Another quick layout

Another sad layout for me to complete ...I am really missing our girl time! And our kids time, too! Anywhoo, this layout is kind of a companion to the last, simply because they are only a handful of single page layouts I have ever done and these two will go in the album facing each other. The girls spoiled me for my birthday last year and we all went to Cloud 9 for tension massages! It was extraordinary! My first ever massage, and hopefully not my last.

Sketch: PageMaps book
Paper: CTMH Life Delights
Quickutz: Stardust Grand, Flourish 24, Daisy 36
Embellisments: CTMH Baby Pink buttons and lots of chocolate inking.

I miss you Jodi!

My friend Jodi moved away recently and although Tara and I have kept up the Friday night tradition, it is just kind of sad when I scrap a layout of the three of us :o( This is from Taras birthday a couple years ago when we all went to the Melting Pot for dinner. The sketch is from the PageMaps book although I cheated a little, okay alot! Jodi, actually did the exact same layout awhile back and I really liked it. so, when I came across these pics in my own stash, I knew just what to do with them. I even had Jodi send me a pic of it so I could get it just right. I changed the slightest few things, but it was sooo good to begin with. Thanks Jodi, I miss you!

Sketch: PageMaps book
Paper: CTMH More to Adore
Title: Quickutz Paige Mini
Embellisments: CTMH Baby Pink Brads, Bigger Brads, and Buttons. CTMH Chocolate RicRac and Brads. Quickutz Flowers, I have no idea which ones. The biggest flower is a 4x4 flower that looks like a propeller and I rolled the ends of the petals around a paint brush to make it smaller and give it dimension.

So Easy!

Another layout for my Cruise Album. These layouts have been so much FUN to do, no pressure, no deep journaling, we just decided we wanted to go for Cmas last year, saved up, and went! The really cool part is, I feel like I am re-living the trip all over again as I scrapbook it!

These photos were of the day we boarded the ship and were leaving out of the Port of Tampa, FL. Carnival Inspiration was the name of our ship. I used Quickutz Blossom Grand and Maddie Anne Classic for the title, a few CTMH blooms and brads, finally some of my new CTMH RicRac, and got to use up some more of that Calendar Pack paper and some old B&T. Such a simple layout but perfect for what I was working on, I actually copied it from one of my best friends Jodi, who copied it from Simple Scrapbooks Mag...isn't that funny! Come to think of it, I think the layout started out as a one-page 8.5x11 layout and now we have taken it over. My other best friend Tara actually used the same sketch on her layout as well! I need to get them to post their layouts here too so you can see how different but alike they all turned out. So funny, I love when that happens!

Happy Fourth of July!

My mommy would be so proud of me! I made this dress for Hailey for the festivities on the fourth! Happy Independence Day!

Beach Beauty

These are some more papers I got at Scrapbook Market, they are the Making Memories Tropical Collection. The patterned papers, flowers, and stickers all came together. When I got out these papers and pictures I was so excited by the colors and the fun pictures, but... then I was stumped with the sketch. I couldn't find any sketches that would do it justice, I even googled the paper collection and checked the manufacturers website and nothing! And duh! what about using my own brain! I rely on my sketch books and websites so much that I get discouraged sometimes when I actually have to use my brain :o) But, I have to admit that I am so happy I challenged myself to come up with my own sketch! I actually even managed to incorporate stickers! into this layout. Of course they did come with the kit and were adorable! I also used stickles for the first time and fell in love! The glitter definitely is not an everyday thing, but they were just what this layout needed! BEACH is CTMH Dimensional Elements inked with Heavenly Blue and beauty is Quickutz Spicy Chicken cut from CTMH Bubblegum CS ... by the way I always forget and call this font Funky Chicken ;o)

I wish I were here now...

Oh, how I wish I were back in Mexico right now, soaking up the rays and snorkeling in the crystal blue waters and actually not sweating my butt off! This layout was so much fun to do, it was actually scraplifted from a combo of places including the PageMaps book and the Quickutz Gallery! I know, another using a plain background but it so beautiful in person! That colonial white textured cardstock is my new staple! It looks so much better in person, too! I believe the pp is BoBunny, the ribbon is American Crafts, the title is Quickutz Maddie Anne and Moxie, and of course the cs, flowers, buttons, and brads are CTMH.

I (heart) ScrapbookPictures!

Just read that sbpics is having a sale until July 7th... 25% off all squares! Ya know 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 8x8, 10x10, all the way up to 12x12. So if you are a digital scrapper, now is a great time to print some of those layouts and add them to your albums. I love square prints from some reason, I guess to my eye they seem captivating because they are unusual or something, idk. But this sale is a great excuse to go do a few layouts that require some square prints ;o) They haven't posted what the sale will be the other weeks of the month, but it looks like it will change each week! Cool!

Oh, and I just noticed they seem to have added a bunch of new print sizes including 4x5.33 which is true size to digital camera proportions! Have I mentioned how much I love ScrapbookPictures!

Easy Pleasy :o)

I was so happy to get these pics back from www.ScrapbookPictures.com because the colors were just awesome! I had them printed at Walgreens and the colors were distorted and just looked awful and they had looked so nice on my computer, so I sent them off to sbpics with a little note to please adjust the colors as they see fit. As usual, they did a fantastic job!

This was a quick layout to do, just what I needed clean and simple to keep the focus on the photos, but really fun to put together. The base is White Textured CS with just one sheet of pp for a little color and all the matts are Watermelon for a little pop! Man, I really seem to be favoring Watermelon lately, must be all the summer & spring layouts I am catching up on. The font is Quickutz Merry & Bright and the flowers are CTMH of course.

eGgCitEd......to be scrappin again!

It has been so long since I have scrapped, I am sooo happy I actually got to play today! These are some papers I picked up at Scrapbook Market on our last visit to Tallahassee and the title is CTMH's monogram dimensional elements. At first, I was a little hesitant to use all the different fonts together (i guess it goes against my concrete-sequential brain and the part of me that scraps with a T-square!) but I really like the way it turned out. I was in a hurry to post and the ink was still drying so they are varying shades of Watermelon. The base is our Colonial White textured cardstock (hard to see in the photo) and I am loving having all these textured versions of our white core already fabulous colors with a second shade on the back! The sketch is from PageMaps March2006 Newsletter Archives.

Online Somewhere

Hi, I just wanted to let you all know I added a few more layouts to my gallery over there --> they are at the end. You may have actually seen them before, but I am trying to organize all my artwork. I realized last night as I was falling asleep that I have this one layout in particular that I know I finished but don't remember seeing it in my gallery... part of being "finished" in my mind is uploading it somewhere. The other issue I am realizing is that I upload my layouts to too many places! I would really like to have them all in one place, so if God forbid, something happened to my albums I would still have a digital version online somewhere. The problem is that online somewhere is all over the place! So, I am taking advantage of this rainy day to organize all of online somewhere! So, my question is where do you upload/frequent/comment on others' layouts?

Everyone's Favorite Sale if almost over!

For those of you that might need a little reminder about the special this month (just 6 more days!)...

I cannot believe June is almost over already, but through June 30th, all of the My Acrylix Stamps are Buy 2, get 1 FREE*! (*—a savings of up to $22.95) Everyone's favorite sale is back!!! Here are the details...the 2 stamp sets purchased must be at full retail price (no stamp of the month, or clearance sets off my website) and the FREE set must be of equal or lesser value (and cannot be the Stamp of the Month, Clearance Sets, or "E" size sets) Of course the sale ends at midnight on the 30th, so get shoppin' and email or call me if you have any questions or would like to know what block sizes go with what sets, etc!

Whatchya doin' this summer?

We will be spending our Tuesday mornings in the cool movie theater with a free small popcorn watching a free movie...every Tuesday & Wednesday! If you don't already know about it, go check it out here --> Regal Free Family Film Festival. You get the free popcorn on Tuesdays thanks to the Regal Crown Club Card, which is also free to sign up for!

Inspiration in the oddest places

So, oddly enough I saw this page on the front page of a JoAnn's flyer and though I liked the lines, but it is definitely not my colors! So, I tore out the image and stashed it in my sketch binder, until I came across these pics of my friends and I eating some chocolate cake batter! I am so glad I held onto this! I really liked the way mine turned out!

12 cents prints!

Just a heads up that www.scrapbookpictures.com has 12 cent prints through June 18th! And metallic prints at regular prices from June 19th - 30th! If you haven't created an account there, you should! They have the best prints, the best color, unlimited storage space, no fees to sign up or maintain, and super cheap prints and shipping. Only $2.00 shipping, no matter how many prints your order or what size they are! On my last order, I noted that the colors were a bit off and asked them to correct it how they saw fit...needless to say the prints came out beautiful and they didn't charge me any extra! Plus the customer service is awesome, a super nice Dad & Son team! I love supporting the small fish! I am off to go order another hundred prints or so! ;o)

I Won!!! I Won!!!

I cannot believe it...I won one of the three $100 Grand Prizes from the Quickutz Register & Win Contest! All I did was register on the QK Community and upload a layout! And yesterday I got an email telling me to pick out my prize! Of course, I got another alphabet... Mary Jane Grand! I cannot wait to play with it! Not to mention the customer service was top notch! If you haven't register, you should go do it now and see all the other talented QK artists out there. There are some very creative and sweet people on the boards! Go check it out!

Introducing CTMH TV!

Did you miss seeing Close To My Heart’s recent appearances on PBS? Or would you like to see them again? Well, it’s now possible! We’re making web videos available that demonstrate fun tips, techniques, and product highlights as seen in video segments from the PBS show “Scrapbook Memories.” Every few weeks we’ll add more episodes from “Scrapbook Memories” or PBS’s “Paint, Paper, and Crafts,” so you and your customers can watch them at your leisure. (Don’t forget the popcorn!)

To see these informative and entertaining web videos, simply visit my MyCTMH website and click on “CTMH TV.” Happy viewing!

Coloring Chipboard

So, I was just reading another blog that I frequent and she said the most time consuming part of her layout was cutting the cardstock to cover her chipboard letters for the title. So, I wanted to share a little tip for those that have not tried it. Save yourself some time and just take your chipboard letters and rub them around on the face of your stamp pads. So much quicker than cutting cardstock and gives a much more vivid color. Also, if you don't like colored fingers you may want to wear gloves, but I wear my colored fingertips as a badge of creativity ;o) Also a great way to "own" more colors...ie, if you don't have cranberry cardstock (but do have the ink pad) and wanted your accents to be cranberry on your layout, you can use your ink pad to color your chipboard letters and embellishments. Voila!

It's Back!

It’s back! Buy two My Acrylix® stamp sets and select a third stamp set of your choice FREE!* Whether you’re a long-time crafter or brand-new stamper, now is the perfect time to grow your collection of My Acrylix® decorative stamp sets! From June 3–30, 2008, when you purchase two stamp sets at full retail price you will receive a third stamp set of your choice FREE*—a savings of up to $22.95

We're Home!

So, for the last 9 days we have been traveling and I mean alot! We visited Seaside, Oregon...Victoria, BC, Canada...and Seattle, Washington! We had an awesome time but are sooo happy to be home, even if life is very chaotic right now. I will have plenty more to share later, but just wanted to share this pic for Granny, who really needs a little Hailey fix ;o)

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to my mommy! She is such an amazing person, so talented, creative, caring, smart, and beautiful both inside and out! I love you so much mom! And Hailey loves you more than I think she can express in words, but is shows in her face when she talks to you on the phone or sees you in person. Her face lights up about her "Granny"! So, I hope you enjoy your day and wish we could be with you, but I think you understand ;o) Go take a drive with your top down, let your hair blow, and let the sun shine on your face! We love you!

And Happy Mothers Day to all the other Mommy's out there! Or, as Hailey spells it... Happy Momee's Day!

H2Ohhhhh!

Just wanted to get these posted...will be back later to share the details!

Cheap Pics Alert!

ScrapbookPictures.com is having a sale until May 18th on 4x6 pics, only 12 cents a piece with the same great $2.00 flat shipping no matter how many you order (hundreds, in my case)! And they are having a different sale from the 19th till the 31st but I cannot remember what it is ;O)

Oh and Walgreens has a FREE 8x10 for today only. Use coupon code 4MOM

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I just wanted to share a couple layouts that I finished up this past weekend, the other is in the gallery over on the side --> I actually stamped those trains, cut them out and pop-dotted them! I think they turned out nice!

Sketch: Scrapbook PageMaps Book (loving it!)
Paper: Close To My Heart Rough 'n Tumble Level 2 Paper Pack, Vellum
Stamp: C1221 Choo Choo Train
Title: Quickutz Blossom Grande
Ribbon: CTMH Cranberry & Outdoor Denim Ribbon Rounds
Brads: CTMH Colonial White My Accents
Ink: CTMH Outdoor Denim, Cranberry, Sunny Yellow Exclusive Ink Pads

National Scrapbook Day & New Summer Catalog

WooHoo! Its National Scrapbook Day today, hope you get lots of scrapping done! Plus, the New Summer Catalog is here! You can view it digitally on my website, just click on Products. Currently, I am trying to justify buying all the new Dimensional Elements Monograms! Well, happy scrapping today! I hope to sneak in a little scrap time tonight!

the Ozarks

• Sketch: Page Maps new book!!!

• CTMH Retired Calendar Paper Pack

• Dimensional Elements: CTMH Slide Frames

• Fonts: Quickutz Skinni Mini Lemonade and Spicy Chicken Grande

• CTMH Sunflower Bigger Brads
  

having shrimp in Savannah

These pics are from last year around my birthday, we were driving home from a conference in NC and decided to make a pitstop in Savannah, GA to grab dinner and stretch our legs. We ended up having dinner on the second story balcony of the coolest place... upscale seafood restaurant upstairs/bar, club, live band downstairs. DH and I shared the biggest platter of steamed oysters, crablegs, crawfish, shrimp, clams, and probably some other stuff I am forgetting. Hailey tried fried shrimp for the first time and LOVED them! As we were finishing dinner, fireworks started and we had the best view! Then we decided to stroll along the boardwalk/downtown area and listen to the best sax player. Anyways it was a nice early birthday dinner for me!

• Sketch: Page Maps new book!!!

• PP: CTMH Road Trip Level 2 Paper Pack

• Dimensional Elements: CTMH Fresh Shapes (the arrow and the solid stars), the speckled stars I stamped using CTMH "Star Struck" onto some left over chipboard from another alphabet pack then just hand cut them.

• Font: Quickutz Lowercase Sophie... I really want the uppercase to go with this one! I think this is the only font that I don't have the entire set!
  

three & a half

This layout was so much fun to make, okay it was a bit of work too! All the stiped paper is hand cut, adhered, and placed to match the stripes of my dd's shirt...I know a little obsessive! But, I couldn't find paper that fit the layout just right, so I made my own. I then used my sewing machine to sew along the edge to make sure all those strips wouldn't go anywhere after all my hard work!

• Sketch: actually, my own!

• CTMH Cardstock: Bubblegum, Sunflower, Sunny Yellow, Clover Meadow, Dutch Blue, Breeze

• Font: Quickutz Merry & Bright

• CTMH Dimensional Element "&" sign from Simple Alphabet Uppercase, rubbed on Sunny Yellow Ink Pad to color

• Bling in the flower centers are Close To My Heart's Sparkles and the flowers and leaves are also CTMH Mini-Medley Accents Summer Celebration Collection
  

cropping time!

Here is a little closeup of the layout I finished last night (actually waiting on an enlargement for that top picture.) You can see the entire layout over there --> Its the one of Hailey meeting "Abigail" her CPK doll a couple Cmas' ago. Thanks Uncle Mattie, Hailey still loves this doll years later. But I think we all remember our first CPK doll, I do! This layout was a bit of a challenge to use the yellow base. But it was fun! The flowers are one of the Quickutz Revolution daisies that I foled the petals around a paint brush to round them back and give them some dimension and a little different shape. Whatd'ya think?


Sketch: March'08 PageMaps
Paper: CTMH Let's Get Together L2 Paper Pack
Ribbon: CTMH Garden Green Collection
Embellishments: Bigger Brads Winter Classic, Winter Buttons

Little Dummer Girl

Just finished this layout last night, love it! Thanks, Aunt Mary for the inspiration!!! If anyone wants to scrap on Friday... Hailey and I will be scrapping all night! You are welcome to join us! ;o)

Coming Soon....

The new CTMH Summer 2008 Idea Book Catalog!!! If you are signed up for my catalog pre-ship, I will have my hot little hands on these this weekend and will be sending them out to you asap! If you aren't than email me and let me know you would like one! The catalogs are $4 to cover shipping and includes a little goodie, or free with a $25 order.

Its a ZOO out there!

This is a close up of one of those unfinished "finishing touches" from my last post...you gotta go see the whole page in my gallery. I love how the lions mane turned out! Thanks to the new Reflections book for this inspiration!!!

ET Phone Home!

So, I went to apply for Hailey's passport and the lady at the post office said that she looked like Drew Barrymore in ET, which is too darn funny because people used to say that about my baby pics! Maybe she does look a little like me ;o)

So, I have posted 6 new layouts on the gallery slideshow over there ----> some of them are not complete, but I will let you know once the enlargements are ordered and the final touches done. Which brings me to my next thought...

is anyone out there??? does anyone actually read my blog??? why dont y'all comment???

Hot off the presses...New Scrapbook Layout!

I am so excited, I actually got a layout done yesterday between mommy duties! I just finished Quickutz'ing the title (Merry & Bright font) and flourishes! The pink dots are a regular hole punch. Hey Mom, have I mentioned lately that I love my Revolution?! Thanks!!! The sketch is a twist of one from Page Maps, the purple and pink cardstock are CTMH Textured (the sets that are on sale!), and the pp is from a retired CTMH Calendar Paper Pack. Actually both the pink and purple cardstocks are the reverse side of other colors (bubblegum and petal, I think). That is one of the main reasons I love the textured cardstock packs, not only are they white core, but they are double sided....one side is the true color and the back side is a shade lighter, which worked perfectly for this layout. And the texture is nice on both sides...not concave on one side and convex on the other. Oh yeah, I even stamped on this layout! Along the bottom of the vellum I used our white ink pad and the phrase "celebrate" from a retired birthday set. You have to give it a little longer for the ink to dry, but it is so worth it. Nice and white!

It’s Time to Get Totally Textured!

Keep texture at your fingertips with this incredible offer! When the mood to create strikes, and regular cardstock seems too plain, it’s time to get totally textured! Our Totally Textured sale features a whopping 20% off all our textured cardstock now through February 29.

THIS INCREDIBLE 144 SHEET TOTALLY TEXTURED CARDSTOCK PACK includes four sheets each of the six colors in these four palettes: Spring Harmony, Summer Celebration, Autumn Harvest, and Winter Cozy. Also included are 24 sheets of White Daisy textured cardstock. Here’s the best part: only the Totally Textured cardstock pack features four sheets each of never-before-available textured cardstock in six colors taken from our two Basic palettes, Antique and Timeless: Bamboo, Black, Chocolate, Cocoa, Colonial White, and Desert Sand. Purchase the Totally Textured cardstock pack for just $70, that's 20% off the
regular retail price of $87.70!

You can also purchase any individual Textured Cardstock Combo for just $11.96, 20% off the regular retail price of $14.95! Also available is White Daisy Textured Cardstock for just $10.36, 20% off the regular retail price of $12.95. Don’t miss this incredible deal, offer ends February 29th!

Another layout to share!

Happy Valentine's Day!

If anyone wants to scrap on Friday, I will be at my house scrappin' with a friend and you are welcome to join us!

Jsut a few layouts...

I keep forgetting to post these, just a few layouts I have done lately! I am really loving these! Both of these are lifted from PageMaps, I will post the supply details later when I have them in front of me.

Crop Club ***UPDATE***

***Crop Club has been postponed until a later date, please email me with any questions***

Just a reminder Crop Club will be starting soon! We will meet one Friday night each month to crop and I will have free Create & Take for members. The only requirement is a $25 order each month, there will not be any crop fee or project fee. Each month I will focus on a different technique to teach you all how to use all those fun tools in the back of the catalog and to help you all build up your card stash. So each month you will learn something new, make some fun and different handmade cards, and get to scrap! I am also offering to have it others homes and maybe do it potluck style. Plus you can use any of my stamps, Quickutz, and inks that night as well! The greatest benefit is that you will get to be Hostess once during the 6 months and earn at least $25 in free product your month! Email me for date and location.

My Starbucks Baby

So this is not one of my shining moments as a mother, is was just cream though not coffee! But, we were stuck in a 2 hr delay in the DFW airport at 2am and of course the only thing open was Starbucks! After finishing her favorite "organic chocolate milk" she started eating my cream. Needless to say the sugar wore off shortly after we boarded the plane and she slept like a log! We had strapped her in her carseat on the plane and managed to transfer her (still strapped in) off the plane, into a taxi, out of the taxi, and into her bed at the hotel without her even blinking an eye! Did you know that carseats mount perfectly ontop of rolling luggage?! I will have to find that picture to share.
Anyways, the paper is Stylin Paper Pack; Hollyhock and Black My Accents and Photo Hangers; Black, Baby Pink and Hollyhock CS; and the title is cut from Quickutz Daisy Skinni Mini and Quickutz Blossom Grand. The layout sketch is from Imagine: Serenade pg 36

Life Lessons

I love the new Dimensional Elements...they now all feature self-adhesive backing and the top white layer is much nicer! Nice enough to just leave white. I chalked the flourishes and the birds right over the white. The font is Quickutz Lucy Classic, cut from the reverse side of Honey Textured CS (so it is shade lighter) and chalked on the edges. The paper is Sweet Harmony Level 2 Paper Pack. Hand journaled with a black writer. Sooo easy, but I love it! Oh, and I scrap-lifted this sketch from Page Maps. One of my new favorite sites, I have added a link to that site over on the right--->

First Layout of the Year!

These photos are from a trip we took in 2006, but I just recently got the enlargement done and stumbled across the other snapshots in my photo box. They were screaming at me last night to come out and play! The title is from Quickutz, it is called Magnolia Grand Alphabet. The rest is all CTMH. The stripe paper is from the Majestic Blue paper pack and the stamp that I journaled on is from my new stamp set called Ticket Tags. All the colors are Indian Corn Blue, Cocoa, Bamboo, and Colonial White. I also used one of my coveted Edge Anchors on the journaling tag. I used bullet points to highlight the places pictured. Oh, and I scrap-lifted the layout sketch off the quickutz idea gallery, so it was that much easier to put together!

Idea Book Subscription

This year I am doing a Pre-Paid Annual Subscription for the Idea Books ~ $12 for the year. This is only to cover the envelope and postage to you, I am not charging for the catalogs. I will mail you all of the new catalogs the month before they are released... without you having to remember! Along with a special gift each season! If you would like to participate please email me with your mailing address and method of payment (paypal, cash, or checks are fine) and I will send out the first of this years catalogs immediately!

Also, if you have any requests for programs or workshops this year, please let me know. I love suggestions!

Crop Club starting in February!

Starting in February and running for 6 months, we will meet one Friday night each month to crop and I will have free Create & Take for members. The only requirement is a $25 order each month, there will not be any crop fee or project fee. Each month I will focus on a different technique to teach you all how to use all those fun tools in the back of the catalog and to help you all build up your card stash. So each month you will learn something new, make some fun and different handmade cards, and get to scrap! I am also offering to have it others homes and maybe do it potluck style. Plus you can use any of my stamps, Quickutz, and inks that night as well! The greatest benefit is that you will get to be Hostess once during the 6 months and earn at least $25 in free product that month. Let me know if you are interested? First-come, First Serve!

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I realize that it's already the middle of January...but better late than never, right? So, one of the resolutions this year is to get my ipod out and start using it! Which means I really need to download some good music, some to walk to, and some to scrap to of course! So, I have started a list of favorite musicians and would love to know what you are listening to right now..... SOOOOO, SPILL THE BEANS, PLEASE! I just heard Jack Johnson and really like him, and of course Colbie Caillat, Carrie Underwood, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones. But surprisingly one of my favorites is Outkast! I am a sucker for that song Hey Ya! What else should I download? ;o)

Beautiful Morning View

So, usually I wouldn't be one to share what is behind those cabinet doors, especially all over the internet. But we haven't had cabinets in the kitchen since we moved in 11 months ago! It is a long story, but I will say that upon moving in those cabinets were too bad, unhealthy, ugly to live with any longer. So, we ripped them out and began a verrrrry long process of picking out new ones and finally....this past weekend, I got my new upper cabinets! So, you see this is a very exciting view every morning as I open my cabinet door to reach for my coffee mug and cereal bowl!!! Needless to say, I was very thankful for my family over the Thanksgiving weekend as they made the voyage to my house to help with projects throughout the weekend. Thanks Dad, Amy, Jordan, Brian, Hubby, and Granny (for loaning me everyone!) We definitely couldn't have gotten all this done without you!

• We also managed to get the travertine install started on the back porch!

• In the master bath we got all new electrical outlets and switches installed, the ceiling painted, the exhaust fan installed, and I, yes... I, installed can lights above the vanity (with a little help from Dad and hubby) but I think they were both a little surprised that I could do electrical!

• We sanded the plaster in kitchen, then primed and painted it my new favorite color, olive.

• We also painted the ceiling in the kitchen, dining room, and hallways!

• Oh yeah, Dad and hubby managed to figure out this key-er thing that our door guy loaned us, so that we could get all the different deadbolts and handle sets keyed to the same key (instead of 7!!! different keys for the 7 different locks!) So, I finally have only one housekey! ;o)

Hopefully I will get the house cleaned up and take some more pics of the other projects, but i just had to share that bit!

Ummmm S'mores!!!

Okay, so this is kind of sad...but, of all the things we accomplished this weekend, this is my favorite! Our logs and log rack! When we first moved into this house we had a number of trees taken out and the ones that were safe to keep for firewood hubby sawed down into logs. We (well, not me!) got all the logs split into nice fireplace sized chunks. I am sure there is a better name, but I like to call them chunks ;o) So, as hubby was taking the axe to the logs, I would heave the chunks up onto the log rack that hubby made this weekend! And, voila all the chunks of firewood are nicely chopped and stacked and ready for a fire! So, who am I to deprive the NEW FIREPLACE of a nice little fire?! and of course, along with our first fire we made our first fireplace s'mores ;o) And yes, I did say New Fireplace...hubby and friend got the old fireplace removed and the new fireplace put in last weekend. Hubby spent much of the weekend getting the trim and siding put back up, but is very reassuring knowing that it is all new and clean, everything including the box, chimney, pipes, cap, it all got replaced! So, now all I have to do is pick out the stone that will go inside on the wall! I am off tomorrow to talk the stone guys into letting me borrow ALL the samples in the store so that I can make a very informed decision as to which stone color I want! So far, everything I have brought home looked much different in my living room than it did in theirs!

We also go the new shingles (Slate), siding (Mountain Sage), and stacked stone(Mojave) for the exterior picked out and now I have to decide whether to go with white aluminum or white vinyl windows?! Anyone have any advice?

Happy Halloween!