why i have paint in my hair......

so many people at church today said "do you know you have paint in your hair?" 
ha ha ha!!!

i'm so thankful that God has given me this home.  i love sharing it with friends, whether at stamp camp or get togethers like this past friday night.  i love having friends around my dining room table sharing & laughing!  i've lived in this house for almost 21 years & it was way past time to paint!!!!!  there was also a LOT of hard water deposits on the brick that NOTHING would take off.  the beginning of summer is usually too rainy, the summer is always too hot.....fall is the best time to paint.  a couple years ago we had a hurricane so i couldn't do it then & i just don't know why i didn't do it last year!!!!  but it's getting done now!!!!  here are some before & after pictures........

the front window---the "before" is on the left, the "after" on the right

and here it is completely done!

(the brick does have some white paint splotches on it naturally because it looks like old, re-used brick.)

a couple shots of the gutters -- you can tell which is the before & which is the after!!!!!!!

my pretty antique white  trim, soffit  & gutters---(well, if it were sherwin williams paint it would be antique white----this is "cooper melon" from lowes which is an EXACT match and about $30 cheaper per gallon!!!!!!!!)  it's lowes' highest quality paint & i highly recommend it.  it's got great one coat coverage.  i didn't paint the garage doors because they're just a couple years old & are in perfect condition.

this is the discolored brick-----

- 21 years of hard water deposits from watering the yard.  nothing would take this off...i tried clr, bleach, powerwashing, several other things.  it looks disgusting!!!!  (and the homeowner's association doesn't like it!!!!!)

well, after i was done staining the bench, i looked at the rag i was using & got a bright idea!!  i had seen on HGTV where they took several colors of paint & fixed this problem--that seemed like a lot of work though!  i rubbed the stain filled rag on an inconspicuous area of brick & it worked perfect!!!!  so i proceeded to stain the entire front & one side of the house!!!!!!  it turned out perfect!!!!  i just rubbed & rubbed until the rag was too dry, put a little more stain on the rag & rubbed each brick .........here are pictures of the "in progress"......  what a difference!!!!!

***********************

and here's the finished product!!!!!   the first thing i did this morning when i woke up was go outside & see if it still looked good----it did!!!!  it looks like a brand new house!!!! 

isn't this fantastic?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!

i'm so excited!!!!  i just want to stand in the front yard & look at the house!!!!

today after church i finished the one side & got 2/3 of the back side done.  it was so sunny & hot & there was no breeze or shade where i was working.  i was hot & tired & was starting to get sloppy & drip lots of paint so i quit for the day. 

the nice thing is....................the next time this house needs painting,

someone else can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

last sunday's stamp camp "shoe box swap" projects

we had a great time at stamp camp & the projects that y'all did were great!!!!  everyone loved them & it was really fun for me to be able to stamp along with y'all for a change!!!!  here are the projects we did:

this was sandy's card--a pumpkin made with the wide oval punch

nicole had the leaves, pumpkins & even the little opening in the card all cut for us!!

bernie did this cute birthday card--great kid's card!!!!

this is renee's card--i forgot to put the glitter on the cupcakes though!!!  i'll have to go do that!!!!!  & i might put some crystal effects on the cherries!!

susie did this fantastic card ---there's a cut out on the front & the flower shows through & then when you open it, you've got a whole bouquet of flowers!!!!  such a cute idea!!!

this is courtney's card--i had to finish it later, gabbing too much i guess!!!  i had to use a different sentiment & i added some die cut leaves (a flower really!) behind the scrunched up flower because they were just laying there on my table!!!  

and finally, here's my card.  i love the die cut leaves & this makes a great "man card".

our next stamp camp is november 7th (moved up since the 3rd sunday is the week of thanksgiving) & we're doing the name frames!

our december stamp camp will be december 12th.  the theme is simple cards.  i've got some great simple christmas cards for us to make!  our swap will also be simple cards - renee's got hers done already & we all got to see them last sunday.........they are great!

so RSVP in the comments section here if you're coming & swapping. 

november stamp camp - name frames

some guidelines for the november 7th stamp camp - "name frames"

• you don't have to do a "name" - you can do a word like "merry christmas", "blessings", "welcome"
• decide on what name/word you want to do & choose your background paper & frame.  the frames i usually always do are the 8x20" from michaels.  you can do whatever size you want, simple or fancy.
• bring your own paper for the background mat, decorations, etc. but i will have paper for sale if you need something.  prices will be the by the piece cost of the SU price in the current catalog.
• you can bring your own letters or you can die-cut letters with my bigshot. (see the pics below to see what they look like)   bring cereal/cracker boxes to use to cut the letters out of.  i usually glue 3 letters together & cover with another letter cut out of cardstock or scrapbook paper.  you can also ink up the letters or emboss them.
• bring whatever embellishments you want to use.  that would be paper for matting or tags, brads, jewels, ribbons, etc.  i'll have my bigshot available so you can die cut things (you can use any of my dies - with your paper) but if you have a bigshot or cuttlebug, you might want to bring it  because there might be a "line" to use just one!
• bring your own ADHESIVE -- a GOOD one!!!  you want this to stay stuck!!!!  i usually use a SU! glue stick or tombow multi  (the white liquid glue not the tape runner) or crystal effects.
• you can use any of my inks but bring your own stamps if you want to stamp words or verses or images on your project.
• you may or may not get your frame completely done - that's ok!  you can finish it at home!!
• if you need a frame, i have a few walnut colored ones.  they are $9.00 each.

i've given you some sneek peeks of the one i just made...................here's the whole thing!!!

comment here to RSVP for this stamp camp.  if you're in the hostess club, there's no charge, otherwise it's the regular $10 stamp camp fee for all other attendees.  there will be no swap at this camp.  this will be lots of fun - i can't wait to see everyone's creations!!  i'm so hooked on these frames!  each one turns out so different, but just a beautiful as the last!  RSVP by monday oct. 25.  thanks!!!!

clearance rack available until the 18th

i was thinking the clearance rack items would be available until the 16, but it's the 18th.  but if you want anything, you'd better hurry; items are going quickly.  email me if you want to order anything.   those are some really great prices!!!  i'm ordering a BUNCH of the red & white striped 1 1/4 inch ribbon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXTRA! EXTRA!! do you want some $9.95 ribbon for $1.99? some $8.95 buttons for $1.99.....?

well then go check out stampin' up!'s "clearance rack" -- it's a bunch of retired product that SU! is selling for 80%  or more off!!!!!    there's paper, ink, ribbon, buttons, corduroy buttons, pretties kits, chipboard products, even some big shot dies for just a couple dollars (yeah- the ones that were $17.95/21.95!!!!!)  and soooooooooo much more!!!!!  

go to the SU website, to the customer section, you'll click on "store" over to the right then "clearance rack" on the left.  you'll see about 8 items on the screen - click the dropdown tab on the right that has the # on it  & select "ALL"----it will bring up all the items that are currently in stock on the clearance rack.  click on the item you want & it'll bring up the #.  write that item # down then click your back button & click on the next item you're interested in, & EMAIL ME the list of items with the item # & quantity that you want.  (these item #'s are different from the ones that were in the catalog, so you can't refer to that)  (i don't have a demo website, so you can't order that way)  i'll place 1 big order late friday night.  items are going  quickly at these prices so HURRY!!!!!!!  you can order multiple quantities, so stock up on some things!!!!  what great prices!!!!

another "sneek peek" at the name frame i did last weekend!!!

have a blessed day!!!

dsp....not just for scrapbooks!!!

designer scrapbook paper.....not just for scrapbooks!!!!  these cute  little projects are in my guest bathroom---aka suzanne's bathroom!!  this is SU!'s "newsprint" dsp---i just love how it "fit" the style i was going for in the bathroom makeover.  i mod podged the light switch & outlet covers since they'll get so much use.....so simple, but what a big statement!

i'll have more br pics later on.....don't forget - only 3 days til our stamp camp "shoebox swap"!!  i can't wait to see your projects!!!

have a blessed rest of the week!!

stamp a stack

well, the only person to come to the 1st saturday stamp a stack was sandy b.  she had a bunch of christmas cards that she hadn't finished last year so that's what she worked on.  i already have my christmas cards done for this year----you can get a lot of things done when your kid goes to college & you're home alone!!!!!----so i made a name frame for a baby gift for my former boss.  here's a little "preview"........

we'll be doing these at the november stamp camp.  be thinking about what name or word you want to do, what colors, etc.  i'll have more details on these in posts to come.

wanna see my christmas card?  here's a sneek peek!!

                                                     have a blessed day!!

pictures!!!

it's really hard - not impossible, but hard - to have a blog when you don't have a camera!  i gave my camera to suzanne when she went off to college thinking that since she was gone i'd not have a lot of need for the camera.  ha!  then i started a blog!  i'm sure you'd much rather see pictures of cute cards & such rather than just a bunch of rambling black letters!!  most of you know my downline sarah.  not only is she my downline, but she's my neighbor, my pastor's wife & someone i consider one of my best friends.  well, sweet sarah & i were stamping together one night & i mentioned that my blog is sort of boring without pictures & i don't have the $$ right now to get another camera.  do you know what she said?........."we have an extra camera that you can borrow"!!!!!!!!!  how wonderful!!!!  (i'm scared to death that i'll break it, but i'm being VERY careful!!!)  i spent a little time this afternoon taking a bunch of pictures so that i can blog with pictures for quite some time!!!!! 

my problem is, i want to upload all the pictures NOW so you can see them, but we're all going to have to be patient & enjoy them over time!!!

here are some cards from our last stamp camp.  the theme was "fall".......

this one's my favorite & focuses on masking, watercoloring with markers & "pools" of ink, & a cool outline technique.  at stamp camp i had the girls do the outline with the fine end of the SU! marker, but on this one i used the brush end----you just have to have a steady hand & wipe your ruler frequently so you don't get smears & smudges.

this one uses the classic "lovely as a tree" - i hope it NEVER retires!  it's a set that everyone in the world should own!!!  if you don't have it, let me know & you can order it!

this was a hard card to photograph because it's embossed with gold & i kept getting a glare.  such a simple card, but a real wow card though!

our NEXT stamp camp is next sunday, the 17th at 2pm.  we're doing a "shoebox swap" where everyone in attendance will be designing & bringing the supplies for a card that we'll all make.  this is a 1st for our group, but you girls are so good that i'm sure the cards will be fantastic!  i can't wait!!!!  (neither could susie---she arrived at my house at 2pm TODAY!!!!!!!  we had a nice little visit & then she left, but she'll be back next sunday with her shoebox swap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

have a blessed day - "talk to ya later!"

october stamp camp - shoebox swap numbers

ok - here's who's participating in the shoebox swap stamp camp on october 17:
renee - are your 2 friends coming?
courtney
bernie
susie
sandy
dorothy
so that looks like about 8 people - why don't we go ahead & prepare for 10 just in case (you can always make up your extras for your "stash"!)

here's what each of you have to do:  design a card that's easy enough for everyone to make at stamp camp.  cut all the paper, gather all the supplies you need, put everything in a shoebox & bring to stamp camp so everyone can make your card!  be sure to include all the ink, stamps, etc. that you need.  you can do any kind of card you want!!  just have enough supplies for 10 cards!

i'm excited to see what y'all come up with!!!

aren't these cute?!  i don't "do" halloween, but these little cuties were made by my SU! upline penny with the petal punch --it takes 2 punches each & they're big enough to hold a tiny candy surprise!!!!

have a great week ---i am!!  my baby's home for a few days for fall break!!  and the weather's beautiful!!!!!