Embellish Babies Challenge

Hello!

I haven't played along in an Embellish challenge for a while so I thought I would give it a go last night.

What a delish colour combo.

And having a baby card lying around is never a bad thing.

The BABY stamp is from the $1.50 bin at Michaels, the sentiment is Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday, and the pp is Bitty Dots by PTI.

Thanks for visiting!

LSC #98...sort of

Haven't participated in a Loonie Stampers Challenge for a while. Thought I would give it a go this weekend but I messed up, I thought it was Ocean Tides instead of Aqua Mist. Oh well.

I stamped scraps of card stock with different PTI background stamps for this one and used a little flower made by Loonie gal Char long ago (that has been patiently waiting for me).

Thanks for visiting!

Vintage Letterpress Tray...and more!

It's been a few weeks since I have been out garage sale-ing but Char and I were back in action this weekend. We headed out early Saturday Morning and hit a community sale. At our very first stop I found this vintage letterpress tray. A few months ago I wouldn't have even know what this was, but after I saw how my friend Carly is using hers I have been wanting one. These can sell upwards of $100 on Etsy so I was really pleased to find one at a garage sale for $5!

I would rate the condition as fair and very, very dirty. I spent close to 4 hours cleaning it but could probably work on it for days. My husband (who is not the world's most patient man) suggested I use his power washer on it. Ha! My efforts did improve it slightly as you can see by the photo below (taken after the first third had been cleaned).

The tray has paper backing which was impossible difficult to clean. In an effort to protect my stamps I decided to insert card stock over the paper backing and behind each of the stamps. I'll stamp the image first and it will also serve to remind me where the stamp belongs. A glue dot was used to keep the card stock in place.

And here it is in a corner of my craft room. As you can see, I don't have many wood mounted stamps but now that I have a place to to put them I am thinking there may be more in my future ;). There are lots of small openings which work great for my ink cubes. Now that I have the tray up I've decided to keep my notice boards in my craft room and will be hanging them shortly beside the tray.

Other great finds of the day were two lamp shades in perfect condition for $1 each.

I thought I might cover them but they actually work well in our family room as is.

I almost passed on these charger plates. At $10 they seemed expensive until I realized there were 12 of them, and many still had original price tags of $4 each on the bottom. They will be nice with our Christmas table setting which is orange, cream, and gold.

The other items are a new black Ikea floating shelf which retails for $20 and was bought for $5, a wire fruit bowl bought for $2, two books that were 50 cent each, and a new set of rubber alpha stamps that I picked up for $2.

So there's my haul for the day. Not bad for $27, hey? Not to mention I had a great day with a super friend.

I'll be linking this up to Southern Hospitality.

I'm Here

I love this sentiment in PTI's 3rd Anniversary set. Isn't that what we all need to hear when we are going thru a rough patch? Unfortunately, someone close to me is going thru such a patch right now. I'm hoping this card will spread some cheer and remind her she's not alone.

The flower image is from the same stamp set. CS and ribbon are PTI New Leaf and the pom pom is from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday (to have on hand)

I never seem to have Happy Birthday cards on hand for those times you really need one...like when a co-worker offers you a cupcake at work because it's her birthday that day (and she bought them for herself). Um, having a card on hand that day would have been really good.

So, it's decided. I must build up my HB card stash. Here's the first one made with October Afternoon scraps, some PTI ribbon, cs, and buttons. Oh, the sentiment is PTI too.

Thanks for visiting!

Thrifty Notice Boards

This weekend I finally got around to completing a project I have been meaning to do for ages. I picked up these two frames last summer at a garage sale for $5. I knew I wanted to do a blackboard in one of them but wasn't sure about the other. I decided on a cork board and cut the cork out of a cheap board I picked up on clearance for $2.88. With the chalk board paint the project cost about $12 for both notice boards.

Before:

During:

I did spray the chalkboard paint right on the glass using several light coats. I realize these DIY blackboards are getting to be old news by now but I'm happy to have finally made one!

After:

Not sure where these will go yet. I originally thought my craft room but perhaps our hall off the garage would be better. We got a new stainless (aka non-magnetic) refrigerator this winter and I miss having a surface to put up important notices. As we exit the house thru the garage that might be a good place to put up reminders...or chore lists for my guys (ha ha).

Oh, and check out this cute vintage canning jar I'm using for chalk. It has a glass lid and was another garage sale find.

Thanks for visiting! I'm linking up to Rhoda's party on Southern Hospitality.

Porch Makeover

Hiya! I'll warn ya, this is a long one. You might want to just scan the pictures :).

One of the features of our pretty basic SPEC house I love is our front porch. It is covered, west facing, wood (the norm in these new areas is precast concrete), and a decent size to sit out and enjoy the evening sun on. The only thing is we've rarely sat out there in the seven years we've been here as our furniture was really uncomfortable. The little bistro set below was originally purchased for a balcony in a condo we had before the house. Pretty? Yes. Functional? Not so much.

Before:

A couple of weeks ago I decided to spruce up the porch and had almost talked myself into two new resin wicker Adirondack-type chairs from Home Outfitters. I had a 25% off coupon for one item but the pair would still end up costing $175, plus a side table and accessories. I just couldn't justify it. But then I remembered we have 6 chairs in our set on the back deck, and rarely have 6 people around the table.

After:
(Do you see my dog in the window wondering what I am doing outside without her??)

I can't tell you how pleased I was to re-purpose something we already owned. AND I pretty much ended up with the "look" I was after. Now, I did spend some $$$, TOO MUCH $$$, actually. I suppose my instant-gratification-need beat out my thrifty-sensibilities!

I purchased the side table and outdoor cushions. (I originally put out regular cushions but they stained slightly after the first rain). The good news is I was able to use that 25% off coupon on one of the cushions. I also purchased the candle and hurricane on clearance at Winners.

Two of the four planters on the steps we already had, the other two I picked up for 50 cents each at a garage sale last weekend. I filled one of the 50 cent pots with some fresh herbs, do you see the markers? So easy to do and I like them better than the plastic tags that come with the plants. I made some for my herbs on the back deck too..quick and easy with my little alpha stamps.

The wire planter is a new addition, I picked that up at a garage sale a couple of weekends ago for $3. I found the coconut liner at our local garden centre.

Finally, I added WELCOME to our front door. I cut the vinyl out with my Cricut. I'm still getting used to it and think the letters might be a bit too big, so this could change.

So, there you have our front porch re-do! Not including the plants/flowers, I spent approx $100. I think I could have done it less expensively if I had found the table and cushions at a garage sale or thrift shop. But I am pleased that I did pick up most of the accessories on the cheap and used some things we had on hand, namely the chairs. It's not a dramatic difference, but it is more casual and reflective of our style. And when we do have 6 people around the table on the back deck, we can easily "borrow" these chairs from out front.

Thanks so much for visiting! I'll be linking this up to Monday's Thrifty Treasures on Southern Hospitality.

Garage Sale Finds

Well, I had another great day garage sale-ing with my pal Char. We went to a community garage sale near our office and I think we must have visited at least 20 houses. Considering that, I think I was pretty selective and my junk pile isn't too large this week.

My two favourite items of the day are:

The Cocso retro step chair: I wasn't sure about this until Char showed me it folds and suggested it would be good in the garage. SOLD! for $2. I found some ads online for Cosco stools dating back to 1950. I figure this one with the brown has to be from the 1970s.

Vintage Pyrex 2 qt casserole with lid: This was a promotional item that Corelle put out in 1959 and the pattern appears to be called Golden Tulip according to Pyrex Love. This is my first piece with a lid and might just be my fave so far. $2.

Other Misc. items: Ikea magnet board, which I plan to jazz up with some fabric ($1), baton (25 cents), new teeny tiny Tupperware containers ($1), Carafe (50 cents), 4 wood hangers ($1), NIB portable grill ($2), 2 plants pots ($1), 2 metal planters ($2), burlap ($1), cookie jar ($1).

And one other item to show you...my "splurge" of the day. A desk for my nephew Xavier who is turning 5 in July and off to Kindergarten in September. My sister had asked me to keep an eye out for a small desk and this one was perfect at $10. Char and I did see a wood desk of the same size at another sale later in the day for $40.

And here's our future scholar.

OK, that was a loooong post....thanks for stopping in! I'm linking up to Rhoda's TTT and Linda's NTT!

Masculine Cards

I made this card for my husband who left on his annual motorcycle trip yesterday morning, two weeks thru Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. I always seem to get a holiday out of it too as I meet him some where during his trip. For the last two years I've met him on Vancouver Island but this year I'll be meeting him in Las Vegas. Actually, all four of his siblings, their spouses, and his mom are meeting in Vegas. Should be very interesting fun.

As I had my supplies out I thought I would whip something up quick for Jake too. These cards really rook no time at all and all products used are Papertrey except for the wood grain (Hero Arts).

I wasn't sure if I would even post them but then I thought it would be a good way to break up the thrifty posts. Oh yes, I was out garage shopping again this weekend and picked up some real gems ;).

Planter Redo

Hi there!

We don't have a lot of privacy on our deck and I thought adding greenery rather than flowers this year might help with this. There are some gorgeous, contemporary looking planters in the stores this spring but I remembered some metal planters we had from a few years back. They were once a vibrant blue but became very badly sun faded.

And so began my first adventure with spray painting. I say first because it was so easy and I loved the results. I will be doing this again soon.

Before:

In less time than it took to drive to the store to buy the spray paint I had all three of these planters looking fresh and matching our deck decor. I planted palms in two of them and saved one for flowers, which I hope to add soon. The effect was as desired as the plants do provide a bit of privacy when we are sitting at the table. The best part is that I resisted retail and used something we already owned.

After:

This last pic is of the deck (and our dog). I've since added my $5 market umbrella.

Thanks for visiting. I'm hooking this up to House of Hepworths. There are some really amazing projects over there this week.

ETA: I am also linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After party.

Clean & Simple FTL 92

I meant to make a clean and simple card with this nice, simple layout. I ended up with something very busy and colourful though. It's the first sunny day here in almost a week and I suppose that influenced me, but at least I got in my craft room and made something. Sadly, it's been a while. I also see that the base was meant to be square. I'm not the best at following instructions, as you can see.


Thanks for visiting...I hope you are having a sunny day too.


Card deets:
CS: PTI Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy, DP: October Afternoon, Chipboard: Maya Road with PTI Orange Zest ink, Buttons: PTI, Sentiment: PTI Handwritten Notes, Backgound stamp: Hero Arts wooodgrain in PTI Pure Snow ink