New Ventures - {Make it Meaningful}

 

I'm excited to finally be able to share a peek of my newest venture!  I love making - whether it's with paper & glue, fabric, or paint.  Being creative energizes my soul.  My brother, unlike me, is a whiz with wood.  We decided to join efforts & set up shop.

 I'm hoping to have shipping options soon, but for now - if you're in Indiana, we'd love to have you check out our shop!  We also like making custom projects.

 One of my favorite things is the Milk & Cream sign.  I salvaged some antique glass & white paint-chipped wood from an old barn & designed the lettering. 

 I also made some cute little dolls & dachshunds for the shop.  We have some unique antique pieces too!

If you're a fan of HGTV's Fixer Upper show, you might recognize the sign that inspired this design.  It was a labor of love, & now I'm tempted to keep it for my own kitchen. ;)

We're busy coming up with new designs & I'm loving this new path our lives are taking.  Thanks for checking it out!

The Nesting Place {A Book Review}

It's not every day that I blog about a books.  (In fact, I'm not sure that I ever have during the past 7 years that I've been blogging.) But this week, I read a book that really spoke to me & I wanted to share it with you - The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith.  And, I saw that (today only) the Kindle version is on sale for $1.99!!!  I bought the hardback version & it's just beautiful, inside & out.

 

This is the first home decorating book that I've read cover-to-cover. In fact, I just got the book a few days ago & couldn't put it down.

The cover is what initially grabbed my attention.  I'm not going to lie, I love a pretty package.  ;)  But what really caught my eye was the title.  It was done by Lindsay Letters who I'm a HUGE fan of!  She's designed several products for Studio Calico over the past year & has a beautiful online shop.

The author, Myquillyn Smith, is a popular blogger at The Nester.  She's the kind of writer that immediately makes you feel like a friend that you've known for years.

 It's definitely not your traditional decor book and although the photos are beautiful, the real beauty of this book are the words. I felt like the author really spoke to my heart & in just a few day's time, has changed the way I look at my home.

Even though this book isn't the type that tells you to "put this there" or "paint this that color", I feel completely inspired to decorate & make my house feel like a home. I've been frozen for years, living in a house that I've failed to see immediate potential because we have a very limited income. I love that the author understands what it's like to be in my shoes & I closed the book feeling like I could do so much with the little that we have.

It's an awesome read & I'm so glad that I took the plunge & ordered the book.

Pantry Makeover

Today is officially the first day of spring!  (It's only 29 degrees here, but I'm trying to think positive.) ;)  For the past couple of weeks, I've been spring cleaning & organizing my house & I thought it was time to spruce up my pantry as well.

Using some basic glass canisters & my Silhouette die cutter, I made vinyl labels for each of my jars.

You can find the full tutorial (as well as a video & downloads) today on the Paper Crafts Connection blog!  There's also a fab giveaway from my friends at Silhouette America.

Two Holiday Projects & Video Tutorials

I've made a couple more festive projects recently & I'd love to share them with you!

Two Peas has a fun event going on right now called a Colorful Christmas.  The Garden Girls were asked to share a color combination, special project & a tutorial walking you through the steps.  I decided to use a little bit of an nontraditional color scheme of bright red, golden yellow, & denim blue & created a Christmas banner with a homespun feel.

This is the Mood Board I created:

1. Denim Acrylic Paint Dabber 2. Crimson ABC Stickers 3. Lost and Found Buttons 4. Butter Rose Ribbon 5. Denim Blue ABC Stickers 6. Delight Cream Ledger Paper 7. Smash Pocket 8. Gold Candle Silhouettes 9. Present Paper 10. Red Holiday Deer Overlay 11. Denim Paper

Here is a video tutorial on how to make this banner.  (It includes a little tutorial on the Silhouette as well.)

I also have a Finally Friday card & video tutorial for today.  I am really excited that Studio Calico has started to include a little more inspiration for cardmakers!  I based this card off of one of their sketch challenges from this week.

I had so much fun creating this card!  Here is a video tutorial for this project:

 

Card Supplies: (Click on pictures for links)

InLinkz.com

Hip Hop! Thanksgiving Table Decor

Have you seen the latest Kit of the Month by Unity?!?  Take a peek at this fun new set!

The ledger/paper/scalloped image just ROCKS!  And... I love that set of frames!  It's so super trendy!  This entire kit is just jammed packed with awesome stamps!  You can find out more about Unity's KOM club HERE.

This week's Hip Hop theme is Thanksgiving Table Decor.  I dusted off my Build a Turkey set from last year and came up with such a fun and easy fall craft!  I think these would be adorable sitting on our family's holiday table & the kids can even help make these!  .

I just stamped several tail feathers from the set onto various fall papers and stapled them together at the ends.  I popped a glue dot on top of the staple and applied it to the back of cup.  The front of the turkey was paper pieced too.  You could easily stamp or use stickers to spell out each family member's name below the turkey.

Now... make your way to see what Thanksgiving crafty-goodness is in store for you at 

Jen Erickson 's blog:

Big Dreams

I made this "card" the other day... and just kept looking at it. It needed 'something' and I couldn't put my finger on it. So.... I started fishing through some of my alterable 'junk' and found this clear box left over from my Papertrey Ink packaging. And, can you believe that my card was the exact size for the front of this box?!? Yeah. It was meant to be. :)

I just love this quote! When you look at how beautiful butterflies are, sometimes it's easy to forget that they started out as a plump little worm. It's just a good reminder to me that sometimes God has a bigger plan than we realize. :)

Here is the side view:


This box is perfect for holding a set of cards or small gift -- but it also looks great standing alone as wall decor. :)

Supplies:
Rubber Stamps: all by Cornish Heritage Farms
- The Landing Pad (Kim Hughes Line)
- Motivational Centers (Mona Lisa Moments Line)

Ink:
- Onyx Black Versafine (Tsukineko)

Cardstock:
- Black Prismatic CS by Prism
- White CS by Papertrey Ink

Printed Paper:
- Hello Sunshine by Cosmo Cricket

Accessories:
- clear gift box
- Copic Markers & Spica Glitter Pens
- Wild Saffron Felt Stickers by K & Company
- Black grosgrain ribbon (Michaels)


Tools:
- Paper Piercing tools
- Crop-a-dile or hole punch for threading ribbon