I haven’t been able to do as much creating these past couple weeks with what’s been going on at our house.

First of all we are in the midst of remodeling our other bathroom! Yay!!

I forgot to take “before” photos. But here is a peek at the first progression photo I took after the demolition of the shower and removal of the vanity and toilet on Monday, Feb. 13th – just a week ago.

This is another picture of what it looks like as of this morning. LOTS of progress!

You may recall we started all our home remodel projects about a year ago. Our upstairs bathroom was the first room. Then we ventured into the huge main level and upstairs hallway which took several months. And with delays on our front door and other small touches, we officially still aren’t done with that. So I haven’t shared any “before/after” comparison photos of any of that yet.

But our amazing contractor’s crew was ready to begin again and so were we. And now we are tackling the downstairs bathroom. My crafting space is nearby and is being used to store tools and supplies. It’s been difficult to move around the mess, AND we’ve been spending a ton of time shopping and decision making (which means less time for me to create).

Another reason I’ve been behind on my creative projects is my youngest turned 16 this month which of course is a very special birthday. We’ve been doing a bunch of celebrating AND we’ve been spending a lot of time on the roads getting in more driving hours before he tests for his drivers license next month.

Just this past weekend Luke and my husband Tim went to visit Tim’s mom and sister (Grandma Jandro and Auntie Kelly) to celebrate Luke turning 16 years old and to put in another 5 hours behind the wheel. And soon Luke will be taking us all up north for a weekend family vacation to my parents’ place which is twice as far.

We’ve really made this a special birthday for Luke: waking up on the day of his birthday to streamers outside of his room, a breakfast of his choice, dinner that evening at a restaurant he picked, a sleepover party with friends (followed by a formal and fun school dance the next day), cupcakes and fun with Grandma Jandro and Aunt Kelly, and we just pulled off a successful surprise party when Luke and Tim arrived home Saturday night. My parents came in town and the aunts, uncles, and cousins came to celebrate, too.

He had no clue of the party as you could tell from this photo when he came in the door.

It was a fun time with silly games…

and even a unique rotating/musical 16-candle topper for the cake that was lit all at one time from the center. I got this fun contraption from my friend and fellow team member, Linda Lancaster when we stayed at her house this summer during our road trip out east. (Thanks Linda!)

Many thanks to my mom and dad too who arrived shortly after Luke and Tim left Friday night. I couldn’t really have purchased anything before then. So all the retrieval of the food, drinks, paper products, cake, and decorations along with the cleaning, wrapping and decorating had to be done Saturday by 7 PM.

So you can see it’s all I can do right now to keep up with emails. Hahaha! But I promise, that I’ll have more to share again soon. I just wanted to explain why there has been a “pause.” Plus I wanted to share all the fun that has been distracting me.

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SALE-A-BRATION 2023!
The Sale-a-Bration promotion is here and runs January 5th through February 28th! Click here for main the details. Click here to view the online version of the publication. Click here to access new level one and level two products that were added 2/1/23. Click here to see these products online. 

WREATH OF BLOOMS KIT ADDED
The Wreath of Blooms Kit gives you everything you need to make your own home decor piece. Roll and shape the precut pieces and put your wreath on display! This new kit is part of the Kits Collection and is now available. Click here and scroll down for more details.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES DEBUT IN MARCH
New products are coming to the online store* March 1, 2023! You won’t find these products in any catalog, but you can download this flyer which gives you a peek at some of them that will debut next month.

*this link will work on 3/1/23

A PEEK AT MARCH’S PAPER PUMPKIN KIT
It’s Paper Pumpkin’s 10-year anniversary and we want to celebrate how much we’ve grown with the Ten Years of Growth kit! This month’s kit is all about happy greetings, organic and botanical designs digitally painted by our in-house artists, along with all-occasion sentiments to celebrate the happy moments in life and recognize the people around you who help you grow! This kit includes all the supplies you need to create 9 cards: 3 each of 3 designs, a Polished Pink Classic Stampin’ Spot, and a FREE bonus stamp set featuring a plant and pot builder to make all your projects plant-astic! Coordinating colors: Shaded Spruce, Garden Green, Coastal Cabana, Orchid Oasis, Fresh Freesia, Polished Pink, Crumb Cake
If you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, I invite you to give it a try. CLICK HERE to learn more. CLICK HERE to sign up by March 10th for this next kit.

ALL STAR VIDEO CLASSES
I’m a designer with the All Stars, a group of globally recognized Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. And we are excited to share exclusively with our customers, paper crafting friends & team members our February 2023 Country Floral Lane Suite Video Class Bundle which is now available. CLICK HERE for more information. Click here to get to my Tutorials/Classes for Sale page to see others that have been offered. The next one featuring the By the Bay Suite will be available March 1st.