Sincerely, Christina XO

Hi Friends! Can I start by saying that it's been a while since my last blog post? After a long vacation away, this little blog is going to have a comeback. Yay! A new look? Yes. A new topic. Yes and no. Still crafty? Yes. Long gone are my days eating and breathing everything scrapbook related and talking about silly sparkly vampires but my love of creating is still there. That never and will never ever go away. I still love the idea of scrapbooking and creating art. Putting ideas and memories on paper with pictures. Creating keepsakes and using paint, embellishments and stickers to make masterpieces. It will always be a part of me that love. I met alot of really great people throughout those scrapbooking years and still communicate with them daily. But Honestly, truly, I just don't put the time in to it that is required to do it and to do it well. My poor 4 year old might never have the scrapbook his big brother did or a published scrapbook page about him in a mag...

Sewing on layouts is something I have always admired and loved the look and feel of.  I adore the texture and dimention it gives to my pages.  Truth be told, I never really used it because I was quite lazy. It just never happened.   I've had one for years though.  Sewing clothes ( not really like on PR! Ha! ) and Halloween costumes.  Just never pulled it out until recently to use with scrapbooking.  I guess the key thing for me, is just basically keep threaded with white thread, near my workspace, plugged in and I'll use it!   For this layout I simply freehand cut strips of roughly 2" inch paper.  Fed them through the sewing machine and made a sort of paper strip garland.  Then I sewed it on the layout itself.  I also used some crepe paper and gathered it as I was sewing to create a ruffled effect.  Layered two pieces and simply used my ATC gun to adhere it to the paper. I absolutely love this look!  The color combination is lo...

Hope you all had a fun Memorial Day weekend!  I had 4 days off in a row.  That was A-Maze.  I appreciated and loved every minute away from work.  I was close to having a Calgon moment on days leading to my mini vacay, so it was well needed and deserved.    We took the littles and my Mom to see EPIC this weekend.  It was really nice, colors and imagery was amazing.  it was funny and adventurous with  battle scenes for the boys and fairy/princess vibe for the girls.  We also went to see Hangover 3.  It wasn’t as great as the first installment that introduced us to the Wolf Pack but it was entertaining.  If you plan to watch it, make sure you stick around until about halfway through the credits.  They have an ending that is quite hilar.  Let’s just say the poor Dentist has another um, mishap.  I also wanted to go see The Fast and The Furious part 48, I know it’s 6 but it seems like more, ha!  We didn’t get that...

Seriously. Where does the time go?  We are already halfway through the month and it's almost June.  It's almost time for slip and slides, water guns and pulling out the pool!  Lots of summer fun to be had!  I cannot wait to take the kids to the Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk!   The school year has almost come to an end and the kids are so ready for summer!!  I'm hoping to pack as Much summer fun as I can this year.   I work basically every other weekend so I really need to make sure that I'm scheduling out everything so we can have fun all summer long.  What do you plan to do for your summer? Over at ScrapJacked,  it's time to reveal who we have chosen to Jack this month.  We've been a fan of this girl for long time now and have chosen her in the past and we're at it again!  Stephanie Howell is our featured artist this month! A few close ups  Lovely layers and lots of Maggie Holmes collection with Crate Paper along with Dear Li...

This is something I posted on ig this weekend: Motherhood is hard.  Honestly, it’s rough at times.  It’s not all perfect days, frolicking in a garden.  There is vomit to clean and kids crapped to their waists.  I make mistakes.  Sometimes I question my sanity.  I wonder how I’m going to get through a simple errand at Target without someone having a major meltdown or how I can clean spilled juice (after I just said please be careful not to spill) for the millionth time at the dinner table.  I’ve heard that I am a mean Mom many times.  Overall I think I am doing the best I can.  I have to remember how it all began, the days I saw their beautiful faces for the first time.  Those moments of joy and laughter, the “I love you Mommy” moments that melt my heart.  My Three Children are my greatest achievements and creations in my life.  Being their Mother has been a journey in my life that I will never ever regret.  I realize that ...

So how was your NSD? I was at work most of the day and loving all the goodies I was seeing online. I couldn’t wait to get home and pull out all of my supplies and create something! I recently won a prize pack from Heidi Swapp during her launch at Michael’s. You can imagine my surprise when a follower on IG let me know that she had mentioned my name during her webcast. I had hashtaged a picture of her sold out line on IG and she chose me as a winner! She gave a super generous box of goodies that I have been steadily using in my projects. The goodie box included a bottle of Color Shine in Bronzer. It has the most luxurious metallic shimmer. So luxe! On paper, it totally looks like gold leaf. It is too too gorg. I have been collecting the Color Shine Mists and so far I have Mint Green, Sweet Cherry, Georgia Peach, Primrose, Mustard, Tropicana Teal, Tinsel and Bronzer. I really really want the Gold Lame. Luckily, all of Heidi’s product at Michael’s is 25% off this week!! Do...

Hello Blog land! It's been a while. As you can tell, I took a bit of a hiatus from Scrapbooking. I realized that I needed it back in my life. I have re-found my design style which is all about mixing patterns, focusing on titles and photos and layering it all up. Gold is also a new favorite, gold everything! So yeah, I missed it and I'm back at it. Scrapbooking is amazing, through it, I have found lifelong friends and discover new people that share this passion everyday. Scrapbooking helps me wind down, relax and creating heals my soul. It literally makes me happy. I need more happy in my life and this is it. Today is NSD! How fun is that we have a holiday for scrapbooking!? Too bad it’s not a paid day off! Unfortch, for me, luck would have it that I work today. I really would have loved to spend the day with scrappy friends and make pretty things. Over on Instagram, (ya know, my second home) I’ve been chatting with my crafty girls and we are all need a craft...

I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to scrapbook the other day. I made a page! it was fun! getting messy, inking, spraying and cutting stuff up. Like the good olde days when I lived and breathed scrapbooking. These days I use what I have in my stash o' goodies. Nothing new here, but im feeling that itch to buy new product. Watching all the pictures of CHA...aaah, the displays....the new scrapbook goodies.....the rush of all the stuff that you can get your hands on......I MISS THAT! It's been quite a few years since I attended my last CHA event but I'd go again in a heartbeat!! Still love it! I'm sure the girls that had the opportunity to go had a BLAST! Good times, good times, indeed. Over at Scrapjacked you'll find out the fab girl we Jacked for the month of love, February! It's none other than the fabulous Celine Navarro. I've had the fab opportunity to meet her in person and hear that fantastic French accent in action. She is f...

Hiya! I've been away for a long time. Too long. Life is so busy. Kids, hubby, baby on the way.....dealing with a difficult pregnancy. Riding out those little bumps in the road. Getting through it. Instead of craving ice cream and pickles, I'm craving art. Craving to create on paper. SO you'll finally see me participating in this February's Scrapjack! I've missed working with paper, pictures and crafting goodies. Glad to get back in the swing of things. Got some time on my hands before the baby comes in Early April. I think my little Preston will be making his debut in mid to late March. We'll see! Looking forward to Valentine's Day and my birthday is in a few weeks! The big 38. O.M.G.

Thankful for all the blessings that make up my life. Thankful for waking up every morning warm in my bed after a cold night. Thankful for the little things like singing Hannah Montana songs with my daughter and laughing till it hurts moments with my son. Thankful for my Mom who takes care of my children when I am at work. Thankful for my husband, without him I am not whole. and silly things like iPhones, laptops, Glee, glitter, Starbucks, facebook, lipgloss, cute shoes, MK handbags, crafting, cupcakes, comfy pj's and fuzzy slippers, frozen yogurt, bannana royales, free itunes, bib necklaces, laughing with my work besties, romcoms, lighting candles, sushi and Katy Perry. but mostly for... everyone that fills my days with laughter and love. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! xoxo

it was a scary soggy mess at Disneyland. Tried to make the best of it. Lemme say that Disney made a killing with rain slickers. Wet hair, soggy costumes, closed rides but still we were out there like the rest of the Diehards. HA! My baby was supposed to be the Queen of Hearts. Made her the cutest little headband for it. the crown was made of playing cards. Well, that went well with the water as you can see. The haunted mansion was all done up for Halloween, this was fantastic inside. No pics though. sadface. I really wasn't into the mood of taking many photos. wonder why? Jade was excited to take a pic with this toy story army dude, but wth? where was buzz light year? all we got was his two little girlfriends. There was a spectacular fire works show at the end after the parade, that i didn't take pics of. lol My most fave picture of the night. Love the illuminated castle in the back ground. so pretty. fave number 2, i just like the way it looks. oh yeah, me in the mad ha...

It's that annual Pumpkin patch tradition time! Heading down to Borchard Farms is an ultimate favorite fall, before Halloween event for us. Picking pumpkins, pulling the cart, drinking hot apple cider, playing in the Halloween Jump houses....all that fun stuff. I live for it. We took the kids out on Sunday 10/11 to try and find the perfect pumpkin. Right before we got there, I took my laptop and uploaded all my pictures from my XD card. This way I'd have plenty of room to take my beloved traditional fall pumpkin pictures. Good idea, right? Well prepared, right? Yes and yes. Took the pics. No problem. My Jade. Check out the piece sign on the pumpkin. loves it. My Niece Danielle, my kiddies (aubs scrunchie face) and my beautiful Momma Gloria. a lil' collage of pics from the outing.... closeups of my perfect pumpkins. so cute. loves it. and Ta Da! They are are hugging, not fighting, no pushing no pulling, no stoppits no yelling. Just Perfect. le sigh. Picking, or shall I s...

Flavors from L to R... Pink Velvet, Chocolate with Coconut Frosting, Oreo, Chocolate Chocolate and Carrot Cake. Took the kids to Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey on Saturday 10/9. Kids had a blast all over the park. Before we got there we made a pit stop at a cupcake shop. Mrs. Delish Cupcake Boutique. Pricey little suckers at $3 a pop. We got the 6 for $15 deal which somehow in my brain sounded better than $3 each. I saved a whole WHOPPING $3 dollars by buying a half dozen. Yeah. Math. Clearly not a strongpoint. HA! Train conductor for the day. Mr. Jaden Presley. All Aboard! Little Miss Sunshine Jaden chose the Oreo Cupcake. Oreo frosting, chocolate cake with an Oreo surprise at the bottom! Yums. I love these shots of Jaden. Almost 7 years old. My first October baby. His birthday is only 17 days away! The middle picture is a glimpse into the future. He looks 13'ish to me in it. Handsome boy. xoxo Here's my Aubs. She chose the Pink Velvet cupcake with Pink frosting and ch...