My adorable, sweet friend Courtney is moving away.

She’s leaving Idaho and heading to Washington.

Courtney is the one crafty friend that I have made while living in Idaho.

We bonded immediately.

Last night, Courtney stopped by my house.

She gave me this beautiful personalized, handmade quilt.

Ah.Maze.Ing!

Courtney is fabulous!

And I will miss her more than words.

It hurts to think about.

So, for now I won’t.

She leaves Friday.

And Thursday I will help her pack.

Look, she even added little yo-yo’s!

Courtney said that it needed “embellishments”.

She knows how much I love embellishements.

I love you Courtney.

I am going to miss you so much.

Thank you for this beautiful quilt

and for the gift of your friendship.

Honeysuckle Periwinkle (or Vinca) has to be one of the most fun flowers for children.

It was for me.

And it is for my children.

***My sweet sister, Vanessa brought to my attention that these flowers are not honeysuckle, they’re Vinca.  Oops.

They grew in my Grandma Wolfe’s front yard, around her cherry tree, my cousins told me they were called Honeysuckle, I believed them…and have been calling them honeysuckle every since.

A little link about Periwinkle (Vinca): HERE

While we were in California couple weeks ago, I took some photos of my kids walking through Bidwell Park.  The honeysuckle Vinca was in bloom everywhere and it quickly became the center of attention in my photographs.

I loved how the photos turned out, and wanted to showcase them in a different way…

This is where the Fancy Pants frame comes into play:

I purchased this Fancy Pants frame at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique, during last year’s National Scrapbook Day Crop.  I know, I know, it took me a full year to actually play with it.

What came as a surprise to me was that the background is acrylic.  I simply bought it for the shadowbox factor.  Can you believe that this frame sat in my craft room for a year, boldly stating that it was acrylic and I never noticed?  Yes, I’m a little daft don’t you think?

When I brought out my honeysuckle Vinca photos to play with, I finally felt inspired to use my Fancy Pants frame.

Here’s what I came up with:

I didn’t use any paper….just some Making Memories Vintage Finding’s embellishments, some Prima flowers and a few other misc. embellishments.  The whole thing came together in about an hour.  And I love the acrylic background.

Here’s a look at a few details:

I love Easter.

Easter is a day filled with family, love, and to remembrance of the resurrection.

And of course…a few hidden eggs might find their way into Izabelle and Parker’s Easter Buckets.

May be you be blessed with love, friendship and family today and everyday.

I tried to take some close-up photo of the tags I made for the G45 Chandelier.  I’m almost thinking that I need to remove the tags to take individual photos.

These photos will do for now, I guess.

I hope that you’re all having a fabulous Monday!

xoxo, Christie

Earlier in the week my mom, my sister and I invited some lovely women over for a baby shower.  My sister-in-law, Kristin’s baby shower!

I made a simple banner for Kristin’s shower using the Making Memories Just Chillin‘ Line. The banner came together really quickly:

My mom and I also put together  a little diaper cake for Kristin:

It was our first time making one, and I can say that it seem as though it would’ve been a lot harder making one alone.  It was nice to have four hands instead of two, especially when were were putting rubber bands around rolled up diapers and tying ribbon.

We made little roses out of wash cloths:

I loved the monkey on the top…Kristin is decorating the baby’s room in a Jungle Theme.

Here’s some of the goodies we made:

Cherry Chip Cupcakes…

White Chocolate Peanut butter Krispie Cookies (yum):

Sweet and Salty Popcorn (made with sugar, butter & vanilla…ooo la la):

We had tons of fun!  I think Kristin liked it to…

You can barely see her baby bump in this photo (it’s hiding behind her knees).  That’s my nephew in there!

I created this little “Joy” Garland for the Paradise Scrapbook Boutique Gift Workshop.

Although, now I wish that I would’ve put some glitter on the red “JOY” letters.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Right?

I used the New Bo Bunny St. Nick Collection.

I created something similar last Christmas using Graphic 45 and Making Memories.

I just love this new Bo Bunny paper and HAD to use it.

I think Karen at PSB might have a few more “Joy Garland” kits available.

If you’re interested Karen’s contact information is HERE.

If you do decided that you want a Joy Garland and there actually are some left…

Please, for the love of all things good, add some glitter to the red letters.

I promise, you won’t be sorry.

I love close-ups!

Here’s wishing you a very, very merry Christmas season.

Don’t forget about Blog, Bid, Hope.  There’s still a few more hours left…

OK.  Here’s where I get to brag about my sweet, sweet husband, Dan.

Dan is the Senior Programmer for THIS company.  The man has skills.  Skills which I completely took advantage of (he lets me because I’m his wife).

Me: Dan, I’d really like to create a new banner.

Dan: Cool.

Me: I have a specific idea which requires your expertise.

Dan: Cool.

Me: So can you help me.

Dan: Yep.

It was that easy.  I asked for a banner that I could upload images to and change them as often as I choose.

Dan made it happen.  As I said before.  He’s a sweet, sweet man.

Take for instance this special feature:  If you click on any photo it automatically shows up in Light box.  And if there is more than one photo in the post an arrow will appear for you, the blog reader, to browse on through the photos.  Pretty darn nifty, aye?

I’ll upload a few more photos of the treat tags I made for Emilee’s Wedding…that way you can give it a try.  Start by clicking on the next photo, you’ll be happy you did.

Did you like it?  I hope so.

Also, each photo in my blog banner links to the post it belongs to.  If you see something you like or missed in the banner, it’s just a click away.  Before you leave here today you should “click” around. Take a browse and tell me what you think!

My husband is great, isn’t he?

_________________

Here’s a little of what I’ve been up to the past couple of days (Food Prep for Emilee’s Wedding):

Homemade Divinity.

Homemade Chocolate Fudge

Homemade Peanut Butter Fudge.

‘Tis the Season!

I’ve finished making the “Landon” banner for Emilee’s Wedding Reception.

I’m loving her colors…I have silver glitter ALL over (glitter shows up in odd places).

I tried to get a photo of the whole thing but it’s HUGE! So, I took individual photos of each letter.

I’ll be sure to take some photos of the banner hanging at her reception.

Here’s a look:

I strung a snowflake in between each letter and on each end.

I also used a crystal garland to add that “somin’-somin’”

Here’s a closer look at the details:

That’s it!  I hope that Emilee likes it!

Stay tuned…I’ll be posting photos of the Guest Book I made for Emilee soon.

September 23rd is my Grandmother’s birthday.

This beautiful woman is so very special to me.  There are so many wonderful things to love about my amazing grandmother…I could go on and on.  My Grandma Crabtree is fabulous!

I made this little wall hanging for her and shipped it off in the mail.  I thought she might get a kick out of her new wings.

And let’s not forget her crown…for she is the queen of so many glorious things!

I thought this quote said it all:

“It is not in the face. It is a light in the heart.  I will let my light shine.”

My Grandma Crabtree’s light shines so bright, I feel the warmth of her sweet spirit whenever we’re together.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

My amazing friend Barb, (a very creative woman indeed) made this for me:

And my “so sweet you could eat”, creative friend Cheryl, made this for me:

And yet another brilliantly creative woman, Karen, made this card for me:

I’m such a lucky woman!  It’s good to have creative friends!

I already miss my scrapbooking pals!  I was surrounded by such amazing, creative women on a regular basis. Each woman so unique and beautiful, each one special to me.

My friend, Diana H., summed it up in a comment (about Karen) on THIS post:

Diana, also a wonderfully creative woman, has a way with words.

You said it sister.

…

These lovely, talented women have blogs, they’re just a click away.  Check them out:

Barbara’s Blog: Road’s End

Cheryl’s Blog: Crafty Hands

Karen’s Blog: Paradise Scrapbook Boutique

Linda’s Blog: Craft Junkie

…

Thank you to all my lovely scrappin’ pals at PSB!  I am so inspired by all of you.  And thank you for the lovely gifts and cards!