happiness + gratitude journal II

i always keep a happiness + gratitude journal by my bedside so that each night i can write something about the day that i'm grateful for or something that made me happy. it just helps me keep things in perspective and no matter how awful a day i've had, there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for. anyway, i had to retire my last journal because it was full so i found this plain little notebook for a dollar at craft warehouse.

i just love chevron prints, so that's what i decided to do on this journal. first, i made a grid pattern and then i just made lines from each corner of the boxes diagonally.

then, i painted each chevron stripe a different color to mix it up a bit. super simple--just the way i like it! Ü

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kitchen chalkboard frame.

i made this framed chalkboard to keep track of all the obligations/activities we have planned for each week. after almost missing out on 2 birthday parties in 1 week, i decided we needed a different system than the calendar in the drawer because obviously no one was looking at it (including me). i found the frame and the piece of chalkboard at craft warehouse. i just painted the frame, glued the chalboard into it, attached some ribbon & voila! problem solved.

now it hangs on the front of the pantry door for easy viewing by everyone. i used a command hook upside down on the other side of the door to hang the ribbon from so i wouldn't have to make any holes in the door. those command hooks are the bomb! Ü

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stupid fat head.

a few years ago, i re-did my son's room. he insisted on a copper wall so i found this paint for just 1 wall. have you ever tried painting with metallic paint? uugghh! i'm so used to painting nice and straight all the time...well that doesn't work well with metallic paint. it actually works better to just paint like a maniac. anyway, we also ordered this fat head vinyl skater and ever since we put it on the wall, it has constantly curled at the edges. not all the edges but enough to make me crazy! i've tried everything from using a brayer to heating it up to get it to stick and no luck. it might be the metallic paint??

i finally had enough of this curling crap. so, i decided to just trace the stupid fat head, remove it, & paint it.

here is the end result. so much better, don't you think? nice & flat and no curling edges!! i can now look at this without cringing! Ü

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stay tuned...

after a lot of consideration, i've decided to continue this blog...just with a different focus. it will still include paper crafting, stamping, etc. but will also feature other things i may be working on such as photos, cupcakes, or anything else i think you might like...or just stuff *i* really like Ü. anyway, i have quite a few things to show you in the coming weeks so stay tuned...

thanks for stopping by my blog! ÜPin It

new pillow covers.

i know this is not paper crafting related, but i just had to share my new no-sew pillow covers i made. i found the tutorial here . i love her site & she has tons of other great diy projects that i want to try. each pillow cover is made from 2 cloth napkins that i bought at cost plus world market. so, i made 6 "new" pillows for around $35! what a deal! it seems like i'm always buying new pillows because the boys in my house tend to think they're cheap & they beat each other up with them.

i was so glad i didn't have to sew because 1. i don't own a sewing machine, & 2. i don't really know how to sew...i pretty much suck at it. once, i made a pair of shorts for my home-ec project & not a week later, the seams ripped out so yeah, i don't sew. Ü

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that's just ducky.

our weather has been sooo crazy this year--way too cold to swim--unlike last summer when we were swimming at the end of may. anyway, until today, our pool has only been used by the ducks! Ü

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garage sale sneak peek.

look at all this stuff! a basket full of stamps, a basket full of accessories, a basket full of ribbon, a basket full of pastels & watercolor wonder crayons, a box full of ink pads, refills, & markers, and a box full of cardstock. whew!

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studio.

welcome to my studio! i finally cleaned it up & decided i'd better take pictures real quick before it is not so clean anymore. Ü anyway, this picture is taken from the doorway into the room.

here is my desk which has plenty of room to spread out. the two bottom drawers hold all my card stock--even the 12" x 12"! the two top drawers hold adhesive, markers, all the extra "stuff."

here is the other side of the room. the blue baskets hold ideas i'm working on and dies and stuff for the big shot. above is my sons' artwork. it seems that the artwork is becoming more & more scarce as they get older so i'll probably start displaying cards & scrapbook pages up there.

here is another view. some of the vinyl lettering was done before stampin' up! came out with their line.

this is the other side of the window. those are 4 magnetic sheets hooked to the wall. i covered them with (retired) designer series paper.

this room has two closets to the back. one holds all this stuff...stamps, scrapbooks, ideas, etc. it kinda looks like a mess in this picture but it really is organized. Ü

here is the other closet. it just holds misc. stuff and my punches.

this is my ribbon/accessories holder that my neighbor made. you can find his site here.

and this is the ink pad holder he made for me. as you can see it is missing some ink pads...waiting to order the retired in colors that decided to come back and join the party because of course i got rid of them when they retired. Ü

finally, here is the shelf above my desk that houses the ink pad holder and my jars of misc. ribbons, scissors, and things. hope you enjoyed the tour of my studio!

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uh oh...

i just received my brand new stampin' up!® idea book & catalog and i LOVE it! to be honest, i was a little apprehensive because i really didn't like the last catalog...but this one...this one is a different story! here are all the page markers on the top of the book (& each page marker doesn't represent just 1 thing on the page i want/NEED, they represent several)!

& here are the page markers on the side...i'm dead...well, actually soon-to-be-broke. Ü

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inspiration.

each day when i open my cardstock drawer, this is what i see...beeeautifulll! it is what inspires my creativity a long with.......lots of pretty paint colors,...

...pencils and brushes! what inspires your creativity???

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