Inspiring Finds and some altered projects

For my birthday I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, so I decided to use it as an opportunity to find some fun craft books for inspiration in and outside of paper crafting. The first one I got was because of my love for the Angry Chicken blog, which I often visit. You may have heard of it:

I am very excited about this book, because I am basically a bend the rules kind of sewer anyway. I don't know what nap means, I don't go with the grain... I sew where it looks pretty and all that. This book has a lot of niblits that intrigue me imensely and I can't wait to make some of the projects inside.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bend-the-Rules-Sewing/Amy-Karol/e/9780307347213/?itm=1

The second book arrived on my doorstep the other day and I am ALLLLL over it. Oh man. I am almost giddy with joy and the possibilities in my home transformation.

Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man. Even my husband was drooling over this little gem. I come from a family of hoarding antiquers and I married a man from a family of hoarding antiquers. And I can't wait to cut stuff up and make gorgeous furniture and accents for my home. right. now. I have several old kitchen gadgets sitting in a box right now that are going to be transformed into a valance in my dining area, courtesy of some yummy weathered barnwood. Oh the possibilities!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Junk-Beautiful/Sue-Whitney/e/9781561589814/?itm=1

Doing other crafts helps me with my papercrafting too. It is so much easier to be inspired when you are surrounded by inspiring things. So these two books make me really. happy.

I've been busy lately so I haven't been around much, but I think you should check this out:

http://www.truenorthparenting.com/

Isn't that a great site? I was recently asked to write articles on scrapbooking for this magazine and I was beyond thrilled with the invitation! I am still in the process of getting everything ironed out, so wish me luck. It would be wonderful to be included in this publication. I think it's a brilliant idea to include scrapbooking in a parenting resource magazine and site, so that makes being included even sweeter.

Lastly I'll leave you with some projects I have been working on. The first is a little birdie garland I made with Worldwin Ruche and Colormates cardstock to celebrate spring. I am always inspired by Melissa's use of this color palette, so decided to give it a go for this project.

I searched around online and found a bird pattern, printed it out, and then altered it a bit until it was the shape I wanted before trimming it out. I then used it as the pattern for all of my white birdies. After trimming them out I adhered each bird to the colored cardstock before trimming it out a bit larger.

For one of my projects for Pink Paislee this month, I decided to alter a wood doorhanger. I know the parties are over, but I thought it would be fun to have this for next year. I covered a Scenic Route chipboard girl and made a birthday sign to hang on the doorknob to spoil my girls on their special day. I had a lot of fun with this project and can't wait to put it to use.

That's it for today! I received my Studio Calico kit and am busy getting projects together so I can share some peaks soon. This one is a stretch for me which makes it even more fun to play with.

Have a great week!