Creative & Crafty

Vignette.  Vignette.  It's just fun to say.  No seriously, try it.  Vignette.  See I told you!

I thought I would show you some of the new displays I have created in my crafting space.

I have some new Stampin' Up! items and I LOVE them!  So cute!

Just a quick project (in the midst of the long organizational project)!  I modified a simple set of plastic storage drawers to hold some of my embellishment containers.  I have a lot (understatement alert!) of extra containers of cute little odds and ends.  The basket I had them stored in just wasn't working for me anymore. Okay I'm not going to lie, it was overflowing!

The reorganization has taken on a life of its own.  Instead of just my crafting space, I decided to tackle both of the storage areas too.  Why?  I'm not really sure and I am kicking myself a little for it now, but it is going to look great when I am finished...and I will have a GREAT garage sale if I get around to that!

In the midst of all the organizing I decided to make myself a photo station with my very own version of a light box.  I really like it and of course it was super easy to make!

There are times when organization makes me giddy.  I know it sounds crazy.  But to tidy everything, purge the unused, dust and clean...it just makes me happy.  Sometimes the urge strikes and I am a woman on a mission.  This is one of those times.

I have a few colors in my collections that are my favorite, go-to, super love them colors.  This post is not about them.  It is about my poor, lonely (dusty...cough, cough, achoo) Bravo Burgundy.

My daughter wanted to make something special for a friend who was having a birthday party.  She took the coffee filter idea from my younger daughter's birthday party and modified it.  It turned out really good!

I had a craft fair at Eysal's Coffee Roasters in East Peoria.  It was a really fun day.  I sold some crafty things, talked with some wonderful ladies, had a fantastic smoothie and came home with hair smelling like coffee.  I mean seriously what could be better?

I have that song in my head today, except I am trying to eat better and exercise more so mine is going a little more like this...

Hot fudgy brownies, resistance is futile

I'd like to eat the whole kit and kaboodle

Pink frosted cupcakes with a scoop of ice cream...

These are a few of my favorite things

I hope you did!  Now here is a little Easter card from my last class.

I like the vibrant colors of the new Summer Smooches suite.  I thought this Mojo Monday sketch would perfectly showcase some of these fun patterns AND the matching brads.  So pretty!

Seriously, can this thing get any cuter?!

I saw a vintage wedding card while web surfing a while ago.  I knew it would be something I wanted to show my downline girls.  I love the soft shabby chic feel to the card.  Creating the background and flower were easier than they look!

I thought I would show you the remaining cards from the class I held for a church group.

Here is another card I tweaked and twisted.  Do other crafters get it right the first time?  I actually like most of the incarnations of this card, it just didn't work for the event.  I loved the Pool Party and So Saffron color combination and will be using those together again!

I tweak, I move, I change, I rip it apart and start over.  When I am designing a card or project it rarely turns out as I pictured.  Usually it goes through a few incarnations before the final project emerges.  Sometimes I even show my husband, who knows how I agonize over this, and he will tell me how fantastic something looks.  Then I change it again.  Later he will admit I was right and the project does look better.  He looks at me quizzically when I tell him "something just isn't right" as I stare at my creation.  But it's not, I can tell.  Most of the time I am happy with the (whydidthistakemesolong) end result, other times...eehh not so much.

A Race for the Cure event prompted me to make a few shadow box frames.  I've done these before for Christmas, Valentine's Day and other holidays as decorative pieces but I thought it would be nice to have something to display for a longer period of time.

Sometimes when shopping at the dollar stores I score big, these frames were one of those times!  It had a recessed area around the picture openings that I thought would be great decorated with patterned paper.  It was and I went a little crazy!  Here are a few of the frames finished.

My niece just celebrated her fourth birthday on Valentine's Day.  Recently I was going back through pictures of her previous birthday parties and found some cute projects I thought I would share.