Where Have I Gone?

Or maybe I should say, 'What have we done?'

Sorry to leaving without a trace, but personal life has placed itself directly in the path of 'crafting' life.  As in, I haven't made a card since December or even cleared off my crafting table from the holiday frenzy. 

The cause?  The stamping dry spell just happens to perfectly coincide with our family's purchase of a new house.  'New' as in new to our family, but actually older than our current home.  The draw is 5 acres complete with pine trees, a stream, and plenty of wildlife.  We've heard coyotes howl, watched a possum amble across the backyard,  and the majority of the acreage is now aerated in the shape of deer hoofprints.

The downside?  The previous owners liked to decorate and they decorated to the hilt in 'classic' 90s style.  Who would have thought that pickled kitchen cabinets turn pink with age or that I could actually come to detest the color green?  And don't even get me started on wallpaper.

Here's an example of our current project:

See?  Pink cabinets, green striped wallpaper, green flowered vinyl flooring, and yes, even green countertops!

After a month of hard labor and several hard lessons on just how not-simple DIY projects can be, the wallpaper is gone, the countertops are gone, and the cabinets are mostly primed to be (evetually)  painted white, all in the hopes of achieving something close to a farmhouse/cottage/anything less 90s kitchen look.  New countertops are ordered and the flooring is still up for debate.

Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention the six swatches of yellows and tans painted on every wall which means the wall color is still up for debate, too.

I did manage to finish painting the girls' bedrooms, but even that required four coats of paint.  You might understand why when I show you the previous lovely color schemes:

Note the wonderful painting technique bordering the ceiling and baseboards.  Obviously, the previous owners were not perfectionists, unlike the soon-to-be inhabitants.
Here's the point where I should insert the 'after' photos, or at least a picture of the house nestled into the beautiful acreage.  Uh, except I haven't taken those photos yet.  Seems that I've been rather caught up in diving from one project to the next without documenting the progress. Add that to my To Do list, please.

Long story not -so short, that's where I've been the past few months and probably will remain for the next few months.  Once we finally make the move, then we have to prep  the current house for sale.  Ulcers, here I come! 

Special thanks to my Design Teams for allowing me leaves of absence.  I promise to be back in action as soon as I can find my stamping supplies!