Needless to say, that did not happen.

First, I overslept.  Second, my table wasn’t quite done so I had to go by more lacquer, and since I overslept, that happened after soccer, which meant at least 2 hours before I could use it.

Then it was lunch time…  so I fed the boys while Matt mowed the lawn.  At 1:00 Matt was still mowing, so I took Owen to church for dress rehearsal for the play this weekend.  Around 2:00 Matt switched with me and I got to go home.  I put the table back together and cleaned up the mess from painting it and then it was 3:30 and Jacob wanted a snack.

After that, we went back downstairs, he grabbed his crafting and sat at my table and got to work.  Meanwhile I finally started to edit pictures and put in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

At 5:00 it was back to church for Owen’s performance.  At 7:00 we were heading home from running to the grocery store and ordered pizza.  By 7:30 the boys were in front of a movie, pizza was delivered, and we were eating.  Then it was time to get them ready for bed because Matt had a bowling tournament all night…  he had left at 5:30 to go to that.

So, at 10:30, I had pictures printed, paper picked out, and I sat at my desk, starting at them, wondering where the day had gone.

It was a wonderful day with the family – don’t get me wrong…  It just wasn’t exactly what I had planned.

That said, I finally did get the layout done, around 2:00 on Sunday, but I did manage to complete one layout…

I used some fun papers from Bella Blvd. and the new Jenni Bowlin punches from Fiskars (where I work).  While it took two days to do, it was still a great weekend.

Hope you enjoyed NSD and happy crafting everyone!

Here is the before:

Here is the after results:

I painted it pale pink and decopauged the heck out of the top then sealed it with lacquer.  I have already broken it in with some fun crafting and scrapping projects.  I think it will work out fantastically!!

Then she challenged me to do something with the empty box…  well that proved to be a little more difficult.

However, after enjoying my cookies, I found that was ready to make something fun with the box.  So, I printed out some Instagram pics and got busy.  I made a little box to hang on the fridge that holds a mini-book of Instagram pics.

It was a great and fun project to do.  Here are a couple of pics and a link to the Fiskateer Blog where you can see a video of how I made it!  Hop on over there and check it out!!!

As some of you might know, my craft room is in our furnace room.  Not exactly a great space.  I have two tiny windows, a water heater, and a furnace, as well as pipes from the upstairs bathroom (I can hear anytime anyone uses the restroom…)  It is definitely not fancy – that’s for sure.

Last year, in an attempt to make it prettier, I had my dad help me hang some fun Ikea chandeliers, with full intentions of redoing the room.  Then, while I was on a trip last spring, we got water through a basement door that subsequently flowed into my room.  The lousy carpet that was already in here had to be cut out in weird places and Matt in an effort to save what he could tossed stuff into corners and shoved this here and that there…  Until this week I have been working out of a mess…

The walls were either painted an odd beige or were such old unfinished wall board that they had turned a shade of beige that matched the painted cement ones.  It was drab and dirty and dreary and less than inspiring.  I had gotten really good at trying to carve a path to get what I needed and then take it upstairs to work at the kitchen table.  My computer was in another room, basically unused, and nothing at all was organized which, for me, is painful.

So, for spring break I had a plan to work on updating the room.  It took 2 days longer than I had hoped, but it is finally done.  I would now even let me friends come over to craft (hint hint!!)

Here’s what we did:

• Painted the cement walls bright white.
• Installed new Ikea shelves that I got as Christmas presents from Matt’s parents and mine.
• Installed my new Olivia sewing cabinet (soooo in love with it!) from Arrow Sewing Cabinets here in WI
• Sorted and purged -  A LOT!!!!
• Organized every drawer and cubby
• Decopauged the nasty old drywalled walls with Vintage Marketplace papers by Margie (hope she doesn’t mind I took them in a whole different direction…) along with vintage music and book page and sewing patterns in the sewing corner…
• Added an old loveseat from my mom and dad (bought an inexpensive slip cover)
• Made covers for the existing garage storage units to pretty them up a bit.
• Added curtains around the essentials and non-movables of the room (furnace and water heater) – and, don’t worry, they are plenty far away so they don’t cause a fire hazard.
• Pulled out all of the remaining carpet

So, now that is all done, organized, and clean, it is time for me to break it in and get my craft on… just not sure where to start – I found all sorts of fun stuff I forgot I had when I was cleaning!  I see some great craftiness in my future!

Happy crafting!!

This boy is…

Owen.

my heart.

my soul.

my joy.

my first reason to be called “mom.”

my blessing.

my laughter.

my bubba.

my little man.

super smart.

caring.

honest.

This boy also is…

struggling.

anxious.

upset.

floundering.

My heart is…

saddened.

crying.

struggling.

hopeful for a better future soon.

Today I am…

mom, in every good and scary sense of the word.

Last week, however, was a different story.

After we finished our meetings we had time to go out and see some of New York, which I have never really seen before, because last time I was there was the first time I had been and we spent 90% of our time in Queens and the far Rockaways…

This time, however, I got to see some fun places, including Chelsea Market, which has always been somewhere I have wanted to go.  The Food Network is upstairs (didn’t brave trying to go up there, but…).  It is full of amazing little restaraunts and food shops, as well as some artisan shops and a couple of book stores.  It is small, but it is wonderful.  We didn’t get to stay too long, but at least I can mark it off my list of places to visit.

I cannot wait to go back.

There are certain times of the year, however, that their unique personalities shine a bit more.

One of those times is St. Patrick’s Day.

My boys, but especially Jacob, love this day and plan what they are going to wear for weeks in advance.  Trips are made to Old Navy and Target.  Hats are bought.  Light-up pins are bought.  And, yes, green moustaches are bought.

When it is all said and done, they typically draw a small crowd in public, which is what I think makes them go bigger every year if I am to be honest – they have learned they are cute and can draw some attention…  Yup.  My kids.

So, even though it was more than a week ago, here are the final pics of the kids on SPD…

Tona on March 24, 2012 at 4:10 pm said: [Edit]

 Ladydoc Karen 2858 www.karenscorneroftheweb.blogspot.com

If you are hopping into the middle of our blog hop and you are a Fiskateer, you can start here www.fiskateers.com.

If you are thinking a “Fiskawhat?”, you should know that Fiskateers (www.fiskateers.com) is an online community of craftiness (paper crafts, sewing, gardening, etc.) all based around our love and appreciation of Fiskars (think orange-handled scissors to start).  There is a blog, gallery, and message board led by four lovely Lead Fiskateers who along with the other Fiskateers are fabulous at getting creativity flowing via chats, challenges, on-line crops, and interviews with other crafty celebrities.  If you would like to join in the inspiration of  Fiskateers, or would like to learn more, you can email Tami (one of the Lead Fiskateers) at tami@fiskateers.com.  Then, join in the fun at the beginning,  www.kellystarsallthingscrafty.blogspot.com for a complete list of blog hop stops.

We’ll be hopping all weekend , March 24^th  and 25^th  to welcome spring!  

The blog hop officially ends on Sunday March 25^th at 11pm CST.

Some Fiskateers are offering sur-prizes…check their directions carefully to participate.***

***Thanks for hopping by…next stop is… Courtney 8459 (and Shelley 8356)   www.youwillwontyou.blogspot.com

Now…  a spring card using a Fiskars Jenni Bowlin Butterfly punch…

Leave a comment and I will send out a little Jenni Bowlin goodness!

I am going back to where it all began for me – the Fiskateers!

While I will continue to be the content and education manager at Fiskars, starting today, I will be taking over primary responsibility within HQ for the Fiskateer program.  And, eventually, all of our social media efforts.  There is a lot to transition and a lot that needs to happen, so we are starting with the Fiskateers, as it is the biggest of the programs to move over.  In the next two months, however, I will also be managing our facebook, twitter, and Pinterest accounts as well.

I am very excited and thrilled to be getting back into even more communication with our end consumers, especially where the Fiskateers are involved.  It feels like I am coming home…