The Ultimate Going Grey...And Yellow: A Room For My Typewriter

...or the crazy things that inspire design decisions. :)

I had the opportunity recently to:

1. Buy a piece of furniture to help contain the craft chaos that is my supply storage & stash, and
2. Paint the room where all the above lives (and functions as an infrequently used guest room).

As you may be aware, I've been loving me some grey.  But for myriad reasons (the flooring in the adjoining bath being one, the inability to settle on just one shade of grey being another), grey wall color wasn't an option. 

Okay, really it was that my beautiful, fully restored, cost-me-a-pretty-penny 1950s-era Royal Typewriter is grey, and I didn't want it to get lost in the room. I mean look at this beauty. It deserves to be lovingly adored and instantly admired when you enter its room. (Yes, "its room".)

So, for the walls I went the other way, choosing my favorite grey compliment: Yellow.  Not that I would even imagine telling you that picking a yellow paint color is easy, but while I loved almost every grey I saw, I had immediate reactions to most of the yellows. I didn't want a yellow so bright that my retinas might burn, and I didn't want a yellow so light that it reminded me of the semi-horrid cream color of my dorm room. 

Sorbet it is.

And of course, the color had to look good with my new piece of furniture (Paula Deen has a furniture line!?! How'd I miss that?!?):

I just love the numbering of the interior drawers. Such a charming touch!

So, finally, the paint is dry, and I can begin moving things back in and reorganizing my stash.  Normally, I'd be daunted by such an enormous task. But this time, I'm elated & relieved.

Maybe it's the paint fumes.

I'll post some photos when I get it all done.  Fabric samples have been ordered for window treatments, and I believe I may have found the perfect bedding. So it may be several weeks, but the big reveal is coming.
I know all 3 of you who read my blog are waiting anxiously. ;)
BTW: I absolutely cherish you precious 3!  Maybe I should keep you in those numbered drawers. :)

Going Grey...And Pink!

Hi, friends!  A new color combo for the "Going Grey..."series:  Grey + Pink! 

My parents are celebrating 43 years of marriage, and this is the card I made them to express my love and gratitude.  They really are the best parents and I cherish them. 

And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.

Mark 10:8

I ***finally*** cracked into another Studio Calico kit (April Main Kit "City of Lights") for the papers, and  got brave enough to break in a mask and try out some Mr. Hueys.  Can I just say that I {heart} both?!? Oh, I just did! :)  But seriously, the Mr. Huey's are awesome and I love that even though I took a risk and heat set my mist a bit (so as to speed things and avoid smudges),  the mask cleaned up beautifully with a little water and light rubbing. (And you know I didn't get to it right away, so that's after heat and sitting for a few hours). Awesome! 

One more photo that better shows the misting/masking. I used both Mr. Huey Calico Shine and Mr. Huey Opaque White with the Ampersand Mask.  I had so much fun with it and it was one of the fastest cards I've ever put together.

The hearts are chipboard (old Inque Boutique 12x12 chipboard set that's been in my stash for ages), the letter stickers are from Authentique, the pearl and lace trim is by May Arts. The part that probably took me the longest - deciding on which American Crafts Thickers to use (in the end, the ampersand from the Amy Tangerine Goodness White set and numbers from the Heart set won out).

This is my entry for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #136 to use soft pastel colors.
Thanks for popping in to visit. I hope your day is blessed and happy. ((hugs))

Going Grey...And Yellow, Part Tres

Yes, yes. I've switched languages for counting. It's a nerdy thing. I couldn't resist the rhyme of "grey" and "tres". Please don't leave!

Here's the card:
I missed the deadline for entering, but I'm thankful for the inspiration from last week's challenge at the Play Date Cafe, which was to use the colors charcoal, ash, and butter. Sounds like grey and yellow to me! :) I like playing by the rules. I try to do it most of the time. ;) So, I really wanted to stick to the call for "butter" color. And wouldn't ya know I had it right in front of me! I hadn't yet put away the Cosmo Cricket "Ever After" papers from creating this card. I had bought the collection pack because of the grey and that hot & spicy red/orange. But in the midst, there are also these yummy light yellow papers. This is in extra blessing to me because I'm really, really trying to curb my spending and use my stash. I recently had a HUGE reality check when I sorted through the stash in preparation for a shop 'n swap (no money is exchanged, just bring what you're not using and take what you can use from what others bring). I ended up culling a 3" high stack of 12x12 and countless yards of ribbon, which I am happy to report are now making their home with some fine ladies from my church. When I think about the money wasted...ugh, it still makes my tummy turn. So now, I'm determined to be wiser. Setting out to make this card really showed me that I will survive and thrive using what I have, and it doesn't always have to be the "latest & greatest" of products that I use.

The image, called "Cute Lady" is one I've had for months from Back To Paper. It was the first image from Linda Tieu that I fell in love with, and I'm so glad to finally be using it. I had such fun coloring the hair! I love how she's drawn, with her head kind of forward, as if she's poking her head through a door to lovingly look in on someone and see if they are okay. Angles are good :)

I always pick my papers, then color, and after that is where I usually get stuck: figuring out the layout and deciding on embellies. But this time, my dear friend Heather had already come to my rescue, by sharing a list of challenge blogs with me a couple weeks ago! So, I went to the list and found the Ribbon Reel Challenge #23 to use ribbon and newsprint/book print, and the March Sketch For You to Try. Yay!!!!

The greeting/sentiment is simple. Hi. :) Two letters that say so much.

All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Titus 3:15

Hope you have a blessed & sunny day! (In my neck of the woods, we expect to hit 70 degrees!) Thanks for visiting.

Going Grey...and Yellow, Part Deux

Finally! Another installment of my "Going Grey..." series. I have had this image colored for weeks. Weeks, I tell ya! But I just needed the time/motivation which was kindly supplied by your friend and mine: Guilt! about being a week overdue on sending a thank you note. Oh, the shame. But have I mentioned busy season? I plead busy season. ;)


Soooo, this is the beloved Bee Tia by the ever awesome Some Odd Girl stamps. I {heart} her! She was a dream to color. I could do it over and over again. And I will. After busy season. :) Other than her innate fabulousness, I chose Bee Tia because the family this is going to started keeping their own bees last year. How cool is that?!? I know them through church, and they have been such a tremendous blessing to both me and my mom. Sooooo praising the Lord for them!


Okay. Back to Bee Tia. I trimmed her out and almost couldn't stand the wait to glitz up the fuzzies on her headband with Frosted Lace Stickles. (Learned the hard way that Stickles are the very last touch on a card.) I almost cried over discovering that I didn't have the right shade of grey ribbon (a problem I will remedy ASAP), and opted for this ethereal and oh so shimmery number from my stash.

And then there are the hexagons. Or "hexes" as I've taken to calling them. Yum! It took me hours to hunt down the Sizzix/Westminster Fibers dies. (Seriously, a trend this hot and no one else can make a punch or die? And Sizzix.com is the only place that carries them? For shame!) These dies are actually designed for quilters, but I am happy/grateful to say that they work beautifully on paper. I bought them in two sizes and used the 1" diameter (aka 3/4" sides) here. After an hour or two of hemming and hawing on exactly how to use my luscious little bits of Authentique Blissful papers, and devising how to run the patterns, voilà:


The alpha stickers are from October Afternoon's Farmhouse Collection, and came as part of a recent Studio Calico kit. I {heart} alpha stickers. A lot. I also love to be cheesily punny. So of course the inside of the card finishes the sentiment with "for BEE-ing so sweet." Hey, I warned you.

I'm entering this into the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #129 to use something with wings, inspired by this scripture verse:

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 91:4

May all your days be blessed with the sweet friendship. May you take refuge in the truth and love of the Lord.

Going Grey...and Spicy Red

Continuing on my grey theme, here's a card I made for our outgoing pastor's family. Of course it would make a whole lot more sense to you if I had snapped a photo of the inside where I put the sentiment taken from Isaiah 42:10, "Sing a new song unto the Lord". But by the time I thought of it, I'd already written in the card. Ugh. Oh, well.

Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Isaiah 42:10

I finally cracked into my retired Ever After 12x12 collection kit by Cosmo Cricket. I picked it up some months ago on sale/clearance not so much because of the wedding theme, but because (yep, you guessed it) I loved the glorious greys! Like all my new loves/obsessions, I rabidly and rapidly collect and compile, and then hesitate to use. I think it's crafter's performance anxiety. So silly!

The yummy wide, striped ribbon is from Stampin' Up, and the image is from the Ippity set "Sing A New Song". I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, accented it with Copics (W00, W0, W3, W5, W7 and W9), trimmed it out and popped it up on foam tape.



I'm entering this into the CAS-aul Friday Challenge #40, which calls for us to use ribbon.

And the Ippity Linking Party and the Ippity Challenge to go CAS!

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for more in my Going Grey... series (with a return to the grey + yellow combo) and some long overdue BLOG CANDY!

(((Hugs))) & Blessings!

Going Grey for the Friday Foto

Hello, friends.

Two promises kept on this one:
1. No more sky shots for the Friday Foto.
2. Sticking to the "Going Grey..." theme with a black & white pic.

This is our new dog, a black lab, about 5 years old. He is adorable. But he presents a photography challenge in that he is all black. 100%. This is my favorite pic of him so far. I love the look of the snow, falling ever so gently and beautifully. And of course, ya gotta love the ears in sillhoutte.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:7-10

And for the curious...no, he's not in a doggie straight-jacket. It's called a Thunder Shirt and soothes the nerves by providing a gentle, reassuring hug. (It also helps break things up when he and Cyrus get a bit too crazy during their play sessions.)

Have a blessed weekend!

Going Grey...and Yellow

Grey. Yes, "grey" as opposed to "gray". I don't know why. I just like it that way. Grey. ;)
What's the first thing that Grey brings to your mind?

Greyhound? Italian version.

Grey skies?
Ya know they're gonna clear up. But in the meantime, how awesome & gorgeous!

Grey hair?(yes, sad to say I found my first a couple months ago...and promptly pulled it!)

Actually, it was silver and shiny, so there's hope it might turn out as lovely & thick as this.


Grey scale? (as in black & white)

I don't know what it is, but grey has been on my mind for months now. ETA: Actually, the idea to post the B&W of the card at the top of the post totally made me wonder if I'm not unduly influenced by my steady diet of NCIS reruns. I love the black & white scenes that flash at the return from every commercial break. I think there might also be a secret desire to head slap people like Gibbs. Just a little slap. And only if they really need it. Don't be scared: I'm resisting this urge so far...mostly. Kidding!!! I'm just a head slap admirer. It's purely a spectator sport.

***ding, ding, ding***

Grey matter!

So it is no big wonder that my crafting is going the same grey way. Here's a first taste. Not too much grey. Just think of it as the appetizer to a lot of grey based yumminess to come.

In this case, with a lot of golden honey on top. :D

Okay, seriously now. I received a very unexpected and sweet gift of some devotional books from a neighbor whose dog is friends with our dogs. (Dogs are great that way.) And this is the card I'm giving her to send a heartfelt thanks. I finally broke into one of my Studio Calico kits, using the grey & cream striped paper from October Afternoon's "Farmhouse" collection and some golden, glittery goodness by My Mind's Eye. Then pulling from my stash, I used a dark charcoal cardstock base, twill tape, a shimmery flower, and a gold tone cross charm tied on with PTI twine. I cut the glittery paper with a Labels1 Nestie and inked the edges with a Malted Milk Paint Dabber by Jenni Bowlin Studio.

I've long been a fan of grey, but I'm thrilled to say that now it's in a glorious and new way - as a color from God's palette. Praise the Lord for freeing me from the gloomy grey days of the past!