A Passion For Home

Showers of happiness...

The day was as beautiful as the bride-to-be.  Planning and preparing for this shower has taken a couple of months.  And then things happen so quickly and it's over in a matter of hours.  Sort of like spending all those months shopping for Christmas presents and it's all over in a matter of minutes on Christmas morning as kids rush to open their gifts.

Thank goodness

for scrapbooking as I would not have been nearly as inspired as I have been with this hobby over the last 5-6 years.  I would have never thought to cover a clipboard with paper and adding pretty embellishments.  I created two clipboards (from Staples) - one for the guests to sign-in and one for tracking gifts.  My intention is to include those sheets in my sister's shower album I am putting together.

Thank goodness for K&Co. and Lil Davis chipboard alphabets.  Adding words and phrases around the room was endearing and fun. 

And a big thank goodness for Deb and her Say It With Letters business.  I was able to order a beautiful and fancy letter from her Etsy site, which provided a touch of elegance to the shower setting.  The compliments were endless from the guests on that piece.  My hubby applied black gesso (available at Dick Blick) onto the letter for me to give it a somewhat shabby but sophiticated look.

Oh, and thank goodness for Target for their affordable yet-feminine tablecloths from their Shabby Chic line were just what I was looking for.

The flowers, food, margaritas, and most important, our family & friends are what made for a spectacular celebration. 

Before the internet...

After a fabulously shower-filled weekend of celebrating my sister's upcoming wedding, I uploaded all the great photos (taken by my best friend, Carol) and was set to share them via Snapfish with family and friends yesterday.  I was also set to share photos on this site. 

I discovered my internet service is down.  OK.  I'll wait a while and check again.  As of 6am this morning, still no internet service.  Our service provider will send a technician on Wednesday.  That's two more days without access to the internet. Oh no!

There were countless times yesterday I would think, I need to order our groceries for the week.  No internet service, I can't.  I need to check our bank balance.  No-can-do...still no internet service.  I need to order a prescription refill.  Darn it, internet service is still out.  I want to add more songs to my iTunes list and onto my iPod.  Forgot, I need internet access for that.  Went to look up our internet service provider's phone number except that I have no internet access!!!  (Note:  Do not get rid of your yellow pages!)

I was able to sync my Palm Treo with my calendar and upload the bridal shower photos, but that was about it.  And I thought I copied the photos onto a CD, only to find this morning that the CD is blank.  What the heck did I do or not do? 

Suffice it to say that I am lost without internet service.  It keeps me connected to many aspects of my life.  I embrace technology, although it can frustrate me at times, and it definitely has become a necessity in our household. 

Small details...

In order to designate a spot for the bride when we gather to socialize as a group, I decided to embellish a white pillow with a sparkly "Bride" on the front.  My preference was for a pillow smaller than what I found (Fieldcrest at Target), but it was a last minute idea.

Another challenge has been finding candy wrapped in a color to coordinate with our color theme (black, white, green & pink).   It has been a fun mission though. 

There's still plenty to do in preparation for tomorrow's party.  Tonight, I have a date with Costco.  :)

Love & Wishes...

I have wishes of love and happiness for my sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law.  So the theme for her bridal shower on Saturday is "Love & Wishes". 

I'm expressing it with decorative tags & ribbon by Christine Adolph.  As for the tags, I glued them to thumbtacks and stuck it through a Junkitz flowerz and onto the decorative bulletin board.

And I'm expressing it with mini composition books (from Staples) I embellished for the ladies.  With the many sheets of Amy Butler patterned paper I have remaining from the invitation-making project, I decided they would serve another purpose for the shower.  Also included are the prima flowers and crystal jewels we used on the invitations and black polka-dot ribbon.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to use the WISH tickets.  I also have a set in blue and pink, which you can find at Inspire Co.  I've had them for some time now, hoping to find good use for them.  And I did!

There's still more work ahead of me before Saturday.  Sharing tidbits of what has been accomplished thus far is like checking items off my to-do list.  I'm half-way there...

Rosanna...

Decorative plates.  I love to use them as accents around our home.  On our table, in our cabinets, on the walls, or displayed on an easel. 

Last year, I discovered Rosanna's tableware and have hung her Parisian Wallpaper plates in my craft room.  I also purchased her Black Toile set to hang in our guest room.  And I have her Rosette melamine plates in our cupboard. 

As for my wishlist, these candlesticks are on it and I've long admired the Platinum Chandelier plates. 

Today, I learned that Rosanna has a blog which I added to my favorites.  Her designs are captivating and inspiring.  I'm sure what she shares on her blog will be too. 

All I can say is I have been bitten by the inspiration bug and now have an urge to decorate.

Offray...

Thanks to great friends, I discovered a new place to shop for ribbon at rock-bottom prices.  We made the trek all the way to Hagerstown just to see what bargains we could find.

And this what I found:

I immediately gravitated toward the toile ribbon followed by velvet ribbon in black and in white for $1.25 a spool!  I also purchased some designer ribbon to use during the fall.  If it caught my eye, it went into my basket. 

I also purchased floral tape in green and in brown, 5 rolls for a $1.  This outlet is a crafter's dream come true.  I suspect this recent fascination with ribbon may soon turn into an obsession, just like the one I have with fabric.  I've got to stop collecting and start crafting...very soon as I'm running out of storage space!

Unsightly cords...

To me, cords are not pretty.  So when I came across Pottery Barn's latest addition to the Bedford family, I realized I found the answer to my prayers.

I am happy, thanks to smart technology.  Now I need to work on the right side of the desk. 

Free-spirited...

...in an Amy Butler sorta way:

...with a Prima hydrangea on top:

This was my first experience with a card-making mission of this magnitude.  There are definitely things to consider when making mass-produced cards.  Like beautiful Maya Road ribbon in velvet (our original selection) can cost oodles of $$ when you need enough for 150 cards.  So we switched to much less expensive ribbon. 

I am relieved this mission is complete.  Next mission...what am I going to wear to the wedding???

Damsel in distress...

What's a girl to do when, at the last minute, she realizes she had not ordered cardstock for her sister's 150 wedding invitations that need to go out this week.  Oh my.

She calls Scrapbook.com and they come to the rescue by shipping 3 packs via overnight mail, ensuring I had them in time for my weekend of invitation-making.  I had called late in the day and missed their cut-off for overnight shipping but they were kind enough to help me out in my time of need.  It was such a relief.  Their Customer Service is #1 in my book.

As for the invitations, we're almost finished.  Along the way, I've learned a few things:

• Vellum works best for printing using a laserjet printer (the ink smudges using an inkjet printer).  And ribbon holds the vellum in place in the card very nicely.  Also, ribbon hand punches are a godsend!
• Bargains can be found at Target where we discovered Anna Griffin Thank You notecards marked down 1/2 price, using only the envelopes for the RSVP cards. 
• Thank goodness for gold labels as they can cover address errors on the RSVP envelopes. 
• Moo cards are an adorable way of announcing where the couple are registered.
• Fancy Pants acrylic block was the perfect size for adding flourishes to the front of the 6" square card.
• With Versamark, green patina powder and a brush, we were able to create those flourishes to my sister's liking.
• Prima's hydrangea flowers with a little sparkle make a pretty accent.
• And last but not least, Amy Butler has fabulous patterned paper.  Where else can you find pink & green (the Bride's favorite colors) designed so prettily that you can even use it on a wedding invitation. 

Stay tuned for pictures. 

Tyler goes Baroque...

In reading the latest issue of House Beautiful, I came across a fabulous lasagne pan with simple design features.  And when the article mentioned "baroque" style, I thought gee, that's a style that has been on my mind lately.  Then I read it is part of Tyler Florence's line with Mikasa.

Since the pan was just featured in a magazine, it is no surprise that Mikasa is currently out of stock.  Oh, but to serve lasagne in a pan like this.  I've got my eye on it, definitely. 

Paired with a great white or red wine....it certainly has me craving Italian cuisine.

An attitude...

What goes around, comes around.  And when it comes to good Karma, I will gladly accept that phrase.

On those days when I whine to my one-and-only how I do not feel like walking today, I need this t-shirt to remind me to Be Fit, Be Strong, Be a Girl.

Most days, I do try to follow my Bliss.

I remind myself often to Let it Go and stop worrying about the small things.  What is needed is to Find Your Happy Place. 

Gee, wasn't that fun?!

Black & white...

It feels great to be home and crafting today.  I always make a mess when I'm in the middle of a project and this photo is evidence of that.

And here is the end result of that creative mess:

The fabric, one of my current favorites, was stapled onto the bulletin board (from Target).  I then glued black gimp around the perimeter with a hot glue gun.  And upholstery tacks were used where I criss-crossed the black french gimp (available at Fabric.com) on the board where photos and notes can be tucked. 

My intention is to showcase photos of my sister and her fiance at her bridal shower later this month.  And it is one of my gifts to her. 

I am now warming-up for preparation of 150 wedding invitations this weekend.  Holy cow.  The project includes Amy Butler Belle Henna Paisley patterned paper, which I will be shopping for this week.  If anyone has any good resources where I can buy at least 50 sheets, please let me know.

From black & white to pink & green.  Oh how fun it is to be a girl.  :)

A student with many assignments...

I like to tell people that I am a student of scrapbooking and papercrafts.  I love to take classes and I love to learn new techniques, styles, and of course new product releases.  Inspiration is such a rush for me.

So to feed that rush, I am currently enrolled in 4 classes with Big Picture Scrapbooking.  Heidi, Carol, Lisa C. & Tena all are providing me with a great deal of inspiration.  In my time-challenged world, it is not easy to work on the classes as you go along with each week's assignment, or in Tena's case, each day (her 52 techniques are awesome...actually, I've printed up to 30 something). 

That brings me to the quality time I get to spend with my mac, printer and pretty binders from Target and Anna Griffin as I do a lot of printing and filing.  I have quite a collection going given the classes I have taken from BPS.  They are there for me when I need them, when I'm ready to play, when I feel like crafting.  I often have that urge to create but it doesn't always fit within my schedule.  There are some days I just want to lock myself in my craft room in order to complete a project.

I enjoyed Donna's classes last year as I jumped around to various projects that caught my eye.  And I'm a 1/4 of the way through my Library of Memories assignment that ended weeks ago.  I'm very excited about seeing that project to the end. 

The choice is mine.  Either feel overwhelmed by all the creative possibilities that surround me or have fun with it on my own time.  I'm going to choose to have fun with it on my own time.  It is with thanks to BPS for giving me that flexibility.

Now let's get to crafting.  :) 

A shabby welcome...

Having spent the last 3 weeks with my nieces and nephew, we've tried to make good use of our quality time together.  One thing I enjoyed with my nieces is crafting.  I love teaching them things I've learned along the way.  And having dabbled with gesso, thanks to Carol's good teachings, I shared that new-found knowledge with these 2 girls.

We decorated and embellished door hangers for their respective bedrooms.  They played with rub-ons, flowers, buttons and acrylic letters. 

I couldn't convince my nephew to partake in this wonderful creative session, so I embellished his door hanger for him.

What fun I had attempting to make a masculine door hanger for a teen-aged boy.  I incorporated red & black acrylic paint as well as white gesso and simply applied random phrases from these rubons. 

The quality time between Aunt, Uncle and nieces and nephew have come to an end for now.  Thank goodness for scrapbooking as I can reflect on these moments while creating memorable pages with all the photos I took for our album. 

A desire to go baroque...

Who didn't get inspired by Tracy's wonderfully chic scrapbook store?  I was inspired in a big way.  And that inspiration led to me to:

• this Victorian message board. 
• this website screams baroque...the bookshelf is quite stylish and I'm trying to find space in my room for this wall shelf.
• my passion for black and white damask has me staring at this memo board wondering where could I hang it?
• the dress form is another chic way to display things like t-shirts, notes, jewelry...
• the pink refrigerator...so cute they included it in their crop room...my nieces think I should get one...again, where would I put it?
• a Parisian floor chandelier brings ambiance to a space...in white & pink would be nice too.
• I like how Tracy incorporated patterned paper as artwork in her store.  Her choices by using Anna Griffin's damask paper and Hambly's chandelier were ideal.
• A hurricane wall sconce for added ambiance.
• This site has unique baroque-style home accessories.  I love the candles.
• *NEW*Ebony candelabra - it's just what I'm looking for.

The inspiration goes on and on. 

To consul my desire to redecorate, I purchased these adorable magnetic frames, a cute mirror and an easel to use during my sister's upcoming bridal shower.  All very neat things.