Meanderings....

Why is it that all summer long I have truly felt like I was living a life of luxury...tons of time to get things done, didn't write anything on my calendar, basically had maybe one event per week to really worry about...

Now that school has started, I am feeling myself get frenetic again. But why?? I really don't have anything more happening in my life...nothing has changed except for the boy is missing for several hours during the middle of the day, but I am feeling this sense of panic creep in that I am not going to get everything done. I hate that because eventually it will mess with my creative mojo. It may be time to take up meditation...

But in the spirit of getting things done...here is my entry in Rita's circle journal. Her theme is little things and I got to thinking about all the little things that make me happy and it all boils down to ambience...I am happy when I am in a nice atmosphere/pretty place so that is what I did my entry about. So, yay, I made it by the deadline and it is ready to be mailed tomorrow.





Now I am off to finish up some Stamped in Ink projects...

smiles,
Christi

Boo to Blogger beta!

I have no idea what happened to my Fly banner, but Blogger won't even let me re-load it in another post...I will try again tomorrow. This new beta is awful! If you were thinking about switching, DON'T!!! I have received several emails from people who are wanting to comment and I am so sorry, but that seems to be a serious glitch in this new program. Believe me, I am NOT happy about it and REALLY miss your comments!!!

But here is the latest project that I have been working on. It is a board book to remind me of special dates every month. I have a huge one of these that hangs on the wall from my Close to My Heart days, but this size seemed much more user friendly! I plan on sitting it near my computer. Lots of various supplies on this: Stamped in Ink alpha stamps, Karen Russell naratives, Rhonna Farrer line, MM Boho Chic, etc.

I hope that you enjoy looking at it!
smiles,
christi
Whoohooo, Cami helped me figure out how to enable comments!!! Thank you Cami!!!!

Lack of Organization...

How's this for a teaser photo? This is for my class over at the Cropper's Cottage cybercrop which starts Sunday, Sept 16th. I have spent the last 2 days finishing up the organization for that. The schedule is now posted for all to see as well as the class descriptions. It is a TON of work putting one of these things together, but they are so much fun, but it reminds me about how unorganized the rest of my life is right now.

That and the fact that I spent hours today looking for car titles that I am not even sure that we actually have (the bank may have them?!?) It is time to get my life more organized and back on track. I have let way too many things slide lately and that is not acceptable. I have actually started a little project to help me in that area, but it isn't quite ready to be seen yet...maybe tomorrow...

8 done, 92 to go-- 100 layouts til new stash!!!
smiles,
Christi

Fly Banner...

Finally! I am able to post!!! I have been trying to post this banner since yesterday at lunchtime. I tried upgrading my blog in an effort to get it posted which has left most people unable to comment. I am really sorry about that...If I had realized, I never would have switched to the upgraded blogger system. You can still post anonymously and I hope that you will.

This was my final project for my LSS. I have never done anything purely for fun for them so it was fun when the owner saw it. This is definitely inspired by the incredible banners that Pam Garrison makes. I have no where near her incredible style, but it was a lot of fun to make and so easy. I actually made the entire thing while talking with my mom on the phone. I will also be teaching a cybercrop class based upon the same basic idea over at the Cottage.


I hope that you have a fun weekend planned!
smiles,
christi

Luck of the Draw...

...or in the case of DS, the no-good, very-bad luck of Jacob and his teachers! Today is the first day of school and we went up to meet his teacher yesterday. It is 6th grade this year and we had received a note with who his teacher was and their class room number last week...pretty normal. We walk into the room and it is BARREN...think prison cell barren...no decoration, no extra books (besides the ones piled high on the desks, no welcoming signs...NOTHING, but 2 ladies standing there. We ask if one of them is the teacher he is supposed to have...NOPE! Big changes here. He has a new teacher (the one standing meekly in the corner not saying a single word...not even to the kids), but she is still having to finish up her job elsewhere and won't be at the school for 30 days. So yep, my poor DS (and the rest of his classmates) have a substitute for the first 30 days of school this year. NICE!

I could go on and on here about DS and his awful history with teachers (one that I had specifically requested he NOT have and one that died--2 years of school completely lost because he didn't learn a darn thing) and believe me, he has enough trouble with school without teacher issues, but I will stop now because I swore I wouldn't use this blog to vent.

Luckily DS's attitude is much better than mine!!!

On to more fun stuff...here is yesterday's work that I did for the LSS...just fun projects. Today I have one more fun project to complete and then I will take them all down to the LSS. BTW, 7 down, 93 to go.

Mojo is flowing...

5 done, 95 to go and I cannot work fast enough! My mojo is just flowing for me tonight...I love it!

The no stash buying challenge until I have done 100 layouts just got significantly harder tonight. That didn't take long, did it? LOL! Do you think that extra bit of incentive is why my mojo is suddenly flowing...

I made sure before I started this challenge that I at least got a little bit of the new goodies from CHA that I considered must-haves, but I never saw the new Front Porch or Everyday Tango from MME...I soooooo want that Lime Twirl and Screen Door sets and the price is so reasonable, BUT I am going to resist and ignore them and just enjoy the stash that I already have.

And I have been doing that today with 3 layouts complete and another art project started (it's tissue, Norah!!!)

This is the layout that I did based on the last creative prompt. Can you see the page layout in my scrapbook layout? It's not my normal style, but I love the shabby chic look to it. These are some more of our photos from the trip to the Duke Homestead on my birthday.
This is another Arctic Frog layout for the LSS. Some photos from when we lived in England. I didn't even realize that I had this photo of Big Ben so you will probably being seeing that photo again in the near future (I don't get to keep my LSS layouts which is why I use so many photos that I have used on other projects, but I get to play with free stash and credit at the store which is going to come in REALLY handy until I finish my 100 layouts.) :D

I will be back tomorrow with more layouts (hopefully that mojo keeps cooperating) and maybe a new creative prompt too.

smiles,
christi

3 Down, 97 to go! You would be proud of me...I went to both Hobby Lobby (DS needed some paint) and the LSS yesterday and didn't spend a cent on stash for me. I did manage to walk out of the LSS with a bag full of stash, but it was FREE! Love doing DT stuff...so much fun to play with all the new goodies. And this means that you will be seeing several of my LSS DT projects over the next day or so.


This is the first...playing with some Arctic Frog. I have scrapped this wildflower photo before, but it went so perfectly with the papers, that I had to use it again.

Lots of little things going on around here. School starts this week (Friday to be exact...wierd starting on a Friday), been working some little magazine things, changing travel plans, getting new travel plans. Lots of little things that just seem to suck the time out of the day, but for now...I am off to do more scrapping.

smiles,
christi

Making Goals...

This is a layout that I did yesterday featuring some more of those Heidi Grace papers. This photo was taken on the porch at Mount Vernon and I thought that it was perfect for this type of layout. This is the first time I have done a list like this...kind of interesting.

This was also my first official layout of the 100 that I have to create before I can buy new stash. eeeek...that is going to take a while, but it was something that Lynne was talking about on her blog and as I look around my overflowing scraproom, I realized that it was something that I needed to do for myself. She says that we can still buy cardstock and adhesive and I have already given myself permission to buy a StazOn reinker because that is a staple that I just haven't gotten done yet. But then I will be good...I figure that 100 layouts should take me through Christmas... Wish me luck!

Here is our new creative prompt. This is a page out of the September 2006 Domino. The overall feel of the page is inspirational itself, but I really like the actual way that the page is laid out and I know that is where I plan to delve into this inspiration piece.

Happy Monday!
smiles,
christi

Memories of a Nation....

Well, after working assignments all afternoon, I thought it was time for a bit of fun so I tackled that last creative prompt. It's been a while so I reposted it here to remind you of what it looked like.

This is a photo that I took at Mt. Vernon. It didn't matter what angle you were looking at the property, it was beautiful. This is not a paper combination that I ever would have tried normally, but I think that it works...I really like it and I guess that is really the point of these prompts...to make you try things that you normally wouldn't try.

I will be back tomorrow with a new creative prompt!
smiles,
christi

Lazy Saturday fun...

It's been a nice day. DH went out for the day riding his motorcycle which has left DS and I to our own devices...somewhat appropriate for the last weekend of the summer. We went out to lunch, Hobby Lobby, and Barnes & Noble then came home to watch a bit of TLC while working on Croppers Cottage design team layouts.

I was asked to do a bit of work with the older lines from Heidi Grace. Her paper is not my normal style, but I am happy with the layouts that I have done so far...just a couple more to do.

But for now, I have settled down with a Chianti and the debate is do I read my new book or a new magazine? I love lazy Saturdays!!!

smiles,
christi

I'm back!!!

hehe! Y'all didn't even realize that I was gone did you??

We took a super quick 2 day trip up to the DC area to go to a dear friend's retirement ceremony. We left at 5:30 am on Tuesday to make the 5 hour drive up. We left so early so that we would be sure to not miss the ceremony at 2:30 if we happened to get stuck in traffic (not that that ever happens on I-95!?! LOL!) But we were really lucky and had a clean shot in so we arrived at 10:30 with a few hours to kill before we had to be anywhere.

After a wonderfully fattening brunch at IHOP, we decided to head over to the motel and see if we could check in early. As we were pulling in, I am looking at the shopping center directly behind our hotel that had a Michael's, Bed Bath & Beyond and several other really cool stores and I see a sign that says Recollections. Hey, isn't that the name of a scrapbook store?!?! You know that I am going to check this out!!!

Luckily, the hotel let us check in and I left the guys in the room (they needed a nap...it had been a really early morning! :D ) and went over to find myself in scrapbooking Nirvana! OMG!!! This is like a WalMart for scrapbookers!!! Huge store with absolutely everything that you have EVER wanted to see in real life, but never have!!! BUT I am on a road trip with the family and I just did a huge scrapbooking splurge the weekend before...Dilemna!!!

I ended up just doing a quick swing through the store, letting myself only look at things that really caught my eye quickly to curb my spending (I was moving FAST). There was soooo much there and I can guarantee you that I only say maybe 1/8th of it, but I spent enough and got some lovely goodies that I haven't been able to find anywhere else so it was a super-fun 30 minutes!!!

We then went on over to the retirement ceremony for our friend. It was really nice, but it is always so emotional when someone leaves the Air Force. As we get closer and closer to that transition, it becomes more and more evident how difficult it is really going to be. His ceremony was fantastic though. He had friends there from every step of his career which is such a testimony of what a wonderful family they really are. We are lucky to count them among our friends.

That evening we went to a dinner party celebrating the retirement. What a fun bunch!!! We were talking about it yesterday on the way home about how quiet and sedate the ceremony was, but the party was a complete contrast...definitely a bunch of characters which made it so much fun!!!

Yesterday we were simply supposed to be driving home, but decided that we should take advantage of being in the area with nothing to do and a short day ahead of us and decided to spend the morning at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. It was amazing. It's hard to believe that we were standing in the same places that he once stood. Well worth the trip and the extremely sore feet (we were supposed to only be driving so I had brought 2 pairs of shoes...one pair had 4" heels, the other 3" and we easily walked 3-5 miles yesterday...OUCH!)



smiles,
christi

It was a wonderful birthday...

Well, I definitely could not have asked for a better birthday. The day was fabulous!!! We started out the day at the house infusing my with my morning ration of coffee and opening presents from my parents. My mom made the most incredible birthday card. It is rare that I get emotional about stuff like that, but it was so incredibly sweet and thoughtful and I definitely got emotional! She also sent me some gorgeous clothes and this awesome Diva travel mug...LOVE IT!!!


When the day began, it was really rainy and wet and was like that all the way to Durham, but as we entered the city limits the clouds began to break up and it turned out being the most seasonable day we have had all summer. Low 70's with absolutely no humidity. It was gorgeous!!! God was smiling down on me for my birthday!!!

Our first stop of the day was, of course, Carolina Memories so I could buy my own birthday present. I sent the guys off to another store and told them to give me 1 hour to shop. About 15 minutes into that hour, I was starting to panic that I wasn't going to have enough time when my brother, Daniel, called me on my cell phone to wish me happy birthday. Immediately when I answered it, it started beeping to tell me that my battery was low...ACK, why didn't I think about charging it before I left home??? Daniel, I love you, but at that point I was way more concerned that I was going to run out of time and not have the battery to call DH to tell him to come back later. I am so sorry that I cut you off!!! I really appreciate the call....REALLY!!!

After being extremely rude to my brother (I love you, Daniel!!!) and telling him that I had to keep shopping (priorities here, right?!?!) I finished up and got in the long line to check out with all of my fun purchases. Carolina Memories was celebrating their birthday too with all kinds of freebies and discounts so it was a madhouse in there! I just got to the checkout when my mom and the rest of the extended family called to wish me happy birthday. They were in Oklahoma at a mini-family reunion with all of her sisters and families. That poor lady trying to check me out...she was trying to tell me what stuff I was getting free while all of the Griffin clan was doing a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday on my cell. LOL! It was crazy, but so much fun!!! When I got off the phone, she asked me what was going on so I then had to explain that it was my birthday which gave me a break from all the people that had been in line behind me giving me dirty looks...they then started laughing and wishing me happy birthday too. It was a lot of fun and here is all my new stash...



We then went to lunch (Macaroni Grill, my favorite) and out to the Duke Homestead which was an absolute blast. That place was awesome and really interesting. The perfect weather meant that we just wanted to walk and wander around the grounds. They ended up kicking us out at closing time.

On the way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel
for some "birthday cake" in the form of a brownie sundae...YUM! It was a great day!

smiles,
christi

Birthday Jewelry...

It's been a while since I made any new jewelry, but I was inspired this week when I spotted these beads at JoAnn's and every girl deserves a bit of bling to dress up with on her birthday!
smiles,
christi

Free to Create!

Mark Your Calendars!!! Sept 17th- Sept 23rd we are having a week-long cybercrop over at the Cropper's Cottage!!! It will be a full 7 days filled with classes, challenges, games, and even your dinner plans so that you have the time to be FREE to CREATE!!!

Right now I am in the middle of finalizing that calendar and getting that all sorted. It is a lot of work, but we have so much fun!!! LOVE cybercrop time!!! The organizer/school supply hoarder in me loves this part of being on the DT. :)

But because I have been working on that, I don't have a new layout to share that I created this week. But this is a layout that I did a few months back that just appeared in The Scrapbook Magazine. It's about our cross-country trip when we moved...

And finally, just because it has been a while, I have a new creative prompt for you. These are some boxes from Tracy Porter. Let them inspire you with their patterns, colors, or even those little butterflies. Remember there are no rules...just create!

I hope to back later with some new jewelry to share. Tomorrow is my birthday and as a little birthday treat to myself, I am making myself some new jewelry to wear tomorrow as we make our shopping trip to Durham to scrapbook shop at Carolina Memories! :)
Happy Friday, Everyone!!!
smiles,
christi

Challenges...

This is my layout for the Effer's Last Scrapper Standing Challenge. This week's challenge was to do a layout where all the journaling was done on the photo. The journaling here says "Pure Joy~ That is what I feel when I look at this photo of you. You have always been such a happy child. I wish that I could take the credit, but you were born with this natural, incredible zest for life. You are naturally happy and it makes everyone who comes in contact with you happy too. I love you! ~Mom" I used a ton of Stamped in Ink stamps on this (Jacob, the custom photo stamp, the border strips on the sides, and the circles on the gold background). The papers are the WRMK- Diner.


This is the second challenge over on Anne's blog based on Ali's book challenges. The challenge was to use angles on your layout. This is a gorgeous photo of my two beautiful nieces. They are just sooo cute and I love the chance to do these girly layouts! The papers are from Wild Asparagus with a couple of Purple Onion stamps.

I hope that you are having a creative day!
smiles,
christi

Sharing...

This is another set of projects for my LSS using some of their new EK Success line. I really loved playing with this. Definitely not my normal color pallette, but it was perfect for all of these summer projects!



This layout is based on the ad creative prompt from below...More vacation pics!

Anne Hafermann has been issuing challenges on her blog based on Ali Edwards new book. The first was a 9 square challenge. I am not very thrilled with this layout, but it will do. But look at what Missy did with it! Wow! I love that girl's talent!!!


I have lots to do around here this week scrapping wise. First on the agenda are those stamps...I am going to have a good play with them! Then I ended up entered in the effer's last scrapper standing contest and the deadline is tomorrow. The challenge this week is to do a layout with ALL of the journaling done on the photo...definitely a stretch for me and right now the inspiration is not hitting me so we will see if I get that done or not...I think mainly I am intimidated by the Freestyle-style of those girls. It is incredibly inspiring, but a super-long stretch for me...aaaackkk!

smiles,
christi

Stamping fun...

Guess what I am hoping to play with today!! This is some of my Stamped in Ink loot...aren't they awesome?!?

We went to a Revolutionary War battle re-enactment yesterday. It was a lot of fun but REALLY hot so I am excited about spending the day in my stamp room under the air conditioning creating today!!! Number one on my list is using that ad as inspiration...
smiles,
christi

Busy week...

Hi, everyone!
Wow! This has been a busy week around here! Tonight is the second of two dinner parties that I have hosted this week. For those of you that don't know me well, there is very little that we eat in this house that doesn't come out of a box, but once upon a time that wasn't the case. So I am trying to be inspired by Posie Gets Cozy and trying to enjoy the whole art of entertaining. Lord knows, I have enough dishes to do it up right! LOL!

Yesterday, I made the trip out to my LSS to see what was happening and received another assignment for 2 layouts and a card. I also received my Croppers Cottage DT stuff so I have a busy weekend ahead of me. By Monday, I need to have a minimum of 4 layouts and 2 cards done, but it would be nice to have 7 layouts and 3 cards done to stay on top of all of my assignments. I also need to do some computer work for an article that is due in the UK...the artwork is already done and mailed.


So in honor of keeping my mojo flowing, here is a creative prompt for you. It's an ad, but I think that it could translate into a really cool layout. I think that I am going to use this as inspiration for one of the LSS layouts!

I also need to say a Huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Granddad!!! He doesn't read my blog, but he is such a special guy...I thought that you all could spare him some warm birthday thoughts today.

I hope that you all are having a good week!!!
smiles,
christi