Happy 9th birthday, Rileigh!

Ok, so today's post will be hard for me in two ways:

1) I can't believe my middle baby turns 9 today!

2) I can't believe I'm posting these pages!!!!!

When Rileigh was born, we were halfway into the digital camera craze that was beginning, but I still couldn't let go of my 35mm. I just loved getting a stack of pics back from the developer and seeing the crisp, glossy images. Nowadays, we all have the advantage of knowing what pics we've taken and going through them to delete the not-so-hot shots, but this was not the case back then. Therefore, when I wanted to find some pics of Rileigh as a baby to post, I had to turn to the old scrapbooks.

Now, back in the day, I kept up pretty good with the kids' albums. I plugged away at them day and night...but this was before they were in school and had crazy, hectic schedules. Now, I'm lucky if I can make one thing a day! I started out keeping 8 1/2 X 11 albums in 3 ring binders. I could document a whole year (when they got older...their baby albums were always two albums long!) in one album. Amazing! However, as scrapbooking then was nowhere near the hobby it is today (at least here on the east coast), the reason I got so much done: the pages were simple. Really, at the time, all we had around here were stickers and ribbon. Wire was a big thing 9 years ago, and paper tearing started becoming a popular technique. There were no crazy Prima flowers or metal embellies besides charms for jewelry. Jolee's was a big deal back then, and computer journaling was the way to go. Back then, there were 2 aisles at my local Michael's and 1 measly aisle at a New England craft store. Now, Michael's has a whole corner of their store near me devoted to papercrafting, 7 glorious aisles, and that small local craft store has 4!

Here are some of my early pages, *cringe* be gentle. This was, after all, 2002. I just had to show how cute she was when she was a baby :)

Rileigh and her sister (1 week old and 2.5 years old respectively.) Look at that curly mop on Andraia's head! I miss those ringlets. There's little, squishy Rileigh, who used to fit in the hole of the Boppy (I mean her feet didn't go past where the Boppy meets. She literally fit in the middle...my little preemie!)

Strips of patterned paper and embroidery floss glued to the corners...deco edge scissors...this is looking a little more modern (but I've still come so far!)

My favorite technique when I have a beautiful patterned paper I just don't want to hide. This is from an EK Success paper pack, quilted-looking papers. I still have some of these and use them :) Look at that adorable little girl, and that was my favorite hat! I wish I had saved it!

My favorite pic of the kids together is this holiday photo. And who can resist Rileigh in that basket? CUTE! The paper was simple, white cardstock stamped with Stampin' Up tree stamps, then some holly and a Christmas sentiment cut out and colored with my colored pencils. See what I mean about the "simple"?

Here's where I started to play with wire. I hand-bent that title (horribly) and the number 1, stringing beads along it for an interesting look. The wire "1" may be nice, but what was I thinking when I put all these papers together? Sheesh! That green looks so out of place!

Here's the final page of her 1st year album. I always include a stats page after each birthday, and this time, I used Fiskars baby themed punch out die cuts to simplify the task (and a load of bug stickers!) Isn't it amazing how different my pages are today? I love that I've grown so much creatively!

So happy birthday, Rileigh! You are such a smart, funny, beautiful little girl, and I hope you continue to grow into a kind and caring person who gets whatever she wants in life! This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, when Rileigh had a bit of a makeup party at a friend's house :)

I'm off to make her a quick banner, which I'll be sure to share later. I hope you all have a great day and get a chance to get crafty!

New item listed on Etsy :)

Go view my shop, Khristen's Craft Room, and check out the newest arrival in the magnetic potty chart section :)

*ahem ahem* I have an announcement to make...

I have been asked (no, I did not apply, I was asked! **eek!**) to join the DT over at Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog. Of course I jumped at the chance! How often does one get asked to join a manufacturer-related DT without having to apply first? Um, well, for me, not before this! Now that my headshot is up on the site making it, in my mind, super official, I thought I could share this news :) Head on over and follow along, our first challenge goes live April 1st. Amazing prize...oh, you probably want to see it, huh? Well I can oblige.........

Delish, huh? What you are looking at right there is the ENTIRE yes ****ENTIRE**** Fairyopolis collection! One lucky participant will win the Fairyopolis Complete Cardmaking Kit, Fairyopolis 3 disc cd set of GORGEOUS digital stamps and paper, and **ALL FOUR** of Crafter's Companion's Fairyopolis clear stamp sets! The value of this package is a whopping $109.70!!!! WOW!!!! This won't be offered in CC's online store until April 21st, what a great WIBYCBI :) All that, for one lucky winner...but you can't win if you don't play. So head on over now to follow along, ensuring you are notified the moment the challenge goes live! Hope to see everyone I know there, playing along :)

Please buy back my van...pretty please?

For those of you who have been following and know the saga of my Windstar, check this article out. Here's the link: Fosters.com, Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME The axle of my van was deemed unsafe, not to mention my van was wobbling all over the place when we brought it in! The crack in the subframe is also featured in the article, this is the 2nd of the 3 recalls it went in for. The service tech said, and I quote: "Ford claims this is fixable." Those don't sound like the words of a man who believes it at all! 2 weeks without this problematic van, 3 or 4 more to go, and I'm enjoying every 2011 Toyota Sienna second. The Windstar just won't be the same. Let's hope they just scrap it! (Doubtful, but possible.)

To the bank!

That is where I'm headed, but before I go, I wanted to quickly post this other page I did with the Graphic 45 kit I got yesterday. I just love the way this one came out!

Girls and their makeup...this is my brother and I back in 1984. I thought telling a story in the journaling would fit the Once Upon a Springtime paper nicely :)

(See my journaling goof? I think I was thinking about yesterday's sitting pretty layout! I must fix that date!!!)

More Stuff 2 Scrap chipboard goodies...the flower corner which I covered in varying glitter glues/Stickles, and the mushroom piece, which has more glitter glue on the shrooms. I used a green ink pad to color the grass.

Dimension, baby!

So, Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime papers, Stuff 2 Scrap chipboard elements covered in glitter glue and Stickles, Dress it Up buttons, and Scenic Route alpa stickers in Clover, for those who want to know manufacturer details :) I'm entering this into My Craft Spot's current challenge, tie a bow.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more, this is one inspiring kit!

Hello, mojo.

I have missed you so. I received a little goodie box in the mail today, and just had to play with it! Everything went together so well, and I had just the picture in mind.........little ol' me back in 1980. I was only 16 months old, and oh-so-cute on my grandmother's lawn in my bonnet. The back of the picture is graced with my grandmother's handwriting, helping me put an age to my little chubby cheeked self. Such a treasure :) This kit has the Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime collection, a few different ribbons, a package of Dress It Up buttons, Prima flowers, bling, and some wonderful fabric Thickers!

For the scalloped look at the top, I took my circle punch and cut from 2 different papers, folded the circles in half after inking them, and adhered them. I decided to leave them open rather than adhere the flaps closed, adding to the dimension on the page and showing off both sides of the gorgeous paper.

Look at that great button!

More button beauties :)

I received my package of goodies from Stuff2Scrap on Friday, and was finally able to play with them :) I used this flourish-y frame, inked the flourishes, wrote my journaling, and doodled above and below. I just love their chipboard elements, the package was great! Expect to see more of this in just about every layout (like, I made a second layout today but I'm waiting for the glitter glue/Stickles to dry LOL and I used another Stuff2Scrap piece!)

I adhered the chipboard element with pop dots for some added dimension.

Look at those awesome Thickers! I think I'm in love... **swoon**

Ok folks, off to bed! Busy day tomorrow as usual (as I am the neighborhood school bus. We are too close for the school buses to come as they are a 5 min. walk from our house, so I bring them on the cold/inclement weather days. My van, with seating for 7, is full to capacity.)

Have a great night!

Come join the fun at sketches4all!

My first challenge is posted for the month over at sketches4all, due by midnight 4/10. If you are interested in joining in the fun, c'mon over! It is a technique challenge this week, and I've chosen rolled paper. Make a card or layout or BOTH if you so desire, just please only submit one card and one layout per person, thank you very much :)

I started out with this card (which I will list on Etsy later in the day.) I love how it came out! I used these delicious Webster's Pages papers (well, paper...it's one sheet, both sides.) I find dampening the paper before rolling the little strips helps keep the rolls neat and tidy (and easy!)

Moving right along, we have this layout (more Webster's goodness!) where I decided to roll the edges of the die cut sheet, giving it a kind of flower petal-y feel. Random twine, webster's alpha stickers, punched heart from handmade paper, and my own recipe of acrylic paint mist, lightly spattered.

Messy, roll of twine, inspired by Leeann Pearce (who has been doing this for ages and I've been so dying to try it out, just love how it draws your attention directly to the photo in a unique way!)

So there you have it! C'mon over and enter for your chance to win an RAK (which isn't yet posted, I just have to take the pictures!)

I have a busy day ahead of me with a few DT projects to be finished up, and stay tuned as later I'll have some exciting news! It's really hard to keep my excitement contained, but I think I'm doing a good job (so far!)

Hope you all have a great day!

CLP Design Team Call!

A wonderful sketch blog, Crafting Life's Pieces, is having a DT call! Head over and enter today!

Just about a week left to enter!

Just a friendly reminder post...almost at 60 followers, 40 away from my goal of 100, at which point I will draw a winner for my blog candy (which can be viewed in this post here.) I plan to draw a winner on 4/1, but if I get up to 100 followers before the first, I will draw it early! Send your friends, lets get this package of goodies OUT OF HERE! (It's a big package, thank goodness for flat rate shipping...otherwise I think I'd have to hand over my first born!) Head on over to the blog post and check out the complete package of goodies, and see how you can get your hands on it :) Off to the craft room! Hope you are having a great day thus far (it's snowing AGAIN here. Ugh.)

A new sketch challenge site

Check out Once Upon a Sketch and the great prize they are offering to celebrate the grand opening of their challenge blog, this yummy kit:

Head on over and see how you can be in it to win it :)

While the glue dried...

on my fire station themed potty chart, I whipped this layout together for the current Let's Get Peachy challenge. The challenge is to roll the random.org dice to come up with 3 numbers, representing the number of pics, patterned papers, and embellies you need to use. I ended up getting 1 picture, 5 patterned papers, and 2 embellies. It's hard to use only 2 embellies! I don't count my journal spot or the twine, just the ticket and rolled flower. I used 5 sheets of Basic Grey Capella, for a total of 6 different pp's if you count the fact I used 2 sides of the same sheet!

Don't have much time on my hands today...time to go get the girls at school and take Andraia to dress rehearsal for their spring concert on Saturday :) Hope to post more later, like my potty chart. Can't wait until it dries...then I can get it listed on Etsy! Have a great day :)

Check out the newest Momenta product!

Design your own sticker! Use the power of the internet to create the perfect size, shape, and color sticker for your needs! Go read up on their blog post, I can't wait to try this out for myself!

FINALLY...a recipe box!

I have had this recipe box sitting for almost a full year now, waiting to be altered for my kitchen. With spring upon us, it is high time I finished it up, as it will allow me to clear out a drawer filled with random sheets of paper containing our family's favorite recipes (which is why I'm entering this recipe box into the Paper Issues blog hop going on until 4/2, which is a project featuring your favorite things...this one stores my favorite things!)

I wanted to make something that matches my Pfaltzgraff collection as I have quite a bit of pieces on my countertop, I've been collecting for about 6 years now. My mother likes to feed my Pfaltzgraff addiction and I love it :)

Here's my collection, Villa Della Luna:

...and here's the box I made:

The paper is random, received in an RAK. I loved how the yellows and oranges matched my dishes perfectly. My I-Rock made affixing the orange bling easy peasy. Prima/SEI flower mix. Webster's alpha stickers. Random ribbon. Vintage images part of a kit received ages ago, all one sheet of paper.

I then made this cute tag for a tag challenge over at s4a, use paint and something with wings. I started by painting my tag (repurposed from a pair of jeans) with grey acrylic paint. I misted with my own recipe of mist over the whole tag, and when it dried, attached a Hampton Arts bird mask. I painted all around the mask with black acrylic paint, and finished off the bird with the handpainted "love" and some glitter. Quick and easy, and so elegant! I think it's my favorite tag, and I will probably make up these to sell in my Etsy shop :)

Hope you are all having a great day! It's snowing here, luckily it isn't sticking to the roads though. I'm wishing for sunshine and planting weather! I wish mother nature would cooperate!!!!!!!!

Time for Dream Valley Challenges #3!

How could I have forgotten? I seem to have a one-track mind, and if I go off and start thinking about something else, I forget everything unrelated! Lately, I've been so busy with my family issues and the arrival of spring which brings cleaning and preparing the gardens, I have forgotten all about the new Dream Valley challenge that went live today! The theme this time is Mother's Day, and our prize: sweet! You are playing for a $10 (Canadian) gift certificate to use in the Digi's with Attitude store!

Digi’s With Attitude! is a Digital Stamp Company that brings Sass & Attitude to your stamping projects!

Meet the newest Attitude’s in town!
’Grumpy Gretchen’ is a sure beauty with sexy curves and very unique facial features.

Her hairstyles constantly change, as does her clothing and element she is in.
She is sassy and isn't afraid to show it! Everyone loves Grumpy Gretchen. We know you will too!

You can now meet the new Animals With Attitude! too! They are in the store and ready for you to adopt them.

All images are 300 dpi and come in both JPEG & PNG instant downloads

Head on over and check out the other DT creations, and then enter your own papercraft centered around good ol' MOM! It doesn't have to be a card...it can be a layout, a gift bag to hold your mom's gift in, ANYTHING, as long as it is mom related. You have 2 weeks to enter.

I made my mom a card using Sassafrass Lass scraps/stickers. The cloud and the "mom" are stickers. Finished it off with some doodling and my I-Rock.

TFL, there will be more posted! I am overwhelmed with new goodies from kits and RAK's, and my mojo is in overdrive (probably as it's been idle all week. I haven't crafted at all, and it's driven me crazy!) Hope you are all having a great weekend, and hope to see your project over at Dream Valley Challenges :)