WHERE I CREATE

I have a real fascination with artist's creative spaces. I love looking at what they do, how they do it, and most importantly how they organize and store their supplies. Some artist's have large beautiful, relaxing spaces that I could live in. Others create amazing art in the smallest of spaces. I'm lucky enough to have a space devoted just to whatever I want it to be. It's where I can express myself without it needing to match the decor of the rest of the house. Here's a quick look at MY CRAFT ROOM.

I do alot of card making so the supplies I use the most must always be within arm's reach. Why get off the chair if I don't need to! I have a real obsession with ribbon and it started taking over my supply bins so I decided to hang it where it's in plain sight. I don't know about you, but I tend to forget what I have if I can't see it. In the bins above the ribbon are some of the fabrics I use for shoes and quilts. When I decide to go from cardmaking to sewing, the machine comes out of the closet and on to the table.
My dad made this wooden ladder for me to store quilts on. Unfortunately I don't have very many finished quilts as I tend to give them all away. I think most of what you see on the ladder in this photo still needs to be finished. The purple and white one third from the bottom was hand stitched by my great grandmother.

This is the cozy corner of my space. I love my tattered old loveseat and favorite pink and green quilt. My dad also made the wooden hutch hanging on the wall. Over the years it's been many different colors and has hung in almost every room in my house. I think it's perfect where I have it right now. On the wall are my inspiration boards that I wrote about in an earlier post. They change every so often depending on my mood. The chair to the right of the loveseat was my grandma's chair that she used at her sewing machine. I love having a piece of her in my room.

So this is my "HAPPY SPACE" where I go to make something for a loved one, to sit with a glass of wine and scour through craft magazines, or sew a pair of shoes for a little person. Hope you enjoyed the tour! And no, it's not always this clean. I tidied up just for your visit! Next time, my daughter's craft space.

Where do yo create?

Terri

SUCCESS!

Early last week I posted about a pair of custom shoes I was making for a little girl to wear to her first birthday party. Her mom emailed me, and the shoes fit PERFECTLY! I'm thrilled! It's always a challenge to adapt a pattern to specific measurements, but well worth it when it's successful. So...the birthday girl has a new pair of shoes for her party, and we all know that " IF YOU GIVE A GIRL THE RIGHT PAIR OF SHOES, SHE CAN CONQUER THE WORLD!"

In other shoe news, I've been a busy bee working on my booth for The Queen Bee Market on May 1 in Carlsbad. If you live in Southern California or are visiting the area come by and say "Hi". There are amazing vendors showcasing a little bit of something for everyone. I promise you won't be disappointed and may even walk away with some handmade treasures.

Here's a sneek peek at the start of my display table.

Please don't mind the wrinkles. The mundane chore of ironing the tablecloth hasn't happened yet. It's much more fun to do the creative stuff first. Well, I'm off to make an All Things for Baby banner and price tags. Can't wait to share photos with you once I get set up at the boutique.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Terri

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

How often do you think about your dream life compared to your real life? How often do you think, "One day I'm going to_____________". Or "I wish I ____________". (Feel free to fill the blanks in with whatever you'd like.) Here's something to think about...

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DREAM AND REALITY IS JUST DOING IT

Maybe today is the day that you take one step towards turning that "dream" into "reality".

Terri

MAKING SHOES

Over the weekend I made a pair of special order shoes for a customer from my Etsy site, All Things for Baby . She ordered the "Wild Child" Mary Janes for her daughter to wear to her First Birthday Party. My customer sent me the measurements she needed the shoes to be, and I made a custom pattern to fit . The outside of the shoe is the black and white zebra print and the lining is the fuschia print.

The first shoe almost done. Hoping it's the right size when finished.

First shoe turned out just right so this is applying the lining to the second shoe.

Here are both of the shoes done and ready for bows to be put on. Done! I packaged them up and was off to the post office. Now I just need to patiently wait to hear if they fit. What a fun pair of party shoes!

Have a creative day!

Terri

BACK TO REALITY

Our guests have gone home and a good time was had by all! Janis and Lindsey loved everything we did to make their visit memorable. They went into fits of laughter when they spotted me at the airport with my "It's All About Lindsey" sign. The sign on the back of the guest room door that stated the "Longley Event Center Rules" was a clear favorite of everything I put together for them. Lindsey never stopped reminding us that it was all about her!
x
Many hours were spent at the beach.

We went for a ride in the hot air balloon in Grand Park in Irvine

x

x

And of course you have to go to Disneyland when you come to California (or in our case, California Adventure Park).

x

This is just a sampling of how we spent our time, but you get the idea. I'm going to visit them in a couple of months. What do you think the chances are that we will celebrate "It's All About Terri"? I won't hold my breath.

x

May you stay inspired until YOUR next vacation!

Terri