Sending YOU Love

I'm not the type of gal to usually spot the perfect rounded number on my speedometer...

but today I did catch that my blog following has reached 200!

I can't really put into words how that feels... but if I might try...

it's like walking on clouds

a sunny day in the middle of a Portland Winter

an unexpected gift in the mail

Thank You Friends

for saying hello... sharing your thoughts

and being my friend... you're all AWESOME IN MY BOOK!

So lets talk about sending "love mail"

I love mail! Who doesn't?

well I do hate paper wasting stupid junk mail and bills

but I LOVE all the rest

package or envelope it really doesn't matter

Many of you have asked if I was planning on making cards sometime in the future

and believe it or not the future is very very near.

I am quite terrified of printers, but with some encouragement

and advice from my friend Cate

(who just happens to be having an amazing giveaway right now)

AND my very sweet husband that reminded me to breath

I successfully printed 10 sample postcards which I am sending off to Sadie for this years Lollishops Press Kits for Silver Bella 2009.

Now I'm on the hunt for the perfect paper and to create my own custom postcard design.

I had some items to mail out tomorrow and realized I was out labels.

So I quickly came up with these.

The cupcake is a new design... i'm still working on.

Pretty sure he's going to be party of my Valentine Kit available in January.

This amazing treat was sent to my e-mail this evening!

Karen purchased my kit just this morning and by the time I got home from work

she had created this adorable birthday invitation for her 3 year old.

I was so moved! It's been such a quick but crazy journey

to this new adventure of digital kit making

and it's going to take time before I find my market

plus really believe that I belong amongst such amazing designers.

but seeing so many of the elements of my kit come together

in such an adorable way

made my heart sing

and gave me a second wind!

THANK YOU KAREN!

There is one more person I want to thank tonight

and that is my dear friend Danielle Thompson

I would have never had the courage to try learning Illustrator on my own

and I am constantly inspired by her kindness and her amazing talents as an artist.

And in the spirit of this post I would like to share some of her new products

for sending the sweetest parcels to those you love

Just tonight I printed these dang cute labels

inspired by Danielle's vintage camera collection

reminding mail carriers to deliver your mail safe and sound

From stamps to stickers to print them yourself

There is something special that is sure to work for you

and as I have shared time and time again

her DIGITAL KITS are all so dang cute

no wonder she proudly calls them Kitschy Digitals!

Thank You Danielle for being such a great friend!

Well I hope you feel the love!

Blogging really isn't all that fun

if you don't have a friend or two to share it with

so to have 200 is 100 times the fun!

THANKS!

Chelsea Ann

Little Space. Big Inspiration

I've been having one of those weeks

one of those please let me rewind

and hope that this time the ending will turn out differently

but at the same time I know it will all be okay

and this is the way it has to and perhaps even should be.

I was however surprised with a happy cheerful bit of news

Today, Hand Made News posted an article about my studio

I am really pleased with the way it reads.

Thanks to Mimi Guethe

for her wonder way of sharing and editing my answers to her thoughtful questionnaire.

I have done a few written interview before and am always a bit embarrassed by the end result

I'm not a writer... you all know this well by now

I am very pleased to share that any creative space no matter how small

can inspire creativity and bring joy to your heart.

I recently had a friend over who had only seen my home from my photographs

it was funny to see her response to just how small my creative space is

Camera angels can do magic

The important thing is to fill your home

and especially your studio with the things that make you the most happy

for me that is gifts from friends, vintage treasures, and lots of color.

This is a space (from a dear friend) that really captures

that rules in decorating should be thrown out the window

when it comes to your happy place

You can hardly walk into this lovely sweet room it is so full of treasures

but your instantly happy, instantly girlish and...

very ready for a tea party

If you don't have a happy space of your own or aren't feeling that inner che

please let yourself let-go of convention and logic and find your own little nook

or put all you favorite treasures on the shelf just cluttered with books.

be bold- be happy!

1000 Cranes

In 2003 my mother married her prince charming

I was still in high school when they met

and at the time I wasn't too keen on the idea of my mom dating

let a lone being in love

but time passed and this new stranger became a friend and then family

and today my DAD!

I never thought I would want to call him dad

the word dad was tainted

and I thought I would never have that little girl fantasy

of being her daddy's little angel

but as time passes old scares slowly fade

and new beginnings emerge

I am now a beloved daughter

to a wonderful man

who bring so much joy to my mother

and to ME!

My family has never been the cookie cutter standard

but I have been blessed to have more family and more love because of it

With a new dad came new grandparents

from the very start I have loved them as they have loved me

they have a very special place in my heart.

Last Year they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

I wish I knew more of their story

such a unique couple to have met over seas

and to start a new life in America

My grandmothers name is Chizuru

Meaning "A Thousand Cranes" in Japanese

we call her Tomi for short derived from her maiden name.

I wonder what it is like to have you name changed half way through life?

Did you know that only a hand full of people call me Chelsea Ann

in fact when I asked the Priest during my wedding rehearsal

to announce me by my full name

my mother laughed.

Working with Tomi's images from her girlhood is so much fun

she is such a beautiful person and she has so much spirit and charm about her

I just adore her style so sweet and chic

I never can stick to one style with my scrapbook

Each new page starts with a blank canvas and an image

and from there magic or disaster...

oh yes sometimes things just don't work out

but other times it's like a puzzle coming together.

What are your favorite memories to scrapbook?

I can't wait to have little one's of my own

Baby Books are the sweetest...

which reminds me to tell you that yes I am working on a baby themed digital kit!

Actually I think there will be many baby themes... so many ideas!!! So many!!!

I best be off... please visit my Flickr Scrapbook Set

for all the kit information for each page

and to see the images larger

(why oh why does Blogger hate me as of late!?

the sizing and colors are off and oh my even pixillation!)

Happy week to you!

Chelsea Ann

Big Red goes to see Something Big and Red

No matter how careful you are

Life happens

This was the start of our trip to the Red Wood Forest

poor tree - this isn't the first time it had been hit it appeared

lesson learned: Trees curve from where they planted

This wasn't the only mishap though

we also nocked a hole in the bathroom sink by leaving the leaky iron in it

and other silly things not worth mention

The thing is you will learn a lot on your first real trip in a camping trailer

Like puppy dogs will bark at any noise they hear

keeping the whole campgrounds awake at night and annoyed by day

Little boys will want to puddle hop every time they go outside

so bring LOTS of extra clothing

and no matter what - your camper will be thrashed

good thing we replaced the carpets already

in exchange from wood overlay

As you can see I was blessed to travel with the CUTEST camper ever!

His momma is a friend from work

and we all traveled from Portland to the Red Wood Forest Together

This little man and I were tight the whole trip

he even said

" I want Chelsea to be my new momma because she is pretty and has toys!"

what more can I say... he was the best part of the whole trip!!!

Well the trees were BIG

even bigger than Paul and Babe

I just love this picture

all the different expressions... priceless!

This place is called the Trees of Mystery

and you get to ride a gondola

and take in this beautiful view

Can you see the ocean?

I would highly recommend the Trees of Mystery

they have a great walking path and descriptions of all the different varieties of trees

I thought the trees would just be BIG

but oh no they are also weird!

Such as trees growing on top of trees... very strange indeed.

Here is an example of exactly that...

had you any clue?

the tree grouping here is called a cathedral

and marriage ceremonies take place under it a couple time each year

It would be very romantic.

When we had seen just about enough trees for one trip we all went to the beach

It was the puppies first time and they loved it

Unfortunately we didn't always stay together as a group

but my friend shared he amazing pictures with me

and they are just TO) CUTE for words!

I am so glad that we made this trip

I've been wanting to go since childhood

my only regret is that

we didn't drive through any trees

but we did see a

DINOSAURS

A rather nice fellow actually

ummm it's far to much work to fix and re position this photo...

but seriously I can NOT spell lately!!! Not that I ever could

but Honestly!!!! I have a problem!

Sadly and at the same time thankfully

all trips must come to an end

It will probably be the last Airstream trip until the spring

Big Red needs some love

(lets all cross our fingers the crunched up back pops out smoothly)

I'm sorry it took so long to finally share this trip with you

but as you can see there was much editing to be done

but it's nice to go back through the pictures

and relive in my mind the wonderful adventures we had

Have a wonderful Weekend Friends!

~ Chelsea Ann

It's A Party!

YEAH! My first ever digital kit is now available!!!!

This kit was made with much love and I am so pleased to share it with all of you!

Create lasting memories on your computer or by printing to your hearts delight

or create unique gifts for friends and family,

the ideas are limitless! So what are you waiting for?

The fun is all waiting for you under the big top!

PLUS you can upgrade to a commercial license for just $5 more

Purchase your kit at the

ittybittybirdy

PRINT SHOP

Not sure what a digital kit is?

This kit includes 25 individual items including background pages, vintage inspired stickers, and scanned images from a 1930's picture dictionary and other fun vintage copyright free images

these images are super easy to use and manipulate

the digital scrapbook pages below show just how flexible this kit can be

From layering the backgrounds, incorporating elements from other designers kits,

to creating a unique style all your own.

ah, wasn't my hubby such a cutie!?

For you new to digital scrap-booking

don't be intimidated

I have NO graphic design background

I prove that you can teach yourself

all you need is photoshop and a bit of patience and determination

If I was to sum up ~ Remember layers are your friend as are the layer affects

and Free Transform, Free Transform, Free Transform

and get yourself a copy of Photoshop for dummies

(whatever addition you might have such as C2, C3, C4)

Additional credits for the scrapbook pages above:

Kitschy Digitals

and Holly McCaig

A very sweet friend has offered to let me use her button maker sometime soon

So I started playing around with some ideas

Really shows just how versatile this kit can be

would be really fun to use for creating birthday cards and announcements

or decorating a lunchbox with stickers...

CIRCUS PARTY KIT PREVIEW, 2. Vintage Circus Trays, 3. vintage circus switchplate, 4. like a deer in the headlights, 5. Vintage Circus Cutouts, 6. Circus Wheel, 7. Vintage Circus Elephants , 8. cake circus train, 9. circus-alphabet-elephant, 10. vintage circus fabric in mustard, 11. little elephant, 12. Dikkens at the circus, 13. Vintage circus mobile by Irmi14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Creating this kit was especially fun - There is just SO much inspiration out there

I could have gone on and on and filled the kit with 50 or more images

but I have other kits in my mind and I am eager to switch

to a new but equally fun and of coarse vintage inspired theme.

Oh~ and did I mention I have treats for you!

You can download this Circus Mini kit by just clicking here

and drag and drop this ooobber cute activity page on to your desktop

to entertain yourself or your kiddies on a lazy afternoon.

and last but very much not least in the very slightest

If you purchase your Circus Party Kit from now until Thursday evening

your name will be put in for a very special drawing~

to win a $20 gift card to use in either of my stores

Now that's a TREAT!

Thank you all for visiting!

~Chelsea Ann

P.S. Once again I have to apologize that the Airstream adventure post keeps getting pushed back! FRIDAY I PROMISE!!!!