whimsical floral wreath backdrop.

the world is full of talented, crafty women. women with big creative ideas. ideas that are actually executed and executed well, with the finished product often ending up in a magazine like domino or a book like design*sponge or on a cool blog like oh happy day.

and then there's me.

i'm likely one of the last women on the planet without a crafty bone in her body. well, it might be there; if it is, it's the size of a splinter. most of the time i'm ok with this about me. i've never been prone to the world of crafts. it can be a lot of work and extra stuff and decisions of where to store it when i'm done. blah blah blah. but then i come across crafty ideas like this floral wreath backdrop and my jaw dropped because i decided on the spot i must make one for myself. and i think i could!

isn't it fabulous? it doesn't even have to be used as a backdrop for anything. i think it would just look lovely on the wall, taking up the whole giant thing.

images courtesy of ohhappyday.com

bright and happy tape dispenser.

my home office, while already colourful, could stand to benefit from this whimsical and delightful tape dispenser. the bright colours, clean no-fuss shape, and sticky bottom locking the dispenser firmly in place while you tug a piece makes it an absolute necessity. what colour would you pick?

image courtesy of iloveuma.com; as seen in real simple magazine, july 2011

envelope surprise!

do you ever see a d-i-y project or craft that you really love but is a bit (or even totally and absolutely) out of reach from your current d-i-y or craft skills? happens to me all the time which is why i was so excited when i came upon this super cute envelope surprise highlighted on oh happy day. i desperately want to build this project for someone and stand in the wings and watch. what a fabulous idea to show someone you care.

images by aubrey trinnaman via jordanferney.blogspot.com

it could work for a birthday, anniversary, valentine's day, any day, any reason! love it. what do you think? how would you feel if one of your walls was covered with cute envelopes like this and each notecard inside had a special thing just for you? 

mooshoo folk art.

adorable little wooden friends by mooshoo. the deck the halls and elf girls clothes pin magnets are too cute.

images courtesy of etsy.com

and mr. snowman. ah! so fun. 

pretty gifts.

such beautifully wrapped gifts. wouldn't you just love seeing a pile of these underneath your christmas tree? they're almost too pretty to open. almost.

image courtesy of stylemepretty.com

i may have to try my [sometimes-crafty] hand at these holiday gems. i can tie a wicked wire ribbon bow for gifts and wreaths; i should be able to handle these. i think the only trick would be finding all the lovely little extra adornments.

my favourite one is in the middle of the bottom row with the pompom yarn and gold leaf feathers. pretty.

calendars and ribbons and tape, oh my!

another handful of beautiful calendars and ribbon from kate's paperie and more fancy fun tape. when did tape start showing off in fancy designs and different materials? i want to start a collection.

images courtesy of katespaperie.com

happy woodland characters.

pilli pilli's super cute textile creations look like they jumped off the pages of a vintage storybook. she writes happy sunshiney descriptions for her products, like "this is mr. fox at the annual forest festival." without saying anymore she's created a window for her client's imagination to take off.

little woodland creatures with personality and stories to tell, they'll light up your wall or bag or notebook or tree.

  images courtesy of etsy.com

hoop wall art to help your wall feel happy. pouches to keep special supplies. christmas ornaments for holiday joy. i'm smitten--especially with mr. fox and hedgie.

tape tape.

beautiful printed tapes found at nonesuch things. some for everyday for an extra dash of happy. and some for holiday to accentuate my large hand-tied bows.

images courtesy of nonesuchthings.com

tape this pretty would surely brighten up my inspiration wall.

dear mother,

you are so talented at so many things and i'm lucky and blessed to have you as my mother.

as you know, the talent gene behind all your skills lies dormant within me (e'en though we've tried to revive it on several occasions) and so i come to you with a plea and [christmas wish] request: do you think you could crochet for me a giant doily for a rug like the one here by ladies & gentlemen? i just love how it looks.

image courtesy of etsy.com

i know i'm already the gifted owner of so many one-of-a-kind pieces by you but i also know you love a good hands-on challenge. with the cooler weather setting in back home on the farm in ohio, you're going to need a large project to keep you cozy.

think it over. my feet would be so happy.

love you,

katie

in-ter-twined.

i would like to shake the hand of the genius that decided string could be pretty while functional if you wove some colour in there. it started with baker's twine and now look where it's gone. the twine of whisker graphics is eco-friendly and colourful! even with colours like black licorice, green apple and lemon, i prefer cherry red. classic.

image courtesy of whiskergraphics.com

baby hank vintage wraps her packages in bakers twine and i've used the looped string as decoration. one stretch of string is looped around the neck of my body form and the other hangs on my door. makes me smile.

i came across the whisker graphics baker's twine, divine twine, in june's martha stewart living.

paper art.

i'm blown away by nikki salk and amy flurry's talent as artists but especially their work with paper in paper cut project. of their two published series, animalia and jeffrey paper wigs, i'm particularly taken with owl, below.

image courtesy of paper-cut-project.com

i first read of the paper-cut-project in design*sponge months ago.

incredible.

doesn't it kinda look like one of those shadows you make with your hands in front of a projector after a home movie?

curiously uppercase.

i'm too late to pre-order issue 5 of uppercase (deadline was march 15, 2010)—bummer—but i'm still going to order one. they look neat and inspiring and creative! (actually, i want one of each but i should start out with one issue and see how it reads.)

images courtesy of uppercasegallery.ca

the cover art for issue 5 was done by the genius artist matte stephens. after a quick look-see through his site, i'm a fan of his art style. very cool. very whimsical.

you can see more of what's inside at sfgirlbybay.

adventures in link land.

today, i started at delightful and came to her diy felt ball garland post which led me to little lovely's blog and the post, little tour: fe's bedroom, which linked me to blueberry fields' post, felt balls, which took me to the blog and post, spearmint baby | felt ball garland—my diy project this weekend, that started it all after the author visited a shop on etsy.com called made mary.

all for delightful felt ball garland. and then i found this rug, too, which i love and want scattered throughout my apartment.

images courtesy of [etsy shop] krita and junkkari.blogspot.com

i'm not very crafty but i think i may give this one a try. with the instructions on spearmint baby, i think i can do it.

sew collective.

i'm beside myself over these fabrics found on j caroline creative!. they're delightful! i'm not very talented when it comes to crafts with sewing and fabric but the creative side of my brain screams out when i see collections like this. any one would perfectly suit a mobile like this bird one. or a pile of pillows. or christmas decorations.

when i first saw the bird mobile post on hot diggity blog! i forwarded it to my mother who, being the creative genius she is—her genius includes working wonders with a sewing machine—went out and made herself a mobile just like it! the next time i visited home, we went to a fabric store (in amish country! love the amish and their quilt stores.) and picked out complimentary fabrics to make one for me. it hangs in my apartment and brings a full smile to my face when i look at it. joy.

paper heart.

i love this paper heart garland from wild olive. i'd hang it all the year long, not just valentine's day.

image courtesy of kindboutique.com

a friend of mine, ccf, did something similar when she moved into a new apartment. she cut out circles (i helped a little.) of paper, strung them together, and hung them along her walls for decoration. they added so much colour and vibrancy and personality.

paper kate.

i just joined the email newsletter for kate's paperie. hooray! she has so many pretty products—paper goods, trinkets, totes, baby things—and even offers tidbits of expert cool advice. what an inspiration!

browse her site, especially her inspirational crafts spot, and feel your creativity burst.

images courtesy of katespaperie.com

i'm crazy for all the calendars she has listed. her selection is full of colourful and unique styles. i love it. if i had my way, i would cover every wall in my apartment from floor to ceiling with a different calendar. (i suppose it could get tricky when it came time to change the month but i'm sure i could manage.)

this is no ordinary craft fair.

i say, "crafts."
you say, "again?"
i say, "you better believe it!"

for the past several weeks, you may have noticed renegade craft fair banners decorating my blog. soon those banners will come down—so sad—but the joyful day printed on the banners is almost here. hip hip hooray! some of my favourite crafters will be attending and you can bet your cute little button nose i'll be stopping by to say "hello hi!" and browse their goods-for-sale.