Revisiting SU Power Up & SC221

This has been another productive sketch challenge for me. My boyfriend Rick had a cool idea I had to try. He said something about using tools with those band aids in the SU Happy Healing set for a masculine card. I tried it and liked it so much I thought I should bring out the Stampin' Up! Power Up set and make some masculine birthday cards. I used the SU Linen background stamp on the first Creamy Carmel panel, the SU Builder Bits wheel on the Bliss Blue panel and Cuttlebugged the second Creamy Carmel panel, matting them all on Basic Black. The Happy Birthday stamp is from SU It's Your Birthday set. The ink I chose for this was Versafine Onyx Black, I like the way it covers the bold rubber and acrylic stamps.

This is a picture of the inside of my card, I've had fun decorating that part too. I'll keep practicing! The birthday verse is from the PapertreyINK Birthday Basics set.

I made a dozen masculine birthday cards trying to use all of the stamps in the set, you get the idea and don't really want to see each one! Have a nice weekend, the weather is beautiful here in Arizona~

SC221 Happy Healing

It's been a long time since I've done the sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers the same day it came out. I had so much fun today with this sketch! My first picture is of the inside of the card below. I've been trying to decorate the insides too.

Above is the first card I made with SC221. I used all Stampin' Up! stamps which is very odd for me. If you told me I had to, I'd have a really hard time coming up with something.

I've had this set on my mind for quite some time now. I bought it a few years ago and it's been put away, waiting... I colored the image with Copic markers, E33, E30, RV17 and 0. I had to go get a bandaid out of the box to find just the right color markers.

The stamps I used are Stampin' Up! Happy Healing, Simple Sayings, Paisley & Linen. I was surprised to notice 1999 on the stamps in the Happy Healing set, oh my, that set is 10 years old!

The paper colors are Basic Black, SU Creamy Carmel, PapertreyINK Razzberry Fizz and Neenah Solar White. I've discovered Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Wow, what a difference it makes with the Copic markers.

This set seems very appropriate right now. I had to make an ATC for my little girl with it, she closed her finger in my car door Friday night. It's her right index finger and it's looking better, the nail is black but the swelling has gone down and the skin color is normal again. Poor kid! The kids started working with a new typing program today, she said she wasn't having a problem with that finger at all, what a trooper.

I hope you have some stamping time today, have a good one!

ATC's

Happy Monday morning, the kids are back in school and the house is very quiet. Time to do a little blogging!

I have two Artist Trading Cards to share with you today. I've been in need of some type of card with my name and phone number on it for some time now. Business cards don't sound like much fun so I made ATC's instead. I printed four cards on a sheet of Neenah Solar White Super Smooth card stock to start, then I needed to figure out the measurements to make them 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" for the finished product.

A couple of my friends have the Lizzie Anne Designs set Le Jardin so I borrowed one and stamped some of the very small flowers from it for my project here. They are colored with Copic markers. The paper is PapertreyINK Razzberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise and my old standby Nut Brown from Thepapermill.com. The Hello stamp is from a PTI set too and Spellbinders Nestabilities dies.

The FedEX gal was just here with a Copic marker delivery. I gotta go sort out pens and make some phone calls to let my stamping girlfriends know "the pens" have arrived!! Have a great day!

Media Folder Mini Album

Stacy came over last night and we made a couple of mini albums out of media folders. I learned how to make these last November when Paula came to visit. I made this one for my brother's new granddaughter. The cardstock and patterned paper is from PapertreyINK Guidelines Collection. I also found the flower there, it's from Maya Road and is almost translucent. I tried coloring it with my Palette ink pad but the ink never dried and just wiped off. I then tried my Copic marker, hmm... two coats made it look even better, cool!

It's good to have friends! I borrowed a Sizzix top note die from Susan and a Sizzix envelope die from Marilyn to complete the inside of the mini album. Lucky for me I already had the old Sizzix large tag die.

I made a matching card to go with my gift using Lizzie Anne Designs Petite Phrases and sketch challenge 218.

I hope you have a wonderful day. I need to get with it, I'm having friends over to stamp today!

I didn't forget...

Good Morning! I've been in a creative frenzy lately but not a good blogger it seems. I'd like to share my Snail Birthday card with you today. It left with one of my friends' last night that needed a birthday card.

The sketch is from Mojo Monday 73, the stamp set is a new one from There She Goes called Slow & Steady. I used Copic markers to color the images, YG17, YG11, E34, G82, B02, E25, W3, W1, W0 and a blender. I'm happy to say I finally found Memento Ink, it's great for use with Copic markers, no bleeding when you touch the lines!

Paper - Neenah solar White, Neenah Classic Columns Charcoal, Astro Brights Lunar Blue, Via Vellum Green, Stampin' Up! Basic Gray. Accessories - Lg Pewter Eyelet.

I've been having fun decorating the insides of the cards too, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture and the card is gone. I'll have to get in the habit of taking pictures of the insides now too, sorry!

I'd like to thank all the ladies that came to my classes Tuesday! I was blessed to have 9 ladies sign up and 7 ladies at my kitchen table making cards. The ladies that coudn't attend asked if I'd make "packets" for them. I did their stamping and they get to assemble the cards later for homework.

SC218 Girlfriends

I had some stamping time this morning and worked on SC218 using Stampin' Up! Girlfriends set. It went together pretty well using some of the retired Stampin' Up! designer paper from my stash. This could be one of those sketches I have to try over and over again!
Supplies: Paper - SU Cameo Coral, SU designer paper retired, Neenah Classic Columns Charcoal, Neenah Solar White. Ink - Verasfine Onyx Black. Accessories - Copic markers. Stamps - Stampin' Up! Girlfriends, PapertreyINK.

I have good news! The plans for my new kitchen table are drawn up and it will be ready in about four weeks. It's going to have storage built in under it and should seat 6 to 8 people comfortably. I can't wait! The current table holds 5 of us comfortably for classes right now so this will be neat. More organization will be a big bonus too.

Triple Challenge

I'd like to share a card I made on Friday with you today. I was on Splitcoaststampers in the morning browsing, looking for ideas, inspiration, some kind of jumping off point to get me started on something fun. I came across Limited Supply Challenge 209, it mentioned designer paper. When I read the "rules" it said we were to make our own designer paper, oh... that's one of the things I love about stamping, making my own paper! I'd had this Lizzie Anne Designs set on my mind and was thinking about putting it on one of my biggest acrylic blocks and making a background stamp out of it. In the end I stamped each image randomly and separately.

I also saw Limited Supply Challenge 177, it called for a different fold in your card. Several of the examples used gate folds so I thought I'd like to try that too.

And then... I feel like I get in a rut using the same colors over and over, yes those are the colors I'm drawn to it seems but there are so many others that are beautiful together too! So I went over and checked out the color challenges. Oh my, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun and Old Olive.

So okay, that was my starting point and below is what I ended up with. I like it!

I used the Lizzie Anne Designs Jolies Fleurs set, stamping it randomly on my white card stock. I found the SU papers I planned to use and went over to my Copic markers and pulled the matches to my paper and a blender. It took awhile to color all the images but it was FUN! When I was finished coloring I thought that there were a lot of white areas left so I grabbed a little tiny stamp from my stash that has three dots on it and used it to fill in the white areas. Oh no! I just cheated on the LSC!! Too late, it's done. You could only use one stamp set. Oh well, I was looking for inspiration not rules.

I used Old Olive as the base of my card, I had to do a little math to figure out where the folds belonged, used my Scor It and hoped for the best. I then cut my designer paper into a 5" square and sponged it with brown ink. I then attached it to a panel of Pumpkin Pie, next I cut it in half and attached it to my Old Olive card body. I'd colored the big flower in the set so I cut it out and went back over it with YR14 to cover the white around the edges. I took a scrap of white and stamped two of the flourishes in each corner (kinda) and colored them in with G99. The flower is popped with foam tape and I used that tiny stamp again with SU Pumpkin Pie ink in the other corners. That panel is attached on the left side of the card front.

This is a picture of the inside of my card. I had a strip of designer paper left so I used it. I worked too hard coloring it to throw it away! It looked funny so I added a strip of SU Summer Sun and stamped the sentiment, it's from PapertreyINK.

Since my kitchen a.k.a. craft room remodel I've found a lot of neglected stamps. I'm sure you can relate! It's exciting and fun to be using them again!

Happy Monday~

SC217 Cards

Oh I hope I have time to stamp today along with all the other things that need to be taken care of! I thought I should pop in and post the other two cards I made for SC217 while it's quiet here.

I think this one is my favorite, it's my second attempt. I really like the look of a card with the three squares in a row like this. They are extremely hard for me for some reason. With all the layers I like to add those squares get so very little! My palette is usually an A6 size card just because I love to layer things. I browsed the Sketch Challenge 217 gallery for inspiration before I started out. Someone made a card and used the Cuttlebug embossing folders and I just had to try it too. I like texture. The stamp set used is Lizzie Anne Designs Jolies Fluers colored with Copic markers RV19 & YG91. The paper is again Nut Brown and SU Purely Pomegranate, I changed the last color to Certainly Celery or at least as close to that shade as I had in my stash of cardstock. I also discovered that my Spellbinders Nestabilities squares worked nicely for the three squares and they are more "square" than I seem to get them cutting them myself and I used a Spellbinders tag die along with wide brown organdy ribbon. The stamped sentiment is from Clear Dollar Stamps, it was a thank you gift for being on their design team so unfortunately it's one that you can't buy.

My last card uses the same basic colors but I tried Pretty In Pink. I wasn't too sure about this one until I found the pink and brown striped ribbon. The stamps used come from Verve Visual's Petal's & Stems set and the sentiment is from PapertreyINK. The only thing that I did that was different on this card was to gently wipe my brown ink pad over the dots on the cardstock I'd used the Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder on.

It's going to be another beautiful day here in Arizona, I have work to do outside today pulling weeds and getting a spot ready to plant watermelon and cantalope. My kids are going to love planting the seeds this weekend and it's fun for me to watch them go out and check "their garden" to see if anything has happened yet. We hope to be eating cantalope and watermelon from our own garden by mid June. We'll see what happens!

SC217

I got to do some stamping today! I feel like it's been forever since I've had time to sit down and play with the stamps.

I'm moving back into my stamping space and getting more and more organized, I love it! Today was my day to stay home and stamp. After accepting a going out to breakfast invitation I settled in and went over to Splitcoaststampers to see what I'd missed yesterday with the sketch challenge. Oh my... I love these with the 3 boxes, circles or whatever shape they choose. They are difficult for me, but I like a challenge! I actually did 3 different cards today and this is my first one. I've been trying to "revisit" my stamps and use them again and hopefully again! Ah hem... I've found so many neglected stamps since this remodel nightmare I've made myself go through the boxes one more time and pick out the ones that need new homes. How can I add more when there are those that haven't even seen ink?

Anyway... I used PapertreyINK's Beautiful Blooms and Verve Visual's Petal's & Stems for this card. I tried to choose colors out of my comfort zone and slipped right back into my zone I'm afraid. The paper is Thepapermill.com Nut Brown, Tan, Stampin' Up! Purely Pomegranate and White. Inks are SU Purely Pomegranate and Versa Fine Vintage Sepia. The three flowers are cut out using a die made by Cuttlebug, the flower stamp was designed to use with it. I like that. I used Cuttlebug embossing folders to give it texture and popped the flowers with foam tape. Last I added a Spellbinders tag with May Arts dotted brown organdy ribbon to compliment the dotted centers of the flowers then added the three half pearls. I like how it turned out but wondered if those three flowers were kind of big and had another idea so I set out making my next card using the sketch.

It was so good to get into my goodies and use my new space. I can't wait to do it all over again soon!

Tomorrow I need to go outside and do some yard work. The weather is getting into the low 80's and it's time to plant watermelon and cantalope. We've been eating and enjoying our tomatoes and bell peppers for several weeks now.

Kitchen Cabinets Complete!!

I've had a lot of company this past week and a half, but it's been good company! My craft room ah, kitchen cabinets are done. After 10 months of waiting and hiring a second contractor I have a kitchen that really looks like one again. Yea!! This is a view of the kitchen area as you walk in the front door. What? Most kitchen's don't come with a Cuttlebug on the table? If you take a closer look you'll notice it's a craft table not a dining table...

This is a view of where the fun starts! This is opposite the first picture and is my craft area and desk, you can see the reflection of across the room in the mirror. There's that table again too. It's an 8 ft. by 30 in. folding table that was in my Dad's office. I met with the contractor today to see if he'd give me an estimate on building a table that has storage space under it. A girl can dream right?

There are three tall roll outs to hold ink pads, stamps and die cutting supplies. This is where the ink pads live now.

This roll out has all of the acrylic stamps in it...

These roll outs have some of the wood mounted stamps in them. I've discovered that I have tons of Stampin' Up! sets that still need homes. Maybe in the new kitchen table storage?

It feels so good to have this job complete, I'm in kitchen heaven today!

Totally C.A.S.E.d

This week is off to a really good start! I accomplished a lot of - just the stuff of life - yesterday and found out that the crew from Kirk's Construction would be at my house today. Yea! They arrived this morning and started the process of finishing my stalled cabinet job. It was a big enough job that they need to return tomorrow morning to finish. I've moved as much of my stuff back into the kitchen cabinets as possible this evening and will be able to settle in the rest of the way tomorrow evening. I'll take pictures when it's complete and I have the aftermath cleaned up - hopefully very soon! I'm so excited!! Today's project is a total C.A.S.E. of Jackie Pedro, she has a fabulous blog called The Scalloped Edge. When I saw her gift set I loved it and felt inspired to make one too, I hope she is flattered by my take on her project!

The paper I used is from Sugar Plum Paperie called Calico Harvest. It's digital!

The template for this gift card set is by Lauren Meader and is called All Boxed Up, it's available for sale at PapertreyINK as a download. This is what it looks like open. When I make this again I think I'd like to print these two sheets of paper on both sides so the inside of the pocket isn't just white.

Jackie made four cards to go inside and I used her design on each of the ones I made except I changed the stamp to the Lizzy Anne Jolies Fleurs set and my font sets are by PapertreyINK.

I used Copic markers to color the images, a Spellbinders Nestabilities die, Stampin' Up!s paper piercing template and a piercing tool. The cardstock colors are Stampin' Up! Close To Cocoa and Mohawk Satin White. I spent most of my day Saturday working on this fun project, I'm so glad I came across Jackie's blog I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

I need to shut down my computer soon and disconnect wires so we can get them all hidden away tomorrow. Wow... this is really happening! Yea! I'm so excited!!

You might be wondering where I've been... Right here busy making stuff! It seems everytime I get something off of my camera and onto my desktop so I can do a blog post someone walks in...

I have the kids in school this morning and the house is quiet so I thought I'd try again. My first project is the Origami box from an earlier post made up in a different color. My friend Susan came over and we made a couple of these boxes to put Valentine gifts in. I'm desparately trying to us up some of my surplus paper so I chose this retired Stampin' Up! designer paper and really like how the box came out. The layout for the top of the box is a Mojo Monday sketch from a few weeks ago.

This is a simple Valentine we made in a class. I found the "love you" stamp in Lake Havasu at The Sugar Shack. We stamped the heart from a Verve Visual set, masked it and stamped the love you over it. It's then cut out and embossed using a Nestabilities die. Instead of ribbon I used a black strip of paper under that, the white panel has gone through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder, the edge was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

On to SC214! I have been able to do a few of the sketch challenges over at Splitcoaststampers and had a lot of fun with them. I know Valentine's Day is this coming Saturday but I had this image from High Hopes Rubber Stamps... I placed an order a few months ago and haven't gotten to use all of the images I received, they put in several "extras". I couldn't tell what this was until I stamped it, how cute is he?! The Happy St Patricks Day isn't a stamp, I used Microsoft Word and printed it on my cardstock, after a few practice runs I managed to get it right where I wanted it! The designer paper is another retired Stampin' Up! pack I have called Uptown, the coordinating cardstock is Almost Amethyst and I colored the image with Copic markers.

SC213~ This is my second attempt at SC213, I used a Prisma paper pack called Hello Space Boy and this Stampendous set. I'm sorry but I don't remember what it 's called I threw away the packaging. The cardstock is from Thepapermill.com and I colored the cute image with Copic markers.

SC213~ This one is my first attempt at SC213. I used the Basic Gray Ambrosia paper pad and this cute elephant image from High Hopes. I colored this elephant with Cool Gray Copic markers, I have several elephants that have been colored waiting on my desk. I was experimenting to see if they looked better in Cool Gray or Warm Gray. I'll post another one later this week and you can be the judge!

I hope to be back here with you soon - I'm playing with a half finished project using Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates. I saw the cutest ensamble that another super talented blogger had done and had to try it too!

I'm also waiting anxiously for my kitchen cabinets to be completed!! The deadline is Wednesday, we had to extend it another week because I added some stuff to the job that we'd overlooked. I did see my cabinet doors last week in their shop completed!! I'm so excited!!

Have a great day~

SCS Weekly Inklings Gable Box

Help, I can't sleep! I thought I'd get up and do something, this seems like the quietest thing I could do right now...

I wanted to share the gable boxes I made the other day using the tutorial from Splitcoaststampers Weekly Inkling.

Another one of those fun, quick and easy projects. I used the Stampin' Around Whimsey Jumbo Wheel to decorate the Stampin' Up! Pale Plum cardstock, scored and cut the cardstock and folded it up. I also used a new Verve Visual set I got in a bundle recently, the X's and O's are from Custer's Last Stamp. The rectangles are Spellbinders Nestabilities and the die cut hearts are a retired Sizzix die that has 4 hearts on it.

I thought it would be fun to make the gable box again, this paper is called Love Notes by Making Memories. Again the Sizzix heart die and the stamp is from Hero Arts.

I'm pretty sure one of the reasons I can't sleep tonight is I'm excited about my kitchen cabinets being finished. The new contractor I hired to finish my kitchen cabinets was over today to get an old cabinet door so he could match the stain. Everything is ready to go, the doors just need to be stained and sealed. Yea!! I'm almost afraid to be excited...

While he was here I had him take more measurements so he could build some of the roll outs that we'd overlooked. He asked if it would be okay with me to extend our deadline to Feburary 6th so he could have everything finished and only make one trip back to my house for installation. I'm good with that. The waiting for this job to be finished has been agony, I'm so glad my kitchen will be complete soon.

Have a great day!

Ever Had One Of Those Days?

What to share with you today... I hope you're not offended but I couldn't resist buying this stamp by Whipper Snapper Designs. I realize I can use or not use the sentiment in the stamp, but sometimes I'd really like to... It's been one of those weeks again I'm afraid. I'm still doing battle over the kitchen cabinets. The lawsuit has been filed, the summons served, the answer received and filed, today I went over to the court office and filed a motion to go to trial. Over kitchen cabinets... I've spent my day doing paper work for when the big day comes and we go before a judge and let her decide if I get any money back on an 8 month old, half done job. I feel prepared and at peace with the choices I've made. I'm taking care of this in a healthy grown up manner. Now I have to wait about 6 weeks before I hear from the court, they'll send a letter with the court date next.

I've been taking kids to doctor's and dentist appointments this week along with stamping. I have some other cute projects to share with you too, but in another post!

Supply List: Stamps - Whipper Snapper Designs, Paper - SU Basic Gray, Basic Black, SU Blush Blossom, Mohawk Satin White, Ink - Versa Fine Onyx Black & Copic markers.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Mojo Monday 70 & TLC 203

I have a few minutes before the kids will be out of school and walking in the door, I had to share my Mojo Monday project that turned into two projects!

I used this weeks sketch from Julee's Mojo Monday blog and had fun with it, then before I went to bed last night I was blog and SCS browsing and saw a Technique Lover's Challenge for a Origami box that I just had to try! The papers I used for these projects a friend brought to me last year, they're called Be Mine and I think they came from the local Dollar Store. The cardstock is Via Vellum Red, it's a bit more orange than Stampin' Up! Real Red. The Love stamp comes from My Sentiments Exactly! One of those I've had a hard time figuring out what to do with, I think I got it this time.

I used Spellbinders Nestabilities dies, long and long scalloped rectangle, Circles, the red Sizzix die with 4 Hearts and a little stitched ribbon from Clear Dollar Stamps.

Gotta go! I discovered another TLC that I have to try now... if the kids will let me. =) Have a wonderful day!

SC211

I thought I'd try Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge 211 one more time with the digital paper I downloaded from Sugarplum Paperie. I also used Spellbinders dies, long rectangles, long scalloped rectangles, and Flower Creations 2. The stamp is made by Paper Inspirations.
I consider myself pattern paper challenged. I like to buy it but then I'm not sure what to do with it once I get it home so this was a fun project for me.

Have a great day!

More Whipper Snapper Designs and a remake

My first card today is another cute image from Whipper Snapper Designs, the "We make a great pair" is a separate saying by them also.

I used Copic markers to color the images, Spellbinders Nestabilities regular and scalloped rectangles, a hoarded scrap of designer paper called Suits by Masterpiece Studios, Basic Black, Mohawk Satin White, Re entry Red card stock and 3 small eyelets. Simple and quick! My next card is a remake of the one from yesterday, it didn't seem finished to me. Like... maybe it needed more layers. Kelly left a comment and suggested something in that right top corner to give it balance.

I also changed the Pretty In Pink panel to a strip of designer paper and like it. You MUST go check out the designer paper I found! It's digital and they have lots of yummie packages to choose from over at Sugarplum Paperie. I LOVE being able to print my own paper and not have to store it! It's very hard to see in my photo but I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder with hearts on the brown panel of cardstock.

My last card today is the remake with a Sizzix heart to give the sketch balance.

Do you ever come across an image or sketch that you can't stop playing with? Me too... I have one more card using this snowman with the same sketch that is a different color scheme, I was thinking Christmas next year possibly.

Enjoy your day!

Earmuff Snowman by Whipper Snapper Designs

I was able to complete Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge today! I've been trying to come up with Valentine cards the last few days and I don't feel like I'm getting very far.

I had this cute snowman by Whipper Snapper already colored so I used it for my image and built around it using SC211.

Since this little gal (?) is holding a heart I thought she might make a cute Valentine. I live in Arizona, we don't get snow here very often so I'm not sure if a snowman is appropriate for a Valentine but she was cute and fun to color. Supply List: SU Rose Red, SU Pretty In Pink, SU Creamy Carmel and Mohawk Satin White. Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Palette Burnt Umber. Stamps - Whipper Snapper Designs Earmuff Snowman, SU Aida Cloth, HeroArts Happy Valentine's Day. Accessories - Sizzix LG Red 4 Hearts die, Nestabilities regular and scalloped rectangles, Cuttlebug embossing folder & Copic markers.

I made this card last week and don't feel like it's finished. It must need more layers! This is also a sketch challenge from awhile back WSC60 from Beate's blog. I think I'd like to try it again with patterned paper in place of the Pretty In Pink panel.

Supply List: Stamps - Whipper Snapper Earmuff Snowman, Happy Valentine's Day, Custer's Last Stamp. Paper - SU Creamy Carmel, Nut Brown, SU Rose Red, SU Pretty In Pink & Mohawk Satin White. Ink - Versafine Onyx Black. Accessories - Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities regular and scalloped rectangle dies & Copic markers.

Andre Allegator by Whipper Snapper Designs

I've discovered Whippper Snapper Designs recently. Isn't this allegator the cutest? He looks a little love sick to me so I put some hearts above him in case I wanted to use this card as a Valentine.

I used Copic markers for coloring - G82, G24, G40, E34, E30, R29 and my blender pen. I'd like to have gotten some lighter shadow areas but I'll just keep practicing! I kept my card design very simple because Andre is a large image and takes up most of my A6 size card. I thought this Cuttlebug embossing folder might be similar to the texture of his skin in real life. My cardstock colors are Tan, Old Olive, Basic Black, Mohawk Satin White and I used a strip of Black Velvet Ric Rak I got from Clear Dollar Stamps to separate the cardstock colors.

I hope you have a really good day!

The cabinet saga goes on...

Good morning! Sorry I've been missing again, there's lots of drama going on here with my kitchen a.k.a. craft room renovation.
Do you mind if I tell my story and maybe vent a little bit? I'll tell you more about my card under the picture so if you'd like to skip to that part now's the time.
Way back in March of last year I had a water pipe break under my kitchen floor. So many things were happening at once then, my Dad was living with me so I could care for him because he had prostrate cancer. Four days before he died I came out to the kitchen and discovered two inches of water all over the floor. We needed a plumber a.s.a.p. and ended up with a hole in my kitchen floor big enough to put a body in (sorry). I had that hole in the concrete of the kitchen floor for about a month as the plumbers rerouted the water pipes. Friends would drop by and I'd have to tell them to be careful not to fall in. One Sunday afternoon I started doing laundry and water shot out of my kitchen wall... It seemed like the grieving process wasn't enough, I had all this going on too.
As things settled a little and I filed the homeowners insurance claim it seemed like life would get back to the everyday ordinary stuff and I was relieved. The homeowners insurance covered a lot of the damage that the broken pipe had caused. My existing bottom kitchen cabinets were really water logged and I was pleased to discover I could get new ones.
I started looking for a company that could replace my bottom cabinets and match what I already had for the top cabinets. I had a few contractors come out and look and measure, they wanted to sell me everything new and basically didn't listen to what I wanted.
I found a contractor that used to work for the company that had built my existing cabinets and he said he could build the new parts to match. So I hired him with his promise to have my new cabinets installed by the end of May 2008.
You guessed it. I still don't have completed cabinets in my kitchen today, January 2009. It's been a nightmare getting this job done. I live 45 minutes away from the contractor's business so I can't stop by when I'm in the neighborhood because I'm not in the neighborhood very often. I've been on the phone a lot the last 8 months, I've gotten a lot of conflicting stories and not a lot of work done. I've even involved The Registrar of Contractors and filed a claim with them and asked for a citation against his contractors liscense. We will end up in Yuma, Arizona for a hearing at some point. Yuma is 2 hours away from me, but it's also 2 hours and 45 minutes away from my contractor when that day comes.
On December 30, 2008 I filed a lawsuit in civil court against this contractor. I paid a process server to drive the 45 minutes to serve the papers. I'm very pleased with him, he served the papers on New Year's Day.
I got a phone call Tuesday from the contractor's wife (they run the business together). I informed her that I'd hired a new contractor to finish the job in my kitchen. She asked what they could do that would make me happy. So I gave her a list of things that need to be finished and I'd call it even. I forgot to mention that I gave them half of the money for the job as a deposit.
In October of 2008 they did install the shell of my cabinets. No doors or drawer fronts, no roll outs, no lazy susan, a couple of shelves, etc. so I don't feel like I have half of the job done. It's more of a facade that you can't move into.
We talked it all over and she needed to talk to her husband and would call me back later in the day.
Her husband, my contractor called back later in the day and told me my job was finished and that his wife had told him that I'd hired another contractor. He next told me that he didn't have the doors or drawer fronts for my cabinets yet. He wanted to work things out with me and if I'd like to work this out I'd have to back out of my deal with the new contractor or he'd see me in court. I told him that was fine, I'd see him in court and got off the phone.
I'd pretty much closed the deal in my mind that day. New contractor finishes cabinets, proceed in court case with old contractor and try to get back part of my money. End of story, get on with my life.
Yesterday I got a phone call from the new contractor I hired to finish the job. He was in Lake Havasu at a business that's next to my former contractor's business. My former contractor comes into where the new guy is and confronts him about his job with me. Mind you, I did not tell the former contractor who I'd hired to finish the job. The former contractor threw out threats to take the new guy to court. DRAMA! The new contractor did find out some valuable information though. As I suspected the former contractor can't afford to finish the job, they've already spent my money.
So, that's where I've been the last several days. I haven't felt like I've had much to say that was positive.
Thank you for listening, I'm done.
I made this card for my boyfriend to send one of his customers. Rick works for a local pest control company and is fondly known as "the bug man".
I used Lee Bee by Alota Rubberstamps, along with a thank you from Verve Visual and the Montana Tree Bark background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms, a little velvet rick rack ribbon from Clear Dollar Stamps and 3 eyelets.
The card stock is basic black, SU YoYo Yellow, White and Kraft, for the other cards I switched to Creamy Carmel because it matched my ink better on the sign.
I've been playing with some cute images from Whipper Snapper this morning, I need to make a card out of what I've colored now.
I hope you have a wonderful day! Please say a prayer for mine~