"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Ok... yes, I understand that it is still September but I ADORE the Christmas season! Only 97 more days until Christmas so, I thought I should get a headstart. (It sounds like a good excuse anyway.) I've created a design for this year's Christmas cards featuring vintage postcards. I'm so excited I just have to show you right now:

Many of the postcards I'm using are almost a hundred years old so, in hopes that people don't just toss it, I added on 2 eyelets and a ribbon for people to hang up. Maybe they'll keep it, maybe they won't. But I will be so pleased to send these out when I have them all finished. Which just may take me all the way until Christmas! ;)

Speaking of vintage inspiration... I have been on the hunt for vintage paper supplies and take a look what I've found! Some of this stuff I've found in scrapbook stores but the vintage sheet music, the French dictionary pages, and the French hymnal were all found on ebay. Here's a closer look at this French hymanl from about the 1880's. What a find on ebay for $8! I'm a little scared to tear it all apart. But with the right inspiration... let it rip! The kids and I are heading to Pennsylvania next week so you'll bet I'll be on the look out for more vintage finds. Looking forward to seeing some family and friends next week!

Have a great weekend!

Beach Photos

In our house, we have this little tradition of doing "Fun Fridays". Living in San Diego, there are so many fun things to do. Since we have so many memberships, often times we spend "Fun Fridays" at Sea World, the Zoo, or the Children's Museum. Oddly enough, we rarely go to the beach. But now that all the stinking tourists are gone and most kids are in school, last Friday seemed like the perfect time to go to the beach. But, wouldn't you know it, it was the first cool cloudy day we've had in months. It didn't matter though. We had a great time and went with our friends Laurie and Bella. I just gave the kids a paper bag and they were set to explore and collect all kinds of new treasures. Here are a few pictures:

I just love this one!

Oh so much inspiration!

For some reason, I've been attracted to a vintage/shabby chic style lately. So, I bought this book called Vintage Paper Crafts by Anna Corba and I'm in LOVE! This book is so inspiring. So many projects are so simple, yet elegant. Now I'm on the hunt for vintage sheet music and all things French (no surprise on that one!). Inspired by this book, I made this little candle in about 5 minutes with a few things I had on hand. Cute, eh?

Fall is my favorite season and I find inspiration everywhere. Outside hiking, warm apple crisp, cozy sweaters, and of course, making Halloween plans. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays so when I found this fabric print of the Wicked Witch of the West on etsy from Vintage Bella, I knew exactly what I would use it for...a scrapbook layout, of course! Last year, our family did the Wizard of Oz theme for Halloween and Madeleine was Dorothy.

Take a look....I am madly in love with this layout!

And here's a halloween card made from the scraps of the layout.

Back to the vintage stuff... I just wanted to share another canvas collage I've made. This one is of my Mom's family. My Momma is the cute girl sitting on my Grandpa's lap. I love making these collages and am considering making custom ones and selling them in an etsy shop. I wonder if they'd sell, and if so, for how much? Hmmm....
On a more personal note, last week Maddie started Karate. She loves it and has been practicing her kicks on the ottoman. And she never forgets the loud "hi-yaa" as she does it. This could be an interesting experience for my living room furniture.

Also, Sam started a "Tiny Sports" class where he'll learn T-ball, soccer, and basketball. But, perhaps "learn" is too big of a word here. Really, its a bunch of 2 & 3 year olds running around randomly and occasionally following instructions. Its like herding cats. I'm exhausted by the end of class. Its all about us being fit together I guess....

Anyways, I hope you're finding lots of inspiration in your everyday moments too. Thanks for checking in!

Christy

busy... busy... busy...

Do you ever have those times when you have about 10 half-finished projects and you're always busy but never getting anything done? Well, that's been the story of my life lately. But finally, here are a few new scrappy things finished.

I went to the scrapbook expo a couple weeks ago and bought all kinds of new "toys". I also took 2 classes, both by Rusty Pickle. Both were taught by the talented Casey Rivas, who is just as charming as she is talented. The first class was a calendar class which is one of those half-finished projects that I hope to finish in the next 3 months.

The second class was a Birthday Reminder Book and I actually finished this one:
This is perfect for me because as life is getting busier, I'm forgetting some important birthdays. Please feel free to send my your birthday and I'll add it to my book.This beautiful card was a make and take from the expo. I didn't want to worry about it drying so I brought it home to finish. I'm not sure who will be the lucky recipient yet.... ;)

In June Maddie had her first dance recital and I finally have it in a layout. This picture does not do it justice. Its actually very sparkly and the photo opens like a card to reveal another picture. The card is actually one of those musical cards from Hallmark. It plays the Conga song, the same song that she danced to. She loves to open it up and dance along!
The last thing I'm going to show you is this Christmas bracelet I made for myself. I *LOVE* Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and I was over the moon about these buttons I found off etsy. Then when I found this empty bracelet by Creative Cafe at the expo, I knew this would be a new treasure!
This week we start singing class for Madeleine, a "Family First" parenting class for Brentt & I, Karate for Madeleine, and a Tiny Sports class for Sam. Busy... busy... busy...

My BFC

This layout is dedicated to my friend Cydne (aka: my BFC). Next week, Cydne and her family are moving to Spain for 3 years. For the past 4 years, she has been a big part of my day-to-day life. Our kids are about the same age, she's my work-out buddy, my scrapping buddy, and my playdate pal. She's the one I call at 8am to see what she's up to for the day. If we don't get together, at least I've had my "Cyd-fix". She is a great friend but really, its so amazing that we are such close friends because we are complete opposites! I'm organized, she.... improvises a lot. I'm a detailed planner, and she can be enviously spontaneous. She does not stress about the little things in life and well... I'm a control freak (admitting it is the first step, right?). Being her friend has made me a better person. I know our friendship will continue even though she'll be on the other side of the world. I'll just miss our day-to-day interactions.

So... I say all that to explain this next layout. I made her and I this matching layout that is not my style at all. Its whimsical, crazy, and free.... like Cydne.



They have a lot of texture, techniques, paint, and patterns. I learned some of the techniques, like paper shaping with water from a class on SISTV. I'm also using gesso in a lot of my projects too. I love this stuff! Here I spread it out using a fork and heated it up so it bubbled, then painted it.

Off to school

Yesterday was Madeleine's first day of pre-K. She's getting so big! I can't believe how different she looks this year even compared to last year's first year of pre-school. Here she is posing (all by herself., I swear I try NOT to encourage this but... it is hilarious!)

Here is Sam barely tolerating her "fanciness". And here he is walking away from all the dramatics. Ha!

I'm so happy to have her home with me for one more year before Kindergarten! Perhaps I'll be able to convince her not to pose so dramatically by then. ;) She cracks me up!