Some things you can make...

I've been busy creating so many new projects. The kids have been sick so they've been sleeping more and we've been confined to the house. My lack of adult interaction has been vented through my scrap projects.

After the CHA new releases of Halloween lines, I've been inspired to use more of last year's stuff. BTW, have you seen the new Pink Paislee Halloween line called Vintage Moon. I LOVE IT! Oh, but I also adore the Halloween Cosmo Cricket line. Oh and Little Yellow bicycle has these fabulous velvet embellishments. Oh the excitement! Ha... I'm such a scrap nerd. But its that energy that inspired this creation.

Here's how you can make it: This is a 12 by 12 sheet of acrylic cut to this shape ( I just traced another piece of paper this shape). I inked the edges with Staz-On black, added some patterned paper (the purple spiderweb paper is from Making Memories, the black glittery paper is from Doodlebug, the witch shoes are from Reminisce patterned paper), and the bat and the saying are a sticker from Rusty Pickle. I punched holes in the top with my crop-a-dile and set the eyelets. With a little black rickrack, it makes such a spooky wall hanging. I hope you'll try it!
This next project started as a design team challenge for Yellowbird Scrapbook Store. The challenge was to "Go Green" by taking something that would have been trash and give it new life. I was not really excited about this challenge because quite frankly, trash doesn't excite me. But after a few cups of coffee, this coffee can became inspiring and is now our dog's treat bucket. This would also make an adorable cookie jar or piggy bank.

Here how you make it: Cover the coffee can with patterned paper. This paper from Sonburn Designs already had the cute dog pattern. Add the felt yellow scalloped trim from Creative Cafe to border the pattern. Add letter stickers to spell "TREATS". These letters are from American Crafts remarks book. Then I added black rickrack to the edge of the top. The top is embellished with dog buttons from "Dress it Up." I just cut off the back of the buttons with a scissors. Just make sure you use a heavy-duty glue for these. Last one here was another assignment for the design team. The project uses all items from Daisy D's or from around the house. My favorite part is the denim pocket. Madeleine had outgrown a pair of shorts and I simply couldn't wait to give them a new life.


The flowers are circles cut from plain cotton fabric (old sheets, a dish towel or curtain linings work great.) I cut them using my pinking shears but using a straight edge or fraying the edge of the fabric looks nice too. You gather the flower in the center and stitch it together (at the center) when you've arranged it the way you like. I brushed the tips with copper colored acrylic paint and added a brad. The ribbon "stem" is loosely adhered to the page with glue dots.
I hope you make some of these things. Feel free to email me or comment if you want more instructions or have questions. I'd also love to see what you make from these ideas.

Cheers!
Christy

My mini addiction to mini-albums

I have a new addiction: mini-albums. They're great if you want to document a specific thing or you have too many pictures for a one-page or a two-page layout.

I am so excited about this first FABRIC ALBUM! I made this album about my kids and their closest friends and playmates. (Naturally, that's our friends' kids!) This book is made from fabric and embellishments from Amy Butler. Michaels' now carries the Amy Butler embellishments made by K & company but I ordered the fabric from etsy.com. This album is so touchable, cute and EASY! Here's how you do it:

Cover full 12"by 12" sheets of chipboard with fabric. I bought fat quarters of coordinating cotton fabrics and used Yes Paste to adhere it. Then using your heavy-duty pinking sheers, cut the fabric-covered chipboard into 5 1/2 by 5 1/2" squares. Punch a whole in the corner and use a binder ring to keep it all together. I also tied ribbon around the binder ring for added texture.Add your photos and embellish it. All the paper embellishments you see here come in the "Die Cut Cardstock" embellishment kit. Don't forget to journal! I liked putting a paper pocket in the album to hold some of the cute paper tags.

I also used some rhinestones, a couple brads, and silver ink to ink the edges.

This second album is a sentimental album. As many of you know, our dog Kona was hit by a car on the 4th of July. I made this mini-album to honor him and his very special place in our family. It's a simple 6" blackboard album made by Cosmo Cricket.

How lucky we were to have such a good friend!

I hope you found some inspiration here today! I'm off to see Mama Mia the movie with my friend Laurie tonight. I've seen the Broadway production already (with Laurie too) so I hope they've done a good job with the film.

Cheers,
Christy

Mean people suck!

Yesterday I had my mini-van broken into and my purse stolen. I was at church dropping Sam off at pre-school and I left my purse in my van for 4, maybe 5 minutes. The van was locked and it was a busy parking lot so... no harm, right? Wrong! It turns out there was a guy in the parking lot pretending to put flyers on windshields. He was actually casing the cars by putting trash on the windshield. When he got to my car, he saw my bright orange purse and smashed the window, grabbed it and ran. Glass was everywhere!

Unfortunately, Brentt was on a business trip so he couldn't help much and Madeleine was sick (we were on our way to get more Motrin to bring down her 104 degree fever). With no phone, no money, a sick kid, and a broken car, I had to think fast. This is where your friends, neighbors, and acquaintances step up and are your angels! Another mom from the preschool let me borrow her phone and I called Brentt and he started canceling cards. I was so happy that those cards were canceled faster than that thief could get to 7/11! There wasn't too much cash in my wallet but there was a diaper, some Tinkerbell Underwear, and an old, half-eaten lollipop. I do really miss my watch, phone, and my pink bluetooth. The biggest pain is replacing all the stuff and redirecting all the auto-billed stuff.

My friend Shelly was an ANGEL and took the kids for the day while I ran to the bank, the DMV, Verizon, the repair shop, and got a rental car. It was such a pain but I learned a lot that I want to share. I hope this never happens to any of you but to be prepared for a purse or wallet theft this is helpful:

1. Always keep an extra, valid credit card at home in your safe.
   
2. Keep some cash in the safe too.
3. Know where your other photo ID is. I had a passport and would have been lost without it.
4. Have your bank account and credit card number memorized. This saved me so much hassle!
   
5. TAKE YOUR PURSE/WALLET WITH YOU!
   

Let's just say I've had better days. But I learned quite a few lessons: Mean people suck! But I feel that guy must have needed money more than I do if he's going to such desperate measures to get it. My life will stay on track, just a few more things to do today.

A few of my favorite things...

I've just embellished a few things for the house and my scraproom and wanted to share.

These were ugly cardboard magazine holders I've had in my scrap room. I covered them in paper, added some ribbon and trims and now they are so pretty.

A couple pretty new shabby-chic bowls for storing odd-sized embellishments.

Here's a new sign for my scrap room door.

I LOVE this birdhouse I found when my friend Cydne and I were antiquing last week. A little german glass glitter and this is a new favorite.
Thanks for checking in!
Christy

Look Ma... no training wheels!

To the amazement of our family, Sam is riding a 2-wheel bike with no training wheels. Its amazing because he's only 2! I didn't think kids could do this until kindergarten or 1st grade but...he is an amazing and athletic kid.

This video was taken from Brentt's cell phone so its not great quality but watch Sammy go!

Finally... a scrappy post!

Alright, I'm back in the swing of things and have made some fun stuff lately. I simply can't wait to share this first creation!

Yesterday I took a canvas collage class at Papertales . If you are in San Diego, you must stop by this new scrap boutique! The class was taught by the talented and charming Helle Greer. I LOVE the results of this picture of my grandparents on their wedding day. I especially love the vintage farm picture (since they were farmers). I used a couple new-to-me products like the water soluable crayons around the edges and a copper shimmer mist (sprayed on the canvas before the embellishments and photo were applied.) I absolutely love the angel wings from Melissa Francis too.
Next, I made these 3 notebooks for my nephews. What do you give 10, 12, and 14 year old boys? Knowing they were starting school soon, I embellished these composition notebooks with the "Get Happy" line from Cosmo Cricket. Brentt things they're too girly. Maybe they are but... I was proud of myself for making something without bling, flowers, or scallops! :)
This framed layout is a tribute to our lost dog , KONA. The paper is from Rouge de Garance. Along the left side of the photo are all the nick-names we called him. We sure do miss him!

Here are 2 new cards using the Pink Paislee Office Lingo paper. By the way, if you haven't checked the Pink Paislee Blog lately, you're missing out. They have new peaks at their CHA releases and a chance to order one of their brand new halloween albums.


Please check back for more scrappy stuff. I'm working on 4 different mini-albums right now. The fabric one is going to be the best! Fun stuff!

Cheers!
Christy

Sammy

Looking at my blog I've realized I haven't put up many recent pictures of Sam. He has been a little camera shy lately but don't worry... I sneak in my shots. Even if its a crabby look like this one.
Here's one of him at the 4th of July bike parade on our street. He loves his "like-a-bike". It has no pedals but he is faster than fast on it. He is going to be a true athlete. He has the mental stamina to go right along with the physical. If he falls down, he just rubs it off and says

"Me a tough guy!"

He can also be a real ham! 2 and a half years old is such a fun time with him!

Is that a....zucchini?

Yep! I just wanted to share this picture of this huge zucchini we got out of the garden. I normally don't let them grow this big but this one was hiding. Just to compare, Brentt is holding a banana.

Nature simply amazes me!

Life does move on...

With any tragedy, you realize (curious as it may seem) that life moves on. Time continues. The sun rises again. The flowers still bloom. Gas still costs a fortune. And at the same time, the world looks different after something in your life has changed. We are still grieving Kona's loss and there is an emptiness in our hearts that no other dog will ever replace. However... we are still dog people. We couldn't imagine our family without a dog so....

here's LUNA.

Our new puppy! We dove right back into puppyland and decided one way to move on was to find a new member of our family. She very clearly, is not Kona but she is healing us in an unexpected way and is a terrific distraction. We found this sweet Border Collie Mix (same breed as Kona) at the Helen Woodward Animal Center and knew right away that she was for us.
The uncanny physical resemblance to Kona is amazing. But look: NO TAIL! And their personalities are different, as expected, and appreciated.

Luna is 3 months old and full of energy! She hasn't had an accident in the house yet and is a quick learner. Everyone is already in love with her...especially Brentt!The only one who doesn't appreciate Luna yet, would be our cat Lizard:
I'll be scrapping about Luna soon, I'm sure! But right now, I'm making a memory book about Kona (my favorite form of therapy). I'll post more scrappy stuff soon.

Thanks for all the comments and emails about our loss! I really appreciate all the kind words and support. Things are getting better and the pain is starting to drift into simple great memories.

One sad day....

Today is a very sad day for our family. Last night, our dog Kona got hit by a car and died.
For those of you who know us, you knew that Kona was our "furry child" and we often joked that he was our "first-born." Kona was a great dog and a great friend. We're going to miss him terribly!

He really was a member of our family and went everywhere with us, like to this parade a few years ago:

When Kona first joined our family 6 years ago, he filled a big void. We were going through infertility treatments and we so desperately wanted a baby. And we got one! He loved to snuggle, and kiss you whenever you were down on the floor or leaned over to tie your shoes. We loved taking him for rides in our '77 VW Bug convertible and going down to the beach to play. He was Brentt's running buddy and was always there to greet everyone enthusiastically.

We'd never had a dog before and he was simply the best. When we adopted Madeleine, we didn't know how he'd be with the kids but from these pictures, you can see he quickly slid into the big brother role. He would lay beside the kids and watch them play. He was always so patient and loving, I never had to worry about him biting or even snapping. He didn't even mind being involved in the dress up games.Here he was in his own seat in the mini-van.

We would celebrate his birthday every year with a little doggie cake. Here's a picture from 3 years ago.
Kona just turned 6 years old.

I think we're all in shock. This was so sudden and I thought I'd have so many more years with him. He was a very beloved dog and we're all going to miss him!

Fair Time

I don't think its summer without going to the fair. When we were kids we always went to the Lyon County Fair in Minnesota. I was even in 4-H and showed all sorts of exhibits. It'll be no surprise to those of you who know me that I won ribbons in gardening and crafts several years in a row. ;) (Doesn't that make it sound important? wink! Wink!) It was a fun thing to do and I really learned a lot from those experiences. I still love the fair and I hope my kids will learn to love it too, even if they're not showing anything in it.

What's not to love about the fair? The food! The rides! The shows! Oh, the shows this year were great! Here's a picture of a magic show that included these trick dogs. This dog is balancing on its front paw!

Here's Madeleine feeding a goat that she thought looked a lot like our dog.
The funny thing is, he does!

Madeleine had such a great time on the rides! This look is so precious!

This was the funniest show of all! Its called the TURKEY STAMPEDE. They fill up this remote-control truck with turkey feed and the turkeys chase it around the pen. I don't care who you are... you're going to think this is funny if you see it!
I hope you get a chance to go to a fair near you to celebrate summer.
Cheers!
Christy