celebrate CREATIVITY in all its forms

The Year in Review 2011

Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2012 and with the new year comes my annual recap of all the creative blog posts from the year that was.

If you missed any of my posts last year, simply scroll through the links below to review the projects I featured throughout 2011.  Enjoy the browse.

Year in Review 2010  Check out a quick recap of all my posts from 2010.  Lots of easy, inspiring projects to create for fun or gifting. 

Bloggie Awards  My first ever entry into the prestigious Bloggie Award competition.  Thanks for all the support and votes for my blog.  Feel free to nominate this blog again this year and don't forget to nominate your own blog too.

In the Kitchen with Nana  Candy making has never been so fun with a little help from my mom, Nana Banana.  These Martha Washington candies are a sweet treat, well suited for any time of year.  You'll also fall in love with my mom who can belt out a pretty nice tune as you can hear in this post.

(Log) Cabin Fever   If you've always wanted to make a quilt but never thought you could, the Log Cabin quilt pattern is among the simplest for any beginner.  Even veteran quilters return to this tried and true quilt pattern that produces gorgeous, versatile results every time.

Magnificent Monograms  Handmade napkins get a special, personalized touch with a little fancy embroidery.  Check out the embroidery process along with easy tips on constructing your own handmade napkins.  You'll love the monogrammed gift bag I made to go along with this project.

Spring Springerles  These cookies have a distinct taste and an even more distinct appearance.  Old fashioned Springerles are a long-time tradition that uses special molds that can not only be used for cookies but also used for crafting projects too. 

Soap Star

A pretty powder room can look even prettier with lovely soap on display.  Decorative soap is not only fun to make, but as you'll see throughout this post, it's super easy too. 

I'll also show you how to dress up the finished product with beautiful packaging that will take you from ordinary soap maker to super soap star.

Tweet-Tweet

These days when you hear Tweet-Tweet, it usually  has something to do with Twitter.   However, this project has nothing to do with that popular social networking system.  

This post is all about sweet looking feathered friends that come to life thanks to a little embroidery.

The Year In Review

Happy New Year!  Hard to believe we're already into a brand new year. 

Before embarking on the next 12-months of colorful crafts, projects, quilts and occasional recipes, I thought it would be fun to share a quick recap of the year that was.

Perhaps you missed a few projects from this blog last year.  Here's a rundown with thumbnails and links that will get you caught up on everything from celebrate CREATIVITY 2009. ♥

 

A Bushel of Apples

Who doesn't love a beautiful apple orchard?  A recent family orchard-excursion not only yielded a ton of apples for us but also sparked the inspiration for this fun-filled post for you.

Grab a cup of java or better yet, pour yourself some apple juice and relax for the read. 

With 40 colorful photos featuring creative apple ideas, this is my biggest post ever.

Make Scents

When I was growing up, my mom always encouraged us make gifts for loved ones.  I'm grateful for that early influence because these days, I not only make many of my own gifts, I'm encouraging my own children to do the same.

In this post, I'll walk you through a great scented sachet project that would make a perfect gift for any occasion.

Pretty stamp storage

I'm always on the lookout for great ways to store and display my craft supplies... or as they're more commonly referred to in my house, "all that stuff in the basement".  Now, you know I'm not the one that describes it that way!  Anyway, I love to find unusual looking containers that are designed for something else other than craft supply storage. I think these are the kinds of fun finds that can add character and whimsey to any craft space. Who says all your precious supplies have to be locked up in plastic containers? Certainly not me, that's for sure.

Take the basket above as a case in point. I found this flowerpot holder at Hobby Lobby this week. It was filled with artificial wildflowers at the time and when I removed the flowers, all I could see was my collection of oversized rubber stamps lined up in it... right there in the middle of the store. Now, that's a crafter's imagination at work for you.

I love the intricate looking flowers and stems that make up the design on this basket.  This was also a real deal at a bargain basement price of ten bucks. That's the kind of price you just can't pass up. It's a great addition to my craft space and helps put these large stamps right at my fingertips in a most attractive way. I love that! So keep your eyes open too, you never know when you'll come across a picture perfect find.

An Apple a Day

I love the versatility of rubber stamps. There's just so much you can do with them, from scrapbooking and infinite paper crafts... to of course card making which is my favorite way to use stamps. In fact, while I now regularly use stamps in my scrapbooking projects, cardmaking was how I was first introduced to the art of rubber stamping.  In the card below, you'll see how I used just two stamps in various ways to create several different fun looks.

The stamp with all the different names for apples is from A Stamp in the Hand, and the single apple stamp is from Rubber Stampede. You'll also need shadow ink which is gives you a very translucent look when applied. The Sandal colored shadow ink and Espresso colored ink are by Ranger . You'll also need some colored cardstock and gold embossing powder, colored pencils, brown acrylic paint and a toothbrush. That's right, a toothbrush.

Start by stamping the apple image onto beige cardstock in several places. If you look closely on the card under the apple words you'll see the faint image of the apple. Stamp the apple word image multiple times over the shadow image you just created. On another piece of beige cardstock stamp the apple image, and color with your colored pencils. Using an embossing ink pen, select places on the apple to add embossing powder.

Then cut apple out and adhere to cardstock. Add multiple mats. Then adhere entire card onto a larger beige piece of cardstock flush left, leaving enough room for the apple word stamp to be embossed at the bottom.

Now, for that toothbrush. Dip the end of an old toothbrush into brown acrylic paint, hold card at arms length and then use your finger to flick the paint off of the brush and onto the card.  This will give you those cool speckles. Make sure you cover up any areas you don't want to have the speckles before you do you flicking.