I'm Having a Chalkboard Party!!

I've never had an on-line Party before, so this is a first for me.
After posting my refurbished-Goodwill-99 cent-chalkboard frame here, I realized how much people looooove their chalkboard paint. I know some of you (Sara;) have painted whole walls with it.
So let's see where else the chalkboard paint is going. Next Friday, May 8, I'll have Mr. Linky all set up and we can come post about our chalkboard adventures. I'll have some brand new chalkboard pieces to share as well.

Now, I'll be spending all weekend trying to put my house back together. I promise some before and after pictures, even if I'm not done.
Have a wonderful weekend.
xo
Chrissie

Happy Birthday Logan

I blinked my eyes and he turned nine today...
Logan, you are the sassiest, spunkiest, funniest 9 year old that I know, and I love being your Mama.
Happy Birthday!:)

Ballerina Girl

Good morning! I thought I'd give you a little sneak-peek of Ava's new bedroom.

I've been stalking Craigs List for about a month trying to find big girl furniture for her in my limited budget. I finally got a deal...and I can't wait to show you!

I painted this for her yesterday to go in her new "ballerina" room. It is based on Ava's favorite book right now: Tummy Girl by Roseanne Thong. It measures 2 feet by 2 feet and I showed you a little detail above of some fabric I used on the tutu. This will hang above her new bed. I am hoping to have the room put together by Friday. Wish me luck!:)

xo, Chrissie

Mom

Motherhood:

It humbled my ego and stretched my soul.

It awakened me to eternity. It made me know my own humanity,

my own mortality, my own limits.

It gave me whatever crumbs of wisdom I possess today.

-Erica Jong

I made a few Mother's day cards. You can find them here if you're interested.

We are knee deep in renovation, but I hope to share some pictures soon!:)

Have a lovely Tuesday...

Because Painted is Pretty!

Y'all know I love to work on wood. I would pick wood to paint on over canvas any day. This one is an 8 x 10 piece of scrap wood, and I cut the toothbrush out of thin plywood using my scroll saw. Using scrap wood to paint on is my favorite...recycling scraps is green, and I just like the look! I think this one is super cute in a kids bathroom, where they may need a not-so-subtle reminder.

I have some favorite new blogs that I put on my blogroll yesterday. One of them is Life in Grace, (if you've come from there, WELCOME!!) and she's having a painted wood party today. I can't wait to see what everyone is showing off. You have to check out her beautiful new kitchen. By the way, you have to check out her blog. She has great style, beautiful kids, and writes wonderfully about religion, family, decor, and just plain life.

And if you're interested in seeing some more of my mixed-media art on wood, I put just a few links below:

• BALLERINA GIRL
• BUTTERFLY-FLY FREE
• HEART WITH WINGS

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. I've got new carpet and tile coming today and I can't wait!!:)

Psalm 119:31-40

Teach us Your statutes, Lord, that we may keep them to the end. Give us understanding, that we might keep Your law. Make us go in the path of Your commandments, for that is our desire. Incline our hearts to Your truth and in Your rightousness preserve our lives.

(Psalm 119:31-40)

Frugal Friday Party

*Edited to add:
I'm playing along with Kimm at Reinvented for Tuesday's Trash to Treasure. Welcome!:)

There are two brand new Goodwill's in my town that have opened up in the last month. They are so nice and clean! I conduct almost all of my retail therapy there!
I found this baby at the Goodwill for 99 cents.

What caught my eye was the frame. I love the detail.

I gave it a good cleaning and spray painted it red.

I've never painted mirror before, but I thought I'd give it a try. I used chalkboard paint. Next time I paint on mirror I will leave more time in between coats.
I love how it turned out! However, you can see in the middle where I got hasty with the paint. But where I put it no one will ever notice.

This is my living room. It has a lot of blue and brown, and I like to use red in here as an accent. So that's where I decided to put my new chalkboard.
This is the left side of the room. Do you see the chalkboard on the high shelf above the television?
I wrote out some lyrics from the song "I Hope You'll Dance". It's one of my favorite songs of all time.

Now head on over the The Shabby Nest party she's having to see more frugal finds...
Have a great weekend y'all!

xo

Chrissie

Easy Peasy Tutorial

It's been a long time since I've done any tutorials, and this one is SUPER easy-peasy. You know how much I love to recycle cereal boxes (with four small children we go through a lot of cheerios!:)
This is a great way to use up scraps of your favorite papers and smaller pieces of ribbon. It took me less than 30 minutes to make 4 of them.

See, isn't that easy? I think it would be fun to make these for small Mother's Day gifts, Teacher Appreciation items, as graduation gifts with a special book, or tucked inside goodie bags at a kids party, etc.

Enjoy!

Happy Earth Day and some rambling

Two posts in one day...and I thought I wouldn't have time for any this week!:)

Oh Friends, where does the day go?
I had grand plans today to just CREATE, ya know, make a few things. I've got all these ideas I'd like to come to fruition, but it didn't happen. I told you my house is turned upside down with renovations, and then when you throw in regular chores and four children, the day is gone. It's okay, because I know the time will come soon.

These custom sets have been an evolutionary process. Ten minutes here, ten minutes there, until I had 5 or 6 complete sets. I love this initial one with the name on the bow. You can order one here.

Speaking of my shop, I've been doing a lot of thinking about it. I have a hard time focusing on just one thing. I've always had my "She Said" prints in there, and then I've thrown in some magnets,cards, signed copies of the books, original pieces. I am now branching out to sewn items. My friend suggested that I may have more success if I concentrated on one type of item. However, I love to do all kinds of things. After thinking about it, I don't want to limit myself. My etsy shop is not supporting my family, but is rather an extension of the joy I have in creating. With the economy the way it is, I've decided to lower my prices. I will make a return (albeit a small one), but I hope to reach more customers that way. The joy for me comes in sharing what I love to do, and compensating myself is an added bonus.

With that said, I will slowly be adding items, and we'll see where things go from there.

Oh yeah, and in honor of Earth Day, you can get one of these prints today only for $5. Anyone doing anything neat to celebrate Earth Day? I'd like to do something different with my kiddos.

I'm off to take off baseboards...isn't renovation EXCITING!!:)

xo

Chrissie

Appliqued shirts

I took everyone's advice and I've been making lots of appliqued T-shirts with matching barrettes. I'm loading them into my etsy shop. Slowly but surely. Please let me know if you are interested in any custom orders:)

Has anyone ever taken the old ceramic tiles off of their shower walls? It involves a hammer and some good whacks! Actually, it is kind of fun, although I am sore today. I can't wait to show y'all some pictures. Our house is officially upside down!

Happy Tuesday!:)

Tell our Daughters

tell our daughters

by Besmilr Brigham

a girl is born

like a little bird opening its wing

she lifts her face

in a down of feathers

a rose

opens its leaves

with such natural care

that we give words for

petal deep

in the imagination

a word becomes

a bitter thing

or a word is

an imagination

tell our daughters they are

fragile as a bird

strong as the rose

deep as a word

and let them make

their own growing time

big with tenderness

Isaiah 26:3-4

Sorry my image is so wrinkly! It was on the cover of my church bulletin this morning and I loved it so much I had to show y'all. I put a passage on it that really resonated with me from the sermon.

I had a very busy week...filled with friends and fun. I'm still playing catch-up around here and we are about to start some pretty big renovations around the house this week. I can't wait to show you the before and afters.

I'll be in and out this week:) See you soon
xo,
Chrissie

5 things I heart right now...

1. Caramel frappicinos from Starbucks...I.AM.ADDICTED...

2. My Janome Memory Craft 9500. I bought her almost 2 years ago and I am just now really learning everything she does. When I figure out the embroidery stuff, I'll let you know.:)

3. My husband calls it smut, but I love that The Hills are back on. This is Lauren's last season. I know I'm a dork, but I can't help it!

4. I love that my best girlfriends ( all the way back from elementary and middle school) have daughters that are Ava's age. It warms my heart in a way that I can't even describe to see them playing together...

5. I hit 80 sales in my Etsy shop last night. My goal is to hit 100 by May 10. I have lots of new stuff coming in soon...I love to make goals outside of raising my kids, it keeps my mind going...

What things are making you happy right now?

Get Excited and Make Things

Brave People Make Things so get excited and make things….
The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something strange.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to blog.
7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you. IMPORTANT: This offer is null and void if I do not see you post your own blog to pay this forward.

This is going around blog-land. I saw it first here:http://2ifbysea-cristi.blogspot.com/

HAPPY TUESDAY!!!

A Lovely Weekend

I made this over the weekend. I still had the quote in my head from this post.

I put some 5 x7's in my Etsy shop, or you can order an 8 x 10 as well.

So....... how was your Easter?
We had a lovely weekend! Mike and I went to a wedding on Saturday and had a blast.

We dyed 3 dozen easter eggs...

Loved on our presents from the easter bunny...

Wore our new Easter dresses and shoes...

Tried out some new hair-do's...

Celebrated "some-bunny's" very first Easter...

After church we spent the rest of the day having ham, potato salad, and lots of candy with golf on the high-def channel.

It was very relaxing and so fun for the kids...They liked to take all of the plastic eggs with the neighbors and keep having different hunts. It doesn't get any better than that!

I hope all of you had a nice weekend. I have been starting to gather supplies to make new stuff for my etsy shop. Now that the kids are back in school we'll see what I can get done!:)