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!

Our BIG news!

Have you ever wanted something so badly that your heart ached? Have you ever wanted something so badly that you had NO CONTROL over? Then, the realization comes that no matter how hard you work at it, your dream will never come true. I have been there. For me, it was the lowest I've ever been. Rock bottom. That's what infertility is like. It's a desperate, humbling place. It sucks. ....and then... your dream changes. In our case, we decided we would rather be parents than be pregnant. Our dream of a pregnancy was an empty dream with no hope, only frustration and desperation. Our dream of parenthood was full of hope, excitement, and joy. We adopted both Maddie and Sam through open adoption. They were awesome experiences. And in the end, what you get is better than your dream come true! So, I tell you that story to tell you our big news. Our sad story of infertility has turned into a happy life of parenthood. We are so grateful for all that we have yet... we think someone is missing.

We have decided to adopt another baby!

The heartache and longing for a third child has been there for a while. Now, we're acting on it and couldn't be happier! We've just about finished our home study. Our "Dear Birthmother" letter is ready to show birthmoms. We're just waiting for a birthmother to chose us to be the parents of her baby. This could take 2 weeks or 2 years. Who knows! So we are preparing our home, our hearts, and our lives for our next, and last, baby. Here's a recent picture of the 4 of us. I'm hoping the next picture we have of all of us includes our new baby. We do not know how we will meet our baby's birthmother. More than likely, it'll be through our facilitator at the Adoption Center of San Diego. But if you know someone who is considering adoption, please send them our blog or email address. I'll work on putting our letter on the blog soon. Any prayers and happy thoughts you can send our way are greatly appreciated. We can't wait to be parents again!

Take care,
Christy

Mother's Day

I wish Mother's Day were everyday. It was so great! I got to sleep in. Brentt got the kids dressed (albeit in dirty clothes) and made a good breakfast. Then, I was showered with gifts and got this wonderful concert:




If you are a Momma, I hope you had a day filled with love and appreciation for all your hard work. It is mostly a thankless job, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! I am so lucky to be married to this wonderful guy and have these two loving babies. God is good!
Christy

"Life is short when the days are long."

There's a new website called Crop Chocolate. It has one scrapbook deal a day and the item is usually drastically discounted. Its sort of like woot.com except its only for scrapbook stuff. I check it every day because there's a different deal each day. So far, they've only had Making Memories stuff. I bought a fabulous shelf for my scrap room, an album and this box. No, it did not look like this when I bought it. It was plain white and BORING. Now it looks like this:

I collaged the top and sides using vintage papers, a new K& Company paper, some 7 Gypsies atc cards, and pages from my beloved 1887 French hymnal (I knew it had to be used for something special!). The messages of Hope, Dream, Bliss, and Love are special words that simply make me happy. The peony reminds me of the peonies on the farm. I love the milinery flowers tucked in. I found those at Papertales. I think the pearls add a dreamy, nostalgic touch.
I heard this quote recently, "Life is short when the days are long." It seems so applicable to my life right now. My days often seem so long with the kids, errands, cleaning, paperwork, cooking, and life in general. But at the same time, life seems to be speeding up. The years are starting to fly by and I feel like I'm grasping at time. I'm trying to cherish moments that fly by too quickly. This quote is a nice reminder to just appreciate everyday.
Thanks for visiting! Enjoy your weekend!
Christy

How I spent National Scrapbook Day

Yep, there's a special holiday for us special people. I don't really need a holiday to celebrate but all the deals and fun the stores have sure is great. I went to Papertales last night and the party was hopping! The store was packed and everyone was having a great time. The ambiance is so jovial and light in there all the time. They were also celebrating their one year anniversary so they had a special gift for all the customers. Isn't she lovely?!?
They have some hard-to-find stuff and I was ECSTATIC to find they had the new, oh-so-hard-to-get October Afternoon lines. I couldn't decide between the Cherry Hill line or the Ducks in a Row line. Isn't it all lovely?!? This stuff was just flying off the shelves since I think Papertales is one of the first stores anywhere to get it. My favorite is on this sticker sheet from their baby line. There's a little saying that says, "We've been waiting for you!" So appropriate for adoption and its gender neutral... sort of... I love it!
There were so many celebrations at all the local scrapbook stores today too but I choose to go to Springfest with the kids instead. They were exhausted so I registered for a free online class from Lisa Pace. I've heard a lot about her and I love her vintage style so I was happy I could do a free class and try it out. This is what I made during the kids' naptime.
I couldn't believe how quickly it came together. Its one of the most meaningful and symbolic things I created. I still want to put a ribbon and some flowers along the bottom of the frame but I'm out of the brown satin ribbon I want to use. Here's the story of my creative journey:

These are the "keys" to our family's happiness. The first is love...

and faith (a small poem about having faith and leaning on God when times are rough)
The top 10 characteristics I want our family to strive for. My sister found this button in an old house on my parent's farm. To me, it symbolizes my past. The twine symbolizes the farm I grew up on and how much I love it.These flowers symbolize our family. The 2 larger flowers are the parents, and the 3 little flowers are the children. Of course, one of those flowers is yet to "bloom" so for now, it symbolizes our hope and optimism.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my creative journey. I LOVED Lisa Pace's workshop today and would recommend it to everyone. I'll definitely take another of her classes.

Cheers!
Christy