New 3 Birds goodies are on their way to me & DOWN come the WALLS! YEY!

    I have received my shipment confirmations from HSN so I should be holding the wonderful new goodies in my little chickadee wings within a few days... Woo hoo!!!!
     We didn't get ALL the walls down last night, but they are about 2/3 complete.  Wesley's soccer practice was replaced by a make up game that was rained out earlier this season, so the work was interrupted a bit, plus I had stopped the demo around 2 pm when I discovered that a previous owner HAD installed some insulation.  I didn't want to remove the entire wall in case Michael wanted to keep it and only paint over it.  This is the only wall that is not covered in that nasty textural material that always reaches out and grabs the skin from your hands as you approach it, so it could have been painted instead of removed if we had wanted. 
     I'm glad we are removing it as planned, because the installations they had done were very poor.  Not only are all the trim pieces barely attached, easily popping off the walls & ceiling with very little effort, but the insulation panels are literally 'scabbed' in.... bits and pieces were used in several places, and even the adhesive they only used in SOME areas of the wall wasn't holding onto the insulation either.  Even the framing (whose pattern doesn't make much sense either) is easily removed!  Michael had anticipated that it would be a bear to remove the nail-gun-driven attachments but he has easily removed them with a crowbar!  YEY for us, as this is making the demo go very quickly and SO VERY easy compared to what it SHOULD have been. 
     I do wish that they would have done a higher quality job in terms of the insulating that they had done though, as that would save us a fair chunk of money if we didn't have to replace it all.  Also, the basement walls are not entirely insulated, only a portion of it, so we have to insulate the remainder as well.  The floor is not insulated at ALL, so between those two situations, that's why I've been freezing down there for the past 8 years.... onward and upward we go.  It can (hopefully) only get better from here lol.
    

Two new ESTATE Collection by 3 Birds products are on HSN.com

More beautiful products are available from 3 Birds on HSN.COM, and are of course, already in my shopping bag lol.  I will patiently wait until next week to see what more they have in store for me.... or us!  The gorgeous stamps are recognizably coordinated with the beautiful papers from the Estate Collection paper packs and are, therefore, headed for my home asap.  More beautiful gems are also coming to join my stash of 5 other bling sets from 3 Birds!  Happy early Mother's Day to me.......

Purging continues in my scrap studio!

    Continuing to purge as part of my Organizing FUNdamentals class through BigPictureClasses, I have purged so much paper.... Yes Dawn,  I purged PAPER... a ton of it in fact... so much that I have emptied a 3 section 4' high paper rack.  Not all at one sitting, but over the past year.  I gave in to the inspiration and emptied the last third or so of it the other day.  I then took a hammer to it, began tearing it apart, hubby finished the demo and carried the scraps outside!  Dakota IMMEDIATELY came down and claimed the empy space!  " MOM!  FINALLY..... an empty spot on  the floor for me to take a nap!"

For my bpc classmates, this is the "nasty popcorn walls' that I've been complaining about...  EVERYTIME you even THINK about reaching for something as it rolls to the back of your table, or you try to move a paper rack to a new space...... ouch.  Less skin on your fingers, knuckles, etc.  OFF IT IS COMING!  We are going to be RIPPING OUT ALL THESE WALLS, reframing, insulating, and putting up new drywall.  YEY FOR ME!!!!!  WOO HOO! 

A new heat source, as we are no longer dependent upon the furnace, raised floors for further insulation from the cold, a bar height island to replace my current 4x8' crop table,... WOW will I be one happy scrapper!

My 1st layout utilizing the NEW 3 BIRDS ESTATE COLLECTION TREASURED LAYOUTS V2

Organizing FUNdaments class from Big Picture Classes (BPC) is great!

  I am in the midst of the sort/organize session of this class, as we are in week 3.  Wendy Smedley and Aly Dosdall have offered this great class to help us to practice methods, make realizations & insights into how WE think and craft, & therefore make OUR spaces more useful & pleasant for US.
  Although I have been purging my studio at least twice a year for the past 3 years or so, there is ALWAYS something to be discovered which we no longer love, have absolutely no use for as we move on to other stages in our children's/grandchildren's lives (ie I no longer really need all that cutesy newborn boy product since Wesley is now 9 years old),  does not fit our current 'style' of scrapbooking, cardmaking or papercrafting (I'm very into shabby chic and layering now), or is simply taking up TOO MUCH SPACE and cluttering our lives, minds & hearts.
  Because this class is offered through BPC, it is a "FOREVER" CLASS.....all the material listings, handouts, VIDEO tutorials, etc are ARCHIVED on their website...you can access it at ANY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT, even on CHRISTMAS EVE as a gift to yourself if you see fit!
  Come on over to www.bigpictureclasses.com to check it out, as well as see all the other wonderful offerings, including FREE CLASSES!

New ESTATE COLLECTION products from 3 Birds!

I spy with my little eyes....SEVERAL NEW ESTATE COLLECTION PRODUCTS ON HSN.COM!!!!! TWEET, TWEET, TWEET YOU'VE WARMED THIS LITTLE BIRDIE'S HEART!

My 1st layouts utilizing the NEW TREASURED LAYOUTS V2 by 3 BIRDS!

     At last!  It has literally taken me all afternoon, on and off, to get these to post!  It was worth it though.  I see my monitor jumping around again, so I may have to save this and come back to edit!

Alright, let's give this another try, shall we??????

     3 Birds Scrapbooking & Paper Crafting kits have been my fave for a couple of years now.  They are continuing to create wonderful kits at great prices!  Since they began the ESTATE COLLECTION series of kits, I can't get enough of them.  I have atleast 2 of each Estate Collection kit! 

     Even though I am not a cardmaker, I have purchased their cardmaking kits in order to utilize the awesome embellishments (many are 3D!) that are included, working them into my scrapbook pages.  I also utilize the cards themselves as journaling blocks (both hidden by using the entire card, or visible journaling blocks by cutting them down), or even as photo and embellishment mats.

     My most recent obsession has been in creating these pages as part of a LARGE gift project.  The pages above are part of my own album, which has grown to 5+" in depth!  The pages themselves are approximately 9x6.5",  CUT BY HAND (I have NEVER liked having to cut by hand, but I want these to fit the album shape and size) in order to fit the same-shaped album covers that I fell in love with (Teresa Collins).  I am making 2 more of this size, as gifts for my 2 nieces who are giving birth to the TWO, YES TWO grandnieces being born within 3 months of each other.  This is a big deal in our family, as we women are outnumbered 2 to 1 by the men!  I am ALSO making several more mini-copies of these albums for the grandmas, etc.  Those albums are also utilizing Teresa Collins album covers, but they are approximately 5.5" wide, allowing me to get 2 PAGES FROM ONE 12" PIECE OF CARDSTOCK/PATTERNED PAPER.  This has saved me a fair amount of money, but even so, I have spent well over $200 on this project so far.  I believe that I will be making 9 albums in all!

    I realize that I may be rambling on a bit in regards to this project, but it is important to me, and an UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY for me, since I am the mother of an 8 year old boy, and prior to having our own son, I created a lot of pages about and for my nephews.

      I have been trying to decide how to go about posting the creation of my pages.  I have hesitated videotaping their creation until I learn how to use the high speed play back ability, & am researching how to put still shots of the pages into a narrated video.  Ultimately, I believe that I will end up posting step-by-step still shots with typed info below each photo, thus allowing me to atleast get some of them posted.

      I am in awe of the amazing number of ultra-talented women (& men) who are creating such wonderful works of art.....yes, paper crafting is an art, as are most things we are capable of doing.....I literally "ooooh" and "aaahhh" over the beautiful, innovative creations that I accidentally find on a nearly daily basis.

     I know that my family appreciates the effort & time I spend on my hobby, and my hubby encourages me to find a way to earn some 'extra' income for my hard work.  I would LOVE that opportunity to 'fall into my lap' as they say, but in the meantime, I am sooo lucky to have had ACCIDENTALLY STUMBLED UPON SCRAPBOOKING while reading a general crafting magazine which I bought immediately after we were engaged.  It has literally been  A GODSEND, helping me through the loss of my job as a Fisheries Management Technician for the state of Michigan, and my continuing struggle with FIBROMYALGIA, as well as trying to be the best mother I can be for our son.

      On that note, I think I will once again try to endure the high humidity and heat of our home (we are dealing with an a/c problem tonight) and make another attemt at sleep. 

       GENTLE FIBRO HUGS TO ALL and goodnight from HUMID NW MICHIGAN!