Spring Fever - Organizing time!!

I've been trying to de-clutter my craft room for the last month or so but it's such an overwhelming job that I keep stopping and starting.

And I've got a few other things on the go right now that keep pulling me away from this task.

Last night I went through my loose wooden stamps (yes I still have some on wood blocks!) and I pulled out a quite a few (this cupboard was full!) but I'm still keeping so many. 

I kind of forgot what I had - out of sight out of mind I guess!

Makes me wish I had kept a catalogue of my stamps from the beginning or finished the ones I tried to start over the years.

When I get overwhelmed in my craft room I move into other areas of the house to de-clutter.

My daughter is moving out and so I've been going through my whole house to see what I can "donate" to her.  This is really helping me de-clutter!

I've gone through my kitchen drawers, linen closet, and garage!

To help keep me motivated I've been watching some videos and following a fellow blogger as she goes through a  "cleanse" of her craft room.

Click HERE to see an organizing expert tour her super organized condo.  Very motivating but kind of extreme!!

Click HERE to see Justine, a scrapbook consultant, tour her organized craft room.  There are some great tips in this video!

Click HERE to follow along with Kate Palmer on her Sparkle Tart blog as she works on a 30 DAY CRAFT ROOM CLEANSE.

I hope this helps to motivate you to keep your room tidy or re-organize if you need to!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

My kids are older teens now but I still decorated the mantle and got them a few treats.

Today I saw this house and I thought to myself - THIS is the way to decorate for Easter!

Look at all those Easter eggs on the front lawn!

I wish that I had thought of doing this when the kids were little!!

Until Next Time!
Marie

No stamping or colouring today!

Today was such a nice day that I felt the need to go outside and work in my garden!

Here's a few photos from my backyard.

These are flowers from my planter boxes.

This is some lavender - at least I think it is. 

I don't do the planting (my husband does) but I'm in charge of the weeding and pruning.

Leeann left a comment asking what this next photo was. 

It's my outdoor fireplace. 

See how the hearth is raised and goes around the entire patio (it's sunken) well it's perfect for entertaining and s'mores parties!

 This maple reminds me of Cousin It from the Adams Family!

This hosta ends up being huge by the end of the summer!

These are the double sliding doors in my dining room. 

I've got fuschia growing in that planter.

 Check out my side gate - it's completely covered in hops and clematis!

 These next two are from flowering trees in my yard.

Blooming chives!

 

 My husband was "helping" me in the garden.

 Beyond our back fence is a creek and wooded ravine.

Looking at the creek from the opposite side.

 I call these next 2 photos of my backyard the Real Estate Weekly shots.

To the very right - behind the garage - is my son's basketball/sport court.

 Here's Murphy guarding the yard.

Until Next Time!
Marie

Holiday Vignettes

Some people are so creative that their paper crafting spills out into their home decor. 

I don't mean leaving a mess in the dining room or using your coffee table to scrap! 

I'm talking about intentionally creating paper crafts that compliment your home for the current holiday or season and making little "scenes".

It's called a Holiday Vignette!

When the kids were little I used to decorate for the holidays a lot more than I do now.  Now I barely get the Christmas tree and lights up, throw up a few gravestones for Halloween, hide chocolate in my laundry room for Valentines Day - oh wait I do that last one all year round - but I don't do anything more than that these days.

By the time I think of it or get the inspiration it's too late!

So I thought it might be inspiring to check out what others are doing for each holiday or season in the way of paper craft decorating.  I'd like to do this for every holiday or season - but we'll see how it goes...

First up is SPING and Easter.
 
I saw this great "planter box" idea from Kathy Tolleson. 
I think it would look great on a dining table, on the fireplace mantle or even in a window - don't you think?
 
 

How about this bird house from Claudia Rosa.

This flower garland is a great way to use up scraps in your die cutting machine! 

This one is made of fabric by Kayte Terry but you can make it from paper too I'm sure!

Here's another garland or banner for Easter: 

If you click HERE you will go to the blog post by Jenny where she shows you how to make it.

How about a die cut door wreath?

I hope these ideas will help you get inspired to decorate for the seaosn using your paper craft supplies and get you on your way to making your own special holiday vignettes for your home!

Saturday & Sunday Shop - Chalkboard Decor Elements

I'm always looking for cool and interesting things - aren't we all!

I thought the weekends would be the perfect time to share these with you so stay tuned for more posts on this.

For today's Saturday and Sunday Shop I want to share with you this cool new chalkboard I bought for my craft room.

I've put it up in my craft room/office/den right beside my clock so I can see it when I'm sitting at my computer.

It's a chalkboard Decor Element with a THINGS TO DO overlay in white that I just got from Stampin' Up!

There is also a calendar overlay but I really like this and can't wait to add some THINGS TO DO to it to help me manage my time better!

Click HERE to see all the Decor Elements in the 2010 2011 Definately Decorative line from Stampin' Up!

I also got this Finial Ruler Decor Element to apply to my desk top so I don't have to search for a ruler all the time

That makes 6 Decor Elements in 1 room.  Is that too much?

Not stamping!

We are under going a WHOLE HOUSE flooring renovation - actually the craft room/den flooring (cork plank) and the kids bathroom floor (travertine tile) are not being redone but everything else is!

So the whole family is holed up in one small room most of the time and when the workmen leave we have limited access to the rest of the house.

I'm always forgetting to take before and after photos but today I remembered to take some BEFORE shots - well not really before before but before the new stuff is put in. I guess they are more like DURING shots!

Here are some photos of my first floor - the tile has been ripped out and new tile will be laid over the next week and a bit.

Front entrance:

Kitchen:

Family Room:

Following that will be 2 days of carpet installation -in the living room, dining room as well as up the stairs and all the bedrooms (including closets - with 2 teens this is going to be the worst part!).


In the meantime I am printing up some digital images to colour (from Mo Manning, Kimprints, Digi Stamp Characters and Michelle Perkett) and brushing up on my Photoshop skills!

Exciting News!!!

I'm so excited - we're waiting for our new Wheaton puppy to be born this week!!

We won't actually have him in the house for a while yet and you can be sure I'll post photos as soon as he arrives!

The new puppy is coming from the same breeder that we got our dog from 8 years ago, they are the same breed and the dad is the same as our dog's.

So they'll be STEPBROTHERS just like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly!!

Now we just have to break it gently to our 8 year old puppy that he has a little brother coming...

Any tips or advice from anyone who's introduced a puppy into a household with another dog before?

I'm Backkkkkkkk!

I'm back from vacations (plural since we did 2 different ones back to back) and I'm buried DEEP in dirty laundry! You'd think that with all this laundry that I've have tons of time to stamp - but NO!

There has been NO stamping for Marie today - I've been busy on the phone returning calls and with other household problems!

For the last 2 weeks or so my garage door has been "acting up" and so the repairman was out today.

BUT as Murphy's Law would have it - it works fine while he's here. I'm surprised it actually works consistently that is, right up until he's ready to go. This would be AFTER I've paid him for the service call to do nothing except lubricate my hinges and tighten my nuts (sounds kind of kinky doesn't it?).

Luckily I tried it one more time before he left and sure enough it didn't work. After several more adjustments and attempts to open or close the garage door, the repairman smacks the motor in frustration. Would you believe it started working again? Well it did!

This confirms that there is something wrong with the circuitry inside - maybe from all the vibration? he tells me. Anyway, it will cost $250 to replace that part and another $100 or so for the labour plus he had to order it and then come out again. A new opener installed will cost $450 - sure enough he has one on his truck. Our current opener is only 4 1/2 years old and of course out of warranty!

I'm seriously contemplating installing a new motor myself! Has anyone done that before? My hubby is no help - he's more of a duct tape and WD40 kind of a guy!

I talked to my dad (he lives in another province) and tells me I can do it myself. I'm not so sure so in the meantime there will be some "garage door abuse" going on at my house until we get it fixed!

The other problem that's keeping me from stamping is my wireless modem. It's not working and you'd think the kids were suffering from some kind of terrible disease they were moaning so much. After being away for so long they want to get on and "chat" with their friends. Doesn't anyone use the phone anymore? I guess not! So I spent some of today (when I wasn't in the garage pushing buttons) reconnecting our computers with wires.

Now this I know I can replace myself! It's just a matter of getting out of the garage and out to the store to pick up another one.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a stamping day - I'm about ready to burst will all kinds of ideas that I've been sketching and wait until you see my NEW STAMPS!!!

Check back tomorrow and I'll announce the winner of Card Sketch Challenge #2 and post another challenge!

Thanks for checking in with me...