First Bike Birthday Party Layout

Hello friends. I am back with a surprise part two of Monday's post - Avaleigh's birthday party.  I scrapped a total of four pages on Avaleigh's second birthday party.  The first two pages where shared on Monday as my Bitten By the Bug 2 birthday themed project.  Today I have two additional pages.  The first page features the Schwinn Roadster Tricycle that "GranDoug" and I gave to Avaleigh as a birthday present.  The second page is Avaleigh and her parents celebrating. 

Let's begin with the Cricut details. I used two cartridges on these pages: The fun double layer font is from the Carousel cartridge, and the tricycle is from B is for Boy.  I made edits to each of the cuts. 1. I removed the open diamond shape from the top layer of the letters.  2. I cut the bottom layer of the bike twice - once in black and again in silver grey.  I then snipped apart the silver layer and assembled to make the bike more closely resemble Avaleigh's bike. 

As you can see in the photo progression above, Avaleigh loved her bike. Her cute cousin was the first to comment on her bike.  When we brought it in, Seeley shouted, "COOL!"

I used the same paper for these two pages as I used on the first two pages.  I also used the cardstock stickers "YOU ARE Sweet" on the last page.

Donut Birthday Party Brunch

Hey there.  Welcome to this week's Bitten By the Bug 2 Birthday Challenge post.  My sweet and talented Design Sister, Marti (who is out on break), chose the theme of this week's challenge - Birthdays.  This worked great for me as I had photos from Avaleigh's second birthday party in January to scrap.

Avaleigh's mommy did a fabulous job planning Avaleigh's birthday party. Avaleigh's favorite thing is Donuts! So how fitting was it that she had a donut themed birthday party brunch?  There were glazed donuts, frosted donuts, jelly filled donuts, and donut holes!  Of course there were other yummy brunch foods, but lots and lots of donuts!

As luck would have it I had the perfect Cricut cuts and the perfect paper to scrap Avaleigh's party photos!  I used two cartridges, Love You a Latte and Cricut Alphabet for the Cricut cuts.  There are other donut cuts on different Cricut cartridges, but I really liked the sprinkled donuts on the Love You a Latte cartridge.  Avaleigh's favorite donut is the frosted with sprinkles donut. So perfect.  I also had the perfect paper for this layou. It has donuts printed on one side, and ice cream cones on the other side. 

I  used the very basic Cricut Alphabet cartridge for the title cut.  I like the double layer title - the shadow is always a nice touch.  There was so much else going on with the layout that I wanted a non-complicated font.

Brunch and a Break from Life

Hello friends.  I do not have a Bitten By the Bug 2 post to share with you today, just a little life story.  As most of you know, we are the full time care providers for my mother, who has Alzheimer's.  My mother's memory fades more and more each week, and sometimes that can be a challenge.
This last week we had two particularly difficult days. I am not sure what causes the bad days, if indeed there is a cause.  I just know that some days mom is less cooperative, more stubborn, and/or less aware of reality, all of which create a perfect storm of difficulty.  

After the two difficult days, I decided that Doug and I needed a day away, without my mom, and without the constant awareness of where she is and what she is doing.   We decided to have an early, private, Valentine's date

Our oldest son and his precious wife came over to "Granny sit" for us on Sunday.  Doug and I went to the historic Willcox Inn and enjoyed their fabulous Sunday Brunch.  I had to laugh because I was completely finished with my food before I remembered to take a photo of my plate.  I had Eggs Benedict with shared side dishes of hash potatoes and bacon.  Doug had the Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Waffles, with Almonds, Mascarpone, Bananas, and syrup, with our shared side dishes.  I had the (spicy) Blood Marys and Doug had the Wheat Stout.

The piano player was live in the lobby.  We dinned on an antique backgammon game table sitting in comfy high backed chairs.  And we relaxed.  And talked.  And breathed.  It was an ideal getaway.  

My empty plate, ha.  Followed by an action shot of Doug finishing his brunch.

We ran into two dear friends at the Willcox, as well as a group of like minded people with whom to discuss politics.  And we just enjoyed our time alone. It was a perfect adult way to destress.   

The other stress reliever in our lives, our grandchildren, continue to delight us.  Avaleigh had her first Daddy-Daughter dance last week.  He father's school had a Daddy-Daughter dance, and Avaleigh went with John.  She was so cute, and so excited.  She had no idea what to expect, but that did not stop her from excitedly talking about it on Friday before the dance!!

My sweet little grandson, Jude, is growing and learning so much.  He is now six months old.  Jude is very affectionate and has the most charming smile. He is trying to crawl, but is currently on scooting around.  In this photo he is wearing his, "Heyyy me*" shirt.  Down below it says *Jude.  Yes, a Beatles reference.

Even though I took a day off and did not join the weekly Bitten By the Bug 2 Cricut challenge, I hope that you will go by the BBTB2 blog and view the design team's projects.  I know they would love to have you join in this week's Red and White challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Jude's New Apex Designed SVG Shirt

Hello friends!  How stinkin' cute is this little Superhero shirt I made for my grandson, Jude?  I used heat transfer material (aka iron-on vinyl) and one of the Superhero Baby Boy designs from Apex Designs.

Are you familiar with the Apex site? I have used other of their designs and really like them.  I thought this baby boy Superhero set was perfect for Jude. Apex has two design specialties, SVG files and Embroidery Machine files.  I have purchased some of each, but find myself intimidated by my embroidery machine.  (Soon, my friend the embroidery machine, soon, you and I will have a date to become better acquainted).

I cut the Captain America type character at 4.3 inches tall to fit the chest of this size 12 months infant shirt.  I added the phrase Little Hero under the figure.  Layering the heat transfer material and ironing one layer at a time worked wonderfully.  Jude's little shirt is going to look adorable on him in no time (because he is growing like a healthy little weed)!

For more information on Apex Designs and their collection of SVG files and embroidery files, visit the site HERE.  I am truly enjoying working with their files and I know you will love them too!!

Thank you for dropping by today.  I will be back soon with another project to share!!

Hey Jude! Welcome to the Family

Hello friends!  I would like to introduce my new grandson, Jude Declan.  Jude was born just after noon on the 27th, weighing in at eight pounds, three ounces.  He is a little sweetie.

I stayed with Avaleigh at her house while mommy and papa went to the hospital.  After her nap, Granny, Avaleigh, and I went to the hospital for Avaleigh to meet her baby brother.  We think she approved, though she did swipe Jude's teddy bear!!

Avaleigh was delighted to see her mommy too. Bethany could hear Avaleigh walking down the hallway at the hospital.... "Mommy!  Mommy!"

I love this little family and am so pleased to welcome my new grandson.

One Last Kitchen Project

Hello friends.  I am back today with one last kitchen update project:  My mini coffee nook area.  The builder left what I have always thought of as a "dead zone" at the end of one wall of kitchen cabinets.  From ceiling to floor there was a twenty-two inch wide, nine feet tall, are of underutilized space (16 sq feet of dead wall area)!  We had previously add a kitchen island on wheels to the area, which is great for serving or for additional counter/prep area.  That still left six feet by twenty-two inches of unused space.  

While scrolling through Pinterest (you know one of the three on-line time killers in our lives, Pinterest, Facebook, and blogs - like mine!), I found a photo where shelves had been added to an area using the shelving brackets pictured above and below.  They are by Ikea, but available through Amazon. I loved the almost floating shelf look.  I like the metal trim at the end of the wood shelves, without clunky shelf supports.  I had planned to install three shelves in the kitchen so I ordered three sets of supports.

The brackets hold shelves that are one inch deep x seven and  a half inches wide.  Through further reading I found out that one inch lumber is in fact NOT one inch thick, but three-quarters of an inch thick and I would have a 1/4 inch empty area in my bracket if I used standard 1 inch thick lumber.  I really wanted something that filled the bracket, but did not cost an arm or a leg.  Then I found an article that introduced me to Stair Treads.  Stair Treads are a true one inch thick piece of lumber made for building stairs.  They measure 1 x 11.25 x 48,  perfect.  I ordered two Stair Treads from Lowe's for $9.98 each.  Doug used his table saw and cut half of lumber to 7.5 x 22 for me, removing the rounded front edge. He cut the remaining pieces at 7.5 x 26. My total cost per shelf is $5.00.

I used wood stain from my home project supplies stash and stained the shelves to be very rustic looking.  I did not a high gloss look, but something more farmhouse.  

I purchased a small can of Chalkboard paint and painted a portion of my dead zone.  I rounded the top, which had to be painted twice due to mom's helpful nudge mid-stroke!  

Using my Cricut and two cartridges, Word Collage and one other that I did not record the name of (!), I cut the white vinyl elements from the Coffee cut on Word Collage.  I used the Select Contour feature and removed part of the collage, keeping on the areas I planned to use.   I used transfer tape to move the cuts from the mat to the wall.    This was a two day project, only because we had over night company after the paint and shelves were up, but before I had a chance to cut the vinyl.  Also, I am still waiting for the tall thin pitcher I order from Magnolia Market (Chip and Joanna Gaines on line store) to arrive.  It will sit on the top shelf under the C in coffee.

In the end I only used two of the shelves in the kitchen.  I ordered one more set of brackets and added the two remaining larger shelves over the toilet in the Master Bathroom water closet. The water closet needed some type of storage area and the longer shelves are perfect.  So, lucky for me, my final kitchen project (for a while) became a bathroom update too.  Kind of a home improvement "twofer" - two for one!

Thanks for stopping by for another in the series of "how I make my husband crazy" home update projects.  I do have one more diy project planned, then I have promised to take it easy on the house for a while!!

Updating the Kitchen

Hello friends!  Today I am going to tell you about a project I have been working on for the few weeks.  I have been updating the look of our kitchen.  It all started when I took a good look at my window treatments and realized I was truly tired of them.  They worked perfectly for the mix of chef/fruit themed decor I had going eight years ago.  But alas, I am more than sick of that look.

I should have taken BEFORE photos, but the photo below is the only one I could find.  Sorry.  Just lots of white and lots of fall-ish colors. 

The real genesis of the re-do was when I entered a contest (which I did not win) for a kitchen remodeling courtesy of HGTV and LG appliances.  I had to create a Pinterest board of the kitchen I would like.  While trying for something original, I went with a French Country Glam look.  It was truly the blues, grays, and French fabrics that attracted me.  

Even though I did not win the contest, nor did I expect to, I had a backup plan - redo the parts of my kitchen that bothered me the most.  I decided to focus on the window treatments, the cabinet colors, the lighting, and the decor details.  

Mid-February - I sat down and made my plan for updating the kitchen.  I found a pattern for my new window treatment at Pate-Meadow.com.  I have used their patterns before and I like many of their designs. I ordered the pattern and the interlining (not interfacing, but a thicker lining for window treatments).

I purchased the face, lining, and piping fabrics this week also.  I took FOREVER selecting fabric.

Over the weekend, after all of my pattern and fabrics arrived, I spent several hours editing the pattern to make it fit the print repeat on my face fabric.  I removed an inch from the length and 1.75 inches from each of the window treatment sections.  And then I moved on to cutting the fabric sections and sewing the panels together before cutting the pattern (the actual pattern single piece is about 6 feet long and I will need to repeat it 3-4 times for my full bay window). Yikes.

It was a lot of work, but I LOVE the new window treatments:

**I am going to confess to being intimidated by the size of this pattern.  The overall magnitude of the project had caused me to leave it on the dining room table for three weeks before the sewing commenced.

Late February - I spent time searching for the best (read least expensive) place to buy glass shelves.  I want to add an indoor herb garden to the bay window.  My inspiration for this came from two Pinterest images I found weeks ago.

I scored a total win at a local glass company.  All three glass shelves, with finished front edge, cut to size with 3/8 inch glass for strength, will cost around $25.  Yay!  

I planted my herb seeds and as you can see in the photos below, my baby herbs are growing!!!

Canisters - I purchased new canister for to accent the new kitchen design.  I wanted something to go with the low key French-ish look and to compliment the new colors.  You may have seen the post I did transforming the canisters HERE.  I added a fleur de lis border and French names to the canisters in vinyl.  I think they look much more elegant with the border.

March 7 - I found the light fixtures I want to use to replace the yucky builder's basic long, tubular, white kitchen light fixture and the so-so breakfast nook light.  I have wanted to replace that ceiling hugging double florescent tube, long white light for soooo long.  

I ordered matching lights for the kitchen and breakfast nook, with the kitchen fixture being larger.  I also ordered blue chandelier lamp shades.

Our electrician installed the lights in the kitchen as well as move two others in the house.   Our electrician is Chris Powell, owner of Powell Plumbing and Electrical, LLC in Aiken, SC.  I cannot say enough about how great Chris and his associate were.  They even let me photograph them for the blog!!  If you live in the area and need an electrician, DO contact me and I will pass along Chris' contact information.

While waiting for Spring Break to arrive so that I could complete the painting without Avaleigh as a helper (the child has far too many hands for me to paint with her in the house), I decided to cover my white front dishwasher and oven with faux stainless film.  We plan to update our dishwasher in the not too distant future and will go with a stainless front, but in the meantime I thought the white fronts would really stand out in the kitchen.  With careful measuring and cutting, the film worked well.

I honestly think the faux finish looks pretty good on the stove and dishwasher.

Again, while awaiting the arrival of Spring Break, I began updating the wall and counter decor.  I was so tired of the colors in my kitchen!!  I have always liked blue and as luck would have, I also collect various china patterns.  I went through my stash of blue china and found some old bread plates and Spode Garden plates that I decided to use in the kitchen.  In fact the only new purchase for wall decor is the iron piece in the photo above.  Everything else came out of my dish stash.

Spring Break - Finally, finally, finally (!) Spring Break arrived and with it, the painting began!!  First I started to dis-assemble the kitchen and prepare for painting. 

We had take out four days in a row as the painting project was going on!  But I think the end result was well worth the effort!  I painted the lower cabinets only, Winter Fog.  This was another of the Rust-Oleum kits.  This kit was made especially for kitchen cabinet.  NO SANDING required.  

A final word about the island in my kitchen.  The stainless topped island is on wheels and includes a flip up bar on the backside.  It is great for serving when we have a party and the rest of the time it is home to several large counter top appliances.  Previously it too was white.  When I finished painting the cabinets, I took the leftover gray paint and added some of the blue from the buffet I painted a few weeks ago.  I made a gray-blue color and used that to paint the island.  I positioned it at the end of the cabinets so to better show the color for the photos.

The final update in the kitchen is the new runner on the floor.  I feel that the runner pulls the blues and grays together.  It brings harmony to the entire area.

Thanks for stopping by and viewing my kitchen update.  I will be back soon with a couple of new paper crafting projects!