What do I do now?!?!?

Ben was asking for some photos so I took the kids out on the front porch to take some pictures. This is the grin I was getting from Little Bit. She's only 10 months old! How does she already know how to do the cheesy grin?!?!

Jacob had to participate a bit too... ya gotta love em!

And this is our newest member of the family. Shhhh, don't tell Ben. Last year, he tore down their nest when they started. I didn't catch them at the beginning and figure that the babies will be out of the nest by the time he gets back so.... what he doesn't know, won't hurt him. :) You won't tell will you??? Besides, I didn't really NEED to exercise with that bike.

smiles,

Christi

fun...go look....

Fun surprise on a Monday morning....
Melissa Frances blog

Enjoying PJ days....

Kat is sick (just a really nasty cold) so we are enjoying PJ days around here...one little perk of being the only adult in the household...no one knows, except for you guys and you won't tell, right? :)

I am working on some things right now that I am not allowed to share yet so I don't have a lot to show on the blog today although I do have some info to share. For those of you that like cybercrops, Heart In Hands Scraps is holding one this coming Saturday. I am hosting 4 of the hours so I am working on my artwork for the challenges. I hope that you guys will come play with us. It is going to be a REALLY fun day and it starts at 7:00 am CST with a challenge from me! For those of you that have never played in a cybercrop...they are a lot of fun. You get to participate in a crop in the comfort of your own home (which means that you too can have a PJ day) and use all your own supplies. There will be prizes too!!!

Here is a quickie sneak of my creation from one of my challenges...

And this card is another quickie sneak...

supplies used:

*Prima patterned paper (blue)

*Making Memories patterned paper (purples)

*Autumn leaves flower stamp

*PaperTrey Ink sentiment stamp

*Martha Stewart butterfly punch

And don't forget, the drawing for this week's free set of stamps from Unity Stamp Company is tomorrow so be sure to sign up on their blog today!!! I will have some fun things to share with them later this week too....

smiles,

Christi

Take time to celebrate...

...it's Shake Friday! No, I didn't forget. Thanks, Shalini! Jacob and I {and a little bit for Kat} have had our shakes in the form of Frosty's from Wendy's. YUM! Only 7 1/2 points for you Weight Watchers gals (for the small.)

I have to apologize for my absense this week. I have deadlines looming and this week has been a bit stressful which is truly messing with my creative mojo. Not the best timing! I hope to be back with some fun stuff to share soon.

In the meantime, here is a card that I made a few weeks ago that I don't think that I ever shared (you know I can't post without a photo.)

smiles,

christi

Whooohoooo! Take a look at this!!!

Hey everyone! You guys know how much I am loving working with Unity Stamp Company as part of their design team. These stamps are awesome and shhhhh....I have some more on the way!



Unity will be doing a weekly give away till the official release of their line of stamps and handles. Their "Gift of the Week" will be kits of un-mounted red rubber stamps from their "Only Me" sets. These un-mounted red rubber kits will work with your current acrylic blocks as well as their new handles debuing in May. Each week Angela from Unity will post her "Gift of the Week" kit on her blog. If you would like to be considered for the drawing you simply need to leave a comment on the "Gift of the Week" blog entry. You can qualify for the first "Gift of the Week" starting tonight. Angela will post Gratitude = Joy set on her blog at 5:00 Central Time. The winner will be chosen at random Tuesday at 5:00 pm central time. We will ship your product directly to your door.

ETA: AJ has posted some gorgeous samples using this set on her blog.

***BONUS!*** Between now and April 30, if you subscribe to her blog you will also be added to a large drawing being given away May 1st that will include a full set of her handles as well as 3 Unity Stamp Kits. Since the weekly contest is open to US/Canadian addresses only, we will offer a separate, international ONLY, winner on Thursday April 10th.

Isn't that awesome!!!
smiles,
Christi

New Unity Stamp Company Projects...

This weekend, I set a goal to create some new springtime projects using one of my Unity Stamp Co. stamp sets, Beautiful Morning.

Strike-a-Pose Layout

This first project is a layout. It was inspired by the Scrapjack layout from this week by Amy Lapi.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Morning set

*Colorbox ink queue

*Bazzill cardstock

*Doodlebug alpha stickers

*eyelet

*Maya Road velvet rickrack

*Autumn Leaves buttons

*Making Memories journaling book

*tiniest bit of 7 gypsies paper (bird)




Beautiful Bird card

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Morning stamp set

*cardstock

*CTMH inkpads

*Foofala paper

*Marvy Uchida punches

*ribbon

*scallop scissors

Good Morning for Flying card

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Morning stamp set

*Bazzill cardstock

*Making Memories Journaling book

*7gypsies paper (bird)

*pinking sheers

*ribbon

*Prima flower

*brad

Beautiful Elegance card

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Morning stamp set

*Bazzill cardstock

*Autumn Leaves buttons

*Marvy Uchida scallop punches

*7gypsies patterne paper

*Making Memories Journaling book

*lace trim

Floral Beautiful Morning card

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Morning stamp set

*Bazzill cardstock

*Making Memories Journaling book

*scallop deco scissors

*brown inkpad

smiles,

Christi

New Month = New Notebook

Welcome to March! I think that it is pretty much a consensus around the country that, while time is traveling a bit fast right now, we are all ready for Spring to arrive.

I have one little project to share today. Every couple of months I have to alter one of these little notebooks. I started doing this last year in conjunction with Rhonna's 21 day challenge. Everyday in my little notebook, I make a list of things that I need to get done, I track my projects that I have made, and I record my gratitude for the day. It's been a wonderful habit that I was able to create as a result of the 21 day challenge. sidenote: I am a huge fan of these challenges and have participated in several of them. Rhonna started another one yesterday (this is the 13th one that she has hosted.) I really want to play because I love them so much, but I am trying to keep my crafty priorities right now and an art journal would take away from that. But it is a great way to develop artistically and work for 3 weeks to change a habit. But I digress...back to the notebook.

I created this notebook based upon Creative Prompt #35. It's a very simple design this month. I wanted a springy look. The stamps are Stampin'Up except for the "Journal". That is from Rubber Stampede. The papers are Scenic Route and Foofala. The butterfly punch is Martha Stewart.

Today while I watch the race, I have plans for some more Spring-themed cards that I hope to have done to share with you tomorrow.

Now a few randoms....

Yesterday, we went out to get Jacob some new shoes as he was saying that his PE shoes were feeling a bit tight (size 6.) I had a feeling that his everyday shoes (his very cherished Vans) were also getting a bit small (size 7, but we bought them big at Christmas time), but he didn't want to admit it because he didn't want to stop wearing them. So we get to Kohls (where I do ALL of our clothes shopping around here) and they have one of those foot sizer tools so I tell him to step on it. It says that he should wear a size 9. What?!?! And it was right...we walked out of there with 2 new pairs of shoes...a 9 and a 9 1/2. He now wears almost the same size shoe as his dad.

Those are Jacob's shoes on the left and Ben's on the right. And yes, I bought him a new pair of Van's...after all, we obviously have been practicing Japanese footbinding around here...it was the least I could do. What I didn't do (because I was in such size shock) was buy these shoes a size or two bigger so that he could grow more which means we will probably be buying new shoes again next month. Remind me to keep an eye on this! :)

And just because I had the camera out yesterday and I haven't shared too much lately, here's Little Bit. This dress was from her Aunt Kara and Uncle Dan for Christmas and that denim matches her eyes perfectly. You will notice that she is not subject to the footbinding treatment around here yet. ;) Think that I can be trusted to put shoes on those cute little piggies?

smiles,

Christi

Did you remember? It's Shake Friday...

So did everyone remember...it's shake Friday!! So who out there is participating with us on this? How can shake Friday be a bad thing, right? For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about, go check out last Friday's blog post.

Did you all realize that Melissa Frances has a blog now? I just adore this company...such feminine and romantic products. Unfortunately, they are rather hard to find so I don't have much of their stuff, but I hope to change that in the near future. But anyway, back to their blog...they put up a journaling challenge yesterday and I decided that I simply had to play (you guys know me and challenges!)

Like I said, my supply of M. Frances stuff is rather slim...basically, I have one of their Christmas lines and a sticker sheet based on love. Sitting on my table, I also had some extra photos that I had printed out when I did this layout of Ben and that is how this layout was born.

Yes, that base paper is part of the Christmas line, but you would never guess it on this layout.

Supplies used:
-Melissa Frances stickers and polkadot paper
-7gypsies script paper
-flower punch (EKSuccess)
-Autumn Leaves buttons
-Making Memories journaling papers.

ETA... those gorgeous stamps (how could I forget those? thank, Rita!) The stamps are by Technique Tuesday.

The journaling says, "17 years together, 15 years married, 2 kids, 9 homes, 6 bases, 4 states, 1 foreign country- We've been through so much together, but one thing remains the same- your face makes me smile. I love you more than ever..."

smiles,

Christi (now go out and get you a shake too!)

My Two Kids...

Ever since Ben left, these two have become pretty inseparable whenever Jacob is in the house. They are so fun to watch. Jacob loves to play with her...games like peekabo and tickling her and her little giggles just echo throughout the house. I love that sound!

For this layout I was inspired by Creative Prompt #32. All of the papers on here are those fun, new Pink Paislee papers. I love that they are feminine enough to work with all her pink, but still fun and bright so that they work with Jacob too.

Supplies used:

*Pink Paislee papers, die cuts, and circle stamp

*CTMH alpha stamps (you)

*American Crafts thickers (2)

*Making Memories flowers

*Prima flowers

*buttons

BTW, there is a new creative prompt up today and it features cute little Miss so you may want to go check it out.

smiles,

Christi

Step It Up...

I had created this set of cards for a magazine call, but they didn't get picked up. That's okay, now I can share them with you.

The idea behind this is how you can step up your card design. You will notice that all three of these cards have the same basic design...the details just go up a notch in each card.

Supply List:
Patterned Paper- Marcella by K
Stamps- Unity Stamp Company (dandelion); Cornish Heritage Farms (background); Kim Hughes (sentiment)
Black Inkpad- StazOn
Black brad
Small Circle Punch- Paper Shapers by EK Success
Cardstock- The Paper Company
Bling- Heidi Swapp

Card #1- Simple:

It's a pretty basic, straight-forward card.

Card #2- Intermediate:

For this card, I added more layers to give it more visual depth.

Card #3- Advanced:

Added a bit of bling to make this card POP!

Design tip: To create those ticket corners, you can use a small circle punch and cut out a 1/4 circle. It's a fun detail.

smiles,

Christi

Good Morning!

I don't know what happened yesterday...the day got away from me before I did any of my blogging business. I didn't get to make my blog post and I didn't get to check on any of my blogs that I normally read. So, I am hoping to rectify that early this morning.

Here is another layout that I did this weekend over at the CMK cybercrop. The challenge was product-based....it had to have a shaped base paper, 1 photo, 2 or more words in the title, 3 different patterned papers from 3 different manufacturers, and paint.

Of course, you know me...so I had to add in some other embellishments as well.

Supplies used:

shaped paper: rhonna farrer
patterned papers: fancy pants, creative imaginations, urban lily

chipboard hearts: melissa frances

alpha stickers: doodlebug

journaling block: daisy d's

paint: making memories

stamps: ctmh, inkadinkado

buttons

ribbon

smiles,

Christi

Internet Happenings...

Hey everyone!

I have a couple of projects to share today.

The first is one that I created yesterday as part of Create My Keepsake's Spring Fling cybercrop. All the classes and challenges were posted yesterday, but the deadline to participate isn't until tomorrow morning...so if you are looking for something creative to do today, go check it out!

Yesterday, I was only able to complete one of the challenges. I hope to increase that today, but here is the layout that I did yesterday. It was based on Patter Cross' sketch challenge.

For this layout, everything (except the buttons---you know I have to add those!) came from the Work in Progress March kit. I received it yesterday morning and just had to immediately dig in. The more I work with these kits, the more that I love them. I am so glad that I discovered them. These are the first kits that I have ever bought that just fit me and my style...they're perfect for me!

I have also been having fun using a sketch from Janelle over at Card Studio Designs.

Supplies used: *Pink Paislee papers*Prima Flowers*Studio G stamp*Lil Davis ribbon

And speaking of Pink Paislee, they have a very fun new forum...go check it out and join in the fun! Live Pink.

smiles,

christi

"Yay, It's Shake Friday!!!"

That's all the first email that I received from Ben today said. It's made me smile all day. I love his goofy sense of humor. He says that the opportunity to eat a lot and not very healthy over there is way too tempting so he has enacted 'Shake Friday' and for a sense of camaraderie we are holding the same tradition here. So today when Jacob got home from school, we loaded up the car and headed to Burger King. Kat even seemed to think that this was going to be a good tradition...she was sucking down on my shake! LOL!

I have several projects that I need to share, but the debate right now is which ones to share. I think that I just share my layout today. This is a layout that I created for the Create My Keepsake Guest Design Team contest for this month. The requirements were that it had to have a spring break, easter, or time-change theme, have 2 journaling blocks, use 2 or more photos, and that you had to use felt and buttons on it.

This is what I came up with...It's definitely not going to get me a guest DT spot, but I am okay with that. It's not a brilliant layout, but it will do. I can't fall in love with everything that I create and I am okay with that. :)

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper- American Crafts

Stamp- Unity Stamp Company (Beautiful Morning); 7gypsies (Journaling block); Autumn Leaves (Journaling Block)

Felt trim- Queen&Co

Bracket Die Cuts- Making Memories

Glitter Rub-ons- K&Company

stickers- Making Memories

I hope that you have fun things planned for the weekend!

smiles,

christi

My Heart...

I am working on lots of misc. projects around here so I will probably have several things to show over the next few days (as long as my muse continues to cooperate.) Ben is settling in and the nice thing about his schedule right now is that he is working nights and since he is 8 hours ahead of us, we are usually on the computer at the same time. It almost makes it seem like I am closer when we are emailing back and forth.

This is my latest layout...

Almost everything on here is from Work in Progress kits (mainly the Feb. one.) If you have never checked them out before, you need to...Trish puts together the most gorgeous kits that suit my style perfectly!

smiles,

Christi

A New Heart In Hands Scraps Class Remix...

Hi, all!!! Today I have one of my re-mixes from Heart In Hands Scraps to share. This is a class that was created by Tracy Gossard and wow, I really LOVE the concept behind this project!!! This is just a composition book (you know, those black/white pebbled notebooks from school) and a cheap $1 photo album from the Dollar Store altered to create a new album. How cool is that? And the best thing...the class is only $3 so the entire project just costs $5 and you can totally use your stash from home. I think that this would make a GREAT gift for someone.

Originally when I started this process, I was planning to make this album for Kat so that I could fill it with photos of everyone from home so that maybe they won't be so much strangers when we go to visit in March. But you know me, I got to starting on it and just kept adding embellishments and ribbons and now it is one great big choking hazard. LOL! Plus I really love it and think that I would have a conniption fit the first time that she stuck it in her mouth. So now she gets to look at it from a distance (across the coffee table) while I point out who the people are inside of it. I know, I am an awful mom! LOL!

Supplies used:

patterned paper- Fancy Pants

family die cuts- Daisy D's

flowers- Prima and Making Memories

epoxy stickers- Making Memories

ribbons- Making Memories, May Arts, and Hobby Lobby

smiles,

Christi

Playing with Pink Paislee...

Pink Paislee is Rebecca's (former owner of Create My Keepsake) fun new paper company and I was lucky enough to get my new order of it in over the weekend so I have been playing a bit.

This first project was their Make N Take kit for CHA. I altered it a bit from their original version so that it would work for this cute photo of the kids.

This second project is an altered journal. I think that this blue paper is very reminiscent of Creative Prompt #29. I am loving that cherry blossom look this year.

smiles,

Christi