Quilt Swaps

Remember when I showed you this that I made for my partner for the Urban Home Goods Swap?  In return, I received this set from Katydiddy.  Isn't it great?



I love, love Russian Nesting Dolls, and she made me this whole set.  There are actually four settings:  placemats, napkins, and egg cozies.

 They go perfect with my polka dot plates :)

 And then here is my scrappy strip swap package:  isn't the package itself adorable?

I was paired up with Cathy Gaubert, who included this piece that she sells in her etsy shop.  I love it!  I want to make a pillow with this piece in the middle.

Among other beautiful strips of fabric, she sent me these much coveted Castle Peeps strips.

 I love doing swaps.  It's so much fun! :)

Sharing Stitches

I got a special preview of my new book in the mail...what an exhilarating feeling to actually hold it and look at it in real life!

The styling is phenomenal!   

The editors and designers did an AWESOME job putting everything together.  It is such a beautiful book, and I can't wait for it to be released.

 Here's just a tiny sneek peek.   One of Lori's projects:

 You can see one of Liz's here and a tiny glimpse of Catherines:

 And one of Jenn's:

I wish I could show you all of them.  You'll just have to wait until the book comes out. ;)

It's available for pre-order here.

Happy Wednesday!

xo,

Chrissie

My version

Remember I told you I was making my own version of this?  (Joy's is wonderful!)   Here it is:

We had this huge canvas that no one wanted in their bedrooms anymore, so the kids helped me prime it.

 I used the vinyl letters from Office Max and then primed over them.

 I worked on it for a couple of days.  I would add a few layers and textures, and then go back the next day and add a few more.

 This is my favorite part...I laid a doily down and spray painted over it.  You can see here where I started taking the letters off.

 I am happy with the result!

 Here it is again.  We have no natural lighting in this room, and I'm actually still making some tweaks in there.  But I love walking in and seeing it!

I'm linking up to Blessed Little Nest today, who inspires me to make lovely things.  :)
Happy Monday!

A Sweet Haunted House

We made this fun little haunted house the other day.  My mom saw something similar from Women's Day and we came up with our own version.

We used a pound cake, chocolate frosting, candy corn and M & M's, gel, and marshmallows (sp?).  The bakery at our local grocery sold us the plastic rings for $1.  They are the kind they use in the bakery to put on cupcakes.

It was a fun project.

You don't really think I could leave it out as a centerpiece, do you?  :)  It would be gobbled up before I could even leave the room! :)

Have a great weekend!
xo,

Chrissie

Randomness

Did I mention that I have a huge secret project going on?

I didn't think so, because I'm not allowed to talk about it yet.  It makes blogging hard, because it takes up most of my creative time.  But it's a good one :)

On Sunday afternoon, approximately 4 pm, I got a very wild hair up my you-know-what, and decided I need to move a few things around.  Ahem.  Let's just say at 1 am I was still putting the computer and flat screen back together.  One day I'll show pictures.

We are struggling with middle school decisions right now.  My oldest is in 5th grade, and we can't decide between our zoned school, a local magnet program, or a private school.  I am freaking out about this...middle school just plain scares me.  I'm praying on this one...that we will be led to the right choice.

I'm making my own version of this right now.  I hope I have pictures soon.

Ava and Ashton has been very pre-occupied with helping children in need right now.  They are mainly concerned with the children in Haiti and those that will not have Christmas.  I feel happy that they have been led to serve in some way and I'm trying to help them make some decisions about what they can do to help, without being overwhelmed. 

We haven't been to church in two months.  I am feeling a lot of guilt about this.  We missed two weeks because of vacation and then I dropped the ball.  Big time.  I miss it.  I want to, need to, get back. 

Thinking a lot about Christmas.  The presents we will choose this year.  What I can handle making, and trying to budget.  I love Christmas. 

I miss my blogging friends.  I'm sorry I haven't been commenting much.  Thanks for sticking around while I go through my I'm-not-blogging-very-much phase.  :)

xoxoxoxo,

Chrissie

It's Fall Y'all!

Like a lot of you, Fall is my favorite time of the year.  Although it is still very warm here, there is a subtle difference in the air.  The light has changed.  The sunrise is beautiful every morning.  The kids are in a nice, solid routine at school and the holidays are coming! :)

We made our yearly pumpkin patch run with my Mom yesterday.  I had to drag Logan along.  Apparently when you are 10 the pumpkin patch is for babies?  Oh well.  He ended up taking a lot of the photos. :)

 Cuties :)

I happen to love the gnarled, ugly pumpkins.  It reminds me that God loves us all, warts and all.  There is a purpose for every living thing!

 My oldest and youngest.  How did they get so big?

Ava searched high and low for the perfect pumpkin.  She wanted a perfectly round one with no bruises or spots and a straight stem.  I think she inspected  every single pumpkin!

Logan tried to get a group shop.  Nearly impossible! :)

I hope you are enjoying fall wherever you are.  We don't have the pleasure of seeing the leaves change in Florida, but there is surely beauty to be found!

Sunflower Mosaic

I've been working on the commissioned sunflower mosaic for awhile now, and I was finally able to grout it this weekend.
I love the gold glass, and how the iridescent glass changes colors when it's hit by sunlight.
I used to work primarily in tile when I did mosaics.  Now I use almost all stained glass.  The color variations are endless.

Thanks for coming by. I'm linking up to Heather's Life Made Lovely Monday.
Happy Monday! :)
xo,
Chrissie

Hi...(she says sort of shyly)

I thought about quitting blogging last week.

1. Swatch Wall, 2. Birthday Girl, 3. muchas piedras, 4. World Political Map, 5. Thats where you'll find me..., 6. Embrace your truth, 7. Painted Stones, 8. play, 9. container gardener, 10. stitched.canvas, 11. Untitled, 12. Their Mother Waits For The Garden


I was feeling like maybe I didn't have anything left to say.
And I didn't like feeling stressed out about "having" to blog.
I also was spending way too much time on the computer, and my to-do list was growing exponentially.

But after being off-line for a little bit, I'm feeling oh so more balanced, and I hope to keep up this balance.  Which means I won't be posting every day, or every other day either.  I will be posting when I have something I really want to share.

I value my bloggy friends and I've missed you all.
It's good to be back!
xo,
Chrissie

ps-Enjoy the beautiful inspiration pictures from Flickr.  I've got some good stuff of my own to show you soon!:)