I plan on sending out a few Halloween cards and decided to start experimenting with some of the colors and stamp sets that I already had. This was suppose to be a prototype but I'm not completely in love with it yet so I'll continue playing in my scraproom.

Supplies Used:

• Stamps: house of haunts
• Paper: kiwi kiss, rich razzleberry, black patterned paper (source unknown)
• Ink: basic black
• Other: black embossing powder, versamark, corduroy button, twine, distressing file

Note: all products used are Stampin Up unless otherwise noted.

A Cute Little Deer

This past weekend I had a few of my crafty friends over for some card-making and scrapbooking fun. Here's a project that we worked on during our time together. Since fall has definitely arrived in Chicago, I thought it would be appropriate to create something with fall colors and a little deer to boot. We didn't stamp a greeting so that you can customize it accordingly.

Supplies Used:

• Stamps: Deer Friends
• Paper: soft suede, whisper white, Sweet Pea designer paper pack
• Ink: soft suede
• Other: scallop edge punch, gingham ribbon (American Crafts), faux stitching - paper piercer and white gel pen

Note: All products used are Stampin Up unless otherwise noted.

HGTV Urban Oasis Giveaway

HGTV is giving away a Manhattan apartment that was designed by my boyfriend Vern Yip and I plan on entering twice a day and win this baby. I've never been to NYC but I know I'd love it because I love other large cities. Plus what's not to love about a Manhattan apartment that's worth $1.5 million dollars!!!! The apartment is located on the 34th floor of the W Hotel and has a killer view. Here's a few pictures to show the beauty of this apartment.

W Hotel - 34th floor Manhattan apartment

Living Room

I really like the gray couch and all of the metal accents.

Living Room

A fuller view of the living room and the office area, aren't the large windows gorgeous?

Living Room View

Killer view.........

Foyer

Kitchen

The kitchen is truly gorgeous and the backsplash is very modern. I like that the dining room is so close and so is the laundry room (my new favorite place these days).

Laundry Area/Kitchen

Dining Room/Living Room view

Aren't the ghost chairs beautiful?

Bedroom

This is very similar to the size of our bedroom so I love seeing how they used the space. I only wish I had a view like that with a window seat. There is also a lot more closet space which is a huge plus.

Bathroom

I think the walls, flooring, but most of all the toilet are uber-cool!

Last but not least....The View!!!

You can enter twice a day to win the $1.5million package.

Enter once at HGTV.

Enter again at Front Door.  

Laundry Room Demo - The Big Reveal

The big Laundry Room Reveal is here! I know you have stuck with me through the day by day progress of the laundry room and now I get to show you the final result. What started out as a whole lot of "I wishes" turned into reality with the help of a fabulous contractor. We have been using our new appliances for a couple of weeks and I have almost forgotten what it was like before - but not quite.

Here's a quick recap of our little laundry room transformation:

• On Day 1 they demoed the area and moved all of the plumbing to gain our extra 6 inches of space.
• On Day 2 they built the new wall and began drywalling the area.
• On Day 3 they finished putting up the drywall, cut and laid out the tiles, installed the can lights, and assembled the cabinets.
• On Days 4-5 the tiles were grouted, the drywall finished drying, the walls were primed/painted, cabinets were installed along with the filler, and last but not least the new washer and dryer were installed.
• And last but not least bead board was just added to hide the ugly 220 volt outlet and some of the plumbing with a little access panel.

And with that - here's our new laundry room!

Concealing all of that necessary but unattractive stuff!

P.S. Sorry the pictures are a bit dark.....the bead board went up today and I couldn't wait a second longer to share the complete project with you. I hope you forgive me and have enjoyed the process as much as we have. With that I am off to find something to wash.....

Cardinals vs. Brewers

There is nothing like a holiday weekend in the summer and baseball. Around our house that would be Cardinals baseball! My husband has been a Cardinals fan his entire life and I have his teeny tiny little jersey to prove it. I look forward to the day that our children get to wear the same jersey that David did. In the meantime we'll continue cheering on the redbirds and taking lots of pictures of the action. Here's a few from our weekend.

Labor Day

Our friend's son Ryan enjoying a little break from the game.

The man Pujols hitting a double

Here he is warming up and getting ready for the big game. Sorry I couldn't help the view.

And this was right after the GRAND SLAM!!! That's the first time we have seen that in person and it was totally awesome! The score was 8 - 2 at this point and a short while later we decided to leave the game a bit early to beat the traffic. Good thing....they ended up winning only by 8 - 6. Another memorable day at the ballpark! Go Redbirds.

What I Loved in August

I love reading other blogs that share what the blogger loved during the previous month and I thought I would try something similar. Let's start with August and see where we go from here.

1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. I finished the 3rd book in the trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns that this book had. The author passed away several years ago after turning in the manuscripts and what a wonderful author he was. I highly recommend this trilogy and I'm sure you will love it!

2. Josie Maran Argan Oil. It's 100% pure argan oil from Morocco and I absolutely love it. It's an oil that provides the ultimate hydration and is great for the skin, cuticles, and split ends. I'm constantly finding more and more ways to use this product. Try it, I think you'll love it.

 3. Garden Veggies! I never thought that 1 cucumber plant, 1 tomato plant, and 1 cherry tomato plant would produce enough vegetables to feed the neighborhood. I think I got about 30 cucumbers from my one plant and too many cherry tomatoes to count therefore I've been sharing the fruits of my labor with everyone I can. My book club friends have begun to request my veggies which is a true compliment. What's my secret? Well I use compost, rain water from my rain barrel, and talk really nicely to the plants.....don't you do the same thing?

4. Time spent at Ravinia with my husband and friends. It's a great outdoor music venue where you can camp out in the park and picnic while listening to great music. We saw the Temptations and Carrie Underwood in August which was a blast.

5. My new Washer and Dryer! Our Laundry Room Demo was life altering - seriously! My husband and I have so much more time thanks to our super capacity washer and dryer. We used to do more than 10 loads a week because of the small capacity appliances we had and now we can do 3 a week - huge difference. It was the wisest money we have spent in a long time. The big reveal is coming soon so please ignore the tape since we are still painting and putting some final touches on the room. I'm excited to show you the finished product but you can see quite a bit of it here.

always time for you

A dear friend of mine from the library lost her father recently. It has been a difficult time for her and her family and I wanted to put together an extra special card for her to not only send my condolences but also to let her know that I'm always here for her. I really enjoyed painting the bench and was especially proud with how the grass turned out underneath the bench. You can read her beautifully written tribute to her father on her blog Life Chapter by Chapter.

Supplies Used:

• Stamps: Time for You
• Paper: basic gray, chocolate chip, riding hood red, whisper white, patterned paper
• Ink: basic black, chocolate chip, old olive, always artichoke, riding hood red, soft suede
• Other: riding hood red striped ribbon, eyelets, piercer

Note: all products used are Stampin Up.

Pocket Silhouettes Birthday Card

My book club friend Peg is turning 60 and we are getting together to see "Eat, Pray, Love" on Saturday to celebrate and then the party follows with all things Italian. We have such a feast planned that we certainly will make Elizabeth Gilbert proud. It'll be a fun party and I'm really looking forward to the movie and the party that will proceed. I purchased a gift for her with the theme in mind and wrapped it in a pretty cloth napkin. The napkin contains a floral pattern and was the inspiration for this card. I loved creating it for our special Peg.

Supplies Used:

• Paper: Kraft, whisper white, Bermuda bay, kiwi kiss, rich razzleberry
• Ink: Versamark
• Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Happy Birthday stamp
• Other: white embossing powder, rich razzleberry dotted ribbon, dimensionals, scoring tool
• Techniques: embossing, scoring

Laundry Room Demo - Days 4 & 5

It's been a long week but our laundry room transformation is almost done! I've been updating all of you throughout the week but Day 4 unfortunately consisted of the drywall drying. After 24 hours it was still not completely dry so I whipped out the fan and it was dry in an hour but it was too late to make any real progress. The tiles were grouted and the drywall dried but that was all that took place on Day 4. Nothing too exciting.

Day 5 however we accomplished a great deal. The walls were finished, the cabinet was hung, and the walls were primed and painted. It's such a small space that I thought it would be easy to paint but after getting covered in Elmer's glue primer and yelling at my husband for getting it everywhere, we ended up needed a little break. David headed to the Laundromat (for the first time ever!) and I headed off for a much needed glass of wine. Afterwards we ate dinner and I completed the coats of paint alone (sorry Honey it's just not your forte)!

The pictures were taken in the evening and aren't the greatest but I'm saving the good pictures for the upcoming reveal. I can't wait until it's all done!!!

Stay tuned for the big reveal....coming soon!

Laundry Room Demo - Day 3

We just completed day 3 of our laundry room transformation and I'm sure you will all be just as excited as we will be once it's done. Are you sick of me blogging about it yet?!?! I really need to do some laundry here soon and I don't want to spend all weekend doing it - but wait....I can wash big loads now! But still, I don't want stacks of laundry looming over me. I have the hardest part of the job - folding and putting it away.

Here's a recap of our transformation thus far:

• On Day 1 we demoed the area and moved all of the plumbing to gain our extra 6 inches of space.
• On Day 2 they built the new wall and began to drywall the area.
• On Day 3 they finishing putting up the drywall, laid the tiles on the floor, installed the can lights, and assembled the cabinets.

Next we need to finish up the walls, grout the tiles, prime and paint the walls and ceiling (YUCK!), install the cabinets, and last but not least......install the washer and dryer. I also have some finishing touches that I'm looking  forward to sharing with you. Let's just say I created art that didn't cost me anything!

I hope you stay with us as we finish the laundry room transformation that will allow us to wash and dry big loads of laundry in style.