Concord and 9th Greatest Hits for Paper Players Challenge #783

Happy Sunday.

It’s the fabulous Stef’s turn to host our Paper Players challenge this week and she has a great sketch for us. I decided to go big and bold for this one using the Greatest Hits dies from Concord and 9th.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Some of my eagle-eyed readers will recognize that DSP in the background. I swear I have been squirreling this away because I love it so much!

Here’s Stef’s sketch:

I die-cut the record sleeve (anyone remember those!!!!?) from the DSP and die-cut the just a note from black and lagoon cardstock and added that to the front of the sleeve. The sleeve is really easy as it comes as a die in the kit. I then die-cut the record from black cardstock and the label from the same lagoon cardstock. I added a sliver of the DSP down the left side and then added my record, in it’s sleeve, to the card base.

I finished off with a couple of die-cut stars and a note and the card was complete.Easy peasy! Here’s my full card:

As always, the design team have some fabulous inspiration for you:

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

Christy Stanford

On a personal note:

Well, spring has finally arrived here and within a week the trees went from having nothing on them to showing lots of green leaves! The weather continues to be unstable as we had another severe thunderstorm on Thursday, but no retreating to the master bathroom shower was required as no tornado warnings were issued:-)

This week we had the painters in to paint the ceiling and the 20+ feet walls in the living room. Gone are the grey walls and yellow ceiling! YAY! We’ve been waiting to do this since we purchased the house in 18 months ago.

When we first purchase the house the floors were a really dark brown, almost black. The walls were grey and the ceiling was this strage shade of yellow and you could see a lot of the knots of the pine coming through. The fireplace was also a very bright white. It was a color scheme that just didn’t fit my particular style. The ceiling looked particularly dingy and the floors sucked up any light.

I also didn’t like the black fan and don’t get me started on those eyeball lights!

Overall the problem was that the colors made the whole place feel much darker and the yellow of the ceiling was a strange combo with the other greys. The colors would have worked in other areas, but this is a north facing room which tends to cooler light anyway.

The colors we chose are warmer and lighter than what was originally on the walls. The ceiling is now Benjamin Moore White Dove, a creamy/warm white and the fireplace is, believe it or not, the same color. So a softer, warmer white. The black mantle has been replaced by a birch one that matches the floors and stairs. Even late in the afternoon when it was cloudy, the place feels much brighter and you can see light being reflected off the ceiling down the walls from the top and on the ceiling at the bottom. And, I just love the shadows being cast on the walls from the new stair rail 🙂

This photo shows what this section of living room looked like when we viewed the house:

And this is what it looked like when I took a photo yesterday. The walls are much brighter and reflect more light, as does the ceiling. The brighter colors also make the space feel fresher.

Looking for the other side you can really get a feel of how yellow the ceiling was and how grey the walls were. The traditional furniture choice of the buyer’s is lovely, but the colors are just too cold for me. As soon as I walked into the space I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like. Something much warmer and brighter.

Paining everything, including putting the same White Dove on the trim of the windows brightens and freshens the whole space. It also looks much bigger

An added bonus was changing out that massive round light in the dining room. A much more streamlined one creates a feeling of openess and adding the two lights against the back wall on the narrow table gives even more liht to the space. Changing the floors from the really dark to much lighter also allows the space to feel brighter and lighter as the light from the ceiling and windows now reflects off the floor. Removing the side tables and putting angle lamps instead frees up the floor space and they visually take up much less space. The difference in the ceiling is really noticeable here. It’s a room we love spending time in just relaxing. There is no longer a 75″ TV as we have left this space for relaxing and listening to music.

I had to throw in this photo just because of the stairs :-).

Here you can see all the light being reflected and I just love the pattern the stair railing makes. We haven’t painted the wall behind the Buddha yet, so it’s still the older color. We’ll get to that, though. The color on the fireplace wall is a slightly warmer cream that gives just a little different feel.

Next is the master bathroom. We went and finalized the tile and vanity yesterday. Unfortunately we don’t expect work to begin until around August.

I think you might have guessed that we are pleased with the changes :-). Even on a dull day the house felt warmer and brighter. I promise this is the last of the house photos I will share until much later in the year 🙂

How about a photo of the handsome Chilli instead to finish off this post!

Before I go, a shout out to Jean who reminded me that the original Hey Chick set from my Paper Players card last week was released in 2017! I’ll be back with a card later in the week. In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Card recipe

• Dies: Greatest Hits – Concord & 9th

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