Thanks to the Creative Hostess for highlighting one of my ballerina fairy favors in her post for a Winter Ice Princess party.  What a great idea!  You can purchase these little beauties at my Etsy shop and look back at one of my older posts about the Cinderella Ball.

January is here along with a new year.  2010.  How are we saying this, anyway?  twenty ten?  two thousand and ten?  I am supporting twenty ten because it is takes less time to say and I am going to be very busy this year. If you are a procrastinator like me, any year that ends in a “10″ should be very motivating for you.  Notice the key word here-the last year in a decade.  This means the end.  Last chance.  What have you been doing for the last ten years???  I have exactly 365 days minus a few hours or so to make up for all of the things that I meant to do and learn since the year 2000.  Some of us work better under deadlines and friends, that deadline is here.   One year to make a long enough list of accomplishments that should have spanned the last decade of my life.  This means I need to start right now.  Today.  But I am tired.  It is the day after New Year’s Eve and all of the members of our traditional New Year’s Eve,  living room, camp out  actually made it to see the New Year.   So instead, I will settle into the couch and spend the day browsing the infinite resource the web has become to artists and creative sorts and find more inspiration-as if I need more to add to my to do list.  But, alas, I can’t help myself.

Where do you go to get inspired?  I go here:  Su Blackwell.  Isn’t it amazing.

But before I can try my hand at paper sculpting from old books, I must (because I only have a year left) organize the craft room.   And I am going to start as soon as possible.  Tomorrow. Yikes!  The aftermath of Christmas creating is worse than I thought.  Let’s just shut the door and start that sometime early late next week.

Custom Poster for Brookstone Country Club’s Entryway.  Welcoming January!

Welcome January!

The only thing I can think of that is worse than getting a boring Christmas gift…is giving one.  That is the dilemma I found myself in this year.  Christmas towels sounded like a great idea.  They are a grandparent gift. They like practical.  Not much for frivolity.  Monogrammed towels!  Sounded fantastic when I ordered them. The fed ex truck zoomed into my driveway and dropped them off a few days ago and I can’t think of too many things I like more than getting packages in the mail!  I tore into the box with excitement and anticipation and immediately got that sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach.  I can’t give towels out as a Christmas present.  What was I thinking?  Towels are not fun.  Even with a bright red monogram.   Hmmm…. I had a vague memory floating around in my head and then I remembered these and these , from Prairie Dog.  Can you believe these are towels?  I love clever little gifts like these.  Anyway, the idea for peppermint towel candies was born.

If you want to wrap up your boring towel gift like Peppermint Candy, scroll down or click here for the tutorial.

Well, my goal this summer was to get organized, and while I am close, I still have a ways to go.  I have been wanting to put together a homekeeping journal for years…and I am almost ready to quit procrastinating.  But not quite!  After searching around for inspiration,  I decided that the next best thing to making an organizer with written down schedules for myself, is making one for someone else! I looked through all of Flylady’s wonderful ideas for her control journal, and then I browsed here, and then I made this:

This one is my first attempt and it goes out to dear April.  I covered a three ring binder with canvas and I hand embroidered an "A" with embroidery floss and the two little carrots on either side are made with orange and green ribbon.  The inside cover is handpainted and was inspired by some vintage 50’s kitchen transfers I recently purchased on ebay. 

I am still working on a layout for the inside dividers, but hope to be able to post those by the end of the week. 

I can’t believe it is already the last week of school.  It seems like just yesterday I suffered my first panic attack as dear little E.  prepared for her first day of Kindergarten.  It has literally been a blink of an eye and now, she is ready for 1st grade!  Oh-no what is a mommy to do.  I think I shall sit in my sorrow for at least another day and reminisce about the good old days…. It is the sentimental times like this, that are so hard for me to deal with.  The last time she will ride the bus as a Kindergartener; the last time she will color as a Kindergartener, the last time she will eat pizza as a Kindergartener and on and on with my dramatic self I will go. Thank goodness I have a few hundred hobbies to immerse myself in during these trying times. 

I have made the teachers a little going away present.  A special book tote in summery picnic colors of white, navy and red gingham.  A book a day does not actually keep the sillies away, but a teacher can always hope.  This is my first attempt at a tote bag, and I got all of my supplies out and was ready to go and then I remembered, that I actually did not know how to make a tote bag.  Since it was a gift, I didn’t feel that I could trust myself to create a pattern on the spot.  A little searching led me to a wonderful tutorial by Super Eggplant. If you want to see a close up of the lining, click here, and a close up of the pocket is here.

Well, I am finally back after taking a month off to clean my closets. No, they are not clean, but I have given a lot of thought to organization in the last few weeks and I have determined that I am not, and will not ever be, an organized person. The more determined I am to get organized –well you see what happens. I don’t do anything except wander about in circles. No art, no sewing, no crafting and I don’t even do the cleaning and organizing I gave up all of the fun stuff for. Sigh…I am attempting now, to change my priorites and do all of the fun things first, and then I will  worry about my home-making "duties" if I have time. We will see if that works out any better for me. If you see that I have posts to my blog, then you will find that I am at least a very happy girl, even if my house is a little on the dusty side.

Birthday party season is here and I am creating a series of French Garden Pots for all of the Birthday girls who’s parties are coming up. I hand painted the terra-cotta pot and then decoupaged these adorable little french girls playing dress up. The image is from an antique french nursery rhyme book. I filled the pot with dirt and then put colorful tissue paper on top and filled it like a gift basket with a watering can, trowel. spade and garden gloves. The finishing touch is a real live pink flower for the Birthday Girl to plant.  So far, the girls have loved having there very own gardens and found it thrilling to dig in the dirt with their pink garden tools and have a real live flower to water and tend to.

Designs for Rabbit & Company, originally uploaded by beaurabbit.

I am finally finished with my first batch of samples to be sent off to Rabbit & Company, a new, gourmet kitchen shop in Hendersonville, NC. My fingers are crossed that they will order a few things from my line. My favorite piece is the apron-I adore how the box pleats turned out.

I wrapped it in tissue and put it inside this presentation box:

This wooden tray is perfect for holding loaves of freshly baked bread:

Here is a close up view of the little terracotta  bunny pots:

I made this little hand painted pillow for the Alice in Wonderland Swap.  It is made from a square of white canvas, and the painting is done in acrylics.  I added the Harlequin ties on the side to complete it.  I hope my partner likes it!  It looks so perfect on my black and white checked couch, I think I will have to make another one just for myself! I have also included a new copy of the book, and an adorable coloring book  I just couldn’t resist.  I always feel like I am adding to the rich history of Alice in Wonderland when I create artwork or designs based on the story. I read everything I could get my hands on as a child, and I find that as an adult, I am still drawn to my favorite stories for inspiration in my everyday living.