Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween to all of you out there in blogland. I have a quick post today. I am having a fabulous time with my mom...some serious Scrabble playing going on! We are finding time to do a bit of crafting too.

These are cards that I did using the Creative Prompt #2...colors.




Dianna tagged me {again} for the 7 random facts (how many random facts can one person have?!? LOL!)
1. I am a big Nascar fan. I have even been on a ride-a-long. For a long time, my favorite driver has been Bobby Labonte, but I am seriously rooting for Clint Bowyer to win the Chase this year.
2. I didn't use to drink coffee until one year Dan & Kara gave me a box of Gevalia for Christmas. I have been hooked ever since, although now I drink Jacob's (it's German) coffee.
3. Carousels give me the creeps...too many Jr. High horror movies.
4. My DH is 7 1/2 years older than me. :)
5. My DH and I went camping (pop-up camper camping) on our honeymoon in Ruidoso, NM.
6. I am addicted to lipbalm...particularily Burt's Bees.
7. I love sweets, but I hate eating things that shouldn't naturally be sweet like sweetened cereals. YUCK!!!

Okay, nobody else tag me because I am seriously out of random facts!!!! :)
smiles,
christi

Valerie's Sketches...

Have you ever seen Valerie's layout sketches on Got Sketch? She does the best, most detailed sketches and this week I got to create a layout using sketch #33. I really love her sketches! You don't even hardly have to think when creating with them. It simply flows.

Here is the layout that I did with this week's sketch:

Supplies used:
*Bohemia papers
*EK Success patterned paper
*Daisy D's buttons
*Inque Boutique journaling stamp
*brown rick-rack
*red brads
*circle and leaf punch

I will be back in the morning with some cards using the color Creative Prompt from last week...

BTW, if you have created a piece using one of the Creative Prompts, all the links will be posted tomorrow early. I decided that Tuesdays would be best for posting the links. And a new Creative Prompt was posted today. :)
smiles,
christi

I'm not supposed to be here...

...I have toilets to scrub before my mom gets here in just a few hours, but I had to come post a quick jpeg for you to see. Look at what my brother, Dave, did with the latest Creative Prompt #2!

He is a Youth Minister and, as such, does things with computer graphics. Isn't that the coolest?!?!

Back to the toilets...
smiles,
christi

Random Tidbits & a Bit of Pumpkin Love...

Good Morning!! I have lots of little random things to post about this morning...

1. CMK Guest Designer Layout
Every month Create My Keepsake has a Guest DT challenge. I have always planned on entering, but always run out of month before I run out of things that I have to get done so I never get to it. This month the challenge is using a Creative Prompt. Well, you know that this is right up my alley! And this particular creative prompt, well let's just say that I LOVE IT!! I have looked at it all month long and knew that my time was getting short to get it done so I dropped everything that I have needed to be doing the last two days to play with this layout.

Here is the Creative Prompt:


And this is my layout that it inspired:

Supplies used:
*Bazzill Bling
*Basic Grey Mellow alpha
*Elsie bitty frames
*Daisy D's fall papers
*Leaf and Circle punch
*Foofala buttons
*Brown pen

2. A Domestic Challenge:
As I was blog-hopping this morning, I came across Amber's blog where she was going on about how messy her craft space was. I basically told her that she had no idea what a messy space was and she challenged me to post a photo of mine. Well, here it is as of 45 minutes ago:

Any of you that have been following me for very long know that when Kat was born, I had to cut my scrap room in half to allow for her to move in with me. Well, about a month ago, I was officially moved to the kitchen table (which also happens to be in my living room...UGH!) Luckily, Ben is very patient and hasn't said a word about the carnage that usually resides over on the table now.

The scary thing about this view...my mom is coming into town tomorrow afternoon (which means that it needs to be cleaned...along with the rest of my house) and I still have 5 cards to make before she gets here!?!? Don't worry, mom! I promise there will be no health-code violations by the time you get here.

3. Pumpkin Love
And now to take your mind of the embarrassment that was the last section of this blog post, I will aim to distract you with some cuteness. This was little Miss Kat yesterday playing with our one and only pumpkin. Don't worry, I kept a close eye so she didn't poke her eye out with that honkin' stem.

This is when I wish that I had photoshop and knew how to use actions. This seems like it could be a really awesome photo with a couple of tweeks, but she is still cute regardless.

4. The coming week:
Like I mentioned before, my mom is coming into town and will be here for the next week so I will probably be pretty scarce. I will still be posting the Creative Prompts over on the Creative Prompts blog Mon & Thurs as well as all the links on Monday. Did you see the new prompt yesterday? No, well then go check it out and come play with us! You have until Monday to use either #1 or #2 and get linked up.

smiles,
Christi

Wasting Time...

My list of things to do just keeps getting longer by the minute and it seems like, the longer it gets...the more time I find to waste. So I thought that I would take a minute to blog {again}. ;) There is a tag going around the blogger world about 7 random things. I did this once before here, but I've been tagged a couple more times. So in the interest of wasting time, I thought that I could do this again right now. (Did I ever mention that I was the Queen of Procrastination?!? LOL!)

7 {more} random facts about me:
1. Me, my dad, and my grandmother were all born in even years so it is really easy to figure out how old we are. (1970, 1950, 1920 respectively)
2. I was born in Oklahoma, but consider Texas home (even though I haven't lived there in 15 years.)
3. My son, who has NEVER lived in Texas, also considers it home. :)
4. My mom is absolutely my best friend (and will be here in two days...Yippee!)
5. My mom and I can play games (esp. Scrabble) for absolutely hours on end and we honestly don't care who is winning...in fact, most times we end up playing each others tiles.
6. I have 71 blogs saved on my favorites...that is in addition to the 38 that I have linked on here. That is a LOT of wasting time, but it is fun! :)
7. My favorite stores in all the world are book stores and office supply stores.

Thanks to ~Rachel~ and Suzy for tagging me!
smiles,
christi

Card Play...

Reminder: There is a new Creative Prompt (#2) over on the Creative Prompt Blog today. This time, it is a color prompt.

I took some time last night to have a bit of play with some of the recent card sketches.

Janelle Richmond of the Sketch This blogs has started a new cardmaking message board, Card Studio Designs. This card was created from a sketch that she posted last night. I turned the sketch 180 degrees.
Supplies used:
*Carolee's Girlfriend paper
*SEI Winnies' Walls paper
*Bazzill scalloped cardstock
*bling


This card is done from the latest card sketch #36 from the CPS blog. I am starting to get in a Christmas mood and I was going through my stamps and found this one (that I have never used) that I bought on Clearance last year.
Supplies used:
*Hampton Art stamp
*Urban Lily paper
*Basic Grey paper
*buttons
*twine


smiles,
Christi

Good Morning!!

Hello on this rainy, wet Wednesday morning! We are finally getting some rain here in North Carolina and it hasn't come a minute too soon. We are desperate for some rain. I think just about everywhere in Central NC, all watering has been banned...it's not a good situation so I just hope that it keeps raining all day. Besides I love rainy days for creating!

I have a layout to share today. This is the layout that I did using Creative Prompt #1. Did you see the new Creative Prompt blog? I am really excited about it. I hope that it will keep the Creative prompts more organized and will keep me posting them regularily. I will post a new prompt every Monday and Thursday. I will post links to everyone's artwork that they did using the prompts every Monday. There isn't a deadline to do the prompts...just whenever inspiration strikes you, use one and then come back and link us up!

But back to my layout using the first prompt...

Supplies used:
*Scenic Route Ashville papers and alpha stickers
*Fancy Pants journaling card
*Heidi Swapp chipboard stars and labels(colored with Colorbox inkpads)
*Prima border stamp
The journaling says: "At the beginning of 7th grade, Jacob decided to go out for the school soccer team. He made the team! This photo was taken the morning of their first game. A mom's dream....on game days, the whole team has to wear button down shirts and ties. Doesn't he look handsome and so grown up? I love this kid!"

I have a ton on my to-do list for today. I am still working assignments, cleaning house, and playing a bit too. Pretty much the same-ole, same-ole. My mom is coming to town this weekend and I can't wait!!! BUT that means that I have to get everything done before she gets here.

Don't forget...a new creative prompt will be on the new blog tomorrow!! Please come and play with us!!!
smiles,
Christi

Something new...

Creative Prompts

Pain in the Neck...

...as in, the pain in my neck! I have a crick in my neck which is seriously hampering my creative time as it makes it really hurt to bend over my work table all day. I have 3 cards to make for an assignment before I can play and they are all at least partially done, but I just can't sit there for very long to get them completed. BUT I will get them done today!

So, once again, I don't have anything to share, but I think that is okay because I do have a creative prompt that maybe you all will find inspirational. This is an ad for fabric out of the latest Home Companion.
There are so many things to find inspiring here...personally, I just love to look at it. Isn't it gorgeous?!? I think that I have a layout idea forming from it and maybe I can get my assignment finished so that I can have a bit of a play with it. But in the meantime, I would love to see what you can create from it? Feel up to the challenge? Link us up, if you do anything!

Yesterday, we tried to make a trip to the pumpkin patch, but when we got there, I said "No way!" There had to be at least 1000 people there. UGH! I will buy some pumpkins at the commissary today. LOL!

But while I had everyone dressed up in their fall colors I had to take some photos. So we came home and took some photos in the backyard...





Don't forget! Come give us a link if you do something with the creative prompt as inspiration!
smiles,
christi

My blog readers are the best!!

Can I just say that you guys are the absolute best!!! Thank you so much for all the extremely kind comments yesterday. Every time I got onto the computer, there would be another little comment just simply full of support and I cannot thank you enough for that. You ladies really show all that is good with this hobby. Thank you!

And Shalini, this post today is for you! :) I don't really have anything to post about because what I am working on can't be shared, but I understand the morning blog-hopping and how disappointing it is when all the morning read's were also yesterday's same posts. So this is today's new post...with nothing new to share! *smiles*

And this is the part that my mom likes...when I have nothing new to share with you artwise, that's when you get to see the latest pics of the kids.

These photos were taken at yesterday's soccer game. I don't think I have talked too much about soccer since the season started. They are actually doing really well. They lost the first game and last week's game was a tie, but every other one has been a win...including yesterday's. After the first couple of games, it looked like Jacob was going to be the expert benchwarmer, but he has played a couple of games and yesterday, he actually started and played about 3/4 of the game. YAY!


And here is Kat. As you can tell by her very serious face, soccer is not her most favorite thing in the world. She actually doesn't usually nap much in the afternoons and by this time of the day (the games run from 4:00 to about 5:30), she is really dragging and sleepy. About 30 minutes after this photo was taken, she literally fell asleep sitting up. She was sitting on my lap, not leaning on anything and suddenly just started tilting to the side. She was asleep. It was so sweet.


And because I always like to share a bit of art, I will share this card with you. This is an old card that I made when we lived in England, but it is still one of my most favorite cards that I have ever made. I think that it is because of that color scheme...


Hopefully, I will get all my work done today so that I can play and have some fun stuff to share. If you are in a creative mood this weekend, Create My Keepsake is hosting a Croptoberfest in the forum. It looks like there are going to be some really fun classes and challenges.
smiles,
christi

Fortuitous Timing...

Warning, this is a rambling, meandering post, but it does all tie together in the end (I think!)

Recently, I have been inspired by the Painting a Day that Donna Downey has been doing and have been eyeing this truly hideous canvas hanging on my scrap room wall that I did several years ago. It was the first altered canvas that I ever did and it definitely looks it. Well, earlier in the week, Linda (a wonderful artist in her own right) had issued a collage challenge and I am never one to turn down a challenge so the canvas had come off the wall...
Canvas in original state

I had been debating what I wanted to do with the canvas and yesterday morning was feeling particularily down about the how we, as women, get such joy out of tearing each other down. (Nothing has been done to me personally, I just have observed such negativity that makes me sad.) So I decided that I wanted to do something with the canvas that would urge me to Do better and be a better person. I was literally just starting to walk into my craft room/Kat's room where she was sleeping to dig out some paints (which might possibly awaken her) and I heard my postman drop some packages onto my front bench. There were two boxes...both beautiful gifts from two wonderful scrapbooking friends! That alone is enough to help boost my faith in the fact that there is still kindness out there.

The first was a gorgeous lantern that I won off of Jeanne's blog. Halloween Lantern by Jeanne
Jeanne is a wonderfully creative friend who I know through the 21-day challenges. She is one of those in the group that is ALWAYS out there forever cheering us all on while creating her own absolutely gorgeous work! I didn't realize that she had an etsy shop which means that I really need to pay better attention when I blog hop because she has some fantastic wares.

The second package was from the afore-mentioned Linda. She had emailed me a couple of weeks ago saying that she had missed my birthday. I didn't give it too much thought, but yesterday I received that birthday surprise and this is where the fortuitous comes in...the package had paints in it (remember I was on my way to possibly wake up Kat to get some paints when I heard the packages arrive.) It also included some very fun Love, Elsie epoxy stickers and this very creative card made from packaging material.
Birthday card by Linda Peterson
Isn't that the cutest?!?

So yesterday, I set about re-altering my canvas. Remember, I am NOT a painter! And, again, as with anytime I do collage work, I am just not too sure that I actually like it. For me and collage, I think that I always manage to take it one step too far. It's like that rule with jewelry, put it all on and then take one piece off before you go out. I need to figure out how to do that with my collage work...it just always ends up too busy and over the top. But anyway, here is my newly reworked collage and I do like it better than the before so I suppose that I am still better off.
Reworked Canvas Collage

One thing that I have determined from this experiment though is that I am just not patient enough to work with paints. I hate having to wait for my layers to dry before I can play with my art more. When I have finite time playing while Kat is asleep, I don't want to be wasting that time watching the paint dry. :p

BTW, yes, those are Heidi Swapp masks actually glued onto this piece. I have decided that I am mask impaired...I cannot tell you how many times I tried to mask on this darn canvas and finally just decided to glue on some masks instead. :)

I probably will be missing for the next couple of days. I have a couple of assignments that I need to get done that I have to work on...
smiles,
christi

Weekend Play...

Finally, this weekend, I got to play with creating some new layouts! It's been a while since I scrapped...I have been concentrating more on my art journal and cardmaking. But looking at the 3 layouts that I have to share this morning, I think that it may be time to share some of the love with the boy. I am getting spoiled by getting to play with all these fun, girly layouts!

This first layout is very simple. It was a series of shots taken of Kat within the last couple of weeks. I love all of her expressions and those big, bright blue eyes. The papers/tags here are Collage Press and all the stamping is Inque Boutique.


I used a pencil Lines sketch #53 for this layout of Kat's hand next to a fall leaf taken last week.
Supplies used:
*Daisy D's papers (everything but the base)
*Base Creation Inc paper (base- from Oct CMK kit)
*Daisy D's buttons
*Scenic Route chipboard circle
*Urban Lily journaling stamp


I just had to play with my new MM Noteworthy goodies that I just recently got in from CMK and they went so well with this photo of Kat.
Supplies used:
*MM Noteworthy papers and clip
*ribbon
*Foofala buttons
*Urban Lily journaling stamp
*Scenic Route alpha stickers
*Technique Tuesday corner stamp


Huge Congratulations to my niece, Emily!!! She won first place this weekend in a cake decorating contest at her school!! Way to go, Em!!!!

(photo by Kara)

smiles,
christi

Victoria Magazine is Back...

For many years, I had one very simple pleasure that I looked forward to every month. That simple pleasure was the evening that I received my Victoria magazine. I would find a quiet corner, a hot cup of tea, and sit down to leisurely peruse the beauty within its covers.

Unfortunately, that bliss ended shortly after we moved to England when publication of the magazine was ceased. Luckily, over the years, I was able to go back and re-read my old issues because I never threw any of them away, but it was never the same.

Well, today is the day that all changes. The newest issue of Victoria arrived in my mailbox today. A wonderful publisher by the name of Hoffman Publications out of Birmingham, AL has revived the magazine. I started hearing rumblings about this around the Jan/Feb, 2007 timeframe and since that time have been filled with hope, but at the same time, a little bit of dread. What if they did not create a magazine worthy of the Victoria name?

I have only had the chance to look through the magazine because I want to give it the attention and quality time that it {and I} deserve. But what I can say is that I am very impressed so far. Bravo, Hoffman Publications! This is the Victoria magazine that I have always loved and you and your editorial team have done a beautiful job re-capturing the Victoria spirit.

It is, quite simply, BLISS...

Friday Meanderings...

Hello all of you out there in blogger land. Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate you? I love blogging and blog-hopping. It just makes me happy!

I have a couple of projects to share...

First a card. This card is using this week's CPS sketch #34:

The papers are Scenic Route. The stamp is Heidi Swapp and the alpha stickers are Making Memories.

I was inspired by an ad challenge over on two peas to do this layout. I just love layouts where I can fit on a whole bunch of photos. Another thing that just makes me happy.

Supplies used are: tags by Collage Press, paper by Daisy D's and MME, letter stickers by Making Memories, corner rub-ons by Fancy Pants.

Thanks for all the supportive words about my cards for the DT try-out. Unfortunately, I didn't make the team, but I have seen two of the new DT members' work and it is phenomenal so I can't be upset. I just will look forward to being inspired by the new DT.

And speaking of inspiration, I haven't mentioned lately what is inspiring me, so I thought that I would share a few sites:
*I am LOVING what Donna Downey is doing with her daily paintings. Wow! That lady is talented!!! It definitely makes me want to pull out my paints and play...maybe sometime this weekend!

*this is a new site that I recently found. The eye candy is fantastic for new inspiration.

*I also have recently discovered this blog. Every day is a new discovery of a gorgeous new creative blog.

*And finally, have you seen the show Pushing Daisies??? If not, you simply must check it out next Wednesday, 8:00 CST on ABC. It is so different and is really a visual feast with it's saturated colors and patterns. Plus it is just fun to watch!

Have a great weekend!
smiles,
christi

Happy Wednesday!

Wow, the week is getting away from me. I thought that I had only missed one day blogging when instead I missed two. Oooops! Sorry about that...and I have even had stuff to post, so shame on me.

Where to start? How about a random thought...queen of procrastination here actually has some of her Christmas shopping done. I am NEVER that far ahead of the power curve so I am really excited about the fact! :D Those 21 days of list-making (which I am still doing) may just be paying off!

Now for a little card show-and-tell. I made the following two cards off of sketches from the SketchThisCards blog for their DT try-outs. I haven't heard of anyone being selected yet so cross your fingers for me!

Supplies used:
*Basic Grey Phoebe paper
*Anna Griffin paper
*7 gypsies metal plaque
*Bazzill cardstock
*American Crafts ribbon
*Inque Boutique stamp


Supplies used:
*Amy Butler papers
*Daisy D's buttons
*Bazzill cardstock
*Inque Boutique swirl stamp
*I will have to check on the sentiment stamp...

Here is a layout that I did. It is a scraplift off a layout that was on the scrapjack site by Stephanie Howell back in May. I can't remember if I jacked it at the time, but I have had it saved and thought the layout was perfect for all these fun little photos of Kat.


Sorry, I am going to have to cut this short. Kat doesn't seem to want to take a nap right now...
smiles,
Christi

Just Johanna WCMD Challenge...

I made this card for the Just Johanna/WCMD challenge that I read about on Melissa Phillip's blog. I think that I missed the deadline, but I wanted to post the card anyway.

The challenge was to use:
*pink and green
*transparency
*button
*scallops
*polka dots

Here is what I came up with:

Supplies used:
*Stacy Claire Boyd papers
*Bazzill scalloped cardstock
*MME transparency
*Marvy oval scallop punch
*Daisy D button
*American Crafts ribbon
*Heidi Swapp chipboard butterflies
*Inque Boutique stamp (swirls on the butterflies)

If you missed them in the mass of posts today, be sure to look at my airshow photos in the post before this.

smiles,
christi

Airshow photos...

For those of you that don't know, DH is in the Air Force and we live on an Air Force base. There are good things and bad things about our lifestyle, but today is a really good example of one of the fun things.

This weekend our base has been hosting an air show all weekend. DH and Jacob were at the actual air show, but I knew that would be way too much for Kat so we stayed home. The following photos are taken from the blanket that the two of us were laying on in our front yard using my Kodak camera. Because of trees and distance, we can't actually see the runway and a lot of the acrobatics, but I think that you will agree that the view from our front yard was pretty cool (and I can guarantee you that we were more comfortable laying on our blanket under the shade of the tree than most were walking around the air show.) *click on the photos to see them better*

The thunderbirds (my last photo before my battery died):


I love this photo! I just wish that the darn wires weren't in the way:


Japanese Kate torpedo plane:


B-25:


F-15:


Inverted Mustang (P-51):


The following 2 photos were T-6 Texans (an acrobatic group):



And of course, I had to take some photos of Kat too in between planes. She kept trying to take my lens cap:


It's starting to look a bit like autumn around here:


one last Thunderbird shot:



And in between plane viewing, I made some cards, but I will wait and share those tomorrow.
smiles,
christi

WCMD results...

Well, I didn't get as much done yesterday as I had hoped, but I did finish a couple of cards that I can share now and a layout that is almost done that I will share later. Both of these cards were made from sketch challenges posted by Daniela Dobson over on CMK.

I adapted the sketch just a bit...
Supplies used:
*Inque Boutique flower stamps
*Hero Arts sentiment stamp
*CTMH inkpads
*SEI patterned papers


Supplies used:
*paper and stamp from October CMK kits
*maya road ribbon
*inkadinkado halloween sentiment stamp
*white cardstock
*marvy scalloped oval punch
*black brads

Cardmaking!!

Happy World Cardmaking Day!!

Are you creating some cards today? I hope so...I definitely am working on mine.

This is card that I created for the CPS/Cardmaker Contest using their sketch. It is for the travel postcard category.

Supplies used:
*Scenic Route Sumner papers and arrow Die cuts
*Stampendous Paris Postes stamp set
*Burnt Cookie Angela on a Scooter stamp
*American Crafts ribbon
*ColorBox Chestnut Roan inkpad
*white cardstock

So to help get you geared up for WCMD, here are some fun cardmaking links:
*CPS (card sketches)
*SketchThisCards (card sketches)
*CMK (hosting some cardmaking sketches and challenges as well as having a C.A.R.D. sale)
*2 Peas (also hosting cardmaking/stamping challenges- the SOF threads)

In related news, the 21 day challenge ended yesterday which was the finish of my art journal, but to keep the daily creating going, I plan to make a card/day for the next 21 days. I am the world's worst about sending/making cards for my friends and family. Something about doing this as a job has made me really bad about doing that so I am taking the next 3 weeks to remedy the situation. So plan on seeing lots of cards in the upcoming weeks.

smiles,
christi