The Big Renovation… Before Pics

The house is empty and we are ready, ready, ready to get this renovation started. Anyone who has ever gone through a renovation will tell you to be patient, but then admit that patience goes out the door with the demoed kitchen.
So while we’re waiting I’ll share the before pictures. There are a lot so “be patient”.

This is the front. We’re getting new siding, new windows, new roof and a new covered front porch.

And the back. The kitchen is moving to this room and a new great room will be built to the right. Above it all will be my new bedroom and bathroom complete with air jet tub. (That tub is important I tell ya!)

The chalk in the grass? That’s my new extended deck.

This is the front living room. I fell in love with this room when we looked at the house.

Pay no attention to the dust line under the piano. Have you ever tried to move a piano to dust under it?

Besides a new window, refinished floor and fresh paint, this room isn’t changing much. Although I’m not a fan of that gold fireplace surround so I may have to change that.

Next room on the tour is the future playroom. Pre-renovation it was mine and Nate’s bedroom. Those built ins were serving as my dresser and we hope they will be staying to help organize the kids toys. They may see some altering to accommodate the HVAC and plumbing gaining access upstairs.

This window is becoming a double French pocket door into the new great room.

In the Summer of 2011, Nate and I renovated our upstairs bathroom, but this beauty looks to be original and it’s getting a full gut job. I know you will fall in love with the shade of blue and want it for your own home but I’m sorry to say that it was a $5 mistake paint at HomeDepot 10 years ago. You’ll have to find your own paint mistake to love for 10 years.

I say ‘gut job’ but I’m saving that mirror.

That window will not be there anymore, unless we want to leave it for a view into the new great room.

Wow, I am a brave woman for posting pictures of that bathroom.

Let’s move on, shall we? Should I share the lovely kitchen or future craft room? You’ve already seen a glimpse into the craft room from the living room so why not head there.

Introducing my new craft room/home office. (The home office slash helps me justify having a whole ‘playroom’ to myself.) This doorway will be a french door.


The detail molding will be going bye-bye and I have to decide on a fun new color.

I purchased this old library desk from a library in Massachusetts that was undergoing a renovation of its own. I’d love to find an old wood office chair to go with it so keep an eye out for one, please.  And this window is getting double the size.

Ahh… the beautiful kitchen of mine. Grrr… let’s just imagine more pretty stuff in my craft room before we move on, shall we?

This wall is getting double pocket french doors (just like the playroom). We are also hoping to refinish all the hardwood floors and match the new floors to these.
Well, I’ve held off long enough. Here is the room in my house where we store and prepare food. It is getting gutted and turned into the dining room.

Here’s a peek into my mudroom. We’re getting a new external french door and the opening from the mudroom into the dining room is getting a bit bigger.

Somebody give me a sledgehammer!

This wall will be opening up into my new kitchen.

Welcome to my new kitchen! This slider is being closed off in this room and a window will go above the sink.

Imagine a wall of white, mission style cabinets. The 36″ pantry will be in the corner on the right.

This will be opened up to the dining room. The opening to the current mud room will be closed off.

Here’s another view… the window opening will become a walkway into the dining room and the mudroom will be closed off from the kitchen. That sounds funny… why would we want the mudroom cut off from the kitchen? But trust me, it makes the most sense for this space.

More chalk lines. This time we were measuring out the island. We changed the design and went with a more rectangular island.  You are now looking into what will be my new great room. Sliding door out onto the deck. Soothing yellow color. Large TV on the far wall. Hardwood floor. Can’t wait to get the framing started so I can measure for my new couches!

This is just the downstairs. I have more pre-renovation pictures of the upstairs that I will most next time.

Some work has started. Concrete has been poured outside, I have a new electrical panel and a shiny new oil tank. Stuff that you need, but it isn’t glamorous.

I’m ready for the fun stuff to begin!

My projects are on the LYB blog!

Yeah!  This is a very exciting day for me.  Two projects that I created for Little Yellow Bicycle as part of their Cycling Team are up on their blog today.

I have always been a fan of LYB, from the beautiful papers to the talented people who work there.  It’s a dream of mine to work at LYB (they are so close to me in Bloomfield, CT) and I was thrilled to be on the Cycling Team for their Makin’ the Grade collection.

Here’s just a sneak peek so head over to their blog and leave me some love, please.

I’m on the LYB Cycling Team!

I have some very exciting news to share.  I’m on the Cycling Team for Little Yellow Bicycle‘s Makin’ the Grade Collection!  It has been a dream of mine to be on their cycling team and I’m just over-the-moon excited!!!

Some time in September, a project I create with LYB’s Makin’ the Grade will be shared on the LYB blog.  You can be sure that I’ll post all over so you won’t miss it.

In the meantime, head over to their blog and show some love.  http://littleyellowbicycle.typepad.com/  And if you haven’t already, give them a ‘Like’ on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/LittleYellowBicycle

This news has made my day!  I hope you have a Great day, too!

“I Will” Use Little Yellow Bicycle and Fiskars’ Jenni Bowlin Punches Together

I am a tool gal and I especially love my punches.  I fell in love with Fiskars limited edition Jenni Bowlin punches the moment I saw their baby blue color; then I took a closer look at the designs and I haven’t put them down.  Seriously, the ‘Tab’ shape has been on every layout I’ve created since I opened the package, starting with this one.

My loving hubby took us to Cape Cod in February to celebrate my 1 year “Healthy Life Anniversary”.  The weather was surprisingly beautiful for February and I took tons of pics.  This ‘artsy’ one of our shadows was a favorite.  The picture along with the meaning behind our weekend getaway and lyrics from the Beatles “I Will” song,  reminded me that yes, things were hard, but now we can celebrate and take Flight above it all.

I covered the two flight birds with glossy accents and they really seem to fly off the page!  I added some hand-stitching to match the beautiful detail on Little Yellow Bicycle’s ‘Saturdays‘ collection.  See the Tab punch on the photo?  I’ve added a sticker to it; and in the lower right I have a cluster of embellishments that includes Grandma’s Doily.

This 2nd layout is a collection of some favorite pics from our Cape Cod vacation last summer.  (In case you haven’t guessed, Cape Cod is my most favorite place!)  I treated each 3.5″ square as a mini scrapbook, which allowed me to use lots of these fun punches.  Using the same paper collection (LYB’s ‘Saturdays’) and black ‘n white photos really helps to unify the design.

The most fun was using the Ticket Please punch on both sides of the paper.  (Stay tuned, I’ll be adding a ‘How To’ post about it this week.  )  I added 2 pop-dots and some alpha stickers to really make it stand out, or up!  My punches got quite the work out on this layout.

I hope you feel inspired to use some of your own punches on your creations.

Paper Crimper and faux Chevron

I am a tool girl.  I love playing with my paper tools and figuring out different ways to use them beyond the package directions.  And I really love it when I can use my tools to make something that is a current trend, like chevron stripes.

To make these chevron stripes, I cut six 3/4″ wide pieces of paper that were about 6″ long.  Then I put them through my paper crimper on a diagonal.  Three strips went in starting on the right, and 3 went in on the left so that the directions of the stripes were alternating.  I glued the stripes on to a scrap of paper being sure to alternate the direction of the diagonals.  As a final touch, I lightly sanded the crimped ridges to show the detail of my faux chevron stripes.

I really like how this turned out and am sure I will try it again on future projects.  How about you?  Will you give it a try?

(All papers and embellishments are from Little Yellow Bicycle’s Paradise collection.)

Hunger Games Inspired Earrings

After I made the paper bead necklace (see post below), it was like I was bitten by a bug. Thankfully, not a tracker jacker!  Just more of a garden variety obsession bug.  I hadn’t played with my jewelry tools in quite a while, and since they were already out… I decided to make a pair of Hunger Games inspired earrings.

There were a few rejects because the Fiskars ‘Flight‘ punch seemed too big for my small beads and I almost gave up.  I kept wondering how could I make the mockingjay smaller?  Then I remembered Shrinky Dinks!!!  That’s when it started to get real FUN!

I punched 2 mockingjays out of shrink film and used my heat gun to shrink them.  Then I covered the back side in gold embossing powder and set a silver ring in the embossing powder while it was still wet.  I added more embossing powder and heat to help set the mockingjay.  Be careful not to add too much or it will flow into all the open spaces and you won’t see the detail in your mockingjay (ask me how I know THAT!).

The rest is just personal taste.  I wanted a few small beads in colors to represent the Arena (green), District 12 (black) and Katniss (orange).  I love how they turned out and you can bet I’ll be wearing them when I see the movie this weekend!  And who knows, maybe there will be a Hunger Games inspired bracelet next?

Don’t leave yet!  I haven’t announced the winner of the Fiskars Flight punch from the post below.

Effie Trinket has reached into the glass fishbowl and come out with the name… Amy Jones March 19, 2012 at 5:22 pm.  Congratulations, Amy.  I guess the odds were ‘ever in your favor.’

Hunger Games Inspired Paper Bead Necklace

Are you excited to see “The Hunger Games” movie this weekend?  I am!  So excited that when Lead Fiskateer Angela Daniels asked if I wanted to make a ‘Hunger Games’ inspired project, I knew exactly what I wanted to make before I could respond “Yes!”

These are paper beads and honestly, they are so easy to make.  The hardest part was waiting for the UTEE to melt in my melting pot.  I chose my paper colors based on the book; the green one is to symbolize the lush green of the forest where the games took place, the orange beads are for Katniss, “the girl who was on fire” and the black beads are for District 12.

Once you have your papers, cut long (8-10″) triangle strips.  The width of the paper at the ‘wide’ end is how wide your bead will end up being.  (I kept my beads at around 1″ each.)  Roll each strip around a pencil, glue the end down, and dip it in melted UTEE.   (I used a melting pot, but you can also use a heat gun or glossy accents.)    While the UTEE on the black beads was still wet, I sprinkled glitter over them.  Once it cooled, a little, I pressed the glitter in.

Now that the beads are done, it’s time for the focal point.  The Mockingjay is one of Fiskars limited edition Jenni Bowlin punches (actually called ‘Flight‘).  I used my punch on gold glitter paper and dipped it in the UTEE.  Then I dipped part of the orange bead back in the UTEE and while it was still wet, I pressed the Mockingjay into the wet UTEE.  Be sure to use tweezers for this step if you don’t want to get burned.  Once it is cooled, the Mockingjay is sealed into position.

Do you like it?  Will you make one to wear this weekend?  Need a Mockingjay punch of your own?  Be sure to leave a comment here because Angela will be sending one random winner their very own Fiskars limited edition Jenni Bowlin Flight squeeze punch.  Thanks, Fiskateers!

Good luck, and ‘may the odds be ever in your favor.’