awash in color

Oh Happy Day is one of my absolute favorite blog reads. Jordan's creativity never ceases to amaze and inspire. I am loving the mix of letterpress and watercolor she recently featured; two favorite art forms combined into one lovely project.

images from Oh Happy Day

letterpress love

I finally experienced the pure joy of letterpress printing this past Saturday, and fell in love! I took a letterpress workshop with my mother offered by a local press shop and learned how to print on an antique C&P letterpress. We had a great time learning about the craft and printing our own project. There's a lot that goes into creating a letterpress piece, and I now have such a better appreciation for the time-honored tradition. I'm certainly looking to incorporate letterpress into the wedding in some factor. I'm smitten with it.

composing the lead type, letter by letter

printing on the press

our finished product--a beautiful, deep impression

Letterpress Workshop at Railway Station Press in Alexandria, VA. More on letterpress here.

images by me

15

Make it a homemade holiday with cute crocheted Christmas amigurumi.

Christmas amigurumi patterns and photos from Lion Brand

not your average pumpkin

I love all the different pumpkin decorating ideas from Martha Stewart. Especially the one with the pumpkin made into a clock!

photos via Martha Stewart

what to make

Fall is here, and that means the return of knitting season for me. It's strange, but I never feel like knitting or crocheting during the spring and summer months. It's not until fall hits that I break out my supply of needles and yarn and start thinking of what to make next. I've already made a few blankets before, but I picked up this free pattern when I was in Michaels the other day. Maybe this will be my new project of the season.

pretty penmanship

I've always loved the look of calligraphy. I really want to learn the correct techniques, and have bought several books over the years but just never sat down to tackle them. Seeing this images makes me want to break out the ink and pens. I think it's time I started practicing.

Martha offers a general guide to calligraphy and it's featured in her Encyclopedia of Crafts too.

Images from Martha Stewart

let the crafting begin

Hunter gave me the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts as a birthday gift. I'm excited to have it! I took a quick look through it and the creative ideas are already flowing. The problem is which project to try first?!

recycling made pretty, part 2

Jessica at How About Orange made these woven drink coasters out of the pages of a magazine. So clever! I love seeing all the different ways a magazine can be recycled into something creative. (Remember this bowl?)

image by How About Orange

giant monogram

Today's daily craft from Martha Stewart is this giant monogram corkboard.

Seems like something I could make fairly easily and would be perfect near a desk. I'll eventually have to give it a try.

sea critters

For Mother's Day, I made my mom these napkins to use at the beach condo. I bought the cotton napkins and then embroidered each sea critter by hand.

I think they turned out pretty cute, especially since it was my first attempt at free hand embroidery. (The sea horse is my fave!) 

We'll put these to good use as we're all headed to the beach today! 

frame remade

What to do with an old black frame with broken glass?

Take some IKEA napkins and Mod Podge you've got laying around and start decoupaging.

Add some white fabric and some cotton batting to create an upholstered bulletin board.

And you've got a prettier place to hang jewelry. All made from stuff already on hand. Nice.