Home Renovation: Kitchen Reveal

Hey y'all! Awhile back I shared my bathroom renovation pictures. For those of you who are new to my blog, Andrew and I renovated my grandparents' house, and there was a lot of work involved. Today I'm going to share the kitchen photos!

The kitchen had by far the most drastic change out of any other room in the house. It showed years of loving use by my grandmother, but it also showed what happens when a house sits unused for over a year. It needed more than a little TLC, and that's exactly what it got. A lot of love and pride went into redoing this kitchen. Let me tell you a little about my MawMaw. She cooked lunch for the family every Sunday, and she cooked tons of food. By family, I mean all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. The table was always full of everyone's favorites because she always made sure that everyone had something they liked to eat. As I grew older and began to see how other families are, I realized how amazing my family really was because not everybody had that time together like we did. Not everybody got along the way we did. You see, not everbody was that blessed.  I cherish those times now.

There's something I regret about those times, though. Out of all the time I spent in that kitchen, I never really watched MawMaw cook....I mean really watched her close enough to learn something, and I wish I had. I have a box full of her cookbooks here. Some of them are older than I am, and some are filled with her writing. I gave a few of my favorites a special place in my china cabinet, right along with my Mema's china.

I'll be honest. I haven't the slightest clue what to do when it comes to cooking. I can barely boil an egg. I want so much to learn to cook, and thanks to a couple of my favorite recipe blogs, like Southern Plate and Pioneer Woman, I seem to be doing okay, but it's not the same. My favorite thing that MawMaw cooked was her Chicken Pot Pie. Right after we got married, my Aunt Mary told me how MawMaw always made it. It was one of the first things I cooked for Andrew and I for dinner. I was really scared to make it! I was afraid it would turn out awful and that I would be so disappointed that I messed up my MawMaw's Chicken Pot Pie. Well, it turned out great. It wasn't just like hers, but it was pretty good! Now I have a recipe that I can cook, and it's one that has so many memories with it, just like my kitchen does.  It's important for me to learn to cook because I've got mighty big shoes to fill. :)

So...here's the kitchen reveal!

Before

After

I had to get a couple more easels for the china cabinet, and I've since added the other plates on the right side. The china is from my other wonderful grandmother, my Mema! :)



I never really knew what my "style" was, but the color scheme was inspired by all of the black and red fleur-de-lis decor I found in Bed Bath and Beyond when we were doing our registry. I saw so many things I liked, so we just decided to go with that theme. The furniture is from Ashley Furniture Homestore, and the appliances (except the refrigerator...that was MawMaw's, and it was still in good shape), cabinets and countertops are all from Lowe's. I picked up decor pieces at Hobby Lobby, Kirkland's, and Bed Bath and Beyond. The curtains were made by my Aunt Pam, and my Mema helped me pick out the toile fabric at Hancocks. I absolutely love this kitchen!! I look forward to making new family memories here!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'll be posting the other rooms soon!

Graduation Gift Card Holders

Hey y'all! Last night my baby brother, Aaron, graduated from high school! It's hard to believe he's all grown up. Oh, and today was my last day of school. I'm looking forward to a craft-filled summer! :)

I knew of several graduates this year, so I used Grad Cap by Meljen's Designs to whip up a couple of gift card holders...except I used them for money. Every graduate likes cash, right?

Oh, and I just can't tell y'all enough how much I LOVE making gift card holders. They are so easy and fun to make. I think I'm gonna make some to put in my Etsy shop this summer! Speaking of that, I just added a few new cards, so check it out!

For Aaron's card, I used this template by Kristina Werner. I colored the image with Copic markers and cut it out with Circle Nestabilities. I embossed the maroon background with the Cuttlebug Polka Dots embossing folder. The striped paper is by Black Market Paper Society. I added the "2011" - a sticker by SRM Stickers and finished it off with some Twinkles...not many because I didn't think Aaron would want any frilly ribbons or anything. I'm sure this card is in the trash by now anyways...lol! :)

This next gift card holder was for my cousin who graduated from my alma mater, The University of Southern Mississippi. I knew I could get away with frillies on hers! I used a different tutorial. I actually think this gift card tutorial by Laurie Schmidlin was even easier than the first one! I used some Making Memories patterned papers and added a coordinating ribbon and some Twinkles to this card. I used my Fiskars Apron Lace border punch on the inside.

There are sooo many possibilities with these gift card holders, but as you can see, I kept them pretty simple. I did customize them with the school colors, though. Check out those tutorials and give 'em a try!

Congrats to the Class of 2011! Live your dreams!

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

Card One Supplies:
Cardstock: black, maroon (Papertrey Ink), white (Georgia Pacific)
Patterned Paper: Black Market Paper Society
Stamps: Grad Cap digi by Meljen's Designs
Ink: Copic markers
Embellishments: Tiny Twinkles, SRM Stickers, foam tape
Tools: Cuttlebug, Polka Dots embossing folder, Classic Circle Nestabilities

Card Two Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Georgia Pacific
Patterned Paper: Making Memories
Stamps: Grad Cap digi by Meljen's Designs, sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages by Papertrey Ink
Ink: Copic markers, Memento Tuxedo Black 
Embellishments: Tiny Twinkles, ribbon, Yellow Stickles, foam tape
Tools: Cuttlebug, Classic Circle Nestabilities, Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

{Meljen's Designs} American Angel

Hellooo!! It's time for another new release at Meljen's Designs! Melissa has some adorable patriotic digis for us this week, so be sure to check them out! This week's challenge is a sketch challenge, and Dianna drew up an awesome sketch. I'm so grateful to people who can do sketches. I'm awful at creating them, but I sure do like to follow them! :)

I chose to use "American Angel" on my card. Isn't she a cutie?! This image seemed so "homespun" to me, so I knew it would go perfect with the Old Glory paper collection by We R Memory Keepers. I colored the image with Copic markers and embellished it with my clear Spica glitter pen, some red Stickles, a little Smooch on the wings, and some Tiny Twinkles. The sentiment is from It's a Banner Day 2 by Taylored Expressions, and I cut out the sentiment banner with the coordinating die. I stitched around all of my edges and finished the card off with some ric-rac and a bow.

Check out the Meljen's Designs blog to see the design team inspiration, the new digis, and the challenge details.

Thanks for stopping by!! :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: Prism, Choice Buttercream
Patterned Paper: Old Glory by We R Memory Keepers 
Stamps: American Angel by Meljen's Designs, It's a Banner Day 2 by Taylored Expressions
Ink: Copic markers, Memento Tuxedo Black
Embellishments: Stickles, Smooch, Tiny Twinkles, clear Spica glitter pen, ribbon
Tools: It's A Banner Day coordinating die (Taylored Expressions), Classic Circle Nestabilities, Scallop Circle Nestabilities, sewing machine

TE Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Hey y'all! I love participating in the montly Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past blog hops, but I haven't been able to the past few months due to wedding planning and all of that. So, I am super excited to be participating again this month! :)

This month's theme is to make a masculine card, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Some of you may think this is a Father's Day card, but it's not. My sweet Daddy spent so much of his time over the past few months here at the house helping us remodel everything. We're so thankful to him for all of his time, so I made a little thank you card for him. We slipped a restaurant gift card inside so he can take my Mama out to dinner.

I thought the toolbelt image was the perfect image to use from the Boys Will be Boys stamp set! I stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored it with Copic markers. I stamped the sentiment with the same ink and cut it out with Circle Nestabilities. Both the image and sentiment panels are popped up with foam tape. I paired this image with the Little Boy paper collection from Echo Park. I just love those bright, primary colors! I embossed the Kraft background with the Diamond Plate embossing folder and added a few shiny silver brads to finish it off. This layout is the May Sketch for You to Try.

Be sure to hop around and see all of the other awesome cards! Your next stop is Wanda's blog.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink), white (Georgia Pacific)
Patterned Paper: Little Boy by Echo Park
Stamps: Boys Will be Boys by Taylored Expressions
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Copic markers
Embellishments: silver brads (The Paper Studio)
Tools: Classic Circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Diamond Plate embossing folder

Our Wedding

As promised, I'm finally sharing our wedding photos! Andrew and I had a beautiful wedding on April 18 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was so nice to not have to worry about anything. The chapel did everything for us. All I had to do was get my hair and makeup done and show up and put my dress on. The weather was beautiful that day, and everything was just perfect. We were so thankful that some of our family members were able to be there with us as well. That just made the day even more special. I thought the best way to share photos of the wedding would be with this slideshow. There were so many I wanted to share, so I hope you enjoy the show! :)

This free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Here are some more pictures from our honeymoon!



Thanks for stopping by! :)

Wedding Shower

Hey y'all! I know I promised wedding pictures, but before I could get to those, I thought I would show some pictures from our household shower that was held by our church friends and family. We had such a wonderful shower and were extremely blessed. We received so many great and useful things!

First, check out this cake! This was made by our friend, Mrs. Bonnie. She made this using BasicGrey papers that she scanned and printed on edible paper. Awesome! It was so beautiful and delicious as well.

Here's me and my Mama!

Aunt Pam, Andrew's mom, Me, Mama, Aunt Net, and Mema

Aunt Melonie, Aunt Mary, Me, Aunt Debbie, Mama, and Aunt Belinda

Aunt Pam and Mema made us this gorgeous quilt featuring scriptures from 1 Corinthians 13...the love chapter. Beautiful!

I am not going to post the gift pictures because for one, I'm making a funny face in most of them, and secondly, I won't bore you with all of that. However, I just had to post this one. I love the expression on my face here. My Mema made me a bunch of handmade potholders, and she knows I love cupcakes. This one was the cutest little cupcake birdhouse, complete with a little bird perched on top. Too cute!



Overall, it was such a great time, and we are so thankful to all of the amazing people who came and supported us. We are so blessed to have all of them in our lives!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hey y'all! Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers out there! I know that I am especially thankful for the mother, grandmothers, and aunts that God put in my life. Each one is a blessing.

I am getting back into the card-making groove, so I whipped up a couple of cards for the occasion.

This first card uses the Daisy Pitcher image by Meljen's Designs. I colored it with Copic markers and went around my image panel with White Opal Liquid Pearls. This is a technique that I'm trying to learn, but it's hard getting my dots to come out evenly. It takes a patient hand! I did some embossing with the Victoria Cuttlebug folder and finished it off with some miniature roses. The papers are from The Girl's Paperie Kitch collection, which were in a recent Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kit. This is an older Sweet Stop Sketch.

For this next card I went to one of my favorite sets - Discover Your Wings by Taylored Expressions. I reach for this set all the time because of it's versatility. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black and cut out a portion of it with Classic Oval Nestabilities. While the image was still in the die, I sponged Memento Rose Bud onto it. I layered on the pink panel, which was cut out with Scallop Oval Nestabilities and used the Liquid Pearls technique again. The background paper is from the "Be Mine" collection by Echo Park - one of my favorites! I cut out the scallops with the MFT Jumbo Scallop Dienamics. The sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages by Papertrey Ink, and I added a Papertrey Ink ribbon, button, and some Tiny Twinkles to finish it up. I used Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #137 for the layout.

I'm usually pretty hard on myself, but I just *love* how this card turned out. This one was for my grandmother, and I tend to spend a little extra time on her cards.  These colorful patterned papers from the Crate Paper "Restoration" collection are so fun! I followed an older Sweet Sunday Sketch for the layout. All of the elements are from an older Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kit. I especially love the doily transparency! I stitched around all of the edges until I ran out of thead...lol! I stamped the verse from Our Daily Bread Designs with Memento Rich Cocoa and then used Memento Pear Tart to stamp a butterfly from Sweet n Sassy Stamps in the background. I love that little extra something that the butterfly added to the card.

That's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Mother's Day cards, and I hope you have a wonderful day with your families! :)

"Daisy Pitcher" Card Supplies:
Cardstock: colored (Bazzill), white (Georgia Pacific)
Patterned Paper: The Girl's Paperie - Kitch
Stamps: Daisy Pitcher by Meljen's Designs
Ink: Copic markers
Embellishments: White Opal Liquid Pearls, miniature roses
Tools: Classic Oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Victoria embossing folder

"Mother" Card Supplies:
Cardstock: black, pink (Papertrey Ink), white (Georgia Pacific) 
Patterned Paper: Be Mine by Echo Park
Stamps: Discover Your Wings by Taylored Expressions, sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages by Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Rose Bud
Embellishments: ribbon (Papertrey Ink), button, white thread, Tiny Twinkles, White Opal Liquid Pearls
Tools: Classic Oval Nestabilities, Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Tag Trio Nestabilities, Jumbo Scallop Die (My Favorite Things)

"A Woman Who Fears the Lord" Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill, Choice Buttercream
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper Restoration
Stamps: Scripture Collection 4 by Our Daily Bread Designs, New Creature by Sweet n Sassy Stamps
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Memento Pear Tart
Embellishments: ribbon, decorative brads, doily transparency (Maya Road)
Tools: Classic Classic Rectangle Nestabilities, sewing machine

Meljen's Designs Challenge #57

Hey y’all!! Have you been wondering where I’ve been? It has been a month since I last posted to my blog, and I think this is the longest I have ever neglected both my blog and paper-crafting! I have missed both, and I’m so glad to be back blogging and crafting! I’ve been so busy with the wedding and moving into our home. Andrew and I had a wonderful wedding on April 18 in Gatlinburg, TN, and we’re now getting settled in at home. As things are starting to get back to normal, I’m finding time for card-making again, and I’m excited to share my card for today’s Meljen’s Designs challenge with you!!


This week’s challenge is to make a business-sized card, and as always, there is a fabulous new set of digi stamps this week, so be sure to check those out!

Since I’m a teacher, I went right for this little owl cutie – Study Owl. I plan on giving this card to a friend of mine at school who is a Science teacher, so I used my Copic multi-liner to write “Science” on the textbook. She is also the basketball coach, and I love how this background paper mimics the pattern of a basketball! I didn’t even realize that until after I made the card. It just worked out perfect!

I colored my image with Copic markers and cut it out with Circle Nestabilities, which I layered on a circle cut out with Scallop Circle Nestabilities. I stamped “You’re an A+ in my books from “Make the Grade” by Taylored Expressions in Memento Tuxedo Black and cut it out with Tag Trio Nestabilities. I added a red ribbon and three white brads to finish it off.

Be sure to hop over to the Meljen’s Designs blog to check out the challenge details, see more inspiration from the design team, and see the new digis!

Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll be posting wedding photos soon!

Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Kraft, white (Georgia Pacific)
Patterned Paper: solids (American Crafts), stripe (October Afternoon)
Stamps: Study Owl by Meljen's Designs, sentiment from Make the Grade by Taylored Expressions
Ink: Copic markers, Copic multi-linerMemento Tuxedo Black
Embellishments: brads (The Paper Studio), ribbon(Offray)
Tools: Classic Circle Nestabilities, Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Tag Trio Nestabilities, sewing machine