Word of the Week -- Begin

One of my good blogger friends, Laurie of Indulge your Shelf, is starting a new blog thingy. She will be giving us a word each week and we are to write and/or illustrate what that words means to us.

This weeks word is:

BEGIN

Since my niece was just married, I’m posting photos from the beginning of my niece and her husbands new lives.

My sister walked Alicia and the honorary (he was way to young to carry the rings) ring bearer down the aisle.

Exchanging vows!

You may now kiss the bride!

**********************

Congratulations Alicia and Chris! Have a wonderful new BEGINNING!

If you would like to join in, go to Indulge Your Shelf and let her know that you are going to post!

Blessings,

Christine

I had to add one more photo. This is the whole gang; cousins, uncles, aunts, grandmas – young and old from my family – 4 generations.

Thursday Thunks

 

Welcome to the September 10th version of Thursday Thunks!

 

 

 

 

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Kimber, the number 999 and the color of a butterfly sitting on a red rose.

 

1. A 90 year old man's dying wish in South Carolina was to be buried in his car. Link If you were told tomorrow you have 3 weeks to live, would you have any dying wishes or something special done before you died?  I think I would go to my favorite place, which is any where in the mountains of Idaho and invite family and friends to come with me. 

2. Do you pay for more stuff using a credit/debit card or cold hard cash?  Credit/Debit card.

 

3. What's cuter- a baby lizard or a baby snake?  Neither is cute but I would have to choose lizard.

 

 

4. You go out to eat by yourself at a restaurant. While waiting for your food do you people watch & eavesdrop on others conversations, read a book, use a laptop or chat with people around you?  I do that quite often and I bring a book or newspaper.

5. If you see someone walking around with toilet paper stuck to their shoe, do you tell them or just laugh?  If I was still in the restroom, I would tell them.  Otherwise, do nothing!

 

6. You are talking to someone you just met but you can't understand them at all because of their accent. Do you tell them you can't understand them or just smile and nod?  Huh?

7. Mudfest! Park filled with pools of mud and an obstacle course of mud. Do you go and play in the mud?  It depends on what I’m wearing but it would be an awfully lot of fun!!! 

 

8. Have you ever had a headache so bad it effected your vision?  At least once a week!  Eck!

9. Would you fit in more with the circus, Hollywood, Broadway, or comedy circuit types?  Comedy circuit.  I’d have to be the straight man.

Blessings,

Christine

Flutter By Wednesday on 9/9/9!

There’s a word for having the day, month and year all the same number, but I don’t know it. I was working in the computer software industry during the supposed Y2K crisis. Of course we ran the tests for the change from 12/31/99 to 01/01/00. We also tested some other odd dates to make sure they still worked correctly and one of those was 09/09/09. A repeating, single-digit date that will not happen again until 01/01/2101. I don’t think I’ll be around to see that one!!!

Just a quiet observation. Now onto Flutter By Wednesday!!!

The challenge this week is to make a card using pink with a butterfly or fairy on it. I’ve got both! The image is a Pollycraft digi stamp and I water colored her. You can’t see it very well in the picture but she is trying to catch a robin red breast. I painted a little shimmers on her fairy wings. I cut out some butterflys with my Martha Stewart punch out of the same K&Co. papers I used on the card. I added a lot of pearls and tied a ribbon around the whole thing and wa-la, I’ve got a card!!!

I used the sketch from the One Stop Craft challenge and 2 Red Bananas is stripes and dots. This DP is pretty much made of dotted stripes!!! The Pollycraft challenge is animals (I hope they count birds and butterflies as animals), Creative Card Crew is to use fairies,

Don’t forget that Danni is celebrating her birthday this month and will have candy with every challenge for the month. I don’t know what she has up this week but it’s bound to be something good!!!

If you would like to play along with the Flutter By Wednesday challenge, you can go check out all of the other lovely DT blogs by clicking on their links on the right sidebar and then going to Danni’s Dreams to link up your card.

Blessings,

Christine

Flying Reindeer

I have another card I made for the Moxie Fab World Classy and Elegant Holiday Challenge. This is pretty scary putting myself out there in a contest sponsored by Paper Craft Magazine, but there’s no time like the present.

I used the Cricut Joys of the Season cartridge to cut out the reindeer and sentiment. I used a Cuttlebug die to cut out the stars. The three different colors of blue are Bazzil cardstock and the silver on the reindeer’s antlers and yoke, the stars and the sentiment are DCWV. I used a scrap of vellum from my stash.

That’s it for tonight. I have to have this posted and linked in 24 minutes. I don’t want to wait until the last minute you know!!!

Blessings,

Christine

It’s My Birthday and I’ll Cry if I Want To!

Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday to me-eeee.
Happy birthday to me!!!

It’s my birthday on Sept. 23rd, but you’re getting the presents!!! Are you ready to hear what I’m giving? I’m giving a gift certificate to one of my favorite places to shop online! So drum roll please --

$25 Gift Certificate

at

Susana’s Custom Art &

Card Design (SCACD)

So do you think you'd like that?

You can pick from this . . .

or this . . .

or this . . .

or even this . . . or a combination of whatever you want!

You get the idea. You can pick anything you want!!!

Plus, I will draw an extra name for every 25 entries. Those people will get a small gift sent by me. I like to spread the wealth!!!

No hoops to jump through here. All you have to do is leave a comment and spread the word. Please put a link to my blog on your blog. You know what that means, don’t you! The more people that know about it (and enter) there’ll be more prizes for more people.

I will be taking a birthday vacation in Utah (you know how many fun crafty things I can get there ;o) and I will draw the winner(s) when I get home on Sept 28.

Blessings,

Christine

Susana asked me to mention that the gift certificate is good for a one time use, merchandise only and does not include shipping. So this is a time you can spend it all in one place. he-he

Calling Santa

“Hello Santa. Please, will you bring me a baby doll, a tricycle and some candy. You’ll know me; it’s the green house on the corner. I’ll leave milk and cookies out for you. Thank you, Santa!” Can’t you just hear the phone call from this little girl with glistening eyes in hopes that Santa will stop during his global trip on Christmas Eve?

The image is from Altered Expression. I don’t think she has it in the store yet. I asked Carol if she had a Christmas image and so she finished and sent this one to me.

I colored the beautiful image with watercolor paints. The DP and red CS are from Hobby Lobby and the sentiment and wish list are both clear stamps from Fiskars. The buttons are from my stash of vintage white buttons and I sewed them with wine colored thread. The gray card base and CS for the sentiment is from The Paper Company and the sentiment is stamped with a red ink pad I had laying around that doesn’t have a name on it.

I am submitting this card to the Moxie Fab World Vintage and Shabby Chic Christmas Challenge.

I’m working out the details for my birthday blog candy and hope to post it tomorrow. So, come on back, ya here!!!

That’s it for today! I’m going to try to get one more card into the Moxie Fab Challenges.

Blessings,

Christine

We Have a Winner

Today is the day that I celebrate the most important day of my life! 

Ashley, was a beautiful young woman.  She gave of herself everyday to help others.  She also went to South America during her summers to give wheel chairs to the handicapped who couldn’t afford one for themselves.  She lived in a small town in No. California and was friends with everyone and is very missed in her community.  I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone when Ashley gave the ultimate gift and saved the lives of 7 people, including me.  I received her beautiful and precious heart. 

Thanks so much to her family and loved ones for allowing me to have a second chance at life.  I remember her everyday, but especially the times when I see a beautiful rose blooming in my garden, or when I’m up in the mountains enjoying the awesome views that God created, but especially when I see a gleaming smile on my great niece/nephews eyes. 

************************************************************************

On to the winner.  I used random.org, which picked #6.  Shirley from Plum Bush Cottage, you are the winner!!!  I only have a few things since I haven’t been shopping much this month so you’ll be getting a nice surprise gift chosen especially for you!!!

For everyone else, I have a new candy starting today to celebrate my birthday.  I’ll have that post up later this evening.

Blessings,

Christine

Two Giveaways and a Birthday

This post will remain on top until September 6!

Please scroll down for recent posts.

I have two reasons to have a giveaway so I’m having two giveaways. I’m not going to tell you the reason for the first giveaway. You have to make a guess! Something life changing happened to me on September 6, 2007!

Here’s what you need to do. Take a look around my blog and then guess what changed my life on September 6, 2007. Then just email your guess to me. Easy peasy. Just in case you forget (and so people won’t cheat [he-he]), I have disabled comments on this post. The only way to enter is to email me. I almost forgot. You also need to add a link to my giveaway on your blog and leave me your blog address in your email. The more the merrier I always say!

The winner will be chosen from those who guessed correctly. It shouldn’t be hard, just take a few minutes to look around my blog. I will determine the winner on September 6, 2007 at about noon mtn time using random.org.

Did I hear you ask what you will be getting?

I haven’t decided yet so it will be a surprise! From now until I mail the package, I will be collecting things. If I place an order for some goodies, I’ll get something for you too. Probably one of my faves! If I go crafty shopping, I will pick up something for you as well. When I find out who will be receiving the package, I’ll add one more thing picked out just for that person. The personalized prize will be the best of them all – you won’t be disappointed.

I didn’t forget about the second giveaway. As soon as the first giveaway ends on September 6 at noon, another one will be posted. Why, do you ask? My birthday is on September 23rd so I’ll be giving one of my lucky blogger buddies a birthday present.

Blessings,

Christine

Triple Decker

What’s the best thing on a hot. summer, holiday weekend? A triple decker ice cream cone, that’s what!!!

I really love this image from Squigglefly. She is so adorable with an ice cream cone almost as big as her!!!

I painted her with watercolors and used DP from a Debbie Mumm stack. The flowers are from Fancy Pants (I got one for my giveaway), the buttons are S.E.I. and the ribbon is from Joanns. I used the Martha Stewart edge punch.

I used the SP Color challenge and the sketch from Lili of the Valley, Tuesday Taggers is buttons and bows and Polka Doodles is dots and stripes. It’s hard to see in the photo but the paper under her toes is a small dotted design.

That’s it for now. Off to do some more creating!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Kewpie Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday!

I bought this little pink Kewpie doll while on vacation in the Iowa Amish country.  There are a series of small touristy towns near where the Amish live.  They are mostly gift shops, restaurants and bakeries.  Some of the wares sold at the stores are handmade by the Amish, but, of course, this wasn’t.  But I loved her so much.  Look how she holds her arms up there so that you will pick her up.  She’s so precious!!!

I looked on the Internet to see how old something needs to be before it is considered ‘vintage.’  I found 50 years, 20 years, 25 years.  I think I’m going with the 50 years.  I don’t like the idea of something that I bought when I was in my 30s (while this is) to be considered vintage!

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound hosts Pink Saturday every week. This is a very fun event. Each of us post some pink on our blog on Saturday and try to visit as many of the other blogs as possible. Big thanks to Beverly for coordinating all the pinkaliciousness!

Happy Pink Saturday,

Christine

My Fall Table

I’m sure anxious for fall to come and when I see these fall stamps, I just have to paint them! I wanna get my sweaters out and curl up in my chair with a cup of tea. Doesn’t that sounds nice. The weather is going to cool way down this weekend and the weatherman said it might not even get into the 90s again this year. It has been such a HOT summer I’m ready for some cool weather.

I stamped this Auntie Amy’s image with brown StazOn and proceded to watercolor this wonderful table setting. It’s early in the fall with rolling hills and the barn outside with a fence to keep the cows in. Grandma’s been doing some canning with the beautiful pepper jelly and cranberry vinegar. She went out to the garden and picked some fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables for you to take home with you.

I made this card for the Stamptacular Sunday challenge which is scallops. The paper is from a Debbie Mumm holiday stack I bought last year. I punched the sentiment from a piece of DP from the same stack. The ribbon and buttons are from my stash.

Just a quick post to show you my card and now I’m off to bed. I’m going to take a nice drive in the mountains tomorrow. I’m either going to go to McCall or Sun Valley. I’m pretty sure that McCall will look much different than from this post.

For all my bloggie friends from the U.S., have a nice Labor Day weekend. I hope you have a lot of fun planned. I’m going on my drive tomorrow and then lots of crafting for the rest of the week.

Blessings,

Christine

We Won! We Won!

Okay, you have to know this about me. People that know me in person already know . . . I'm a HUGE college football fan. Well, not necessarily college football but Boise State University football. The first game of the season was also anticipated to be our hardest game of the season against the Oregon Ducks. Their was a lot of kind hearted ribbing between fans in preparation for this game. I have a little ditty for you to watch that is quite funny but I do have to set it up just a bit. Boise State is one of the few college football teams in the country that are able to have the turf on their field a color other than green. Our field is blue. Now on to the short clip.

 

I hope you enjoyed.  I sure enjoyed the game!

Blessings,

Christine

Too Funny!

I hope I don’t offend anyone but this is way to funny not to share!

I hope I made you laugh!

Blessings,

Christine

The Dust Bowl

I had a migraine this morning when I woke up. After sitting around hurting for awhile, I decided to try what worked before and paint an image. I’ve been wanting to do this one for awhile. It’s a digi stamp from River City Rubberworks. I love these vintage stamps. I was thinking that if I painted something I really like, maybe the head would stop hurting. It didn’t stop but it feels much better.

The DP has been in my stash for-e-ver! I kept it very simple and then dyed, with watercolors, the flowers in shades of reddish-brown. I chalked around all the edges with dark brown.

I used the sketch from Card Positioning System and the challenge at Spoon Full of Sugar is distressing. No it doesn’t distress me it’s to put distressing on your card. he-he

I don’t think I’ll have much time tomorrow for crafty pursuits. Maybe late in the evening while I’m watching the Boise State football game! I’ll be out and about until then. Yes, I will be picking some stuff up for my giveaway so if you haven’t entered yet, it’s time since it will close on the 6th and I’ll draw on the 7th! Just go to the this post.

It’s 3:30 a.m. (Hi Stef, I’m pretty sure you’re already awake!) and about time to go to bed. Sometimes it really sucks to be such a nite owl!

Blessings,

Christine

Thursday Thunks

 

 

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the number one thousand twenty six and the color of the dirt spot you need to wipe up on your kitchen floor.

 

 

 

1. Your thoughts on truck drivers?  Some of my best friends are truckers!

 

2. Did you hear Michelle Duggar is pregnant for the 15th time? (but that will be kid #19 if you lost count....) Who the hell is Michelle Duggar?  Okay, I went and looked and all I can say is ouch!

3. Have you ever done something to hurt someone intentionally... just for the sole purpose of hurting them because you thought they deserved it? Maybe a paybacks a bitch sort of thing?  I’m way to nice for that; but, don’t let that make you think I haven’t wanted to.

4. Is there anyone in your life that when you go to their place of residence, you just walk in without bother knocking? Does anyone just walk into your house without knocking?  I go to my sisters’ homes without knocking.  No one gets in my house without knocking because I always keep the door locked.

 

5. Whats in the trunk of your car? Do you even have a clue?  I drive a truck; I have no trunk!  I guess I kind of have a trunk.  A rubbermaid container to put things in so that don't bounce around, a table, 2 camping chairs and a yard type umbrellas.

 

 

6. When you go to a family holiday get together (such as Christmas or Thanksgiving), about how many people are there? 20 or more.

 

 

7. What is in your kitchen sink right at this very moment?  Dirty dishes.  I know I said I didn’t do dishes in a previous Thunk.  You caught me lying.  But I still hardly ever cook!

 

8. You go to a store to buy an expensive item... say $150. You pick up that item and a couple other this n' thats. You get to the register and the expensive item rings up at $40. The cashier doesn't seem to notice and tells you your total. Do you go with what they say and pay it or do you question the price difference? You know you would question it if your $40 item rang up at $150....  I would guest ion it.  Like I said, I’m too nice.

 

9. Do you fold your underwear or do you just toss it in a drawer?  I throw the bras on one side and the panties on the other.  No folding for me.

 

 

10. There is a Harley-Davidson giveaway. Chances are $100 and they are only selling 250 tickets. Do you buy one? No, I don’t like motorcycles.

 

11. Who is your favorite Disney character?  Cinderella.  Only because I love the Rogers and Hammerstein's version.

 

12. It's September - most of the weekly sitcoms/dramas are starting new seasons again. Which one are you most looking forward to?  I’m very interested in Three Rivers but I’ll probably only watch the first one because it won’t be true to reality.

13. You are at a grocery store and are on your way out to your car with your cart full of grocery bags. On your way to your car you see a black kitten in an empty cart. What do you do?  I take it home but try to find a new home for it.  If I can’t, I call the animal shelter.

14. Is there anything that you do for a hobby that you are asked to do for friends/family that most people would hire a professional to do? (example: cake decorating, fixing cars....)  If you count card making but I wouldn’t because I NEED to give them away because I make so many.  I don’t have enough friends for all my cards.

15. Are we there yet?  Where are we going?

That’s it for today!

Blessings,

Christine

What’s Your Hidden Potential?

There’s a new challenge blog starting up.  Vicki from Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential! is starting it.  In celebration, she is giving away a huge pile of candy to get the word out.

When I say huge, I mean huge.  I’ve got my eye on that Martha Stewart glitter in the middle.  So if any of you that I referred win, you’ll havae to send it to me, okay.  Just kidding—he-he!

It will end on Friday, September 25th (2 days after my birthday), the week before the first challenge and the winner will be announced the next day.

She’s also looking for the DT so go check it out!

Blessings,

Christine

What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday

2nd Post. Please scroll down to see the Flutter By Wednesday post.

Julia at Stamping Ground has come up with the great idea of showing everyone what's on your workdesk each week. Here’s what’s on my workdesk at 2:00 am on Wednesday, Sept. 2.

Not to bad this week!

This is about as good as it gets!

That’s all for today!

Blessings,

Christine

Happy Birthday Danni

Danni of Flutter By Wednesday is having a milestone birthday on Friday and she is celebrating all month. She’s invited guest designers and brought candy, so lets see how many people we can get to participate. We’ll be celebrating all month long!

Danni challenged each of the DT members to make her a birthday card. I was going to do that anyway, so easy, peasy, squeezey, right? Not today!!! I use the We Are Memory Keepers Magnetic Mat to do most of my cutting and I left it in Utah while I was there. I have four other cutters that I can use but none of them were doing very well today. Or maybe it was just me. I matted this card three times. Luckily, the adhesive wasn’t sticking very well today so I was able to easily take things apart.

Anyway, enough complaining already and on to my card. The little girl is a digi image from Lily Boo's Boutique. I water colored her and then added some Stickles to the center of the flower, the butterflies, and the dots on her dress. The DP is S.E.I.

I added a bow with a little charm on it that says “Made with Love.’ I try to use them on cards that I make for friends and family and I think this one qualifies, don’t you? I added some pearls here and there and that’s it.

I used the sketch from the Stamp, Scrap & Doodle challenge and the One Stop Craft challenge is cute and cuddly.

If you would like to play along with the Flutter By Wednesday challenge, you can go check out all of the other lovely DT blogs by clicking on their links on the right sidebar and then going to Danni’s Dreams to link up your card.

Blessings,

Christine

A Little Place Like Kokomo

Everybody knows
A little place like Kokomo
Now if you wanna go
And get away from it all
Go down to Kokomo

I know, I said I’d stop! But one of my bloggy friends said she liked it and I think we all need a sound track to life. I’m sure I won’t think of a song for every card, but It’s kind of fun.

I got the image from Trees aWard in Crafts called Little Joey at the Seaside. She has a few free digi stamps on her blog. Isn’t he adorable! He looks like he’s having so much fun. Can you see what he’s looking at? It’s a sandcastle that he needs just a little more sand in order to finish it off. Isn’t it majestic?

When I was working for a living, I went to the Oregon Coast every year for my summer vacation. It is so beautiful there and it just recharges my batteries. If you look to the west, you see the beautiful, blue Pacific ocean; if you look to the east, you see mountains covered with pine, moss, ferns and wild flowers. I really need to go again!

I water colored Joey and added some buttons from my stash. The DP is K&Co Hopscotch. I bought an extra one that will be sent to my candy winner! I’ve gotten a few things and there will be more to come. If you haven’t entered yet, why? Go to the top post read all about it!

Now I’m going to leave you with a few pictures from one of my trips to the Oregon Coast.

Isn’t that sunset beautiful. It was foggy most of the time on that trip. I’ve been meaning to get these photos scrapbooked. I’ll get to it one of the days!

Blessings,

Christine

Lovely Lady

Isn’t this lady lovely? She is a digi stamp from a store I just found, Altered Expressions. They have some wonderful vintage images and collage sheets. If you like vintage, go check the DT call out here.

I water colored her and the DP is from the DCWV Old World Stack. I used a Martha Stewart border punch and put half back pearls here and there. I used the sketch from Sweet ‘n Sassy.

That’s about it. Kind of boring after my last couple of posts, huh? Well, my writing, not the card. I love the card!!! What a wonderful image to work with!

Blessings,

Christine