Every year, for as long as I can remember, my Aunt Dixie has grown a HUGE garden. Seriously, her garden is enormous! I asked my husband to describe Dixie’s garden and he simply said, “Dixie-normous”.

Exactly.

Dixie is also an amazing cook; no one can cook veggies like her…and veggies fresh from the garden, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

My cousin, Rebecca, took these photos of Dixie and some fresh picked vegetables from her garden, last year at our Wolfe Family Reunion.

I dream of having a garden as big as Dixie’s, imagine how much money she saves on groceries each year!

If there was a green thumb award, Dixie would win!

xoxo, Christie

I must admit, steampunk is quite a stretch for me. When assigned projects for the Scrap N Art Steampunk Issue, I knew that I would be stretching myself further than I have had to in the past.  Although Steampunk is still not my forte, I did enjoy coming up with some ‘out of the box’ projects.

This is my little Steampunk Angel (the product I used was Graphic 45, Steampunk Debutante).

And here is my mended broken heart (the product I used was BoBunny, Timepiece):

After all was said and done, I was in charge of writing an article for the Steampunk Issue called, “Let’s Explore Steampunk”.

As you well know, writing is not my thing. I’m just SO bad at it.

Luckily, Scrap N Art has a wonderful editor.

This is the quote that I found most helpful in understanding what Steampunk is:

“Imagine a world where electricity never became viable. Where Tesla never experimented and
Einstein stayed a patent clerk. Take Victorian sensibility, with mad-scientist speculation and
inject a bit of sci-fi . A world powered by steam and gears where flight is through the majestic
zeppelin and brass is more populace than steel. “– Min [Tribe Forum]

I’m in Provo this weekend visiting my grandmother. We were planning on attending the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point but this morning we awoke to snow!

Snow? Spring? Maybe we’ll go see a movie…

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope that you have a beautiful weekend!

xoxo, Christie

We’re still in Vegas and still having fun!

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While I’m away….

Here’s a little card I created using some My Minds Eye paper from ‘the stash’. There’s a bit of Shimmerz on the card…Anchor’s Away.

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Here’s a little mini banner (it was hard to photograph). It reads:

LOVE TO CREATE

Each section of this banner is only 2 inches high. Definitely mini.

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My sweet little Nephew, Cooper turned ONE on April fools day!

Cooper with his parents:

A sweet little family…

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OK…off to explore more of Vegas!

xoxo, Christie

Today is the day! Did you win?

Before I begin…

THANK YOU! I am so grateful for all of your lovely comments, they mean so much to me. I appreciate you taking time to leave such thoughtful remarks. I wish I could send a prize package to every single one of you!

Not to worry…I have another giveaway coming up this month, promise you’ll love it!

Without further ado,

the random winners are…

Prize Package #1 ($115 value) goes to:

SuZeQ

“Sigh. Last day, last chance. This is certainly one of the most generous giveaways ever. Thank you so much! Crossing my fingers here …”

Prize Package #2 ($60 value) goes to:

Sue

“no you are kidding – I am gutted you are stepping down I love your G45 projects

…..and to choose mmmmm not really sure I can – I LOVED Le Romantic the Bride LO and the gorgeous dainty chandelier, and of course The Travel banner with all the circles oh my goodness how do you chose?

Ok well I adore the tiny Domestic Goddess mini banner – just so cute and I am sure looks even better in real life so yes that is my choice – I think lol xxxx”

Prize Package #3 ($50 value) goes to:

Cathy Rothwell

“Wow, how can I pick one when they are so wonderful? I guess I will have to let my heart rule and pick the Judy Garland piece. You see, I lost my mother and best friend last August. She lived with me for the last 11 years of her life and I had the honor of caring for her in her last hours. We shared a love of musicals and anything with Judy in it was a favourite. Anytime I hear “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” it takes me back to happier times when she was young and strong and I was her little girl. Cathy R.”

Prize Package #4 ($50 value) goes to:

Michelle L.

“Sorry to hear your stepping down – glad you have a blog we can still follow! Favorite?? Really! I really like the bride lo and the princess hat with butterflies… Then again, Darling is a cutie LO!”

If you are a lucky winner please email your snail-mail address to:

christie@prettypaperbook.com

Check back soon for my “Creative Christie” kit giveaway!

Thanks again for all of your lovely comments.

xoxo, Christie

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I absolutely LOVE a black, white & red combo.

But I also love a black, pink & green combo {grin}.

Don’t forget about my going…

OUT WITH A BANG GIVEAWAY!

Comments are open until the 31st.

Have a lovely day!

xoxo, Christie

A little wedding gift…

When this layout was finished, I placed it inside a shadowbox.

I love banners.

It’s a bit obvious.

Just in case you’ve missed it (or want to enter again)….

My Graphic 45 OUT WITH A BANG GIVEAWAY is still on until the 31st!

Have a happy day!

xoxo, Christie

Those who visit my blog often know that I LOVE Graphic 45!  I have enjoyed being on their amazing design team since right after they released their first two lines, Baby 2 Bride (still my favorite) and Times Nouveau. Sadly, I am moving on and did not try out for the Graphic 45 2011 Design Team. It was a very tough decision because I absolutely love the product and the lovely family-owned & operated company. I adore Diane Shultz and her lovely daughters, Amiee and Charee. Although I dislike the idea of no longer playing a part in the Graphic 45 Company, I am confident that I will have much more time for a variety of important things…family, travel, home schooling, etc.

In honor of my time with spent Graphic 45

I’m going out with a BANG!

BANG meaning that I am giving away

FOUR GRAPHIC 45 PRIZE PACKAGES!

Provided by yours truly

~oOo~

PRIZE PACKAGE #1:

Chipboard Button Staples, Envelope Tag Staples, Flower Staples, 8×8 Once Upon a Springtime paper pad, 8×8 On the Boardwalk paper pad, 12×12 Steampunk Debutante paper pad, 12×12 Hallowe’en in Wonderland paper pad, 12×12 Proper Gentleman paper pad and 12×12 Graphic 45 Core Impressions from Core’dinations paper pad. PRIZE PACKAGE VALUED AT $115

~oOo~

PRIZED PACKAGE #2:

Sticker Staples, Alphabet Sticker Staples, Flower Staples, Chipboard Button Staples, Envelope Tag Staples, Black Policy Envelope Album Staples, Craft Envelope Album Staples, Hampton Art Graphic 45 Le Cirque Cling Stamps and Hampton Art Graphic 45 Vintage Ladies Cling Stamps. PRIZE PACKAGE VALUED AT $60.00

~oOo~

PRIZE PACKAGE #3:

8×8 Hallowe’en in Wonderland paper pad, 12×12 On the Boardwalk paper pad, 12×12 A Proper Gentleman paper pad. PRIZE PACKAGE VALUED AT $50.00

~oOo~

PRIZE PACKAGE #4:

8×8 Le Romantique paper pad, 12×12 On the Boardwalk paper pad, 12×12 A Proper Gentleman paper pad. PRIZE PACKAGE VALUED AT $50.00

How do you enter to win?

Tell me which of the following of my Graphic 45 projects is YOUR favorite:

Only one comment per person, per day please.

Comments will close on March 31st, 2011.

All for WINNERS will be announced on APRIL 1st, 2011.

Judy Garland.  Fabulous. Beautiful. Amazing.

I remember the first time I watched The Wizard of Oz, I was instantly in love with her voice.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow was the first song I sang to my daughter, Izabelle when she was just a little over 2 pounds and in the ICU, born almost 3 months early.

To this day, I still sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow to Izabelle; It used to be her bedtime song, today I only sing it to her upon request.

I am still known to break out The Wizard of Oz, among others…A Star is Born, Babes on Broadway…Just love Judy Garland.

I absolutely LOVE this new Graphic 45 line called, Curtain Call. Can you imagine how gorgeous it could be with some red accents?

The design team was asked to keep our projects within the color scheme of the line…so no red for now but just you wait!

I had a lot of fun making paper flowers and adding glitter…loads of glitter.

This photo of my grandmother is so fantastic!  I love that she looks like a movie star…so beautiful!

Another paper flower…

And more glitter on those peacock feathers.

The DT was also asked to make a paper LP with this line…this was my take:

Yes, yes. More glitter.

I’m hanging out in California this week – it’s absolutely gorgeous here!  I’m in heaven.

When we left Idaho it was 12 degrees (brrrr).  We’ve traded our measly 12 degrees for the wonderfully warm 75 degrees of Northern California.

Here’s a few shots I took of us enjoying the gorgeous weather today:

Yes, Parker is wearing flip-flops (and holstered cap-guns).  Craziness!

My gorgeous daughter (gush).

Bidwell Park.

Look!  No snow! It’s a miracle!

My adorable niece, Addie.

Holy moly she’s cute!

Izabelle goofing off with my sweet niece, Kayla (another gorgeous girl).

One can actually see the grass here.  And can you believe that my sister-in-law has already started here garden?  How am I to return to c-c-cold Idaho next Monday?

Enjoying California,

Christie xx

This little project was so fun to create!

I used the 8×8 inch Once Upon a Springtime paper pad instead of the larger 12×12 inch sheets.

I love that all the prints and little fairies are so tiny on the 8×8 inch paper pad.

This little party hat was only about 6 inches tall (plus a few more inches for the fairies flying above).

I used A LOT of glitter on my projects for CHA. Love glitter.

The feel of this line is so soft and pretty, perfect for a baby’s room…baby shower, etc.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I hope that you have a WONDERFUL weekend!

xoxo, Christie