Inspiration Sunday - Craft Spaces

I absolutely love craft spaces. I wish that I had an entire room in my house designated as a craft room, where I can create to my hearts content and then close the door at the end of the day without having to worry about fully cleaning up my creative mess. When I create, stuff gets everywhere! :)

I have a large foyer in my house where I have two long cabinets that hold the bulk of my craft things. I also have some things in the storage space under our stairs. And yet another cabinet in my bedroom. Yikes! I really have way too much! Tons of fabric, thread, scrapbooking paper and card stock, punches, rubber and acrylic stamps, ink, pens, a whole variety of embellishments, albums...the list goes on!

Enough about my space, well, I guess it's spaces since I don't have it all in one area. :) The following are some really beautiful spaces that definitely inspire.

This craft space is that of Jenny B. Harris, an amazing illustrator, designer and blogger of Allsorts. Love it, so colorful! Just invokes creativity!




This lovely sewing space was featured in Sarah and Steve's house tour on Apartment Therapy. The white peg board holding the scissors, thread and other sewing goodness is fabulous! I also love the cabinet on wheels that smartly slides under the desk.




Heather Bailey. What more can I say? What a dreamy space. I don't know what I love more, the white cabinet holding all of that yummy fabric or the green island with all of it's fabulous drawers.






I love this island from Founders Kitchen & Bath with its huge countertop workspace and many drawers. Although it's meant for a kitchen, why couldn't you put it in a craft room?




The Bedford Project Table from Pottery Barn is just lovely.




Last but not least is creative genius Martha Stewart. Here is her craft space in the attic of her Bedford, NY, house.

If you have an attic, what a great way to make use of the space.



I love how organized she is. She has so much counterspace to work on. Each set of cabinets is probably for a different genre of craft.



I love the pull-out cabinets that can hold paper flat.



I hope you enjoyed this week's Inspiration Sunday. Stay tuned next week for some more things that inspire!

Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are really good. The bonus is that my kids love these and they would definitely not eat zucchini otherwise! :)



Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (you can use applesauce instead)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup raw zucchini, shredded
1 cup mashed ripe banana
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins.

Combine the eggs, sugars, oil, vanilla, and applesauce. Add the banana and zucchini and mix well. Add the remaining dry ingredients (everything but the chocolate chips) and mix until combined. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Portion into your muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. They remove from a non-stick baking pan when cooled, but not when warm.

This makes 24 muffins.

My Latest Wall Prints

Here are some of my most recent wall prints in my Etsy shop.

You Are Out of This World -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66886307/you-are-out-of-this-world-8x10-children




Original Robot with Personalized Name -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66509284/original-robot-with-personalized-name




Modern Dots Monogram Birth Announcement -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66884697/modern-dots-monogram-birth-announcement




Forever Love -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66508496/forever-love-wall-art-8x10-custom-wall




Opaque Alphabet With Personalized Name -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66392310/opaque-alphabet-abc-wall-art-8x10




Whimsical Tree and Bird Modern Birth Announcement -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/65948918/whimsical-tree-and-bird-modern-birth

Friday Etsy Favorites

Here are some really fabulous Etsy finds.

1. WeeBindery ► Rustic Love - Wee Chunky Book - Handmade
2. AmiAmigos ► Cute Crochet Fuzzy Owl Hat
3. Allisa Jacobs ► Zipper Pouch Cosmetic Bag
4. Save Our Home ► Foldover Ruffle Clutch in Olive
5. Madison Craft Studio ► Fleur de Lis Charm
6. Luxe Adornments ► Dahlia Filigree Flower Ring

Inspiration Sunday - Organization

I am planning to have a series of blog posts each Sunday about different things that inspire me, things that draw my attention. I am naming the series "Inspiration Sunday".

This week's post is about organization. I love the feeling and satisfaction of being organized. I love having a place for everything, not just a place where things get "thrown into a corner", but a place where I can actually find what I am looking for.

I try to be organized, but sometimes, that just does not happen. For example, I've been looking for my Henckels vegetable peeler for weeks now. I have no idea where it has got to. I have a back-up peeler, but it just doesn't do the job as well. I haven't purchased a new one because I have faith that I will find it one of these days!

This year I have made a plan to simplify my house, give away items that I know I won't use, things that have been gathering dust in my closet. My goal for the next coming months is to get organized!

The following are little pieces of inspiration that inspire me to attain my organizational goal. If only my house could be so together! Ha! Ok, I have to remember, one.step.at.a.time.

I love the arrangement of white boards and cork boards on the wall. I also love the book shelves above it.



This corner pantry with folding doors is super! What a great use for a corner spot. Love the shelf for the appliances. I have mine in a cupboard. It seems like such a waste of cupboard space as appliances take up so much room!



I love this pot rack above the sink. I think a pot rack would be awesome to free up a drawer that would otherwise be filled with pots and pans.



Love, love, love this shelving unit filled with matching labeled containers for your spices. Super!



Whoever thought of a floor to ceiling pull-out space for non-perishables is a genius! What a great use of space!



I thought that this pull-out shelf for a toaster was a pretty cool idea.



Loving this coffee table. It looks like it would have some wonderful storage for magazines, remote controls, kids art stuff, and maybe even a blanket!



I love this craft space. So lovely! I could imagine doing hours of creating in there! Ah, absolute bliss.



I had to include a photo of Heather Bailey's workspace. Gorgeous!



I love this colorful display of paints, glitter, and tape. Love!

The Color Turquoise

I am in love with the color turquoise. To me, it just has a real soothing and calming effect. I have a few accents in my house that are torquoise, but I am wanting to start a torquoise collection of fun things and elegant items.

A while back I made an Etsy treasury entitled "A Tribute to the Color Torquoise". I love the mix of different things. Wouldn't a rotary telephone in torquoise simply be fantastic?



Here is some more turquoise inspiration for you!

I absolutely love the black/white/turquoise mix in this photo.
But I'll have to wait for the white couches until the kids are older!



I love the big windows and all the light coming through them in these rooms.
I especially love the cathedral type windows in the second picture.



What can I say? This lamp is uber cool.
I saw a similar one that made it's way into my house last fall.



Just love everything about this photo. The worn, weathered walls, the color and texture of the floor and of course, the pot. I could just imagine it overflowing with some white lobelia.



Would love to get a set of these dutch ovens from Le Creuset for cooking! Yes, in torquoise too!



What is there not to love about this photo? The trim on the chairs, the base of the lamps that are slightly torquoise tinted, the collection of beautiful vases. Love it!

Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies

I receive a "Cookie of the Day" daily recipe from Martha Stewart in my inbox. The other day I got one in which the title intrigued me. Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies. Flourless? I didn't know you could make a peanut butter cookie that was flourless. The only flourless type cookie I've made are coconut macaroons.

Flourless. No flour means less carbs. Peanut butter. Peanut butter has protein. Less carbs and protein. Great! Convinced I had to try this. I'm so glad that I did. So. so. good.



Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg (lightly beaten)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts (I didn't have any, so I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 large egg (lightly beaten), 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until well combined. Stir in 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts.

With moistened hands, roll dough, about 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, into balls. Place 2 inches apart on two baking sheets.

Bake until cookies are golden and puffed, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Cool 5 minutes on sheets; transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

New Wall Prints - Curved Text

I added these two wall prints to the mateo & tobias Etsy shop. I've been experimenting with creating curved text. I absolutely love the result. So cool. Both prints are fully customizable in regards to color and/or fonts. I also created a new color chart and added some more fun colors.

This print would be fantastic for a wedding or anniversary gift or for your sweetheart.



This print would be beautiful in a child's room or nursery or as a shower gift.



This is the new color chart. If you don't see your color choice in the chart, you can email me a picture of the color you would like me to match and I would be happy to create a custom color for you.

A Month In Photos

I wanted to embark in Project 365 in 2011. This is taking a photo a day, every day, for the whole year. I tried it last year and started off good, but then I would find myself forgetting a day here and there. Then it started to feel like I had an obligation to pick up my camera and take a picture. This took the creativity out of my photo taking. And I didn't like that.

I recently came across a wonderful solution to this from talented photographer Rebecca Cooper. She calls it a month in photos. It is a scaled down version of project 365 where each month you take as many photos as you would like and then at the end of the month create a photo collage based on those photos. No pressure, no obligation. I absolutely love this solution to Project 365!

Rebecca generously created some templates for you to make a photo collage each month. Just go to the "a month in photos" link above.

Being a scrapbooker, I wanted to include some journaling to go along with the pictures. So I created a 12x12 page, resized Rebecca`s templates slightly so that the top half of the page will be pictures and the bottom half journaling.

I'm so excited to be doing this! I haven't had too much time to scrapbook lately, being busy with every day life and my Etsy shop, so this is the perfect solution for me to remember those precious memories!

Here is an example of the 12x12 page. I may still change it up a bit. The black boxes are where the photos will be and the white space at the bottom is where the journaling will be.

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

I made the Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns the other day. They are so good and so easy to make. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com (love that site).

Here are the buns the night before. Frozen rolls topped with brown sugar, pudding mix, ground cinnamon, and raisins and then melted butter poured on top.



Here are the buns the next day after they have risen. Can you believe how big they got?
Just overflowing out of the pan! I had to bake them with a pan under them, just in case
it overflowed onto the bottom of my oven. (That would be a burnt yucky mess!)



Here are the cinnamon buns after being baked. Yum! I should have gotten a picture of
them being pulled apart with the raisins and syrupy goodness from the brown
sugar oozing out. They were so soft. Not too sweet. Just right.



Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

20 unbaked frozen dinner rolls
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup butter, melted

Lightly grease a 10 inch Bundt cake pan. Place frozen rolls into pan and sprinkle with brown sugar, pudding mix, ground cinnamon and raisins. Pour melted butter over rolls. Cover with a clean, damp cloth and leave overnight at room temperature.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake rolls for 25 minutes, until golden brown. Turn rolls out onto a serving plate and serve warm.

*NEW* 5x7 Digital Art Prints

Introducing my line of 5x7 digital art prints.

These art prints would add a wonderful touch to an office, bedroom or family room.

They would look absolutely lovely perched on a bookshelf or sitting on top of a desk or table or tacked up on an inspiration board. They would also look beautiful hanging with other works of art on your wall.

Here are a few samples. More can be found at my Etsy Shop - 5x7 Digital Art Prints