First Smash Book - Panama Trip

We went to Panama in February, and prior to going, I put together a Smash book to take with, with the idea to add all the memorabilia from our trip to it as we went. I loved the cover of the International Smash book, and had fun altering it with Rub N Buff antique gold stuff, the distress stains from Tim Holtz, and finished off with some FabRips from Studio Calico.

These are just a few of the pages...there are so many in this album, that this post would be huge! I did alter some of the album pages before we went on our trip. I just wanted them to work better with photos from our trip, and since we weren't goint to Italy, or Japan, they didn't work. LOL! Some pages were covered with pattern papers, some were just painted over with distress stains (love these!!) and some were covered with paint using templates, adding washi tape and other items. We love this album ... it is so fun to go back through and look at what we did on our first "international" trip!

Altered book

Recentlyh made an altered book using one of the new lines from Simple Stories "Fabulous". So colorful and feminine. I really like how this book came out. First altered book I've made that I really ended up liking!

More from the April MW Express Kit!!

MemoryWorks Express April Kit

Lots of fun colors and embellishments in this month's kit!! Here's some photos of what I've been having fun creating with it!

Before Photos

Well, I promised before photos of the renovation project, so here goes.
First is the entertainment center that leaves lots to be desired...

The next two show the couch that needs recovering (or something), and the lovely curtain project that never quite got finished! lol

We headed out Saturday to look for something new for the TV and other electronics. We ended up getting a "media chest" a term I'd never heard of. It came with a free storage unit for DVDs and VHS. It won't be delivered until this coming Saturday :o( Was totally looking forward to bringing it home with us, and getting it set up, but oh well. Now maybe we can get all of our VHS videos out of the hall closet and use it for storage for something else! :o) I also found some sheer crushed voile panels to replace the sad green & white checked ones that hand so lonely along side the windows. dh helped me put them up on Sunday, and they totally change the way the room looks! I'll have to try and get some photos when I get home from work tomorrow. The light in the morning totally sucks for picture taking, as you can see from these before shots. The days are getting so short now, there's hardly time for any photo taking once I get off work. Guess the shortest day of the year will be upon us soon!

Tomorrow, I'll share the album I've picked out to use for Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" class! Getting excited to get started on it. I joined her class last year, and it was so much fun!

TTFN!

A Little Progress!

First, a big thank you to all veterans out there. My dad did a stint in the Navy, but not in any war, so I don't think he qualifies as a vet. But since Veterans Day is also his birthday, its always been a special day in our family...

So with it being Veterans Day, I had the day off from work, and did a little shopping for my living room re-do. I didn't find any couch coverings (and thanks for the tip about going for the expensive ones!), but I did find some window sheers that I like, and a rod to hang them from. Probably won't get them up til the weekend when dh & ds can help. I did take my "before" photos yesterday, so will try to post them soon.

Thanks for stopping by my blog everyone!

lame-o!

Not doing so well, so far, now am I?! LOL! I've been reading the class printouts, but that seems to be as far as I get. aarrgh! Got to do better!

I liked today's subject.. documenting a journey. So maybe that will be a good incentive for me.

We've decided to host Thanksgiving at our house this year... that in and of itself is a pretty big statement for us. Our house is fairly small, our dining table is small, and our family is quite large (if everyone comes). So far 4 of the 18 are going out of town, so that leaves us with 14. Still have to get confirmation from about half of that number to get our final number. Sooooooo, along the line of having a big family celebration at our house, I want to get our living room spruced up.

We've never put any nice window coverings on the windows since we moved in 5 years ago, so that needs to get done. We need a new tv console because the cheap-o one we got at WM is slowly falling apart. And I might even go so far as to figure out if coverings for the couch and loveseat might be in the budget. For only being 5 years old, this living room set, has taken a beating, and is starting to look like it. Has anyone ever tried this type of a covering? I see pictures of them, and they look nice, but have never met one up close and personal.

So my first step will be to take some photos of the now, and keep updating as we go along! Should be interesting... I only have the weekends for shopping expeditions, and there aren't too many left before Turkey Day!