'Tis the Season - Blog Hop

Happy November! For me, today officially kicks off the holiday season, so it's fitting that this month's theme is " 'Tis the Season." Thanksgiving is coming up soon, then Christmas & New Year and all the wonderful celebrations just make me SO happy! As much as you might hear me complain about the cold weather (and snow! Ugh. Give me back my California weather!) I really do love this time of year. There's so much to celebrate and so many excuses to CREATE!

So today, I want to show off -- er, share with you -- some of the fun things I've been creating that really encapsulate what Fall is to me. No cards this time, but plenty of other creative, fun things to get your brain going.


First up: Baking! Nothing says Fall quite like lots of delicious baking! Today's recipe was a decadent chocolate cupcake and dark chocolate frosting for my friend's birthday. Yum!

Oh, and see the festive Fall vase? Yeah, I made that. I covered a dollar-store vase with some thick jute and filled it with dollar-store flowers. I love it!

I also love decorating for Fall! Here's the "Thanks" banner I made last year. It fits perfectly in the empty wall space between my living room bookcase and the kitchen.

And the pumpkins! I love pumpkins! Yet again, this is a dollar-store find. (Ok, so I didn't make anything here, but I did arrange it.)

Do you remember the Spring Wreath I made way back in January? Well, after having it hang around our apartment (pun intended) for months -- including through our move this summer -- I finally pulled it back out. The paper flowers, though cute, had faded from being hung in sunlight for months. So I ripped them off and added -- guess what! -- more dollar store flowers! I absolutely LOVE the burlap and fall colors, don't you?! It makes me SO happy every time I come home :)

Last but not least, Fall makes me think of cozy things. Someday, I might learn to (have the patience to) knit or crochet, but for now, I've got my trusty little sewing machine. I whipped this pillow out in just about an hour, start to finish. It's the pop of pattern I've been wanting in my craft room since before I even moved in here!

What's YOUR favorite part of fall? Have any fun crafts up your sleeves? Hop on through to see what else our fabulous bloggers have to inspire you today!

Craft Room Update

A lot has changed around our apartment since I posted pictures of my new craft space (way back in June!), so I wanted to give you an update -- and show off a bit :)

Now, you'll please excuse the clutter. This *is* a creating space, after all, and creating things always involves making a mess along the way! When you last saw the craft room, it was painted and kinda furnished, but that's all. It had spunk, but no personality yet. Well, now it's got plenty of personal touches, and I absolutely freaking LOVE this room! Check it out:

I found this adorable red clock at Target for about $8 - what a deal! And it perfectly matches the color scheme I wanted in the room!

We've brought in a small TV (for my hubby to play video games on occasionally) and added another small dresser to hold craft stuff. My old plastic cart, which used to be home to practically ALL my stamp stuff? Yeah, it's gone :)  

My desk! I got this desk off KSL for about $40. It was originally blond "wood" laminate, but I knew I wanted a big white desk in this space. So I dismantled, sanded, primed, painted, and finished the WHOLE DANG THING. It took hours and hours, it seemed, but in the end it is SO worth it. I love this desk and all the lightness it brings into the room. (Though I *am* constantly wiping it down and scrubbing little specks off it.... oh, white furniture...)

I (finally) fixed the drawers on it, which I had mounted incorrectly when we assembled the desk at midnight (UGH, was THAT a mistake....) so now at least they sit right. The sides of the drawers are painted bright red, matching the chair, so when you open them you get a fun "pop" of color!

Oh, and see the posters? We found some really great, nerdy prints on Etsy and framed them up in matching frames to hand across that big empty wall over the desk. There's a Firefly, Doctor Who, and Megaman poster there.

Remember how I said the room has lots of personality now? Yeah, it's a NERDY personality, and I love it. We've got a plush little Kirby sitting on the desk to keep me company while I create, and we're working on making a gallery wall with fan-art prints we got at Comic Con earlier this month. Along with the prints, our gallery will feature duct tape "paintings" done by my very own little brother. They're amazing! HE'S amazing!

I got a sewing machine! It makes me SO incredibly happy to have a sewing machine of my very own!  After a few small "refresher" projects (a simple curtain panel, and a super-simple purse for my little cousin), I jumped right into making my costume for Comic Con. The shirt off to the right, there? That's sitting on a custom-made dress form! It's made entirely out of Duct Tape and pillow stuffing, and it probably cost about $15 to make. Win! I'll do a more detailed post on that soon, I promise.

Speaking of that costume... I have a portion of the closet in my craft room dedicated to costume materials! Here you can see the Loki cloak I made for Comic Con (in about a week, I might add...). I also made arm "bracers" to wear with the green shirt and black (pleather!) pants I bought to complete the look. Here you can see my costume. That's my super-talented little brother with me, and he made the Captain America shield I carried at Comic Con, too.

"Guest Post" (of sorts) and FM99

Around Christmas, my mother-in-law, Jolene, decided she wanted to get into stamping as a fun hobby. So I sat down with her, pored over the catalogs and seasonal offerings, and helped her create her first order. Since then, she's built up her stamping "stock" and has been really excited to create with it all. She sent me an email a few days ago with a picture of the card she made for a friend's baby shower, and it was SO stinkin' adorable that I just had to ask if I could share it here, since she doesn't have a blog of her own to show off on.

At first, she wasn't sure, since she had pulled the ideas from other cards she found online. But after explaining to her that we have a "CASE" mindset at Stampin' Up! -- "Create And Share Everything" -- and that copying or taking inspiration from other stampers' projects is what most of the SU community does all the time (I've just given away my secret!), she said I could share the card on here with you guys. 

Isn't it so cute! I love the color combination!

Here's what Jolene had to say about her card (after insisting that she's "not creative") --

I combined the "Congratulations Box" from page 41 of the 2013 catalog with a card I saw on another Stampin' Up website. I raised the duck (like the catalog pic) and cut around it so the duck would have a small white frame, and I decided using a So Saffron frame around the white backing, used the polka dot folder to made the entire background polka dotted (instead of only half like the website pic), set the framed duck towards to top right corner, put some curve in the "Congratulations" flag, and came up with my card. I had so much fun figuring it all out!

I love it! And it also happens to coincide perfectly with this week's Friday Mashup challenge (FM99)! They want "Baby" cards and/or projects using their color challenge - which includes So Saffron! Here's the challenge info:

1. Make a project for a "Baby Shower or a Baby."
2. Or Make a project using the Colors "Pool Party, Real Red, So Saffron & a Neutral."
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project for a "Baby/Shower using the Colors listed above."

Perfect! So, Jolene, I've entered your card in this week's challenge. Good luck! I'm sure they'll love your card!

Some "Pinspiration" for You

Hey, everyone. Sorry I've been slacking off this week with posting new cards (or anything, really). I feel like I was on a roll! And then this week hit. Things at work got hectic, and I had an interview for a second job (both are part-time, in addition to Stampin' Up!), so things at my apartment have been less than ideal for creativity.

But tonight I'm on a mission! I have 3 friends' birthdays coming up in the next week, and at least 3 more in the week after that, so I need to get down to business and STAMP! I'll probably pull up a sketch challenge - like Seize the Birthday or Freshly Made Sketches or Retro Sketches - to get my juices flowing. Then I'll put on a good chick flick and get down to work! So if you don't see a post from me tomorrow with at least one birthday card -- Call me out on it!!

In the mean time, enjoy these bits of inspiration (or "Pin"spiration, as it may be) from my Stampin' Up! Pinterest board (which you can follow HERE). And be sure to check out our Birthday Bash Blog Hop for even more birthday inspiration!

from Sleepy In Seattle

from Stamping & Sharing by Stephanie