I have always admired my little sister, she’s naturally a cowgirl. Born that way. I love horses myself but I enjoy petting them more than riding them.

My dad and Emilee often ride together, they’ve got a kind of ‘horse-bond’…for lack of a better word. They connect on a different level…a horse level?

Anyhoo…

Emilee has always been good to let Izabelle ride her horses. In the layout below Izabelle and her friends, Marianne and Alisha (The Three Musketeers) are riding Emilee’s horse, Buddy.

Buddy was Emilee’s very first horse.

The girls definitely felt like cowgirls, for sure.

I’ve got another busy weekend ahead…be sure to check back for my final Summer Stash Giveaway.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

xoxo, Christie

It’s gonna be a bright, sunshiny day!

My niece, Addie is SO much fun! So sweet, energetic and just darn adorable.

I created this layout using American Crafts Carstock and Thickers for the July issue of  Scrap-n-Art Magazine.

My kiddos had a great first few days of school…so far, so good. It was difficult for me when the kids started school this year, I thought I would be a little more excited about the extra ‘free time’ on my days off work but the house has been so quiet now that the kids are gone most of the day. I’ve been spending more time at the gym, going into work early, cleaning…I even went and picked up my nephew, Cooper and played with him for awhile. I’m sure that I’ll be back to the normal happy-to-have-free-time person again soon, not to worry.

This weekend…

I’m visiting my grandmother in Utah, it’s always wonderful to spend time with her.

I hope you have something special planned this weekend too!

xoxo, Christie

Girls love crowns. They really do.

Last September, we spent Labor Day weekend at my aunt Dixie’s house. Dixie hosted a Wolfe Family “Cousin” Reunion. It was so wonderful to see family that I had not had a chance to visit with in years.

My mom and I brought along an arts & crafts box to help occupy the little ones…the crowns were a hit!

Girls love crowns. They also love decorating crowns.

And sometimes boys do too…

On another note…

The kids started school today, here’s a shot of them as they left the house:

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

xoxo, Christie

I {heart} Cosmo Cricket, especially their Circa 1934 line.

I love the muted blues and yellows mixed with red and black.

Do you know what else I love?

My family.

It’s so hard to get photos of the four of us together. Usually, it’s the kids and I in a photo or Dan and the kids…or just the kids.

…or just Dan and I.

Recently, on one of our many trips to Island Park this Summer, I handed my camera over a few times trying to get a decent family photo.

Every single photo that was taken is hilarious.

One of us is either making some sort of goofy face (the kids do this on purpose, Dan and I…not so much) or is blinking and has fly away hair. Ridiculous.

I think I may have to bite the bullet and get some professional family photos taken.

My little family may not make it into many photos together but at least we’re bound together in love.

…and in this little mini album.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

xoxo, Christie

Izabelle was so excited to get her braces on last June. She’s not as excited these days…brushing, rubber bands, tightening, etc.

But from my point of view, her braces are AMAZING! Izabelle has only had her braces on for a little over a month and her smile has already changed!

I love this girl! I was born to be her mom. Izabelle is such a unique, spunky, creative, witty and beautiful girl.

Lately, Izabelle has been my little shadow. She walks with me, cooks with me, crafts with me…best of all: she talks to me…I mean really talks to me. She tells me about her everyday comings and goings, about what’s annoying her at the moment, she shares her ideas and she tells me about her dreams.

It is my wish that her and I stay close.

I know the day will come when she won’t want to spend so much time with me…when silly best friends and teenage boys enter the picture…but for now, I am loving every minute spent with her.

xoxo, Christie

Last April, 0ur family celebrated Parker’s 14th Birthday at the Rain Forest Cafe in Las Vegas.

Parker ordered the Volcano Cake for dessert.

The cake was HUGE and delicious!

Parker loves this layout.

It make me happy when my kids enjoy the scrapbook pages I create. They’re the main reason I scrapbook…and I love playing with paper.

It’s my hubby’s birthday tomorrow…I have some fun things planned. YAHOO!

I hope that YOU have a fun-tabulous weekend!

xoxo, Christie

WARNING: This is a photo heavy post.

In June May Arts Ribbon sponsored Scrap n’ Art magazine and I received a box packed full of GORGEOUS May Arts trims. I was more than ecstatic, I was over the moon!

Here are some layouts that I created using May Arts Ribbon.

“The Little Things”

I used May Arts ribbon and lace along with My Minds Eye paper.

“The Face of an Angel”

Using May Arts ribbon and Pink Paislee paper.

“Baking Bread”

Using May Arts ribbon and lace, Echo Park paper and I tried to hand bead on cardstock.

My family and I spent some of our 4th of July weekend in Island Park at the Crabtree Family Cabin, it’s such a beautiful place.

There were piggy back rides.

Playing in the gorgeous green grass.

Riding on the back of Uncle Larry’s golf cart.

I spy a butterfly…

A game of horseshoes.

Some mild kayaking.

And some canoeing…

And a lot of Aunt Christie following Cooper around.

Cooper = cute photos.

Cooper with his pregnant mommy. Nephew #2 on the way…

We had an eventful weekend, we even attended a Rodeo (my first) it was nuts!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful week!

xoxo, Christie

Seriously. This kid needs to stop growing.

Parker is now taller than me and has a DEEP voice.

Holy moly!

To create the above layout, I used the June 2011 Studio Calico kit. It’s made up of only Studio Calico kit contents, with the exception of the yellow thickers and yellow floss (used for stitching).

Do you have fun plans for this weekend? I sure do!

These photos were taken at our local splash park. My nephew, Cooper was so happy playing in the water with my kiddos.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

For those of you stateside, happy 4th!

Here’s to BBQ, lemonade, bright colored lights, and lots of laughter.

A special ’shout out’ to the men and women who defend our beautiful country. We love and appreciate you.

xoxo, Christie

P.S. You can still enter to win the Summer Stash Giveaway #3!

These are the layouts that I have been working on for Scrap n’ Art Magazine.

I’ve been busy.

The Layouts that I create for Scrap n’ Art have to be published for at least one month before I can share them here on my blog, this means I can share my June layouts soon!

Thank you for the sweet comments you’ve been leaving, I really appreciate them.

More on my Summer Stash Giveaways…

I will be having them all Summer Long, so odds are, if you hang around long enough you will win something.

It’s a beautiful 80 degrees here in Idaho today. LOVE this weather!

I hope that it’s beautiful where you are too.

xoxo, Christie

I originally designed this American Crafts cardstock flower tutorial for Scrap n’ Art Magazine.

After I posted my layout last month, I realized that you had to have a membership to view the tutorial. Oops.

I do have to say, though, Scrap n’ Art memberships are only $2 a month (not bad, eh).

With that said, here is my version of the cardstock flower:

You will need:

Cardstock (duh)

Scalloped punch (I used Stampin’ Up’s)

Paper piercer

Brad

Cardstock Flower Tutorial

1. Punch out three scalloped circles:

2. One scallop at a time, crumple and smooth out each scalloped circle several times until it becomes soft.

3. Once the scalloped circle is soft, you can separate the cardstock into two layers (as seen below).

4. Repeat step 2 and 3 with your remaining to scalloped circles.

5. You should now have six scalloped circles. Stack your circles, fuzzy side up.

6.  Pierce a whole through the middle of your scalloped circle stack.

7. Attach a brad through the hole (the color of your brad doesn’t matter unless you want it to show).

8. Begin folding each layer around the brad…

…until all layers are folded around the brad.

9. Peel each layer back until it resembles a flower.

Simple, right?

I added a bit of glitter to these flowers:

And here is what they looked like on my “Forever Friend” layout:

Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo, Christie