celebrate CREATIVITY in all its forms

At Home with Books

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ook in just about any corner of my house and you'll likely find books, lots of books. 

They're everywhere.  In my family room...

Beaded (Root) Beer Bucket

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here's nothing like an ice cold root beer on a warm day.  Actually, I think root beer is tasty on any day, regardless of the temps outside.

Whatever your favorite drink and whatever the season, your drink of choice will definitely taste better when plucked from a hand-beaded bucket like this.

 

Stash Storage

Among the many things that crafters share, is a love of STUFF. 

Whether it's paint, fabric, scrapbook paper, stickers, glitter or all of the above and more, crafters tend to collect a lot of supplies over the years (and I've been collecting for many years).

Of course, one of the challenges of using various supplies is finding ways to efficiently and effectively store them. 

With that in mind, I thought I'd devote today's post to sharing a few favorite ways I store my stash.

  

Dressform Makeover Magic

I love miniature dressforms.  They're good for simple decoration on a dresser or as you can see in the photo below, for holding and displaying jewelry.

This wire dressform is one of my favorites in my small collection.

  

Hang 'em High

Pretty aprons don't grow on trees, but it sure would be nice if they did, wouldn't it?

I've had this collection of homemade aprons for a while but until recently, they were unceremoniously relegated to the back of a dresser drawer.

 

The Year In Review

Happy New Year!  Hard to believe we're already into a brand new year. 

Before embarking on the next 12-months of colorful crafts, projects, quilts and occasional recipes, I thought it would be fun to share a quick recap of the year that was.

Perhaps you missed a few projects from this blog last year.  Here's a rundown with thumbnails and links that will get you caught up on everything from celebrate CREATIVITY 2009. ♥

 

Stick a Pin In It

If you're like me, you're probably always on the lookout for ways to use things already in your possession.  It's especially rewarding when those same things can be used in exciting and fun new ways.  

I think the official term is "re-purposing".  This pretty bulletin board is a great example of re-purposing-and it's also a fun and fairly easy project to make.

 

Where Women Create

Let me first take an opportunity to thank everyone for your support of my creative efforts this past year.  I look forward to sharing loads of new projects in 2009 that I hope will inspire and also help get those creative juices flowing.

Speaking of creative juices, have any of you spotted this wonderful new publication called Where Women Create ?  It's a wonderful magazine, which features photos of the creative spaces of artists, designers and crafters from all over the country.

               

A Bucket of Fun with Fabric

I may have mentioned before that I am a sucker for creative storage solutions.  I really love "re-purposing" too.  It's great to be able to take an ordinary item that's meant for one purpose and use it for something else entirely.  I'm constantly trying to find new ways to use old items to stash my various crafting supplies. 

Case in point?  This metal bucket used to hold an old floral arrangement.  Now it's a fun and colorful, fabric-covered storage solution.  This is a really easy project that you may enjoy trying for yourself.

The Power of Cute

Let me say right off the top that the next few photos have absolutely nothing to do with crafting. Nothing, nada, not a thing. However, I figured since I take a lot of pictures and perhaps you also take a lot of photos, you might enjoy getting a closer look at my latest fabulous find.

I was in Wolf Camera the other day to buy some photo paper and when I walked past the camera bags, this little beauty caught my eye.  It's made by Jill.e and it's totally adorable, functional, stylish and just plain cute to boot. Ahem, so much for that photo paper.

The bag is a delicious yellow leather with a bone colored croc-like trim exterior. It's got dual carrying handles as well as a really comfortable detachable shoulder strap. It's wonderfully waterproof too. 

Take a look at the photo below for a peak inside at the fun polka dot print lining. I love that. There are several Velcro dividers and well-padded compartments so I'm sure my gear will be safe and snug. Isn't that a cute little detachable zippered purse too? Great for personal items like money, makeup or whatever.

The little netted strip of pockets in the cover flap looks like it was designed to store film cannisters. Now that does make me wonder how many people out there are actually still using film in this digital camera age.  Since I stopped using film a few years ago, I'll just use these slots to hide a few pieces of leftover Halloween candy.  Hey, sometimes I just need a sweet and tasty energy source.

Anyway, I love that there's room to store a little bit of everything in the bag and all the great spaces in the base can be configured to fit your equipment size needs.  Also, did I mention the bag is just so darn cute?

When I find something I love, I love to share it with everyone who'll listen, or in this case everyone who'll keep reading.  Glad you're still with me on this.  I really think my gear looks so much cuter sitting in this bag, don't you? 

Notice the recurring "cute" theme going on here?

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't go into the store looking or a new bag, remember I was out to buy some 20-dollar photo paper. Come to think of it, I've never held anything against my old camera bag. I don't even think I needed a new camera bag.  In fact, I didn't need one. That is until I saw the yellow one.

Sorry old black bag, the writing was on the wall the minute I walked into that camera store.

I think you can see how I got to this point, and I suspect you've been in my shoes at one time or another. OK, I'll admit it. I do have a fair weakness for pretty storage and yellow is my favorite color. That last point just happened to be a very convenient selling point, by the way. Not that I needed any convincing though, because this cute yellow bag had me at hello.

So, now it's out with my old boring, black masculine camera bag that I've had for years-and in with my new feminine, fabulous, fully functional and oh, so cute replacement.

Hmmm, like I always say, "never underestimate the power of cute".  I sure don't.