Goof.

No kidding.

I absolutely DO NOT like having my photograph taken. It’s really hard to get out from behind the camera and let someone take a photo of me; when I do let someone take a photo, I’m usually goofing off.

Case and point.

One of my new year’s resolutions was to include myself in our family scrapbook, another was to use papers from my stash.

With this layout, I accomplished both.

Loving the new Shimmerz Coloringz, I used them to create the title and background. I also had A LOT of fun with my sewing machine. Maybe I went a little overboard.

If I stick to my resolution, you’ll be seeing more ‘Christie’ layouts in the near future. Heaven help you.

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo, Christie

I’ve been homeschooling Parker these past couple of weeks.  It’s been interesting for sure.

A lot easier than I thought it would be but a lot more time consuming too.

These photos of Parker were taken while we were in California, he saved up some money to purchase the cap guns he had seen on our previous visit.

An elephant never forgets.

Parker never forgets.

Never forgetting is a common trait for Autistic children, Parker is no acception. He has an amazing ability to remember every word, sound, date and object that he is interested in. It sure comes in handy with school work, he’s absolutely brilliant! And I’m not just saying that because I’m his mom (wink).

I wanted to share my excitement about a recent publication in Christmas 365:

I created this Christmas banner over a year ago for the Jan  2010 CHA.

It was fun to pick the magazine up off the rack and open right up to the two page spread.

The magazine included directions too, pretty neat.

The banner itself was REALLY long. Here’s a couple of photos that I took awhile back:

I had sewn circles together using my sewing machine and then sewn the circles to the ribbon & banner.

Pretty simple, really.

The snow has finally started melting here in Idaho…cross your fingers that it lasts!

Have a fabulous day!

xoxo, Christie

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 love the beautiful My Minds Eye paper. It’s so sparkly and delicious to look at.

The paper comes pre-glittered, what’s not to love about that?

I already had some red thread in my sewing machine…so I added a little stitching to the next couple of cards.

It’s amazing what a little stitching can add to a card….and some buttons…and some twine.

Still loving that pre-glittered paper.

On this next card I whipped out some Sea Foam Shimmer Spritz to add a little blue to this red & white My Minds Eye line.

Here’s a closer look at the Sea Foam blue:

I also spritzed one of the hearts, I love how simple it was to change the color this beautiful paper.

This card could easily be a valentine, don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope that you have a wonderful day!

xoxo, Christie

I rarely create layouts with photographs of myself.

Then again, this barely counts as a layout of myself

especially if you consider the fact that only part of my face is shown.

I guess that’s just how I roll.

I had fun playing with my new Shimmerz products.

I used Shimmerz Blingz, Under the Sea

to create the sparkle on the word, “Find”

and around the word, “Place”

I also used the Blingz to create the little pin-dots on my photograph.

I played with the Shimmerz Spritz a bit too…

I spritzed the crochet flower with Jeni B Bleu

I used chipboard letters as a stencil and Spritzed them again with Jeni B Bleu

I love me some Shimmery goodness

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In other news:

Mom is doing well with her Physical Therapy – bending her knee to 90 degrees

The kids are enjoying Summer…all their “free time”

I’m looking forward to my friend, Laura visiting next week

I might not be posting much while Laura is here…

Lots of fun planned next week:

Yellowstone

Jackson Hole

Bear World

Island Park Cabin

The Zoo

Laughs, hugs, long talks…you get the picture.

I hope you are enjoying your Summer!

xoxo, Christie

My Travel Banner was posted on the Graphic 45 Blog today,

So, I thought I’d share a few more photos here…

To create this banner, I used the Graphic 45 TransAtlantique line,

sheer ribbon and my sewing machine.

Oh…and some cardstock for the word, “Travel”

It was so fun to make…

I’m really happy with how it turned out.

I hope that you have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo, Christie

Sewing…

It’s taken over my life.

In a good way.

I have almost completed my first quilt.

But in the meantime, I’ve made three purses, some throw pillows, an apron and a fabric bag for my son’s Nintendo DS.

I have all these ideas for Scrapbooking layouts…still my sewing machine calls to me.

My mother thinks it’s because it’s something new.

I think she’s right.

When I created this layout, I wanted to fuse my two hobbies together.

There is machine stitching and hand stitching on this layout.

I even popped in a few French Knots.

Hand stitching on a layout is not a new technique for me but machine sewing is.

I’ve been having a blast doing it!

Have a happy Monday!

xoxo, Christie

Recently Simmerz asked me to create with their awesome product and become part of their Design Team.

They sent me Shimmer Spritz, Shimmer Pearlz and Simmer Paintz in the mail…needless to say, I got right to work.

I made the flowers for my card by simply spritzing and scrunching.

And I wish that you could see the sparkle!  My photos just don’t do it justice!

I fell in love with the Shimmerz product right away!

I love the new Teresa Collins Shimmerz Pearlz color, Ballet Slipper.  It’s the light pink color on the background of the card.

I also used the Grape Escape Shimmerz Spritz on the bottom. I love the name Grape Escape.

I have to say…

I got pretty messy when I was using the Spritz but was so pleasantly surprised when it all washed off my hands & work space so easily.

No stains on my hands whatsoever.

I love this product and I’ll be using it from here on out!

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Today I’m headed off to help my little sister and her husband pack & move.

I hope that you have a fun weekend!

xoxo, Christie

You will now see more sewing on my layouts.

Do you want to know why?

Even if you don’t want to know…I’m about to tell you.

I have purchased my very first sewing machine!

I bought this little beauty from Bill Blakely and got a screaming deal:

I was expecting to pay around $300.

I paid $65.

I love you Bill Blakely.

And I love my machine!

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I purchased my Janome last Saturday.

I wasn’t feeling very well but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit with Bill {I was introduced by my sweet friend Courtney} and perhaps purchase a used machine.

Even though I wasn’t feeling well, I couldn’t help but start to sew.

And then I kept sewing. all. day. long.

I made this apron:

And this purse:

And this purse too:

Not bad for a beginner, aye?