House, hockey and baby....

The painting and fix ups are coming along. I think it may be early next week before we get the house listed. We also have to replace the sink and faucets in the main bathroom. I spent a little over 2 hours outside today pressure washing the siding and patio. Now my knees are killing me. I knew they would be, that was way too long for me to be standing like that. Oh well, I get 2 new knees in just over a week :)

Below is my Tim Holtz configuration box. Oh my heavens, I adore these things!!! They are so much fun to work with and there are so many things you can do with them. I was skeptical at first that I could make it "work" but I have to say that I am very, very pleased with how it turned out. I got lots of very nice comments from my friends at ACOT which is where I get my inspiration and motivation. Also my sister's reaction when she saw it was awesome. She absolutely loves it, it was like she was in awe. She doesn't get like that over just anything. That made me happy.

So then there is hockey. My poor Vancouver Canucks are not doing well. This is the night they could take home the Stanley Cup but instead they are losing 4-0. I don't see them winning this one. So it will be back to Vancouver to play on Wednesday night. Oh my nerves!!!! Hubby went to bed after the first 2 goals were scored, so he never got the email from his brother telling us that their baby arrived today, 2 weeks early!!!! Alessandro (his Mom is Italian) weighed only 5 pounds but he is perfect!!!! Thank heavens. They had a scare early in the pregnancy when they were told that the baby may have some problems. So I look forward to lots and lots of pics of the babe as I have no idea when we will see him as they live in London, England.



So here is the configuration box. I call it my Steampunk shadowbox as I used all graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers. I wish I could afford a new lens for my camera but right now, it's going to be awhile before I can get one. So for now, I am taking pictures with my Blackberry, so these are not great pictures.

Day two.....

of painting, cleaning, etc to get the house ready. Our bedroom will be painted today. I might want to stay after everything gets done..lol..it will all look so pretty and new! After the bedroom, the landing and stairway will be done, then the half bath and spare room. That's everything upstairs totally painted except my daughter's bedroom. I have some things up there packed up, ready to put out of sight, and we need to move an armoire down to my sister's house. Once the spare room is finished, we are going to stage it as a boys bedrooom. I know someone who has a toddler race car bed that I can borrow in order to do that. I'll get some boy decals to dress up the wall a bit, and a few little extras and we are all set. People tend to not be able to picture the room as something else, they need to see it with there own two eyes.

So, in my scrapbooking world, this is the last layout I did a couple of days ago. It is of the peeing boy statue in Brussels, Belgium. He is quite the famous little dude and a huge tourist attraction in Brussels. He was wearing his Boy Scout uniform that day- I believe it was Lord Baden Powell's birthday. He has over 800 costumes that are on display in a nearby museum. We were actually in the museum, and for some reason, never saw them!!! I was disappointed when I found out. We found the museum to be rather boring actually, plus it was not air conditioned and it was HOT that day, so we saw a bit and left. I was sure to see the peeing boy himself though!!!

Yesterday I started working on my Tim Holtz configuration box!!!!! Boy, these are the neatest things EVER!!! I have the small rectangular one. It may take awhile to completely finish it as I want it to be perfect. Meaning, I want the perfect items to go inside of it, so that means I may have to order some things. I will certainly be making one or two of these for Christmas gifts.

Speaking of which, I must go work on it now for a little bit before I need to do more house preparation stuff. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!!!

A sucker for punishment....

Yup, that would be me. Getting a house ready to list while I am off work, waiting for a double knee replacement, is probably not the brightest idea. Why did my husband have to be agreeable to this now?? I just came up in conversation somehow and he said "go for it", so I had no choice!! If I waited, he would probably change his mind! So, I have my Dad here doing a few little fix up jobs and a painter coming tomorrow. Meanwhile I am trying to clean down the walls, etc. I can only do so much as I cannot be getting up an down on a ladder or chair to reach up high. My knees are absolutely killing me tonight. I just called my Mom and she is coming to help me out in the morning. Thank heavens for parents!!

Meanwhile I did not scrap today :(  I finished one yesterday and I will post it later tonight or tomorrow. I had a few more scrap things from Ebay over the last couple of days- my Tim Holtz configuration box!!!! ballerina cameos by Webster's Pages and a Tattered Angels glimmer mist color kit. It's all so cool.

Excuse me now while I get an ice pack for my knee :)

I must be out of my mind.....

I am having my surgery in 16 days and we have decided to put our house up for sale. I need my head examined...lol...but I am SO excited!! My hubby has wanted nothing to do with selling and moving, but last week he said "go ahead". I should backtrack a bit.....my sister had gotten into building houses and has built 3 now so far. She has been after me to build a new house. I never, ever thought that we could build a decent house for a price that we could afford. Our home is older and 2 story. With my knee replacements less than 3 weeks away, a 1 story house would be ideal. So my hubby says if my sister can build us a new house between $-$$, go right ahead. I ran this by my sister and she said it would be NO problem!!!!! OMG, I was ecstatic. So, I already have a house plan done up, and the realtor was in today to look at our house. We have a small bit of painting to do and then we will list it- by next week!!!!! I have no idea what I am going to do after my surgery. We were initially going to bring our bed downstairs and put it in the living room until I am able to go up and down the stairs. But not now. I can't have the realtor showing the house with our bed on the living room floor!!! Thank heavens I can go and sleep down to my Mom and Dad's. With any luck, the house will sell in a short time. I hope :)

A new scrap package!!!!!!!

My package from A Cherry On Top arrived this morning!! The mail lady must think I'm nuts- I met her as she was coming up the steps with the door open. Boy, I was SO glad that they did not go on strike!!! I ripped open the box as soon as I got it inside. I have to share what I got- the only other people that get excited about this stuff are fellow scrapbookers :) The package was almost all Tim Holtz stuff- timepieces, sprocket gears, Coredinations paper pack, ruler ribbon, lost and found salvage stickers, tissue tape, grungeboard and a distress ink pad!!!!! I'm in heaven! I also got some Graphic 45 papers, frames and flowers and a few more things. Oh I am going to have SOOOO much fun! I already did one layout. I need to get some more pages of my son done. I tend to do more pages of my daughter as I find girl pages easier to do, as she is only 14, therefore still at home. It's awful to say that my son is "out of sight, out of mind" but it's sort of true. I hope that doesn't make me seem like an awful mother, because I'm not!!! honest!

Here is Christopher going to his high school graduation in 2002....

I should write something......

Or how can I expect anyone to read this?? It's not that I am too busy, that's for sure. I'm lazy. Yup, that's it!! I have been off for, what seems like, forever. I am awaiting surgery- a double knee replacement. I am going stir crazy. I can't get out and do much, so I do scrap every day just about, which is good. If I never had that to do, I think I would be insane. I am excited, yet terrified of the surgery. I cannot wait for the day to be able to walk normally with no pain or stiffness. I have had numerous surgeries and usually they do not bother me at all, but this is big. Ok, that was my vent for the day! TFL

I made this layout yesterday. It is my favorite so far. I love my "woman"- I have been wanting to make one of these for awhile, but I had to wait to get the dress form die cut. I inked the dress form in bronze, then inked the birdcage in black with a few brushes of bronze over it in places. All papers are Graphic 45 including the piece under the birdcage.