**If you’re here for the Twinery/Imaginisce blog hop, scroll down to the next post!**
For the past couple months, I’ve had the immense pleasure of working with the ladies behind Play Date Cafe and I’ve really enjoyed it. Even though it was only for a short time, creating alongside this team has been awesome.
So it’s with a bit of sadness that I say goodbye to my time as the Private Blend Designer for The Play Date Cafe. I have some pretty busy (and exciting) things going on, personally and professionally, so it’s better for me to scale back on some of my commitments right now. THANK YOU so much to the players, the sponsors, and to my wonderful Design Team.
Backing away from the speech podium, it’s time to share one last color challenge and project. These colors (grass, rose petal, hibiscus) feel like a cottage garden, or creamy sherbet to me.
I don’t make a lot of cards unless it’s for a special occasion, but my fellow Designers are crazy talented card makers. So following their lead, I thought I’d share a sweet card with some hand stitched arrows and bakers twine from our sponsor this week, The Twinery.
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Again, thank you to everyone. Please check back in with me from time to time to see what I’m up to. I promise, there will be lots. :)
♥, Ashley
Hi everyone! To those who haven’t been here before – welcome! And to those who have, welcome back. :) (And if you haven’t already, I’d love for you to “like” Heartmade Life on facebook so we can keep in touch!) Today I’m happy to be a part of a round up with The Twinery and Imaginisce.
Imaginisce was kind enough to send me their Childhood Memories collection for this blog hop, and you can find it here. I’m not much of a scrapbook person, but these sets are great because everything you need is already there, perfectly coordinated, and it’s pretty much fool proof. I paired the collection with bakers twine from The Twinery, which has colors to match just about everything.
Prizes and Details
The Twinery is giving one winner their choice of 3 spools of twine!
And Imaginisce is also giving away a great prize package!
To Enter: Leave a comment on each blog along the hop.
Blog comments close on Saturday, April 27th at midnight (EST) and the winners will be announced on The Twinery‘s blog and the Imaginisce blog on Monday, April 29th. For more inspiration and to visit other fun stops on the hop, head back to The Twinery. Thank you for stopping by!
♥, Ashley
I always tell my children, “don’t be a sheep”. I work hard to drill certain virtues into them, like “hold the door for others”, “ALWAYS wear a bra in public”, and “never disrespect the police”. But one of the most important lessons I try to teach them is to be their own person, no matter what.
Over Christmas, we gave our Star Wars loving son a green winter hat with long Yoda ears. He loved it and wore it the entire day. The first day back to school after winter break, he kissed me good bye as I dropped them off at the school entrance, wearing his hat. But as he walked up the path to the building, I saw him put it in his pocket and pull out a different cap. After school, I asked him about it. He hung he head and said he was afraid people would make fun of him. Oh man. I told him, “in this house, we don’t hide who we are. We fly our freak flags high and loud. Do not be a sheep, do not blindly follow along.” I told him that with all the things he can’t hide, like his prostheses, his hands, or his freckles, hiding a love for “the Force” is silly. And if someone didn’t like his hat, oh well. That wasn’t on him. The next day he wore his Yoda hat, and everyone thought it was awesome. The kids in his class and in the hall were all mooning over it like it was the greatest thing ever. Sometimes I know what I’m talking about.
So to remind my boy to be his own person, I painted him this canvas sign with the slogan, “Go Your Own Way”. It’s a good reminder; plus who doesn’t like a little Fleetwood Mac floating around the brain?
To make this piece of art, I used a 7″ x 14″ canvas that I bought as a pack of 3 at Michaels. I cut out a vinyl stencil using my Silhouette Cameo and then adhered the negative space of the stencil to the front of the canvas. (The arrow shape is “dear lizzy chevron card” – and I love anything by Dear Lizzy.) This was a little tricky because the vinyl didn’t want to stick tight to the canvas, so I just did my best. To keep the vinyl from peeling up and to give it all a sort of rough and tumble look, I used a pouncer brush to fill in the paint, and I didn’t really care to much about filling in the shapes all the way. When it was all painted, I peeled the stencil away, let it dry, and hung it up.
It just so happened that the colors for this week’s challenge over at The Play Date Cafe, matched the colors of my son’s future room design – midnight, aqua, and terracota. The colors are so striking together, and they match pretty nicely with a quilt I started for him. Stop by The Play Date Cafe for more inspiration from the designers and play along for a chance to win great prizes, sponsored this week by Simon Says Stamp.
When my kids came home from school today, I told them to go see if there was anything different in the house. They foud the sign right away and read it outloud. When I asked Matt what he thought it meant, he said, “don’t be a sheep”. Atta boy. :)
♥, Ashley
Phew! The Bigs are back in school, my little one and pup are settled in for some Mickey Mouse, and I just made a 10 cup pot of coffee. I haven’t been able to sit down for my morning blog stroll while the kids were on spring break, so this grey drizzly morning, I opened 30+ tabs on the Mac and soaked it up. And so I’d thought I’d share the wealth! (Click the photo for the specific post, or look for the link to head to the main blog page.)
Once the snow fully melts, we will transform our yard from a swampy, ugly mud pit into a pretty little oasis. We will clear the gunk and watch the grass grow. We will sit around the fire pit every night, we will live on nothing but grilled food, and we will plant a garden. Really liking this vertical pallet board garden, featured on A Beautiful Mess, one of my daily time eaters.
Once I sift through all my favorites and decide on a fabric collection, I’m planning to hop on board the Virtual Quilting Bee going on at Diary of A Quilter, the site that helped me plan my very first quilt. I’m hoping that posting it here will force me to get my act together and actually start this.
My Amazon wishlist is FULL of books I have my eye on, but this one is definitely on the top of my list. Camille Roskelley of Simplify is one half of the ridiculously talented duo Bonnie & Camille, and is a seriously awesome fabric designer and quilter. I can’t wait until her newest book, Simply Retro, arrives on my doorstep in May, preferably while my husband isn’t home to see I bought another sewing book.
We’re trying to eat better around our house and working on incorporating more fresh produce into our meals. And with summer not far away (assuming Spring ever really decides to make an appearance) there’s no better time. Really wanting to dust off the blender and set up a smoothy bar, with daily recipes and ideas from Prudent Baby. Much better than the generic Captain Crunch we’re all scarfing down now.
This handstitched ABC book is highlighted and underlined on my crafty to-do list. Damn you Nana Company. I already had too much to do.
As if this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt wasn’t badass enough, it’s now exponentially so thanks to Emily McDowell. Her illustrations and hilarious truths are spot on (and I’m crushing on her a bit lately).
I’ve been having dreams about the Driftless Region. Literally. And photos like this, by Krystal Muellenberg Photography, make it worse. So, so pretty.
Have a beautiful day all!
♥, Ashley
As I type this post, there is a toddler in my lap threatening to fall asleep in a 110% awkward position and there are no less than 6 ongoing projects crowding my desk and shelves. Such is the life of an obsessive handmade artist right? I promise, I have things to show you.
Today I’m chiming in from my lovely seat as the Private Blend Designer for The Play Date Cafe. This Design Team position has been such a blessing. It’s connected me with really wonderful people and forced me to get creative (and post on my blog) regularly. And color stories like this one make me even more excited to be a part of this team. Check out these colors – Cappuccino, Slate, and Burlap.
This week the ladies at The Play Date Cafe are joined by the talent of the Jenni Bowlin Studio, who also provided really pretty vintage stamps for us to use.
This week I took my inspiration from the color story board, which was put together by our talented Jax Miller, who is also the newest designer to join The Twinery! I wanted to create an elegant place setting that would be perfect for date night at home after the kids are in bed, or even coffee and danish with a friend. And I think I managed that!
For this setting, I paired a burlap napkin with a coffee color fabric wrap that I cut with pinking shears to mirror the chevron in the card. The corner of the place setting card has a doily stamped with one of the Jenni Bowlin stamps, and I also used the stamps for the background wording and even the little tag. For some extra detail, I added some vintage postal stamp washi tape, buttons from my collection, and some shimmer bakers twine. A bow of grey twine and a vintage key bring it all together.
Head over to The Play Date Cafe for a double dose of inspiration with these beautiful colors and a chance to win a great prize. And check back for more updates on the custom work I’ve been doing and some pretty personal projects! And for some sneak peeks, visit me on facebook! And now I’m of to put this babe to bed and wake up my sleeping arm. :)
♥, Ashley
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Barb Wagar - What a nice little accordian book! Both lines come together very nicely. Thanks for sharing your project!
CraftyAuntDee - Very cute and clever use of twine on this card. Great job.