Mad About Inchies

Okay, I have fallen head over heals in love with inchies! I am not an artist by any means but I love using these mini canvases as embellishments for my paper crafting. Here are a few love-themed inchies I have been working on for an inchie swap. Sorry if the picture is a little fuzzy! Once you start playing with inchies, it is hard to stop! They add such a great dimension to your crafts, here is an example of one I used for a paper bag album I am working on.....

For some beautiful inchies that truly qualify as works of art, you can check out the Flickr Pool here .

Drawing Room Sale

I think my favorite home decor weight fabric line of all time is Anna Marie Horners Drawing Room. Everytime I have a pattern that calls for decor weight fabric I run to it. Forunately for me, J Caroline Creative is having a spectacular sale on Drawing Room and Joel Dewberry's Ginseng just in time for the We the People Swap, Amy Butler Weeekender Bag. All Drawing Room fabric is only $9.00 per yard (usually $14.90). I grabbed mine right up!

Dark colors........check

geometric...........check

bold contrast.....check

Deep Thoughts by Chase the 5 year old

So I thought these discussions on Martin Luther King Jr. would be fun to share! The other day when we were driving home from the park, Chase asked if we could see a graveyard (he has been in to ghost stories lately).

So, I took him by our local cemetary. First he asked which grave was Jesus', when I told him Jesus wasn't buried here, he proceeded to ask which grave was for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s. I then told him that Poppa had met Martin Luther King Jr, to which he replied that so had Michelle in his class, who is 5 years old :o)

When I told his teacher, she laughed and told me that when she finished her lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. she told all the kids that he had been shot and died. All the children were silent and in shock then Chase spoke up, " If he is dead, then why are we celebrating his Birthday?"


Ahhhhh....to be five again!

Thursday Thoughts to Ponder

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."

"Grief looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks ahead."

Be INSPIRED

I have been fascinated by book making and journaling lately. I have been creating altered journals (4 a day) for an upcoming enrichment dinner for the last few weeks but I needed an inspirational outlet and boost.

What better way to achieve this then to create my own inspiration journal? So, I carved out some time for myself and made one on Sunday. I used a scrap of fabric left over from my Pop Garden Quilt for the cover and I added odds and ends from my crafting collection to the pages. I love that even with no writing yet, the journal already looks full and captivating (and with just one signature so far)! Here are some pictures of the journal and a few of the pages just waiting to be filled:

My Creative Space

I always find it fascinating to see where crafters work so I thought I'd share my studio makeover "work in progress" with you! I was banished to the garage which isn't too bad in San Diego because it doesn't get very cold. You won't see shots of everything since it is a garage and some areas (like the daybed and toy storage) will wait until it is more finished and less embarrassing.

I wanted something styled completely for me. I don't get to use florals, reds or pinks in the main house since I am highly outnumbered by the boys so I had to make my space especially feminine. As a mom (and foster mom) I also had to make room for the kids to play and craft as well although they still like to get into my shelves....so much more fascinating. All my fabric bolts and pieces are tucked away in the cabinets behind me. I keep my larger bolts of ribbon on fun paper towel holders and I use jars, baskets and other items I pick up to store different types of crafting items.

The desk and shelves I salvaged for just $50 from a private school 3 blocks away that was closing. A little paint and this great tutorial from Brassy Apple and they were done. I made a matching quilted pad for the top of my desk for my sewing machine (which is getting adjusted at the shop right now) and viola...it was done!

Clone Trooper in Training

With a house full of boys, there is no shortage of Star Wars paraphernalia in our home at all times. From Lego Star Wars and light sabers- to talking Yoda's and robotic R2D2's, this one took the cake!