sweet dreams

I made these pillow slips for my lovely boyfriend for Christmas. Who doesn't want a dinosaur sending out waves of love as you drift off to sleep? I know I do! Aforementioned boyfriend also took these shots, proving he's no slouch with a camera either. xo.

the parkers

It feels like ages ago since Deb and I first chatted about getting together to do some photos. Exactly one swine flu and some Christmas craziness later, we finally met on Saturday morning.

I'm always nervous before a shoot because I never know exactly what I'm walking into, and I'm always scared I'm going to let people down. It's my genuine desire to create images that people will cherish forever so I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it right. Lately, luck has been on my side as I've snapped a few awesome pictures.

Deb and Frank's little guy Joey is beyond amazing. He was so serious and curious checking me out, trying to figure out just what the heck was going on. As you can see, he wasn't necessarily the biggest fan of the Santa hat, even though he looked adorable in it. Deb and Frank: thank you for being so kind, patient, encouraging and fun. I look forward to hanging out with you all again soon!

I'm A Lucky Girl!

Have I ever mentioned how amazing my parents are? Sometimes I get a little teary-eyed when I think about how much I love them and how special they are. So I would be surprised to hear you say I've never mentioned them before!

The great thing about my parents is that they're doers and problem-solvers. I have never seen a domestic issue that they couldn't tackle and end up figuring out an ingenious solution. Sometimes I find myself doing things that I have no idea where I learned how to do it... and then I realize it's something I learned from my parents or have at least seen them do over the years. How lucky am I?!

Anyway, I had this "problem" of not being able to find an economically priced craft table that suited my needs. Since we've moved into our new place, I have been using the island in the kitchen for my crafting. This was tedious because between setting up and tearing down, every time I wanted to do something, it was adding about 45 minutes to the process.

Now my Mom especially understands the need for your own space. Ever since I can remember she's had her own "art room." I remember when it was a walk-in closet underneath the stairs. I've also seen it grow into a full-fledged room with custom-built storage, a counter and a sink for her painting, weaving and endless artful endeavours.

So you can imagine that when I mentioned I wanted a craft table, they were on it. Again, how lucky am I?!

Words can't do it justice so instead I've taken oodles of pictures to show you my beautiful Christmas gift. My very own, custom-built craft table! And accessories! It's very special knowing my parents built it with their own hands and put so much love and time into it.

With such an amazing space, it looks like 2009 can't fail in the crafting department. Happy New Year!

A Bird Sittin' On A Circle

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a warm, fuzzy, safe, fun and peaceful Christmas holiday. It's hard to believe there is so much preparation that goes into those 3-4 days and now it's almost all over... let's enjoy these last few days of eggnog and good cheer while we can! :)

Today I want to post about something I was bursting to show you before Christmas. It is my little niece's first Christmas and I wanted to make her something special. I had this idea for a baby quilt rolling around in my head for quite some time so I decided that a quilt would be a really nice first Christmas gift from her godmother (that's me!).

It was my first time ever appliqueing anything. It was also my first time binding a quilt. Consequently, it took me about 3 days solid to get it done. But now that I know my way around these essential quilt skills, I think it would only be a 2 day project if I were to do it over again.

I also discovered why people use thimbles. My poor thumb was so sore by the time I got all that stitching done around the back. But it was worth it! She looked as snug as a bug wrapped up in her little birdie quilt on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with plenty of love and cheer (and yummy food and snowflakes and a nice present or two). I also want to thank you for taking the time to check out my blog. It means a lot to me that you like to share in the things I do - I appreciate your love and support!

Happy Happy Holidays and I will be posting again by Monday!

Love,

Christine

-xoxo-

A Lelievre Christmas

I just realized that the problem with writing a post a day (or most days that is!) over Christmas is that the bulk of my activity is top secret until the 25th!

Sooo... today I will show you a few pictures from the Lelievre photo shoot. Remember how I told you I was asked to go to Pictou for the day to take pictures of my friend Michelle and her family putting up their Christmas tree? Here's a peek into our day. Enjoy!

Out come the decorations!

Michelle putting the lights on the tree.

Reach up! Waaaaaay up!

Meaghan adding a few finishing touches.

As you can see, the whole family was hard at work!

There was another tree in the dining room!

Betty getting dinner ready...

It was a really good dinner!

After dinner we moved back into the living room for some family portraits. Here, Ron gazes adoringly into Betty's eyes... haven't lost it after 30+ years! >:)

The Lelievre children.

My Michelle, what loooong legs you have! >:)

Ron plays hockey so I was invited up to the rink to snap a few shots. Here is a team member of the "Old Puckers".... yes, that really is their name!

And last but not least, my favourite shot of the day. Little Miss Mina. Every pet owner understands this look - puh-leeeeeeease let me out!

Holly Jolly Christmas Cards

My weakest link in the world of crafting is most definitely my inability to draw. I often think back to when I was a kid and how much pleasure I derived from drawing and colouring. I could spend hours sitting at my Raggedy Ann & Andy table drawing little cartoons and creating new worlds.

Now I find drawing to be a very anxious and frustrating experience. Having said that, I long to be a better drawer (is that even a word?) and hope to spend more time practicing in the future.

What I can do however, is copy. Isn't there a saying that says a good artist copies, an even better artist steals? >:)

Well, I have a folder in My Documents entitled "art styles i like" and when I'm perusing my blog roll, if I see an image that particularly inspires me, I right click and save it to this file.

As you can imagine, the folder has ballooned to over 1000 files since I dove head first into this wonderful blogosphere of craft. I was clicking through the folder the other day and discovered a few photos of cute Christmas cards I have saved over time.

Then I realized that I had loads of scrapbook paper begging to be used.

And then I realized that now is always a great time to learn something new.

Sooo.... this year, I'm sending out lovely, hand-drawn, un-original Christmas cards. It has saved me money AND given me a chance to practice my drawing skills. I quickly learned that drawing is something you need to turn your brain off for. I almost feel like I could draw better with my eyes closed, if that makes sense.

Anyway, enough babbling on. Here's a sneak peek of my favourite cards. Hopefully they will make people smile (and not in a making-fun kind of way!) when they pull them out of the envelope.

PS: I wish I had saved the sources for these images because this is, afterall, straight up plagerism. But alas, I didn't save the links.