Bedroom Flowers

I finally got around to adding some pretties to my walls in my bedroom. I've been struggling with the decor in my bedroom. This helps a bit, but I still need more to spice up a relatively bland room. I love these vinyl Decor Elements from Stampin Up, so easy and so elegant!

My New Craft Room

I'm so excited to share with you photos of my remodeled craft room! Last weekend I just decided to stop putting it off and started painting. Two days later....I was excited to have my new "happy place" ready to work in. In this photo above, you'll see the laminate countertop that my husband installed form me. I found this 8 foot countertop piece at Home Depot and my husband attached it to the wall and built legs for it. I put my plastic drawers that I already owned underneath it. I still need to buy some stools for it. The reason I wanted a countertop is because I often like to stand while I work and since I'm almost 6 feet tall, that can be hard on my back. Now I can stand while I'm preparing for my classes, cutting papers and gathering supplies as I move around the room.

My husband discovered these peg boards and I love them because I can change my storage arrangement as I discover what works best for me. A portion of this peg board (and countertop) is dedicated to art supplies for my kids. I love having my punches all out and visible instead of piled in boxes as they were previously. The are held up by a dowel that is braced by metal hooks in the peg board.

This is my "cutting station" with all my big cutting tools that need to stay out for everyday use. Yes, I just got a BIG SHOT!!!! I'm still playing with it, I can't wait to share some projects that I make with it.

Here's my desk. It's in the same place that it was previously, but I've now moved my ink pads and ribbons to the side wall with some new storage systems that I purchased on ebay (see below). Now this gives me more table space. Also, notice the "Create" decor elements from Stampin' Up! over my desk!

I still have some extra stuff that I have to find places for, but I thought enough has changed that you'd be excited to see it!

New Interior Designs!

I'm so excited that I finally got around to trying out Stampin' Up!'s Decor Elements! It's taken me a while, but I finally took the plunge. Wow, are these things easy? I used the gorgeous tree here in my dining room. I'm considering making some words about family to put on this wall with the tree, just need to find the time.

I also recently repainted my kitchen and needed to add something to an area that had been previously stenciled. So I added these Flourishes and I love them! It's so cool, it looks like they are painted on!

So, needless to say, I am a big fan of Decor Elements now. I've got lots more to put up....though most are waiting for some wall repair/repainting before I put them up. I have some flowers to put up in my daughters' room, some words for my bedroom, and of course a bunch of things for my craft room once I finally get around to repainting it! I'll post pictures of everything as it gets done.

Stamping on Walls

Sorry I've been so quiet lately...I've been consumed with preparations for our Independence Day Party! In the process of getting the house ready, I realized that since my bathroom is clean I should take some pictures of the stamping that I did on the walls several months ago. This was so easy and I would definitely recommend stamping over stenciling if you have a design that will work for you. Stamping is just so much easier and fast!

I used the Autumn Leaf Prints stamp set with various shades of green and brown acrylic craft paint to add a random pattern of leaves all over the walls. I was going for the look of leaves blowing through the room. I actually found a leaf print pattern fabric to make matching curtains as well.

Here's some tips for stamping on walls.

1. Use a craft paint, don't use ink! Even craft ink is not a good idea. Just the regular acrylic paints that you can find in the craft store in a million colors work fine. I apply the craft paint to the rubber of the stamp with a foam brush and then stamp it right onto the wall, it's that easy!
   
2. The base paint of your walls should have at least a little bit of gloss in it. I think anything other than Matte should work fine. The reason I say this is because Matte paint will be harder to clean if you make a mistake since the paint will absorb into the texture of the Matte faster.


3. Here's the best part - use Baby Wipes to clean up any mistakes. I'm sure a wet paper towel would work fine too, but for some reason baby wipes seem to clean up the paint without diluting it and smearing the color around. A paper towel with water may just dilute the paint and smear it around a little bit and may take longer to remove all the color. I read about the baby wipes technique for "erasing" mistakes and that's the only thing I tried - it worked perfectly.
   
4. A random pattern may be less stressful. My leaves could go wherever I wanted them to, so I didn't have to worry about lining anything up perfectly. I think I stamped the whole bathroom in 2 hours or so...not bad for a custom look!

I hope you try it! I was so intimidated for such a long time, and regret not having tried it sooner. Even if it's just adding a little splash of color around a mirror on your wall, or a border around your ceiling, be brave! You'll definitely get compliments. And if you realize right away that you don't like it, just wipe it off!