Pretty Paper Blog

A little stitching around the cupcake…

…makes for good use of Collage Press scraps.

And in other news…

We had a little impromptu get together with my kids and their cousins (for Alyssa’s Birthday).

My sweet little cousin, Alyssa, is 13 years old today.

The kids build a fort using about 25 blankets.  They plan to sleep there tonight.

This photo does not do the tent justice, it literally fills up the whole back room of my house.

They had a blast building the tent.  It’s so fun to watch kids be kids, to hear their laughter and to be surrounded by little girls.

I think Parker likes being surrounded by girls too!

I just picked up the Sweet Shoppe Collection by, Collage Press.  The Sweet Shoppe line is just perfect for Birthday Photos!

I decided to create a page using a photo I took of Izabelle on her 8th birthday:

I hand stitched the word “EIGHT” and used the die-cuts that came with the Sweet Shoppe Collection, it also came with the big circles -what a fun line!

My son, Parker has a favorite show.  It’s called,

Avatar, The Last Airbender

The main Character is a little boy named Ang.  Ang has blue arrows on this head, arms, legs & back.

Just the other day I walked into Parker’s room, this is what I found:

It’s no surprise that when I tried to use my blue pen today it was out of ink.

A little about our recent happenings…

Izabelle made this lovely piñata cake for the “Fiesta Fun” themed end of year school Carnival Cake Contest. Belle didn’t win first prize but she sure had fun making it.  Those are strips of Fruit By The Foot (fruit roll ups) cut up to look like paper mache.

The school gave the cakes away at the Carinval Cake Walk.  Izabelle’s piñata cake was a hit!

As per request (eh hem, Cheryl), a few photos of Chester the kitten.

Chester was sleeping…the purrrfect moment to get a photo of his cute little paws (these are the back two).

This is Chester, passed out.  Izabelle was trying to wake him up.  I didn’t work.

An update on our garden (photo taken by Parker).   We’re weeding near the corn (thanks for the help Babs).  We have all sorts of fun veggies coming in!  So exciting!

Here’s the prize that Barbara found near her compost pile:

Turkey eggs!

I have some cards and projects to share soon.  I also have a “300th Post” prize coming up.  I think this is post 291?  Not sure.  Anyway…it’s getting close.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.  I promise I’ll be visiting all your blogs and catching up on what you’ve been up to.

xoxo, Christie

May today be filled with the joys of Motherhood.  May you feel loved and appreciated, for your job is the most important of all.

Just a few of the mothers that I adore.  I wish I could picture them all.

To all Mother’s that read my blog, please know that you are special to me.  Today is your day - enjoy it!

Love, Christie

***Pictured above from left to right:

My mother, Diane. My grandmother, Louise.  My mother-in-law, Nancy with her mother, Alice. My sister-in-law, Vanessa.  My longtime gal pals, Laura and Carrie.

Remember this post?  The post about the gorgeous layout that Candy created for me.

In return I created the above layout for her.

Both of our layouts are featured on the Graphic 45 Blog today, check it out HERE.

Here’s a few close-ups of the layout I created for Candy:

This is the first time I’ve ever done a “Photo Swap” it was really fun!  I feel like it pushed me to be a little more creative than usual.

Have you ever swapped photos with someone or worked with friends photos before?  What’s your take on it?  Did it make you feel more creative?

Oh, I almost forgot…I have a couple of Relay For Life photos.

Izabelle joined me, she worked in the booth and walked with me too.  It was so nice to have the mother-daughter time.  I feel like she learned a lot (and so did I).

Working the booth:

The Luminaria Ceremony:

I loved to see the community get together to support such a great cause.  Have you ever participated in Relay For Life?

Meet Chester, the newest member of our family.

He’s a little furball and so, so fun!

Parker and Izabelle were so surprised!

I came home from work on Saturday with Chester, it was love at first sight.

Love, love, love.

Do you remeber the first day with a childhood pet?  I sure do.

Christmas morning 1980.  Our new puppy, Ginger.  I was 4 years old.

I absolutely love this photo of my parents.  I had to scrapbook it.  It was taken right after they arrived home from their honeymoon.

The Journaling on this layout reads:

Here’s a couple close up photos:

Today my little boy not turns 12 and has turned to the Dark Side of THE FORCE.

Long gone are the sweet, inocent Blue’s Clues days.  Now it’s all dark masks and heavy breathing.

Darth Parker.

Darth Parker has also shown his sister the “Power of the Dark Side”.

I know he hasn’t really become Darth Parker.  But it’s fun to pretend.

Happy Birthday sweet boy!  Mom loves you!

If you read my previous post, you know how much fun my family had out at Roads End (aka Barbara’s Property).

When Barb offered to let my family plant a garden next to her’s, we jumped at the opportunity!

Dan and I ran out and bought a bunch of seeds and seedlings. That very weekend we were out at Barbara & Jim’s house planting seeds.

Jim taught Parker how to use the Tiller, Parker had a blast.

Barb helped us set up our rows and then we were off!

Dan had fun using Barb’s little pink trowel.  Aw, so sweet…er, I mean…dig, baby, dig!

I think the kids had more fun riding around with Jim on his four-wheeler than they did planting a garden.  Jim’s so cool, he even let the kids drive!  He’s a little braver than I.

When all was said and done, Izabelle wiped her forehead and said,

“Wow, that was hard work, but it was worth it!”

I think the photo of her (above) planting corn was about the only time she participated.  Whew, she’s right. It was hard work.

Silly girl.

PS - Thanks Baabs!  You’re the best!