A happy little family…

A lot of you know a little bit about me and now 

I'd like to introduce you to my happy, little family…

{and show off our most recent family photo session done by my extremely talented 

photographer friend, Cindy Ford, of FORD Photography. 

You can find her here.}

First off, my husband, Joel.

How handsome is he??

Jan '04 - 7 years ago when we first got engaged.
Oh, man, I miss his hair!
{Photo by Mandy Red}

And then our wedding day…

October '04
He got contacts (though I still love those glasses on him) and cut off all his beautiful hair.
Still handsome as ever!
{Photo by Visualize Photography}

Add in a baby… or TWO…

Caitlyn Skye - Sept '07

Samuel Grant - Dec '09

And here we are today…

A white dress in the outdoors surrounded by red clay wasn't the best choice when trying to hold a dirty little boy.
Notice how I'm trying to hold him away from me?


I adore this picture! 

This will be enlarged and mounted on my wall one of these days…

True to his independent nature, Sam wants to run off and explore!
Are his feet even touching the ground here?

My pretty princess, Caitlyn. She's got a great smile and has always been my more pensive child. 

 Sam is my little momma's boy, though 'mama' is about the ONLY word he won't say!

He never met a stick he didn't like…

…and ALWAYS has a smile on his face!

Sissy love…

Not sure what Sam thought was so funny…

Tickling always does the trick for a great smile…

Though a dirty joke from my husband get's me laughing…

I just ♥ the haze…

This is what my husband calls my Blue Steel look… 

I painted my nails for the first time since I think I was in high school just for the shoot.

So, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed!

The Super Exciting Giveaway!

Head over to the SHINE Project today for a chance to win

my $25 shop credit AND a fabulous zippy pouch from 

Alexandra Rose! I have a ruffled checkbook cover and matching mini wallet that 

I LOVE!

I have a dream…

I received an email the other day from my lovely mother-in-law and 

while I don't normal read forwarded emails 

{and NEVER forward them myself}, I did this one. It was short and fairly to the point:

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME WE WILL SEE AND LIVE THIS EVENT Calendar for July 2011 (United States)  Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 July Money bags This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So, forward this to your friends and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not forward.....will be without money. Kinda interesting - read on!!! This year we're going to experience four unusual dates. 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that's not all... Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born - now add the age you will be this year, The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world. This is the year of the Money!!! This year July will have 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays. This happens every 823 years.... These particular years are known as " Money Bags" The proverb goes that if you send this to eight good friends money will appear in next four days as it is explained in Chinese FENGSHUI. Those who don't continue the chain won't receive....... Its a mystery, but its worth a try. good luck. "I GET BUY GIVING" So, while I don't buy into the whole chain email thing and wonder who even comes up with this stuff, I DO have big plans, dreams, hopes,  expectations, etc. for this year and this email is just a funny little  reminder of the things I'm hoping for in 2011. I am hoping to: build a strong fan base network with other crafty women inspire others grow my business So many things are starting to fall into place and though it's taken a lot  of work and there's still so much more to do, I know that it's all going to  be worth it. I think I might just be realizing my hopes and dreams and I  think I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up:  I want to be a crafty mama who blogs and has a successful home business. So, thank you to everyone who has supported me from the beginning,  first with Crissy's Crowns and then the switch to Crystelle Chic.   I appreciate each and everyone of you!

And the winner is…

Congratulations to Christina Bayley for winning my first giveaway!

She will receive a Women's Brimmed Beanie in what ever color she chooses!

Be sure to follow my blog as new Facebook rules state all giveaways must be 

submitted through a 3rd party (ie, a blog) and all future comments for giveaways must be done here. 

Thanks again for all who participated! 

It's Giveaway Time!

Thank you to all my fans who helped me get to 100 likes in just a over a month. 

As promised, it's GIVEAWAY time!

I'm going to give one lucky follower her {or his} choice of color of one of my Adult Brimmed Beanies

{not including the flower}

Click here for a complete list of colors available in my Etsy store. 

To enter you must "Like" my Crystelle Chic facebook page and leave a comment 

under the giveaway post. 

I'll be drawing a winner Monday at 10 am!

Another fun giveaway!

Family Fashion and Facts is a fun new blog I just came across. 

They are hosting a great giveaway for LBArtworks which makes {amazing} shoulder bags and wallets. 

LBArtworks is giving away one of these fantastic wallet/business card holders. 

Aren't they fantastic? 

So click here to head over to Family Fashion and Facts to enter yourself in this awesome giveaway!

Just.Lovely.Things: Bee a Queen {crystellechic}

Just.Lovely.Things: Bee a Queen {crystellechic}: "crystelle chic $25 SHOP CREDIT {use discount code justlovely to save 20% off purchases} -must be a public follower of my blog to enter t..."

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Here's an easy {and quick} way to make a beautiful fabric flower to add to just about anything.

I came across this fabric flower tutorial by Linda Permann in my Facebook feed by the Crocheting Club yesterday. 

{you can follow them on facebook or twitter here}

I grabbed some scrap fabric and had the cute little flower made up in no time…

Seriously, like 10-15 minutes.

The one on the left is done with a 2.5" x 18" strip. 

The one on the right in just a 2" strip but it was 20" long

{I think it would look better with a larger button - the aqua one is just 5/8"}

Overall, these are quick and easy to make. I'm going to add an alligator clip to mine so they are interchangeable on my daughter, Caitlyn's, hats. They'd be cute as headbands, too.

So grab some fabric and try it out yourself!

~Lovefeast~: Crystelle Chic

~Lovefeast~: Crystelle Chic: "Gorgeous Crystelle who makes some amazing items. I wear my hat ALL the time. She has been generous enough to offer a $25 shop credit to the ..."

I love giveaways! (Don't we all?) 

I'm hoping to have my own giveaway hosted soon, 

but in the mean time here's an awesome 

giveaway from one of my new favorite bloggers, Gussy Sews, hosted by {just.lovely.things}.

With any type of bag a girl could need, you're sure to find one, two… or ten that you can't live without!

Click here for your chance to win a $40 store credit!

Ready, Set…JUMP!

I've always been a perfectionist  - one that has to have everything just so. If I couldn't do it right, I wouldn't do it all. But today, that changes. I'm jumping in head first, and right or wrong, I guess I'll figure it out as I go.

I've decided to sponsor a wonderful blog, The Shine Project, and am hoping that this is just one of many first steps that will get my name out and my product noticed.  It scares me to death that it won't be perfect, but I've got to do it.

So…
Ready…
Set…
JUMP!