House Hunting - House #3,4,5,6

Today we are going to view 4 houses on our house hunting tour. A couple of these houses are potential short sales, which we know means lots of waiting but could also mean a bargain. 

The house we saw this past Tuesday night will not work for us without a lot of work, so we are looking at others....with that one in the back of our minds. (We liked it a lot.)

Here are the 4 we are seeing this afternoon:

House hunting is fun, but can be a roller coaster of ups and downs. One of these houses has 7 bedrooms! I already like that one....

It should be a fun afternoon. 

I'll keep you posted.

~Tricia

House Hunting - House #2

Our house hunt officially began this past weekend with the touring of the first home on our list. We quickly realized how it would not work for us at all, so we are moving on to see a second home tomorrow night.

This second home is in a good location, just where we need to be, but has only four bedrooms. We need five. But, there is a full, finished basement and since we can't see all of it in the pictures online, we think it's worth taking a look at because it might have room to create a fifth bedroom. We love the lot - it's large - and it has a sunroom, one my favorite things to have!

Take a look at these pics for a close up view of some of this home's best features:

View from the street. It's on a hill.

Kitchen....fully updated:

Living room has a fireplace at the opposite end:

Basement family room:

Nice stairs!

Sun room off the back of the house:

The back yard and garage:

So, there you have it! I'll keep you posted on whether or not this one works for us. 

Stay tuned!

~Tricia

I Quit!

I know I promised to take you through the process of making our new rental house a home.
I know I promised to post pictures and videos of how I decorate and set up our new home.

But, I quit. I quit decorating. I quit unpacking. I quit setting things up.

Two weeks ago, we had an electrical fire. Upon closer inspection and a visit from a county inspector, it was discovered that the aluminum wiring in this house (built in 1972 when aluminum wiring was still widespread (it was banned in 1974)), was not properly done. The fire was the result of a faulty outlet. The inspector is recommending our landlord replace the entire circuit. An electrician improperly pigtailed the aluminum wires from the outlet to the main line with copper, without using the proper fittings, allowing electricity to jump between wires inside the wall, causing the fire.

In light of this, we have decided enough is enough and we're done with the rental world. We are actively looking to buy a house and actually touring our first one tomorrow.

So, I have quit putting any more energy into decorating and setting up this house.

I could have posted more pictures and updates on what I did do, but with my husband's cancer battle going on all summer, my energy was spent.

His cancer battle is over, but he's still battling the side effects of the chemo, including pneumonia one week and a dangerous blood clot the next. He's on the mend from those now and getting settled into a fabulous new job he was recruited for.

So, instead of updates on this rental house, I'll do updates on our house hunt for now. In light of that, here are a few pictures of a house we're touring tomorrow. It has the 5 bedrooms we need.

Exterior front (above)

Sun room (my favorite) with deck off the back

Basement family room

Living room

Stay tuned! I'm only quitting on this rental house and the rental world.

Happy Creating!

~Tricia

A Twist on Pocket Letters

My 2nd Pocket Letter!

My First Pocket Letter

Just this past weekend, as I was browsing YouTube for ideas, I stumbled upon pocket letters. After watching several videos on pocket letters, I just had to make my own! So, here's my very first pocket letter and I have plans to make many more. This first one is for my 9-year-old grandson. I'm mailing it tomorrow.

Pocket letters are made from trading card pages, which contain 9 pockets per page.

You can meet the gal who came up with the idea and watch her very first pocket letter video here.

I can see myself adapting pocket letters for all kinds of occasions! This was so much fun to make.

Here's what I did:

Here's the front of my pocket letter:

I used Close To My Heart's Picture My Life cards to create all my inserts.

Here's the back of the pocket letter:

I cut the inserts to fit the pocket, which is 2.5 x 3.5". 

I learned to make the little book inserts in this video.

Inside this little booklet, I wrote my grandson notes, one on each page.

I thought it was just enough that he wouldn't be bored with a long note from his gramma.

Inside other little booklets, I left out the pages and inserted a small envelope with a couple dollars in it, then called it money for ice cream.

He can lift up the flap and get the money.....and hopefully catch that ice cream truck in time!

On one page, I glued a snack sized chocolate bar.

In another insert booklet, I wrote out 10 things I love about him, one on each page.

I actually ended up doing 11 things!

In this booklet, I inserted another snack sized chocolate bar. Sorry this pic is so fuzzy:

I stamped a bit:

I sure hope my grandson loves his pocket letter! 

He does not know it's coming as I wanted it to be a complete surprise. 

Have you heard about pocket letters? 

What a great idea! 

I encourage you to watch the attached videos, search and watch some that you find, then make your very own pocket letters to send to those you love!

Happy Paper Crafting!

~Tricia

New Craft Space