Crop Weekend

Ok, so seriously..these weekends are just waaaaay too much fun! Oh my gosh! I have never laughed (and cried) so much in my life. Just love hanging with all the girls during these weekend retreats. Barb and Julie are fabulous hostesses.

This time around I discovered Trader Joe's fabulous Pink Lemonade. No sugar and tastes FABULOUS! You have to try it. I bought some to the crop and we finished it within an hour. Yes, we were a bit thirsty; unloading our cars is a very exhausting experience, especially in the oppressive heat!. Another great discovery was the wonderful "Cucumber-Orange" water the hotel made for us. They served about 3 gallons of water in a beautiful glass urn filled with cucumber and orange slices and plenty of ice; very easy and refreshing. I'm going to make a batch at home when I have a chance.

As usual, I met some new friends and reconnected with dear old ones. We all laughed, ate, and occasionally we actually worked on our scrapbooks. You can meet some of my cropping buddies through my Facebook page...come on over and introduce yourself; better yet, come join us for a weekend - we'd love to see you!

Here are a couple of layouts I managed to actually finish. This first one is of my little Cody, our very energetic Westie. He is a real handful; very fiesty and a bit crazy, but that zaniness makes him all the more lovable.

Products used: K&Co. Poppyseed collection,

American Crafts Cardstock

This is a photo of my dear, sweet Mandy. She just turned 17 when this was taken and I wanted to capture her in "everyday" mode.

Products used:

Cardstock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: K&Co, Poppyseed Collection,

American Crafts Thickers : Glass Slipper (awesome alphas!)

Rhinestones: Michael's

This is a photo of my Allie with her cousin Kelly the morning after their first summer sleepover. They are the same age and rarely see each other during the school year so it was a treat to to have Kelly spend the weekend with us.

Products used:

Cardstock: Bazzill expresso

Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd. "Estate Sale", Girl's Paperie "Paper Doll"

Alphas: American Crafts Thickers: Delight

Ok...not bad. Three layouts completed and about ten in progress (but who's counting, LOL)...

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well. See you soon.

xoxo

Cris

Finally...

Such a long time since I last posted. This is a busy time of year for my family. We've had 2 school performances, a huge Social Studies project (Allie received "Honorable Mention" for her diorama!), Mandy has been sick but still sat for a 5-hour SAT test Saturday, and I've had 2 papers due for grad school.
I'm also honored to be on a committee that is planning a farewell part for two faculty members at my daughters' school who are leaving after 20+ years of service. The party is the day before Mother's Day, and we're expecting over 200 guests! On top of that we're in the midst of preparing for a huge remodeling project. Needless to say I've had little time to play with my craft supplies, which is why I am grateful for this April kit from Citrus Tree Studio featuring the 8x8 Making Memories Flutter collection. Here's the kit:

This is a beautifully coordinated line - all the papers work flawlessly together. I decided to use it to make a few quick cards...(poor lighting alert! - a few of these pics reflect the bad weather we've been having. Will retake when the sun decides to come out of hiding...)

The trim and stamps are from my stash but the kit comes with all sorts of pretty doo-dahs and coordinating alphas.

I also used the Painted Prairie April kit to make this quick layout:

Allie worked so hard on her Social Studies diorama. She put in over 20 hours of work and rarely did she ask for help. The finished project won an Honorable Mention at the Humanities Fair. So proud of her effort!

The layout below was actually completed a couple of years ago during a class, but I was excited to have the perfect alphas finally arrive in the Citrus Tree kit for the title - these are fromPrima - love how they accent the photos...I don't have journaling on the front of my layouts, it's usually on the back...don't know why, that's just the way it works out sometimes!

I'm a lucky mom - my two girls love to cook! I really adore Allie's apron...she looks so cute, and wears it all the time!

Thanks for visiting! I appreciate all your kind thoughts and comments. You lift me up and make my day. Hope you are all well. xoxo

Was playing with my new Prima stash today. These new papers are amazing! I'm trying my best NOT to hoard this stuff but resistance is futile....right? I used a bit of the Strawberry Kisses, Raspberry Tea and Shabby Chic lines on the layout below, and I ordered them from HERE

This photo was taken on my birthday in 2008. I love it because it was rather impromptu (the waitress just grabbed my camera from the table and said "hey, why don't I take a picture of all you guys?") and celebrates our mixed family heritage.

Here a a few close-ups:

I'm completely in love with my Prima papers!

Hope you all are enjoying a few days of warm weather wherever you are. We reached 80 degrees on Long Island today. WOO-HOO!! My kind of weather - loved it...Thanks for stopping by! xoxo

Bleuprint #30

I love working with sketches, and made this layout based on Bad Girls kit club Bleuprint #30:

Patterned Papers: K&Co. "Life's Journey", Hambly Studios (black paper)

Doily: Sweet Vintage Etsy Shop

Bling and Flowers: Prima

Photo: Allie at age 10

You can see the awesome inspiration photos and sketch Katie Johnson supplied for this challenge on her blog HERE.

Thanks for visiting!

xoxo

Cris

Basic Grey

I bought the Basic Grey "Origins" page kit....I think I'm in love!!!

Still have to journal on this one:

and this chickie is growing up way too fast!

Citrus Tree Studio

I've been a fan of Citrus Tree Studio kits for a few years. Cindy is the sweetest person and puts together really cute kits. I tend to love place a ton of embellishments on my projects, but these kits challenge me to make the most of my paper supply -- Here are 2 layouts I did with the January "Victorian Romance" kit featuring the gorgeous 7G Victoria line -- ooolala! This paper is soooooo yummy!

Not too crazy about this one but there's always that "one" project that gets your goat, ya know?

and here are some close-ups. I used the empty Prima package as a frame for my photo:

These little birdies were in the kit. I outlined them with Stickles and added some bling...

Here's the 2nd layout -- of course I had to add more bling...

The "flower" is actually trim from the add-on kit.

So my first attempt at doing layouts wasn't so bad. I need a little practice but I think can get used to this...lol

xoxo, Cris