more home decor

If you know me, you know I love to use my scrapbooking supplies to make home decor projects. There are infinite possibilities! Lately, I've been making more gifts and home decor projects than actual pages. These are all gifts for some lovely ladies in my life. I won't tell you who because I don't want to spoil any surprises. ;)For this first project I found this huge board (MDF I think) at Michael's. It's about 2 1/2 feet tall and came in the shape of a house. I painted it with black chalkboard paint and added 4 "windows" that hinge open to fit 4" by 6" photos. The doorway will also hold a 4" by 6" picture. The paper on the door and the roof is from October Afternoon and that sweet little birdie is new from Prima. The rest of the paper is sheet music and paper from K & Company. I also found the picket fence at Michael's. Lovely! For my friend's sake, I hope I am able to part with it. ;)Next, I just finished 2 dress form jewelry holders. New favorites! These ladies were so much fun to make. My inspiration came from this one that I bought made by Tricia Samsal of Vintage Bliss .She taught a class at Paper Tales here in San Diego and I was sad when I couldn't go. But... I bought one of her creations (which goes perfectly in my bedroom.) and it inspired these pieces.

They sell the small dress forms at Michael's now. This one is bigger and will hold more jewelry. Off to manage the kiddos and plan a picnic for the 4th. Wish me luck!
Cheers!
Christy

Happy Birthday to ME!

Aren't birthday's fun? I'm not so old that I dread them yet. My mom and dad sent me this beautiful flower cake. It smells great and it's calorie free. PERFECT!

But since giving is always better than receiving, I have a gift for you. Below are the instructions on how to create a simple 2-sided acrylic layout. I was scheduled to teach this class at Yellowbird Scrapbooking but the owner forgot to advertise the date it was offered (no kidding!) so I chose not to teach it. You can use any papers, trims, and rub-ons that you want. You could even adapt this to a regular layout if you want.

Class Description:

If you’ve ever been a little intimidated by acrylic, this is the class for you. This class is packed with techniques and products! There’s so much you can do with acrylic and we’ll start with inking, cutting, punching, and pasting it to make this 2-sided layout. We’ll also learn about inks, adhesives, paper tearing, and how to use the Xyron create-a-sticker tool and a Crop-a-Dile.

Techniques learned in Class:

· Inking on acrylic and paper

· Adding glitter to acrylic

· Applying rubons to paper, acrylic and photos

· Adhering onto acrylic

· Cutting acrylic

· Punching and setting eyelets on acrylic using a Crop-a-Dile

· Using the Xyron create-a-sticker tool

· Paper tearing

Supplies needed:

12" by 12" acrylic piece, Staz-On white ink, brown ink (any type), Crystal Stickles, Xyron Create-a-sticker, glue dots or ATG gun, Zip dry, scissors, pop dots, and a Crop-a-Dile, 2 eyelets, trim to hang it if you wish, shaped paper to trace, 1 piece of 2 sided patterned paper, Fancy Pants rub ons, 3 white paper flowers, pearls for the flower centers, brown cardstock, and 3 4" by 6" photos.

“Dreams” Side 1

1. With the protective film still on, trace a piece of shaped paper. Cut the acrylic into that shape.
2. Remove one side of the protective film.
3. Use Staz-On white ink to ink the edges of the Acrylic. You only need to do one side.
4. Tear a large piece of the purple/green paper leaving the purple flourishes along the botton.
5. Ink the edges brown.
6. Adhere this paper, purple side up, onto the acrylic using Zip dry, glue dots or an ATG gun. You will be able to see the green side through the second side.
7. Apply the large flourish rubon to the bottom left corner. The rubon will over lap onto both the paper and the acrylic.
8. Apply small brown flourish to the right side of the paper, vertically. This will border your photo mat.
9. Beneath the brown flourish, adhere 2 white flowers. If you want, apply purple Glimmer Mist to the white flowers to match them to the paper. We used the color “True Purple.” The center will be a pearl.
10. To the left of the flower above, apply the large purple flower rubon. On top of that, adhere a white flower and a pearl center.
11. Tear a piece of brown paper to mat your photo. Either a 4” by 6” or a 5” by 7” should fit. Adhere it onto the purple paper.

Side 2

1. Remove the second side’s protective film.
2. Tear more of the purple paper and ink the edges.
3. Adhere it onto the acrylic, making sure you see the green paper from the first side.
4. Adhere lace to the bottom of the green paper’s border.
5. Adhere a small piece of velvet ribbon over the lace onto the acrylic.
6. Adhere a 5” by 7” and a 4” by 6” photo.
7. Apply Rub on quote to purple paper above the 4” by 6” photo.
8. Adhere the 3 small white flowers.

Flip over your project to side 1

1. Apply Stickles to the edge of the acrylic making a dotted pattern. Remember that stickles takes a little while longer to dry on acrylic than on paper.
2. Accent the flourish of the purple paper, the flower/flourish rubon, and the word “Dreams” with Crystal Stickles.
3. Using a Crop-a-Dile, punch holes in the top of the Acrylic sheet. Set 2 silver eyelets. (Traditional eyelet tools will not work.)

4. String ribbon through the eyelets to make a hanger. Add other ribbon pieces to the large ribbon.

Also... Today marks the day until 6 months until Christmas!!! That sent me in a bit of a panic since I'm not done scrapbooking last Christmas. Here's a new layout:

Complete with hidden journaling. ;)
Thanks for checking in! I hope you try the acrylic layout!
Cheers!
Christy

Vintage finds

One of the things I don't like about living in sunny San Diego is good vintage and antique stuff is hard to find or is WAY over-priced. I think its because the West is so much younger than the East coast and in my opinion, the demand for vintage stuff is rising. So, when we went back to visit Brentt's family in Pennsylvania, I rummaged through the flea markets. I was thrilled with how cheap everything was! Each piece of jewelery above and the embroidered hankerchief was $1. If you live near a good flea market, count your blessings! I found all this stuff at Green Dragon and Roots in Lancaster County, PA.
The old muffin tin was my Mother-in-laws. Its filled with old metal, shell, and some clay buttons. All for $3!!! That little frame (that's screaming to be guilded in gold) was a 50cent find. Below, next to the watch, are a set of clip on earrings. They are cross-stitched. Haven't seen anything like that before.

I thought this ring was an interesting piece.It's actually a locket.I paid 25 cents for each yard of vintage seam binding and rick-rack. Amazing! I'm already dreaming up projects to use this old 1902 Atlas and the vintage music book. Don't hate me when I tell you the prices....$2 each. The old kids books below were 50 cents. This, by far, was my most useful and favorite find. This beaded handbag is probably from the early 1960's and is in great shape. $8. Unbelievable!!! I used it at my MIL's wedding already.

So now that I have an idea what this great stuff costs in other parts of the country, I'm going to be much pickier when I shop around here. Are prices like this around you? I'm hoping there's deals near here that I just don't know about?

Thanks for checking in!
Christy

Holy LONG post!

Life is so busy these days! Baby fever is running rampant in our house! The crib is set up, I've been researching products, meals are pre-made and frozen, I've cleaned out closets, and the full-on nesting urges are happening. But.....no news on the adoption yet. We've just finished our home study, our "Dear Birthmother" letter is done, and now... we just wait. And wonder. And wait, and wait, and wait for a Birthmother to choose us. When we adopted Maddie we waited 9 months from when we submitted the paperwork to the day we brought her home from the hospital. With Sam, we waited 5 months. In hindsight, we didn't wait that long but the phase we're in right now seems to last FOREVER. I'm an obsessive planner. I want to know when my life is going to change. Ugh... relinquishing control to God is not one of my fortes. But I will. Who am I kidding? I am not in control! If I were, I doubt that this beautiful family would be mine!

We're also busy with other stuff. School is out and the summer chaos of swim lessons, breaking up fights, and fun with friends is in full swing. Our vacation to PA seems like so long ago. I want to share some more pictures of our trip.We went to Strasburg Railroad and had a great time riding the train through the Amish farmland. The train is from 1880-something and is restored and running. There are no screens on the windows of this old train. Sam was mesmerized and luckily, didn't fall out. This is significant if you know my son.

These are some of the views from the train.Amish boys plowing a field.Here's a short video of the train ride.

Speaking of trains... we went to an amusement park called Dutch Wonderland and Thomas the train was there.One more picture...(are you tired of them yet?!?) The best thing about Lancaster County is the Farmer's/Flea Markets. These are my favorite.... WHOOPIE PIES! Look...chocolate, red velvet, peanut butter, oatmeal and my very favorite... pumpkin! Yum!
If you are one of my Scrapbooking / Artsy blog visitors... I can't wait to show you my flea market finds from PA. Old atlases, vintage jewelery, old books, hand-embroidered hankerchiefs, buttons, and more. Come back again soon! Thanks for checking in!
Christy

Sometimes, a simple layout is better than nothing. That has been a hard lesson for me. I enjoy putting a lot of time into my layouts. These layouts didn't take the time I thought they should have. I suppose that's a good thing because my time is so precious these days but.... I feel like something in the creative process was left out. Hmmm... just something new to complain about I suppose. ;) Here are my latest layouts:
I have lots of pent-up creativity so come back soon!
Cheers,
Christy

Our (simplified) love story

Once upon a time....(13 years ago).... I met a guy in a bar in Tijuana, Mexico.I quit college in Minnesota and moved to San Diego to be with this guy I met on Spring break. My parents thought I was crazy! I was! We dated and fell in love.10 years ago, we got married.

We traveledand adopted our first baby, Madeleine. Then, we adopted Sammy.

My how the years fly by! Life has been good for us. And they will live happily ever after. Or that's the plan anyway.
Happy Anniversary, honeybear!

I hope you got a few laughs over the old photos.
Cheers,
Christy

I laughed so hard...

Hi there-
We just got back from being on vacation to PA for about 2 weeks. I'm up to our eyeballs in laundry but I just had to share this video. (sorry its sideways--Yes, I am a dork!)
One of the things I love most about being a parent is watching a child learn something new. In this instance, Sam learned that it's not a good idea to run when you're dizzy. A little cruel, but Brentt and I laughed SO hard!