More CHA pics and projects

I have no idea where the past week went. Madeleine turned 5 yesterday so I was busy planning her "Disco Dance Party", which was so fun! I'll post about that later....

But for now, I wanted to share some great things I saw at CHA. Unfortunately, I don't know who made these dreamy things so I can't give them personal credit. I'd love to thank them for the inspriation. Lets begin with one of my new favorite paper companies: Best Creations. I've never been a huge fan of them but their new releases have been consistently cute. Here are some layouts using their papers.
Another surprise for me at CHA was how much I loved the Kaiser Craft stuff. Their papers were ok but their projects using the "Beyond the Page" lines were great. I was mostly impressed at how affordable their stuff is. Check out their website for more projects. So many full instructions on cute crafts.

Love the clocks! They have so many sizes too.

I took this picture of this great canvas at the 7 Gypsies booth. I didn't notice any have-to-have-new-and-fabulous stuff here but their projects were great. Their ephemera was inspiring but a little small for my taste.
Another find for me was Daisy Bucket Designs. Not sure what was most attractive, the paper or the fabulous home decor projects. Their blog has some more great ideas.
A couple disappointments from CHA were 2 of my favorite companies: Pink Paislee and October Afternoon. Pink Paislee was there and the people working in the booth were so friendly and they had lots of inspiring projects but I was not crazy about any of their new paper lines. When I saw them online I thought they were ok but when I saw them in person I thought... ugh... Not yuck. Just ugh... perhaps I have high expectations but I simply didn't like them. As for October Afternoon... they just didn't show up. Shipping problems. It was sad that their website wasn't even complete. Now, at least it shows their new releases. I love all their paper lines, stamps, and embellishments but perhaps they're having a hard time on the business end. That's my perception anyhow. Too bad for them because so much stuff totally rocked at CHA. I'll leave you with a ton of eye candy from my all time favorite and inspiring booth: Crafty Secrets. Their website is a must visit if you love this stuff. Holy long post! Thanks for checking in!
Christy

Yes, I am a Scrapbook Junkie!

WARNING: If you're not a Scrapbook Junkie like me or if you're not even interested in scrapbooking and crafts, you may not want to waste your time reading this post. This is a bad one. Its full of new products, great projects, and (gasp!) scrapbook celebrity photos!

I am, officially, no longer a CHA virgin. You know, the Craft & Hobby Association? After only 5 hours of sleep, I made the 90 minute drive to Anaheim, CA to go to the CHA show with Yellowbird Scrapbooking. I was only able to go one day but it was so amazing to see all the new 2009 scrapbook and craft products all in one place. I paired up with my buddy Mari and we had so much fun. I was dizzy with excitement and inspiration. There was so much coming at me that I wanted to remember it all so... I took 583 pictures yesterday. Yep, all that in just one day. CRAZY! So, how am I going to choose which ones to post? I don't know but we'll start with some favorites.Here I am WAITING to go in. It was pure torture to not open those doors before 9am!

So we go in and start oggling and we're wandering from booth to booth asking about the new products, show specials, ship dates and all the business, have-to-do stuff and then we get to the Jenni Bowlin booth and guess who helped us out.... JENNI BOWLIN herself! Here's a picture of she and I (a super BAD angle for me!) She was so sweet and genuine. No fake, "Buy my crap and I'll be nice to you." BS. Just a real nice girl with a charming southern accent. Here she is showing us around and showing us her new products. Great stuff!

Aren't these new pearl flowers to die for?!? They look like candy!

So then, we had to leave sweet Jenni (wouldn't want her to think I was some weird stalker or anything!). We wandered over to Basic Grey and arrived to hear that Coco just ordered some of the new Lime Rickey line for Yellowbird. Yeah! Who knows when it'll actually ship but it'll be great for summer layouts. But I have to say that the best part of Basic Grey was not the paper lines. It was this.... yep! Basic Grey is now making fabric from some of their past paper lines. Dreamy stuff! Unfortunately, they were really tight with their samples and didn't have many projects out so we didn't buy any. Maybe next time...Wandering through the hall I saw this super cool display:I loved so many of the houses but didn't have time to take pictures of them all. Or even stop by her booth (Mari cracked that whip and kept me moving! ;) ) I love Claudine Hellmuth's work and now she has a new product line here which is what was used to make these houses. Then, we went over to Prima and met the wonderful, and oh-so-talented, Jen Starr. She showed us how to use Ranger's alcohol inks on all sorts of Prima products. I just loved using them on the acrylic and the transparencies.And here's some more eye-candy from Prima.Anyways, I was exhausted by the time I got home at 10:00 last night. I have so much more to share but the kids are up so I've got to step out of my scrappy world and back into the real one. Thanks for checking in!

New layouts

I'm finally scrapbooking again and it feels so good to get some pictures down on paper. I've been so busy with life (and doing other crafts --lets be honest here! ;) ) that it was nice to dedicate time to slap down some good memories. I got a ton of pictures scrapbooked last weekend but only took photos of a few. I didn't want to bore you completely!

Favorites first...
I had to document that sweet picture first. I love how it turned out and I'll have a hard time just slipping it in a book. Maybe I'll frame it...?

This next layout is of the kids with Sam's birth-grandparents. We had such a nice time together at this Christmas party. Good memories! I'm loving those velvet flowers from Maya Road. Oh! And have you seen what Maya Road has coming out for CHA?!? FABULOUS! Here's their pre-view.

My friend Cydne is going to flip over these new beauties from Maya Road!This is one of a million CHA previews! There are so many GREAT products that I don't know how I'm going to be able to remain "calm and sensible" at CHA next week. I'll be so excited! I hope I don't make a fool out of myself.... ;) But I probably will! Thanks for checking in!

Even laundry has its rewards....

Look what I found when I went to do laundry:


Sammy put the flowers in the washer for me and then (I think) forgot about them. When I asked the kids who put them in there, Sam stood up and yelled "SURPRISE!" How sweet! Moments like these make motherhood so rewarding.

Have a great day!
Christy

Something New....

Sorry I haven't been blogging much, I've been busy creating. So much to make and not enough time! Unfortunately, I haven't been scrapbooking all my great Christmas pictures.... yet. That'll be for next week. But in the meantime, I've just skipped over to Valentine's Day. Check out this sweet box. Fill it with chocolate or jewelry and its the perfect gift. For someone.... but not me. Its now for sale in my etsy shop:
I love how this box has everything from pearls and lace, to a resin frame (from Melissa Frances), and a spun glass halo (from Blumshen.com) Check out my etsy shop for more details.
My other new love: My sassy girls. Ok, sometimes these girls are a little vulgar but they're also charming and irresitable. I have over 50 different girls so I'll be posting new projects in the etsy shop over the year. These 2 are up there now.
I made this one for my sister. She's one of those people who can say a snide remark, be serious, and have a smile on her face as she insults you. And yep, she can be a crabby bitch if you don't know her well but once you get to know her.... it's true... it's just part of her charm. Happy Birthday, big Sis! I wouldn't change a thing about your crabbiness. ;)
Another bit of new news... the best news yet.... I'm going to CHA in a couple weeks! Yeah! The LSS, Yellowbird Scrapbooking, that I teach at invited me to go along and help them evaluate products. Speaking of...I have a cool acrylic class series starting soon. I'll give you more info after their class launch. Thanks for checking in!
Christy

I saw...

I had a really busy, and odd day today. I saw some weird things and taken out of context, they're hilarious. These are all true!!!

I saw....

• 3 girls take a black piglet out of the bushes in front of a bar
• A parking attendant tell me "I love you." Even weirder... the parking attendant was a woman!
  
• my husband grab the ass of a woman who is 7 months pregnant (had to be there!)
• a middle age Vietnamese woman show relaxation techniques on a toilet
• my son admire the hood emblem of a car that almost hit him in a parking lot.
• a man at Jack In the Box sneeze into a bag of food (NOT MINE!)

Tomorrow is another day. Isn't life grand?
Cheers,
Christy

Happy New Year!

Here we are... back in the routine of things. It feels so good. Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays but they exhaust me. This year was filled with so many special moments, so many great parties, so many friends, so much fun but..... honestly, my waistline and my liver need a break! I ate so many sweets this holiday season that my New Year's resolution was made for me! I don't have any huge expectations of being some sexy bikini model but I do want to drop a few pounds and get healthier. I've learned there's only one real way to do it: eat healthy and exercise. That said, I've banned food from my craft room. I wonder if that'll help...?

Anyway, just checking in to say Happy New Year! The vintage image above is from http://scrapologie.blogs.com She has a new, free vintage image posted every day. Check it out.
Cheers!
Christy