet of air.    We got the first one done, turned on the water and it sprayed everywhere.  We took it off, reinstalled it and tried again and it held.  I was so happy!  My husband left to go shower (and brush his teeth!!) and I rehooked the old supply line to the other side.  Well wouldn't you know it- we turned on the water again and it sprayed everywhere (it was my third bath under the cabinet!)  Turns out the other gasket also crumbled.  So it was back to the Home Depot for another valve and another line.  We start to replace it and realize I bought the wrong size line.  In my defense all the lines look the same!  So back to the Home Depot again.  They have these little cameras on the self check lanes and what I would give to have my videos from each purchase.  Each time I went in more wet and more pissed off than the time before.  By the end my hair was on end, I smelled of dirty water, and my clothes were dripping.  A pretty picture I was not.  However we did get the last valve and line in, it did not leak.  My husband helped me reassemble the drain- its hard to get it tight enough, you need to really put some muscle behind it.  Below is the finished product:
 But uh oh... what do we see here?  Its brass on the bottom of the mirror.... Its like the "If you give a Moose a Muffin..." of bathrooms!  If you replace a hook, you need to replace a faucet.  If you replace a faucet, you need to replace a mirror....  Will I be able to leave the mirror???  I hope so!
At least the TP holder matches!  Please ignore my filthy floor.  I promise I have mopped since then!
THE MORAL:  Check your supply lines before attempting faucet replacements!  And listen to the guy at Home Depot!

Thanks for stopping in!  I have a really cool box of cards that made and I promise that will be the next thing up.  No more crazy home repair for me!

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

It's August!

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Good morning friends! Have a little something for you today. This is from PTI Hello Sunshine set. Not sure if buying that set was a mistake or not. I haven't really used it and I don't really have a lot of ideas. Kind of falls into that what exactly was I thinking category. Not sure what I will do with it. Its not even the full set as I sold off a lot of the sentiments to a friend. Anyway here is the card. Hopefully I am back in town for awhile and I will get some things done! Today I am installing a bathroom faucet. I am sure cussing will be involved. Have a great Wednesday!