Home sweet home

Sofa and loveseat

Last weekend my sister and I finally decided on living room furniture for our new place. We had made a few scouting expeditions to furniture stores, but we were having a hard time committing to anything. It seemed like such a big decision, especially since neither of us had ever bought new living room furniture before. Then on Saturday we went to Ashley furniture, and as soon as I saw this set, I fell in love. I had liked many different things we saw, but this was probably the first set I got excited about.

The sofa and loveseat are a pale, neutral yellow, and the floral pattern on the pillows and the chair is plum, slate blue, yellow and green with a little accent of chocolate brown. The pillows are solid yellow on the back, so they could be flipped over for a different look.

Accent chair and back of loveseat

A big consideration in our decision was size. Because we're on the upper level of a duplex, I was so afraid that nothing would fit up the stairs, around the corner and then through the door. Logically I knew it had to work because when we came for a tour before we signed the lease the tenants had a couch. And I'm sure all the other people who have lived here have had couches. But that didn't help my nerves too much. I was convinced we'd have to remove the railing in the stairwell or take the door off the hinges.

Already cat approved

Well, I really needn't have worried because the delivery men were in and out in probably about ten minutes. They practically ran up the sidewalk and staircase with the chair. The couch was a little tricky, but thankfully we have high ceilings, so they stood it on end to get it in the room.

I'm glad to finally have a comfy place to watch TV in the evenings. There's really only so long that you want to sit in a director's chair next to a TV tray. (And yes, that looked about as classy as it sounds.)

One of my favorite places at home is my craft room. It's been wonderful just having everything organized and accessible in one space. All of my stamps are in the plastic bins on the shelf on the right side of this photo. Ideally I'd love to have a nicer shelf, something more like a bookshelf, so I could store my stamps directly on the shelves and it would be even easier to get out a certain stamp set. But that can be a future goal.

The trickiest piece of furniture in the craft room was definitely the hutch on top of the cabinet. It was pretty time-consuming to assemble -- there were maybe forty screws to attach the backing to the frame, and I missed with a couple of them and made small cracks in the top -- and then I discovered that my plan of using wood dowels to hold the ribbon was not going to work. We bought the dowels, I cut the first one to the right size and filled it with spools of ribbon. Then I picked it up and discovered that it sagged horribly. Argh. On to Plan B: My dad bought two eight-foot aluminum rods and brought over his hack saw to cut them to the right length. Success! (Thank goodness, because I don't know what else we could have used.)

The down side is that because the spools for some of the ribbon are so large, I can't use all of the rods. (That's also what kept me from arranging the ribbon by color; I wanted to keep all those large spools together.) But it worked out in the end because I decided to put all my most-used ribbon on the small wooden holder so I can easily move the whole thing to the table. I tucked some of my non-spooled ribbon into the cubbies, and I have one plastic bin with some odds and ends of ribbon and other fibers.

The drawers in the cabinet are awesome. They are deep -- about 28" -- and because the top two drawers aren't very tall, they are perfect for punches. In fact the top drawer is filled with all my Stampin' Up!^® punches. It's so nice to open the drawer and be able to see all of them in a glance instead of having to dig through a box or deep drawer.

I still haven't been able to spend as much time in my craft room as I'd like to, but at least I know that it's done. And if I do have to make a quick last-minute card, I don't have to waste a bunch of time getting everything out before I can even start stamping.

Now I might just have to go christen the couch with a little nap. Thanks for stopping by!

A regal fall

I haven't been as quick as I'd hoped in getting back to a regular stamping and blogging schedule. But I'm trying, so thanks for hanging in there with me. Now back to our regularly scheduled post ...

Of the four color collections from Stampin' Up!^®, the one I use the least is easily the Regals collection. It's not that I don't like the colors; I'm just more likely to reach for Brights (first) or Subtles (second). The Regals collection has a very autumnal feel to me, so I decided to focus on using just those colors (with a few neutrals) to make some fall cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Trendy Trees
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede
Ink: Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Always Artichoke brads, linen thread, Woodgrain embossing folder, Dimensionals

I love the fun trees in this set, and they're perfect for any season because the leaves are stamped separately from the trunk. For this card I kept the focal point clean and simple with three trees and a greeting. I added just a couple of embellishments and the woodgrain texture on the background to finish the design.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Branch Out
Card stock: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, textured More Mustard
Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits dies, Regals brads, Stampin' Sponge

For the focal point I stamped the tree trunk and then layered the leaves by stamping them first in More Mustard then Cajun Craze and finally Cherry Cobbler. I die cut the tree, sponged the edges with Early Espresso and then attached it to the card front with two brads. I added three more brads to create some interest on the right side of the card and then sponged the Cajun Craze card stock with Cajun Craze ink.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Falling Leaves
Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Garden Green
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Garden Green
Accessories: Hemp twine, Regals brads, Dimensionals

I found this color combination in my Color Coach, and I like it. They're not the usual fall colors, but they work. Although it does seriously remind me of a Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers mash-up. And I'm not even a big football fan ...

At any rate, this was an easy card to make and uses very limited supplies -- you could even use a VersaMark pad instead of the individual colors -- so it's a great card for a new stamper. To make the focal point, I stamped and tore the right edge of the three strips. I adhered a scratch piece of card stock along the back of the three colored pieces to keep them together. Then I wrapped twine around the pieces, gently curled up the right side around a pencil and adhered them to the card with Dimensionals.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tweet Leaves
Card stock: Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Always Artichoke, Riding Hood Red markers
Accessories: Woodgrain embossing folder, Autumn Accents die, Mustard grosgrain ribbon, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals

I will readily admit that it is a little time-consuming to color the different images on this stamp with markers. I don't know how many of them I could make at one time. But it does look so pretty when it's done. I didn't want to "hide" it behind a lot of distracting embellishments, so I kept the rest of the card very simple with just a little ribbon and embossed texture; I love the combination of the woodgrain texture with the leaf images and die-cuts.

I hope these "regal" fall cards have given you a bit of inspiration. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy World Card-Making Day!

I almost forgot that today was World Card-Making Day. Good grief. You'd think that would be a no-brainer for me. But once I remembered, I knew I would have to set aside some really exciting household chores to make some cards to share with you today. It was a tough decision, but I managed to force myself to do it.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Spooky Bingo Bits
Paper: Au Chocolat Designer Series Paper (DSP); Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss card stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, 1" circle punch, 1-1/4" scallop circle punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Dimensionals

I continued my recent theme of Halloween cards but added the challenge of using only two colors (plus a neutral) and limited accessories. For the first group of cards, I chose a pretty basic design and one I've used several times before. It's an easy layout for making multiple cards. Plus with all the different images in the Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set, I still was able to have a little variety and the cards weren't exactly the same.

I don't have any Halloween DSP, so I found a neutral design in my pack of retired Au Chocolat DSP. For the accent color I wanted to use something a little less traditional than orange, so I went with Kiwi Kiss, which is also retired. I love the pops of green against the dark brown background. For embellishment I just added a little bit of ribbon to the center image.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Halloween Hedgehogs
Paper: Au Chocolat DSP; Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss card stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Blender Pen, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Word Window punch, Neutrals brads, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, Dimensionals

For the next group of cards, I used the same ink and card stock but switched to the Halloween Hedgehogs stamp set. I used a Blender Pen to add a touch of Kiwi Kiss to the focal image. I also added a small piece of Lucky Limeade ribbon to the upper left corner (I love that the ribbon color was close enough to coordinate with Kiwi Kiss) and a trimmed Word Window shape to the lower right corner.

I hope you had a chance to make some cards today. Or if not today, maybe tomorrow. Really, every day should be a card-making day. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Beautiful day

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day, especially for the beginning of October. So after work I finished a few chores and then decided to sit on the front steps to have a snack, read my book and enjoy the late afternoon sun. I wasn't the only one who had that idea:

It was hard to capture the perfection of the day in a photo, but that didn't stop me from trying.

Hope your day was beautiful, too. Thanks for stopping by!

Trick or treat

I'm not a Halloween fanatic; I don't go to big parties, I don't put up a ton of crazy decorations, and I don't usually even dress up. But I do love the fun spirit of Halloween (no pun intended). Plus it gives me an excuse to eat candy. Not that I need an excuse, mind you, but it's nice to have one all the same.

I'm more excited than usual for Halloween this year because I think we'll actually have trick-or-treaters. I've already been thinking about what kind(s) of candy I'm going to buy. (At our old apartment I bought candy every year for fourteen years "just in case" we had tick-or-treaters. We never did. I was forced to eat all that candy myself.) In honor of all those treats -- and I hope no tricks -- here are three trick-or-treat-themed Halloween cards:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Halloween Hedgehogs
Card stock: Lovely Lilac, Basic Black, Naturals Ivory, textured Crushed Curry
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Lovely Lilac pads; Lovely Lilac, Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Soft Suede, Early Esresso, Basic Gray, Going Gray
Accessories: Large and Small Classic Scallop Oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Herringbone embossing folder (Cuttlebug), polka dot Crushed Curry ribbon, crochet thread, black btton (Making Memories), Dimensionals

I have two or three of these old hedgehog stamp sets from Stampin' Up,but this one is probably my favorite. How could this image not make you smile? I struggled a bit with the layout for this card because I wanted to use some of the Crushed Curry ribbon, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work with the black and purple. I settled on this vertical banner of ribbon on the strip of embossed Basic Black card stock. I love the extra punch of color, and I'm pleased with the finished card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Fang-tastic
Card stock: Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Green Galore
Ink: Jet Black StazOn pad; Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Gable Green, Crushed Curry, Blush Blossom markers
Accessories: Basic Black grosgrain ribbon, circles embossing folder (Sizzix), black rhinestones (Jolee's), 2-3/8" scallop circle punch, 2-1/2" circle punch, Dimensionals

(The flash on my camera seemed to wash out the colors of this card a little. Sorry about that.) The focal image of this card was actually one I created last year when I was making Halloween cards. I don't remember why I didn't use it then -- maybe it just didn't turn out the way I imagined it -- but regardless, I had tucked it into the case with the stamps. I decided to put it to use for this year's cards and came up with this simple design.

Supplies (all Stampin; Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Carved & Candlelit, "trick or treat" greeting (Katie & Co.)
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Parfait, Jet Black StazOn, Soft Suede; Basic Black marker
Accessories: Bat punch, green grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, Dimensionals

This is probably my least favorite card of the three, but it's starting to grow on me. I stamped the three pumpkins and then was at a bit of a loss. I added the ribbon to create the effect of the pumpkins sitting on grass. Then I stamped the greeting and added the thought bubble with a marker, punched out and adhered the two bats, and doodled a border around the edge of the Whisper White card stock. It feels as if this card is missing something below the ribbon. But I couldn't decide what it needed, and I didn't want to try adding something and risk ruining the whole card. Sometimes I have to remind myself to leave well enough alone.

Thanks for stopping by!