Sharing a Surprise

Happy Sunday friends!

You know I don't usually post on Sundays, but I wanted to share something fun that's been going on for the past week. Emma and her youth group from church have been at XFuge on Mission Camp this past week. They've been doing some of the usual things kids at camp do like stay up late, eat a lot of junk and horse around - organized, like in the photo below, or unorganized like teens will do no matter what! But they've also been doing missions work in the surrounding community of the camp. Emma's group spent the week doing Backyard Bible Clubs, while another group worked with the elderly and in a local soup kitchen. We don't have a full report of the impact of their work yet, but we did hear in church this morning that through the Backyard Bible Clubs, three people chose to accept Christ as their Saviour. What an awesome praise report!

On Friday afternoon, all the churches participating in the camp got together in teams by church and competed against each other in fun relays and outdoor events. This photo is of our church's entire youth group and our Pastor Brandon. Emma is second from the right on the front row.

This is Emma's second year at XFuge and I know the memories she is making and the principles she is learning and practicing will be with her for the rest of her life.

So, here is where the surprise comes in. About 5 years ago, I moved my office down into the new studio that Mark built for me and soon realized that I'd need to take over Emma's play space as well. We promised her at the time that we'd turn my old office into a new space for her. It's a 10 x 10 bedroom that is no bigger than a nice walk in closet. Well, that's what it turned into for the past 4 years or so. It's always been piled up with boxes and unused furniture to the point that we couldn't get much past the door. So much for a space for Emma.

Earlier this year, Mark and I decided that this was going to be the year we got some projects done around the house and we knew we needed to start with this room. Not only was it long overdue for Emma, but we needed to get rid of all the "stuff" that was piled up in there.

While Emma was at camp last week, we got busy. We stripped the room, painted, put up moulding and totally created the space for her from the floor up. After working all week, we finished it last night before we went to church to pick her up from camp.

So, wanna see her new space? Ok, here ya go!

This first photo is taken from the door into the left corner. The colors are not true in this photo because my flash didn't go off. The cabinet is a piece of furniture that I earned when I was selling for my previous company. It's aged black with hints of rose underneath - perfect for this room so we repurposed it for her book cabinet.

A close up of the decor on top of her book cabinet.

I bought a glass vase at a discount store and covered it with SU!'s Newsprint Designer Paper. I tore small pieces and used decor glue to adhere them, then coated it all over with clear coat. The entire piece was smooched with Log Cabin Smooch Spray and then I added the satin ribbon bow and Gerbera Daisies. The photo in the frame is of the three of us in Ketchikan, Alaska. One of my favorite photos of us.

The color in this photo is pretty true - it's more of a pinky coral. So girly!

A closer look at the corner. I fell in love with these big pillows and the coral color in the one on the right matched exactly the paint color.

The big bulletin board was a FIND at a discount decor store. It has a black wood frame and is huge! Of course we had to attach a little love note!

This is the window wall. We painted the ceiling and top 18" of the walls in a rosy tan color, then added the glossy black moulding between the two colors. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the curtains are a shimmery tan taffeta and the top is covered with big poofy fabric roses. We bought a simple wrought iron rod to hang them from.

The mirror and the black wrought iron table came from the same discount home decor store as the bulletin board and the lamp is repurposed from another room. I made the two decorative accents, but more on those in another photo.

Another look at the window/closet area. The wrought iron piece over the door has crystal pieces at the end of each swirl. Very girly and blingy! I found that at another popular home decor store along with the Paris print and the framed glass "E" piece on the book cabinet.

Her reading corner has a BARGAIN leather chair with a fur throw and shimmery taffeta pillow. The pillow is awesome with a big flower on the front and a big jeweled button in the center. I found the parisian print ottoman at the same store as the chair and they coordinate beautifully. The lamp brought in another funky element and solved the problem of a chairside table. It has three shelves of it's own. I found the rug at the discount home decor store and it was a steal!!

Here's a closer look at the decor pieces I made:

I bought 3 plain composition books at a local big box store for .40 each and covered them with more Newsprint Designer paper. Each was sponged with Blushing Bride Classic Ink and I stamped the Medallion image on the front cover of each as well. I spritzed them with Champagne Shimmer Paint mixed with a spray hand sanitizer to make them sparkle. They are finished off with more of the satin ribbon.

The Butterfly house was fun! I found it on clearance at a local fabric/craft store. It had an ugly orange roof, but I fixed that right up by painting it with the glossy moulding paint and then sprayed it with Silver Smooch Spray to make it shimmery. The butterflies were cut out with the Butterflies Die and my Big Shot Die Cut Machine from more Newsprint Designer Paper. I sponged them with Blushing Bride ink and added Basic Pearls and Rhinestones. They were attached to the house with Mini Glue Dots as was the satin ribbon bow.

Even though she was sweaty and tired at 10:30 last night, Emma was beyond thrilled to discover her new space! Her reaction was more than we could have ever hoped for!

I think she'll be spending a lot of time in there, if not, then that chair is mine! :)

Have a great Sunday stamping friends! I'll be back tomorrow with another paper crafting project for you all!

~~Robin