CREATE . . . every day

In a class at Craftcation, Kaari Meng of French General challenged us to Create . . . every day.

At first I took that to mean MAKE something every day, 

But reading my favorite blogs and looking at gorgeous photos of homes, gardens, projects, etc., I notice creativity taking many forms.

Anita of Castles Crowns and Cottages creates smiles and evokes memories with the beauty of her words and images.

Lovely linens, delightful dishes and unique flatware are the tools of creativity for Sarah of Hyacinths For The Soul. 

Vera of Row Homes and Cobblestones is a weaver of words.

Mary Alice of Chateau Chic combines simple pieces to create beautiful vignettes.

For Nicole of My Garden Diaries, the garden is her canvas and green is her dominant color.

Ricki of Art @ Home shows her creativity by piquing our interest in books and music.

The creative talents of Daphne of Ivy, Phyllis and Me is detrimental to my lumpy body because every recipe she shares is wonderful.

So today, although I began making Easter baskets for Sunday,

I focused on being CREATIVE rather than making anything.

I cut flowers in the garden

and rearranged tchotchkes on the garden ladder.

I gathered flowers on our morning walk to create a bouquet for the living room.

I tweaked the mantel display and

brought a little bit of Easter to a corner of the living room.

I ended the morning by designing an attractive table setting for whatever delicacies Steve will create for our eating pleasure tonight.

I began to write that I didn't make anything today, but actually,  I used my creativity to "make our house a home".

..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..

I am joining these wonderful creative parties 

Domestically Speaking - Inspire Me Monday

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday

Boogieboard Cottage - Masterpiece Monday

Dwellings of the Heart - Amaze Me Monday

The Kindness of Strangers

I am nothing like Blanche Du Bois and have never "depended on the kindness of strangers", but I have been certainly been blessed by the kindness of strangers.

Over the last few month, I received generous gifts from blogging friends and have not yet posted about them.

Sue from House Kaboodle sent me the sweet Valentine towel, but with my color palette and love of hearts, we can use it year round.

I had the time today to play a little with the fun supplies that Kathy of Kluless sent me last month.

I started altering the book, but I knew I had to utilize the title of the book - Try and Stop Me - and I definitely will showcase the dedication in some way.

The 23 Skidoo card is just too fun to put in a book so it is hanging on the wall in my creative space to enjoy and think of Kathy in Portland each time I see it.

Vera of Row Homes and Cobblestones is a new blogger and she was so kind to think of me when she and her husband were visiting Articulture in Philadelphia recently.

I used the grass from the package and the vintage style card in my first bit of Easter display in the house.

I love the packaging on the seeds Vera sent me for my garden.

The artwork on the seed packing is too pretty to not use so I connected Vera and Kathy by gluing the seed packet into my altered book.

And Vera's purchase of the seeds continues the "kindness of strangers" because for each purchase, a packet will be donated for a garden in Philadelphia.

Three people, all strangers to me, but through blogging, now friends.

Although cold outside, it is a beautiful day so I am going to leave my computer to plant my seeds and I will be thinking of these friends and all the other friends I have made through blogging.

..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..

Rooted in Thyme - Simple & Sweet Fridays

House Kaboodle - Meet the Neighbors

Eat Drink & Be Merry

Some days I am more creative than others and today, my creativity was simply in setting a nice table for Steve's meal of beef stroganoff - one of my favorite of his dishes.

Over the last few weeks, I have been organizing the attic and I came across remnants from the summer I made the slipcovers for our sofa.

I took a couple of remnants and tore the fabric to make fringed place mats and painted words on them.

I didn't have fabric to make a third place mat so Be Merry had to be written on a sign.

To add blue to the table, I used my very favorite polka dot Sabre flatware.

With the table set, I had time on my hands before volleyball practice so I headed to TJ Maxx to browse.

I found some really fun tea towels.

Steve doesn't like me to cover up the table he built with tablecloths so the yellow striped tea towel will be used as a table runner - I love the fringe on the edges.

I bought three sets of the Wine Is Happiness tea towels - one for my next door neighbor who shares the same color palette as me and the other two for me to cut up to make placemats.

The aqua set of tea towels will go in KC's Easter basket because they are perfect with her color scheme.

I will leave you with my disaster for the day - making lemon bars from the bag of myers lemons a friend dropped off.

The bars were delicious so I made three plates - one for my next door neighbor, one for my volleyball team and one to take across the street to a neighbor.

I took the plate of lemon bars across the street and when I got back, this is all that was left of the other two plates - 7 lemon bars.

This little face looked up at me - covered with powdered sugar - I guess Lulu thought she should Eat Drink & Be Merry too!

..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  

I am joining the parties at

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesdays

Five Days of Creativity

I spent the last 5 days creating, socializing and having a ball.

Craftcation has been held in my home town for 3 years, but this was my first time attending.

Just 2 miles up the beach from my home is the Crowne Plaza, home to Craftcation.

By volunteering on pre-conference days and helping on opening day, I was able to participate in classes and events for free.

The first day I helped set up for the opening night dinner and speaker by cutting every single strip of the fringe on the wall and making a bunch of giant flowers.

Day 2 had me helping to set up the Pop Up Shop; I spent more money there than I should have!

My final task of volunteering was to help Kelly Lanza of Studio DIY at the Party Hat table - work was never so much fun.

With my volunteer duties finished, I claimed my Goodie Bag (nowhere near large enough to hold all the things I made) and got busy playing in all of the fun classes.

With the ocean in the background, Kaari Meng, of French General, led a great workshop called 'The Creative Habit' and told us to be exercise our 'creative muscle' daily to strengthen it.

Alton DuLaney, a paper crafter for Craftsy

started us off with a bag full of supplies and a plain white box which we promptly turned into party decor using Scotch Expression tape.

By far, my favorite display was the set up in the Sizzix classroom - I was in the room for 5 different classes.

I wanted to make one of everything

but I had to be content with the sweet little strawberry box we made in the class.

I took classes led by  Brittany Jepsen whose blog I have been following and Amy Tan who I am now following.

Sean Timberlake of Punk Domestics taught us how to make a tea liqueur and citrus salt.

I sat in classes with sweet Cindy Ann of blupenny.com who just published her first book and

Michelle Black of Repurposed who donated little bags with fun stamps to every Craftcation participant.

I acted like a total dork when I realized that the woman standing next to me at the Party Hat table was Jo Packham who graciously agreed to take a photo with me and autographed a copy of Where Women Cook - I feel like I should do some cooking now.

I had a fantastic time this week at Craftcation and not just because of the pile of goodies and the crafts I made.

If you have a business,
want to start one,
are trying to get a book published,
or just want to have some fun crafting,
I encourage you to visit the Craftcation website and check out the list of speakers from this year's conference and get onto the mailing list for next year.

Check out Craftcation on

facebook or
instagram at #craftcation14

to see a better representation of the amazing classes and fun activities for participants.

I simply did craft classes, but I met people from all over the US and Canada who were vacationing in my home town alone, with a group of friends or with family while learning essential business skills or just being creative.

Little did we know that Steve was also a part of Craftcation; on the third day, I finally opened the schedule and there on page 5 was an image of one of Steve's paintings.

And now, I owe Steve some time since I deserted him on April 3, our 43rd wedding anniversary and left him to eat all by himself.