Yellow and Grey Make Me Happy!

Another form of creativity that I have always enjoyed is decorating my home with the bargains I find at the Thrift Store. Almost everything in my house is second hand or repurposed. Below are pics of my red dinning room. It served us well for six years but it was time for something different.

Every single thing in this room is pieced together from my thirfty finds and cohesively brought together with a lovely coat of swiss mocha paint. Table $100 at Salvation Army, Buffet $25 yard sale, hutch $100 Grayslake flea market, two sewing cabinets flanking the fire place $25 each from the Volo antique barn, chairs $10 each thift store.

The chandelier was a find at the Rosemont flea market and came with two smaller chandeliers that hang in my foyer and mudroom. All purchased for the sweet price of $40.

Love the colors of this room and how it makes the room feel so much bigger. The splash of yellow scattered about the room really pop with the shades of gray. I love that my brassy chandelier is now a glossy black. That was a bold move and it turned out great!

Picture above the fire place was a Rosemont flea market find $10, vase with flowers thirft store for $2, candle holders are a mix of thrift store and Pottery Barn, clock was from the thrift store for $1 and I blew up a clock face picture and put it inside the glass, bird cage from the Grayslake flea market $2.

The glass candlestick lamps came from the thrift store for $10. I just bought new lampshades from Tuesday Morning for $6 each.

Everything in the new room was in the red room except the end chairs. I found these cool chairs at a thrift store for $50 for the pair. We painted them and reupholstered them. Love these chairs!

Happy decorating!
Denise

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Getting Crafty

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Pinterest? Well I do. It is crafty goodness, home decor and recipes (and much much more) on steroids.




Above is the beginning of a project that I found on Pinterest. I love typography and this project really jumped out at me. I was on a quest for magnetic alphabet letters (the kind you stick to the fridge) as they were far cheaper than wooden letters. I finally found them at some random toy store in the mall ...double alphabet plus numbers for $5.99 (rip off ....because if I wasn't looking or wanting these damn things I'd find them by the bag full at the thrift store!)



Love, love, love this shadow box filled with letters that I primed and spray painted satin white. I wrote each of our names on the first letter of our names and added a heart with the date this family was established......1989 is the year we got married. I picked up a three pack of shadow boxes at Michael's for $9.99 and I added a sheet of grey card stock in the background. Then I strategically glued the letters to the cardstock with glue dots.



The end result.....an awesome addition to my mantle. Love it and will be making these as Christmas gifts for friends and family.....for less than $5.00. Can't really put a price on a gift made with love!!!



I did lots of shopping this Thanksgiving weekend and I spent a lot of time at the craft store. Sarah and I decided to do something different this year and give everyone a handmade gift. Tell me what are making and giving this year???

See ya on the blog!
Denise

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Paper Pumpkin

Here is my second project utilizing the pages of a book. Yes, I sacrificed a Star Wars paperback book to make this cute little pumpkin. I wish I could take the credit for the idea but.....I must thank the magical world of Pinterest. ( I am so addicted to Pinterest.)



I made this pumpkin bright and early Sunday morning thanks to my most recent bout of insomnia. I decided to look up something on my Pinterest "cool ideas" board and just make something cool. Seriously.....Pinterest will inspire you for days and days.



For full instructions on how to recycle and repurpose a paperback book visit Creature Comforts. It took me about an hour to make but I was distracted watching Oprah so I am not real sure on the time commitment but regardless....it's still a pretty cool idea and looks awesome with my Thanksgiving display. (wouldn't this be a cute apple or pear?)

I am thinking I will continue my crafty week with more projects utilizing the pages from my two books. I would love to see what you are doing as well. Please share a link and show me your recycled pages!

See ya on the Blog!
Denise

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A "Page" From My Crafty Weekend

Yeah for me! It actually feels great to do something creative again. I do feel slightly guilty for ruining two books for my projects but I love the end results so I'll get over it. (yes I have a second project but I am going to post it later. Why show off all in one post?)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Versafine wasn't dried up either. I did have a few problems such as I couldn't remember where my tools were and I went to buy mono adhesive to find that it isn't called mono adhesive anymore.



I actually managed to use my Big Shot and Sizzix flower die to make my layered flower. I have seen similar looking paper flowers on Pinterest (that link is to Simone's paper flower pins) and wanted to add the layered flower to a card. I used an old book that I got at the thrift store for my flower. I love the back and white on the red card.



I bought the stamp at Archievers a long long time ago and used Versafine black onyx ink.....still my favorite ink. I am not good with instructions and links anymore so forgive me for being so brief. I am just happy to have something posted before Monday.



I have a neglected friend that is going to get this card. (I actually have many neglected friends but I'll have to start slow and reach out one card at a time.) I actually have a ton of half started projects that need to be completed and mailed but if you know anything about me you know I have a problem mailing things too. Anyone else want to do a craft throwdown? I could use the continued motivation!

Thank you Simone for motivating me to do something crafty! I can't wait for you to share your project as I am sure it is awesome!

See ya on the blog!
Denise

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It's a craft throwdown!

My friend Simone and I are lacking in the production of crafts and blog posts (me for sure on the blog posts...flashback to 2009 for some real crafty content). So to spur on some accountability (and stupidity on my part) I challenged Simone to a crafty throwdown. Duh!!! What was I thinking? Really.... I think she met Martha Stewart this year and probably has her cell phone on direct dial.

Has anyone seen my studio lately? Yea....my kids found it and took full advantage of my crafty hiatus. Last weekend I found glue tape on the hardwood floors and a piece (full piece of SU cardstock) with the words I <3 JUSTIN BIEBER spelled out in crystal rhinestones and glitter....and don't you know it....brads and Bazzill Bling paper accessorizing the lovely artwork adorning "MY" studio! (I hate Justin Bieber even more than ever. JK...if he is reading this.)

Regardless...."MY" studio has been out of commission for two years and I am ready to get back my crafty mojo. To show you my sincerity I have included pics of my messy studio with a mixture of supplies. There are no rules other than we have to craft something before Monday. How hard can that be? (Shhhh... I can hear your evil laughter!)



Simone....are your ready for a throwdown? (please be gentle and don't kick my ass) This all in good fun! No?

See ya on the blog!
Denise

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Happy Veteran's Day

Today, 11-11-11, is my anniversary. I married my Veteran 22 years ago. Hard to believe how fast time flies by when you are busy living life which is exactly what we have been doing. Well not really....working is what we have been doing, running kids around is what we have been doing and slowing down the pace to observe life is what we have NOT been doing! Time to stop and breathe.

Anyway, Bailey (on the left) is wearing the first hat Bill was issued in the Navy and Maddie (on the right) is wearing the last hat he was issued. What an amazing 23 year career that took us from coast to coast, brought us lifelong friendships and awesome memories. Yes, there was heart ache and tears but I am so proud to be the spouse of a Navy Veteran and would do it all over again!

I think I have finally figured out a way to blog from my phone and add pics. My posts might be generic and boring until I find a way to move things around but for now this will give me a chance to get my feet back into the blogging world. I do miss writing and I need a hobby! Being consumed with work life is making my head hurt.

See ya on the blog!
Denise

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Remember Me?

I can't believe that I haven't blogged in over two years! Do people even blog anymore?

It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to log into blogger and then I spent an hour reading my 11 drafted posts that I never completed or posted. Thank God because I was for sure not in the right frame of mind when I wrote them and sounded like a total crazy bitch. Anyway, reading those posts not only reminded me of my stamping hobby (and past life) but how much I love writing! It made me laugh because I write the way I talk and the emotions in my posts are true and real to me. It was like I wrote those things yesterday.....not from a two year period in my life.

So much has happened in my life since 2009 that I can't possibly give you a review therefore I need to just pick up where I left off and get back to being creative and sharing it with anyone that still reads this blog. Most of my "groupies" followed me over to Facebook and were able to keep up with my life minus the stamping. Pretty boring if you ask me.

This is a test.....if I can figure it how to blog from my phone I will be back into the Blogger world. I seriously don't have time to do the camera, sd card, light box, staging and all the BS that went into bringing you my amazing creative stamping inspirations. Who am I kidding.... I don't have time to stamp but I know you really came here for my humor and amazing story telling :-) Yes, that was ooooozing with sarcasm and ego.

So....I'm going to hit the publish button. If this phone app works you just might see me here....on the blog!


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