December Daily 2011 Part 3

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!! I'm popping in today really quick to show you the progress I made on my DD yesterday. I finalized the cover (except for a possible handwritten quote I might add to the bottom) and added a shiny textured "Christmasy" ribbon trim. It looks very festive (like a trim you'd see on a Christmas tree), I like it.

And here are some of my transparent overlays to go before each page. I designed most of them on the computer, except for the chicken wire and green circle overlays from Hambly Studios which came in my DD kit. I created the overlays in all different sizes, to mix it up a little and add variation to my DD.

Here are a few close-ups:

Yesterday my mom and I were both working on our December Daily together. It was really nice to spend quality time together while creating something that we will cherish for years to come. We also did this last year and plan to make a tradition of it! I'll be back later this week to share more photos of the DD progress... 

Right now we're off to finish our shopping for Thanksgiving dinner! I hope you all are enjoying your day so far! xo



Photos taken by: Wahkuna

Handmade Inspiration Board #3: Thanksgiving

It's about that time- to start thinking about Thanksgiving and I can't wait for the day! I love this holiday the most because if focuses on family, thankfulness and AMAZING food! This year I am in charge of the Thanksgiving dinner (it's my first time, so all helpful tips are welcome *wink*), so I thought I would gather some inspiration for the day and build from there. Here is my inspiration folder, I hope you're able to gather some ideas from it as well! xo

Supplies Used; Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket and Crate Paper; Cardstock- American Crafts and Bazzill; Transparent Scroll Design- K&Company; Doily Rub-Ons- Hambly Studios; Gem Brad- Making Memories; Paper & Crochet Flowers- Prima Marketing Inc.; Alpha Stickers- Making Memories; Stitched Brad- Basic Grey

Images Used;

Leaf Printed Linens- Martha Stewart 

Thanksgiving Table Setting- Martha Stewart 

Fall Floral Basket- Martha Stewart

Give Thanks (Gobble Gobble)- Better Homes and Gardens 

Thanksgiving Poem- Better Homes and Gardens

(Photos of inspiration board by; Wahkuna)

Colors of Autumn

The other day I purchased a fall inspired bouquet (pictured above) and knew I had to capture its beauty some how! So I had the idea to create a fall color palette, inspired by the photo of my flowers and the photo of wine & pumpkins that I took while visiting a winery not too long ago (mentioned here). And to top it all off- today is such a lovely day to dedicate a blog post to the beautiful colors of autumn! Enjoy! xo


Photos taken by: Wahkuna

Inspiration on the book shelf

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all are doing well, and made it through the week nicely! I know I'm excited that the weekend is here, I have a Halloween party at a friend's house this weekend, which will be a lot of fun, so I can't wait for that! 

Anyway, to get to today's post; I was at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore a couple weeks ago, where I almost always head to the crafts section first. On this particular day, I was in a decorating mood (probably from all the HGTV I watch regularly) and decided that the below two books are at the top of my MUST HAVE list for inspiration; (don't mind the photos-taken from my phone)

Design Sponge

Meghan Carter

And these to support my baking habit;

And of course we can't forget the decorating magazines! I'm a magazine junky, and I absolutely LOVE Flea Market style for it's vintage flair and crafty projects for the home, Storage by BH&G because they always have such cool ways to store things in your home or office that can be decorative too (dual purpose). And last, but not least, the NEW HGTV magazine!! I'm so excited they have come out with a magazine and it's just AMAZING! It's like having the HGTV channel, in a book :-), it's so necessary!

HGTV Mag, Flea Market Style Mag, Better Homes and Gardens Storage Mag

So as I said before, I gather a lot of inspiration from these types of books/magazines and I'm always on the hunt for new inspiration that will get the creativity flowing! So that's it for today, hope you all enjoy your weekend and I'll meet you back here next week! xo

Off the bookshelf

art·ist   

[ahr-tist]

–noun

1. a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.

2. a person who practices one of the fine arts, esp. a painter or sculptor.

3. a person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc.: a commercial artist.

4. a person who works in one of the performing arts, as an actor, musician, or singer; a public performer: a mime artist; an artist of the dance.

5. a person whose work exhibits exceptional skill.

6. a person who is expert at trickery or deceit: He's an artist with cards.

7. Obsolete . an artisan.

Origin:

1575–85;  < MF artiste  < ML artista  master of arts.


I've been in a bit of a creative rut as of late and can't seem to bring myself out of it. Fortunately for me, one of my wonderful friends recommended this life changing book to help me get back in the groove and jolt the endless flow of creativity (which we all possess in one way or another). She has read this book and so has many of her acquaintances and they all swear by it, so I thought, why not?!? I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain at this point. So The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron is currently on my "reading list". If you know me, you know that I'm always "reading" something or something(s) and my favorite are books that you find in the self help section or craft section, go figure! My favorite book store in NYC is Strand, it's CRAZY!! As they say, 18 miles of books, both new and used. The best part is that you pretty much always find the book your looking for, used and 1/2 the price! If that's not an incentive, then I don't know what is!


Anyway, I picked up The Artist's Way a few weeks ago at Strand and have already read the first part. It's already very interesting and has so many great reviews that I can't wait to really get into it and learn more about my creative self! I already strongly recommend it to any artist out there...it's worth the purchase and the time! Once I finish it, I will be back with my thoughts, so stay tuned!


Inspirational Quote; "For every success a thousand failures forgotten lie. For every failure to try, a thousand successes prematurely die."- Anonymous


Now, on to the other "something" I'm currently reading; Love the one you're with by Emily Giffin. I've recently started reading novels again, after my long hiatus with just the how-to books and magazines. I'm loving Emily's books! See, I like chick flicks AND chick lits (as they call them) so natural, she's one of my favorites! Her stories have the perfect mix of love, suspense, drama and happily ever after which= books written just for me (and maybe you too)! If you haven't already, check them out and let me know what you think! So far I've read; Something Borrowed, Something Blue & Baby Proof, (note that you should read Something Borrowed before Something Blue, or else you will be pretty confused).

Well that's it for now and enjoy the good reads!