Cool Clock

I was just doing a Google Image search, and came across this very cool clock. It must be pretty big, but I can't find the original post to get the details.


The picture is from Google Images, and was linked to this blog: Made By Girl

Dreaming Big!

These images are not from my home... unfortunately! I found them all on a Google image search of "Home Libraries". Head over to Google for these and many, many more images of Home Libraries.

Aren't these fabulous spaces? Oh, let the dreaming begin! I wouldn't know which book to choose first. I would be able to spend hours and hours with all these books. I have a friend that once said she would sooner lend out her car than her books. And, she wasn't kidding - not even a bit!

I'm just trying to figure out where I could fit even a small version of one of these lovely libraries into my home. I think that with my stamping space, and my sewing stuff (the sewing stuff is stored in the guest bedroom, and has become quite a stash over the last 2 years), and with 3 kids and a husband who all have hobbies of their own - my dream library will have to wait.

But, I can dream. And, as I read on someone's post yesterday:

"It doesn't cost any more to dream BIG
than it does to think small. "

So, I dream for a big library. In the meantime, I feel blessed that I have access to 2 great libraries - one at my church, and the public library down the road, plus my kids have a great library at their school, which has just been beautifully remodeled. I'll have to do a before and after post about that soon, too.

The pictures I've collected jumped out at me for various reasons.

I love the crispness of this library. And its sheer size. A wall of books, but not dusky and dim - bright and inviting!


This one looks very functional, but I think that it is perhaps book overkill. There must be a dozen or so books in there that could be donated to MCC so you could fit a photo on one of the shelves to break things up!


I like how the next one is decorated. This is appealing for a family because it is more of a multi-use room. There is a TV in there, although, who in their right mind would choose television over this gorgeous selection of literature?


This is a modern library, but I would be frustrated by those shelves. I have a few open ended shelves in my house and it really bothers me when books are not supported at the end of a shelf. But the fireplace is a nice cozy touch!


I think this one, with the curtain, would be most realistic for my house, I'm just not sure where it would go. Then you could use your space for formal gatherings, or pull the curtain open and be surrounded with books!


I am in awe of the multitude of books in this next photo, but I would feel claustrophobic in this space. Look how books are even stored underneath the shelves. This is not a book-lover, this is a hoarder - there are even books on the reading chair... now, what's the point of that?! But, I must give them credit because the books are very neatly displayed. I just don't believe for a minute that this person has read, or even browsed all of these books.


This next one would be considered a dream within a dream (have you seen the movie Inception?) To have a grand piano like this would just be fantastic. However, the chairs in this room would not invite me to sit in them to read a book. I would love the large windows on either side, but those chairs would be replaced with leather couches. Actually, the leather couches I already own would be quite perfect!


The colourful effect of these next books jumps out at me, but I think it must have been edited in photoshop, or the owner makes a hobby of searching out books for their spine colour, not their content. In which case, it is beautiful, but there are probably few books that he or she would like to read for real.


I saved this photo for last. Can you guess why? Look at the walls. Red walls in themselves make me happy. So, to have them behind all these books, that's brilliant!

What do you dream about?

New Catalogue!

July 1st means two things...

1) It's Canada Day - Happy Canada Day!!

2) It's "New Stampin' Up! Catalogue" Day!!

* If you would like to reserve your copy of the SU! catalogue, please contact me. If you are from out of town, I will gladly mail you one, but you will need to pay the shipping cost. The cost of the catalogue is $10, or free with a $50 order! Come out next Tuesday night and see the new idea books, as well as sample some of the new products. You are going to love this book! The following two books are starting today, and the mini at the bottom is current for another month.

A Whole New Look!

Here are the pictures!! We love the new look... I think Steve's favourite part is that his beloved Eagle picture is going to be front and centre now, and he painted the fireplace black. The TV is down to the left of the fireplace, and the piano is moved into the living room. The whole place just has a much cozier feel to it.

What am I up to?!

Haven't been doing a lot of stamping the last couple days... besides sorting through about 4 different stamping orders that all came in the course of 2 days (but lots of orders are a good thing!!).

This weekend I wanted to go away, but Husband didn't feel the same urge to travel somewhere with the kids in tow. So, I settled for the next best thing - home decorating!

Here's a peek at the "before" look of our living room:



Stay tuned for the "after" photos... coming soon... all I can say is "Goodbye Builder-beige!"

Elise's bedroom mural

When Elise was born 3 1/2 years ago, my friend Tricia did this awesome sketch and had it attached to the gift bag. I have kept it on the side of the fridge for over 3 years with the idea that I would paint it on Elise's wall.

I finally got around to that... last night I projected it on the wall and traced it, then today I painted it all in.

Steve was in awe of my paint palette (or maybe it was shock!) so he had to take a picture it because it was such a mess.

I finished it this afternoon, and I love how it turned out!

Elise loves it, too!

It's quite big, but really makes the room cheerful...

New Year... New Deals!

It is a very exciting time at Stampin' Up!... Sale-A-Bration! This always means great new sets and a gift with purchase. Check out the fabulous sets and projects right here in the Sale-A-Bration flyer.

CLICK HERE FOR FLYER

And not only is it Sale-a-bration, there is a new mini catalogue filled with treasures! The Occasions Mini has new paper, new punches, and of course fabulous new stamp sets. But to top it off, you now have a choice - traditional wood-mount sets, OR, the brand new clear-mount sets. Note: the clear-mount stamps are still made with Stampin' Up!'s high quality red rubber, but they can be repositioned on clear blocks, and they are a huge space-saver!

OCCASIONS MINI

Stampin' Up! has also expanded their offering of Home Decor items. Click on the link below for the latest in decor accents, stencils and vinyl artwork.

DECOR ELEMENTS

Extreme Makeover... Home Edition - (Part Two)

Here are some pics of the boys' new room... formerly my stamping room. Check out this post to see how it used to look in this room. What a switch!

We chose Old Olive and Brocade Blue (the closest samples to these in the paint store... they are called something else at Home Depot).

Behind the door is a shoe holder... this one is Todd's and he has already made it the home for stray toys and some mismatched socks!

Todd showing you Scott's bed.

Todd on his own bed! He claimed the green side of the room! These beds were their bunk beds in their last room, but they requested that they get their own beds when we moved them, so we took the bunks apart and made the bottom double bunk back into a single bed.

The "blue side of the room" is Scott's domain...

The boys were super ecstatic that they got the big walk in closet, and they have already planned out forts to build in there! Here is Scott's shoe/misc. collector... it hangs on the closet door.

Once again, there is nothing on their walls.... yet... but Steve has a vision for the the Canucks logo to be painted on there, so I will get to that as soon as I have a minute! I have to ask the boys if they would like that first. And, once again, there are some pretty cool SU! home decor options right now with extreme sports pictures. They come in navy, so that would be a perfect option for their room.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll try to get some pics posted of what we did in the basement recently, too. That will be the "part three" installment!!!

Extreme Makeover... Home Edition - (Part One)

Well, maybe we didn't makeover the whole home, but what we did, just the 2 of us, was pretty extreme... While the kids were at Grammie and Papa's last week, Steve and I switched the kids' rooms around and painted out the new rooms in fun colours, and got everything all put back together just in time for the kids to come home.

Here's Elise's new room... (formerly the Boys' bedroom)

Tinker Bell hangs from the ceiling just inside the door. This was the last gift my Morfar gave her before he died... we saw him on Christmas Day 2007, and that is the last time we saw him. He died in January 2008. This was Elise's Christmas gift from him. I remember he told my mom that maybe he should have gotten her something that was more for a baby, because she was too young for it at the time. But if he only knew that it was the inspiration for her new room... he picked the perfect gift!

I picked up this picture for a great deal a few months ago, and it has just been waiting for Elise's new room!

Grandma (Steve's mom) even got in on the theme when she got Elise these Tinker Bell pajamas for her birthday last week!

We chose Barely Banana and Certainly Celery for the walls.

These cute curtains are from Auntie Louise (my sister)... They are a perfect match for the wall colours.

The curtains will be properly mounted above the window, but for now they are just hanging on a tension rod (shower curtain rod!! That's how most of my curtains are hung!)

There is nothing on the walls yet, but I have some ideas.... Elise still loves her Little People, and she loves it that there is a bigger space to play on the floor in her new room.

Stay tuned for the boys' room makeover tomorrow!!

Around the house...

I have added a couple more vinyl decor elements pieces to my walls. Over the doorway that leads into our Great Room area, I put up "Welcome."


And in my stamping room, above the window, I finally put up my "Create" definition. That is the very first vinyl product that I bought, and I have only just put it up now. It took me awhile to figure out where to put it in my stamping room, and finally decided on this spot above the window. As long as this is being used for my stamping space, and not a bedroom, I don't plan on putting up curtains or blinds, so that can be my focal point for the window! It is one of the few windows in the house where I don't look out onto another house, so I love leaving it uncovered.


One note about putting up a large vinyl element... it is a good idea to grab a helper to put this up - I did it by myself, but I think it would have gone a lot faster if I had had some help. I had a clear table and as I pulled the backing off, I taped the main piece down every few inches so that when the backing was completely off it wouldn't spring back and fold over on itself. If that happens, there is not much you can do to save it because it is so sticky.

new curtains :)

Just wanted to show you my fun new curtains... they are from Avon, and I bought 2 panels, which was perfect to achieve the ideal puffiness!! They are called balloon curtains, and they have a pretty eyelet pattern. On the backside of them are little plastic rings that allow you to raise the curtain higher (more balloonish) or have it lower... I have raised it 4 rings. These are in our en suite, and I like how they finally finish off the room.

BTW - yes, the curtains are made in China, BUT the towels and artwork are all Canadian!!!!! So I figured that balanced it out, supporting our own country. I did the paintings a few years ago when we desperately needed some art in our bedroom. I searched at IKEA for something, but nothing grabbed my eye, so I bought some canvases, and got busy one afternoon. They add a splash of colour to an otherwise plain bathroom, so I hung them up in the en suite when we moved here a couple years ago.

Decor Elements

I finally got a chance (and the guts!) to put up my new Decor Elements from Stampin' Up! I don't know what I was nervous about... it was so easy! Just follow the directions on the packaging and voila! What a cinch. The only thing is that the kraft Manhattan flowers are not that much darker than my wall colour, and I would have liked a bit more of a contrast... but in real life it looks better, and the chocolate is not so harsh next to it.

Eventually, I will put picture frames on the piano, but it is such a rare thing for the piano to be so empty that I wanted to enjoy it for awhile!!!