Sparkles and Flowers

I just finished putting 14 --- yes 14 --- cards into the mail to go out today.  How fun to be able to send a little joy to that many people at once.  I promised myself this year that I'd start sending more cards than ever.  Here's a look at one of the pretty cards I sent out today.  It has some unusual and very pretty features.  

First of all, I used DSP for the outside and the inside.  The outside top layer of DSP is covered with sparkle, even though I can't seem to get it to show in the photo.  I covered it with VersaMark Ink and then embossed it with Iridescent Ice EP.  It's so easy and makes it look soooooo pretty.

Even the envelope has a special surprise.  After sponging on some Blackberry Bliss, I sprinkled on my Iridescent Ice EP (while the ink was still wet) and embossed part of the envelope edges and corners.

Of course, the most beautiful finishing touch is by adding the gorgeous butterfly.  I love my butterflies!  Now... it's time for you to stamp up some beautiful Spring cards and get them into the mail.  Let's spread a little joy!

Before you go...
Click here to enjoy a short video that shares some really fun ideas for stamping with embossing folders.

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world.

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Spring Decor with Wreath in Place

As promised, today I'll share how my wreath looks in its proper setting, along with my Spring decor in my living room.  You will notice several of my antiquing finds mixed throughout the room.  I have chosen all white flowers this Spring and love how they make the room come alive and how it all came together.

First, let's start out with a blatant photo bomb.  Toby Joe could see I was getting ready to take some shots and decided to walk into the center of the photo and pose.  You wanted me in it, right?

All the pretty white flowers are from Pier I.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

More Spring Decor... Pinterest Inspired

Today's post is a Spring centerpiece I made that was inspired by Pinterest.  I've been seeing several posts showing 3-tiered centerpieces, using eggs, bunnies, birds and such on each of the tiers and really like them a lot.  I decided that I could use a 3-tiered server that I already had and try my hand at it.

I tore up some old Card Stock to line each of the 3 tiers, so the grasses wouldn't fall through and make a mess.  I then used another idea I saw on Pinterest --- little 'nests' in vintage molds.  Look closely and you can see mine on the middle and bottom tiers.  This was such a fun project and, because I already had it all planned in my head, it went together very quickly.  The best part of all --- I did NOT have to go out and purchase anything new to use in this project.  I already had everything on hand.  I love it when that happens.

I hope some of my decor ideas will inspire you to try some projects for your own home.

Come back soon to see some new goodies in my studio and to learn some tips for organizing your crafting space.  Have a great day!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog world.
Have a great day and come back soon for more design inspiration.

Spring is here? Really? Well, maybe we can pretend it is!

Before my cold reached the point of no return, I did get some cleaning and decorating done, to celebrate Spring.  I don't often get a cold like this and it's really gotten the best of me.  Seeing my decorations in place already, puts a smile on my face.  I'll start by sharing a few ideas with you from what I put on my front porch.

Now, let's move inside and see what I have to share with you.

I love bunnies.  They are kind of everywhere right now:)

I had a brainstorm to stack my old books and school bell on top of this old scale.  The bell was a gift to my mom from a former school teacher.  She actually used it to call in the children from the school yard.  Being a former teacher myself, I love it and treasure the memories.

In my next post, I'll share some of my favorite new decorations.  I just finished making them.  We'll be in the dining room for this.  

Then...

Come back soon to see some new goodies in my studio and to learn some tips for organizing your crafting space.  Have a great day!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog world.
Have a great day and come back soon for more design inspiration.

A Pop-Up Posies Banner for Spring

Remember the larger banner I made for Spring?  I decided the tags from our Pop-Up Posies kit would make a cute banner in a slightly smaller size.  I made this for my Prairie Treasures booth (Root Cellar, Wildflour) but I think I might have to make another one for myself.  I really like how it turned out.  If you haven't gotten one of the Pop-Up Posies Designer Kits yet, you really need to get one.  You can make so many beautiful projects with them.

I was going to share some of my new wreaths with you today, but decided I needed to share my new Spring banner now because we still need more Spring here.  Maybe this will help.

We had a wonderful weekend.  Starting Friday night, my daughter and her family took me out to dinner to celebrate that I finished my taxes (I think:)  Then Saturday, my son and family came over and we took them out to dinner.  Sunday morning, we had an absolutely packed church to celebrate Easter.  It was a beautiful service.

Here are a couple of shots from Easter Sunday morning.

My handsome boys on Easter Sunday morning.

My sweet Olive Jane's first taste of a peep.  It was a hit!

 *Please Note:
If you would like to make a Spring wreath, you will need to pay to register at least 2 days prior to the class so that I can have all your materials ready for you.

A Blue Basket with Bunny

As I promised yesterday, here is the round blue basket that I decorated.  I think it maybe turned out to be my favorite, even though I love the pink one a lot.  As I did with the pink basket, I placed a decorative egg photo holder into the basket to hold the card.

This bunny is sporting a little ribbon bow tie.  The roses are hot glued onto the ear.  (It only hurt him for a little while.)  Instead of using tulle (I only had pink.) I used a material of some sort (can't remember what it's called) from the floral department for the basket filler.  I think it looks nice with this color story.  I hot glued roses all across the handle and tied a ribbon bow onto each side of the basket handle.

I will share with you how a lucky accident helped me to figure out the best way to attach the skirt to the basket.  After I fitted the skirt over the basket, it slipped off.  When I went to pull it up, it turned wrong side out and slipped up to the handle.  That is when I realized that this would be the best and easiest way to attach the skirt.  You see, up to this point, I hadn't really known for sure how I was going to do it:)  I just knew that I wanted to hide the rows of stitching.  So here are the directions, step by step.

To make the skirt for the basket:

• Measure out and cut 2 long strips of fabric, depending on the size of your basket.
• Make a seam to attach the 2 fabric pieces into 1 long piece.
• Make a second seam, so that you now have a fabric tube.
• Sew 2 rows of long stitches, for gathering, along 1 edge.
• Gather up the fabric until it looks close to the size you'll need for your basket.  This is trial and error, but pretty easy. 
• Slip the fabric tube over the basket, with the wrong side out and the gathered edge closest to the top of the basket.  This means the edge that will become the bottom edge of the skirt is now up at the top.  The fabric tube is now on the basket upside down and wrong side out.
• Run a bead of hot glue along the top edge of the basket, doing a small area at a time.
• Be careful because this is hot glue.  I did get burned a bit.  It's all in the price of being an artist.
• Gently press the gathered edge into the bead of glue.
• Continue, a little space at a time, until all the fabric tube is attached to the basket.  You will need to adjust your gathers before you start and continue adjusting them as you go along.
• Once the hot glue has cooled, allow the fabric tube to gently fall down over the basket and... you have your skirt.  It's just that easy.

As with all projects like this if you think it through before you begin, it's pretty easy and a ton of fun.  Don't forget:  Our fabric is on sale at half price right now.  I got this More Amore fabric on sale!  Stock up while supplies last.

Come back tomorrow and see my Easter pails.  I have a cute little trio of pails that I decorated for Easter.  They are all ready to add treats.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

A Pink Basket with Bunny

Today's post is all about the pink -- for Easter, that is.  When I was at the fabric store a while back, I found a couple of round baskets on sale.  I couldn't wait to get home and decorate them!  They were just the size I wanted and I loved that they were round.  I'll show you the pink one today and then you can come back tomorrow to see the blue one.

I added an Easter egg photo holder to the basket to hold the tag.

I tucked in a bunny, also in pink.  If you missed my post about the bunny, check here.

I tied a big ribbon bow onto each side of the basket, using our gorgeous 2-Tone ribbon.  The flower trim and the skirt on the basket are attached using a hot glue gun.  I have the scars to prove it:)  A hot glue gun seems to be the easiest and best way to do a project like this, but it is not for the feint of heart.  You do get burned a bit.

I attached some of our flower trim across the top of the handle.  It adds a lot to the look of the basket.  I tucked in more of the tulle and even attached a tiny sprig of it to the tag.  There is still room to add some Easter treats to the basket.  

I made this for my Prairie Treasures booth (Root Cellar, Wildflour) but I had a hard time letting it go.  I think it turned out quite pretty.  I'm sure it will go to a good home:)

I hope you like it and will come back tomorrow to see my blue one.  Have a great day.  My day will be better after we get our tax appointment over and then I can get back to creating.

We had a good time at my first Walk-In Wednesday last night.  I had several people forget to come, because it was new to my schedule.  Next time, they'll remember and join us.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

A Decorated Basket for Spring

Today I have a basket for you that I decorated with more of our wonderful fabric.  The fabric I used for this one is from our Twitterpated collection.  It's a really good fabric for Spring projects.  Yes, I'm just going to keep making Spring projects until our Spring actually decides to show up for us.

The basket started out without a bunny, but I just knew that it wouldn't be complete without it.

I came across a super find at the fabric store for the pink tulle.  It is sold in the wedding/bridal section and it comes in a package of 25 (10" circles).  You can just gather them up in the middle and poke them down into the basket.  It makes a super nice filler and there's no mess.

The ribbon just makes it into a gorgeous little basket.  Our 2-Tone ribbons are gorgeous!
I made a tag for my basket using tags and flowers from our Pop-Up Posies kit.

The fabric insert for the basket was super simple.  I pressed 1 complete piece of the fabric (similar size to a fat quarter) and then folded it in half with wrong sides together.  I stitched it together leaving just enough opening to turn it once I'd finished stitching.  After turning it to right-side out, I sewed up the opening and then pressed it again.  The size just fits this basket and is big enough to make a liner and a 'skirt' all in one piece.

I tied a big ribbon bow on each side of the basket.

It does look best with a bunny though.  Right?

In case you missed it, check out yesterday's post to learn more about the bunny.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a creative day and don't forget to stock up on our fabric while it's 50% off.  I just ordered several packages --- all on sale!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you --- I finished my taxes today!!!  Yay!  What a relief.  Now I can play more with my stamping goodies!!!  Again, Yay!

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.