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Denise Breimeir
This is my first time participating in a monthly challenge for Where Creativity Meets C9, a blog that hosts challenges featuring products from the stamp company Concord & 9th. My friend Wendie first introduced me to Concord & 9th products a few years ago. I like the clean, modern style and graphic design look of their products, plus the way they can be used in multiple ways – some even have 3D options. Wendie recently joined the Design Team for this blog, plus she was a guest designer for Concord & 9th during the month of June. So I was definitely…
Fairy gardens are like miniature playgrounds, so naturally they’re ideal for kids as well as adults. I thought it would be fun to make a fairy garden for my friend Rebecca’s daughter Abbie, because she loves fairies and has enjoyed looking at fairy gardens since she was just over a year old. Most fairy garden figures are made of breakable resin or other fragile materials though, or contain sharp metal pieces. So I was really excited to find a line of figures designed for young children at my local garden center called the Flower Fairies Secret Garden collection…
Summer is in full swing, so over the next several weeks I’ll be sharing this year’s crop of outdoor fairy gardens I planted. Each year I like to mix up my fairy gardens. Some of them are similar to gardens from past years; I use figures I already have and arrange them a little differently, then add a few new accents. I also like to make at least one or two brand new themed gardens. It’s always fun to come up with something new to enjoy so I don’t get bored having the same gardens each…
We had a very short period of spring-like weather here in central Indiana, preceded by a long winter with snow lasting through mid-April, and followed by an early summer, with a very hot, dry May. It was a very unusual spring season that started out with extreme lows and ended with extreme highs. Everything was late to start blooming, and the cooler weather flowers didn’t last long once the 90s hit. There were about two weeks of beautiful spring weather, and luckily they coincided with the day I spent outdoors at Newfields for their Hello Spring and…
I had so much fun my first time participating in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop last month that I decided I had to join in the fun this month too, especially when I saw May’s cute inspiration photo. You can check out my April blog hop post here. The blog hop is a day-long event held each month for crafters to share their creative projects made using Papertrey Ink products on their blogs. Each month there is a different image presented by Papertrey Ink which serves as the inspiration for the project. May Challenge Description and Image: “Do…
Fairy fun for everyone can be found in central Indiana at a magical springtime event called Welcome to Fairyville. Nickel Plate Arts in Noblesville, Indiana puts on the four-day event with lots of activities for families such as fairy tea parties, crafts, storytelling, entertainment, face painting and – my favorite part – a Fairy Trail of miniature homes on Friday and Saturday you can explore for free. My mom and I went to the Fairy Trail last year for the first time and were really impressed with the creativity and number of fairy homes and gardens. Kids, adults and local…
I’ve always wanted to try marbling paper, because it looks so pretty. When I saw the samples for the Marbling Workshop at Indianapolis’ Paper Source store, I recruited my friend Wendie to take the class with me. We love Paper Source workshops, and have attended several in the past. Marbling uses plain paper or any other absorbent material like fabric or wood, to pick up swirled ink designs from a water bath. It dates back to twelfth century Japan, where it is called Suminagashi (“floating ink”). During the class, we created hand-marbled papers in…
This is my first time participating in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, an all-day event held once a month for crafters to share via their blogs their creative projects made using Papertrey Ink products. Each month there is a different image presented by Papertrey Ink which serves as the inspiration for the project. April Challenge Description and Image: “Anytime is a great time to throw a tea party and it’s such a great way to gather together a group of friends and friends and loved ones. Keep it simple or get as fancy and flowery as you want…
Here in central Indiana we’ve had such a wintry spring! It’s mid-April. Why are we still getting snow? I didn’t even bother planting pansies this year. I think I can count the warm weather days we’ve had on one hand, plus low temperatures are often still dipping below the freezing mark. At this point I’ll just wait to plant flowers after Mother’s Day, which is usually the all-clear signal to have a go at planting summer annuals. I wonder if it will even be warm enough for that a month from now…
Garden gnomes in search of a tropical Spring Break vacation traveled to Garfield Park Conservatory on the south side of Indianapolis the last two weeks of March for the sixth annual Gnome Away from Home exhibit, featuring more than 200 gnomes. Over half of the gnomes were loaned by local residents for the display, which has a different theme every year. The exhibit has grown to include over 200 gnomes for this year’s event. I’d been to see the gnome show once before, in 2013, which was the first year it was held. The first gnome show had…
Decorating Easter eggs is a tradition I’ve carried on from childhood into adulthood. I dye and decorate Easter eggs nearly every year. Each year I try at least one new kit or technique. In the past I’ve used stickers, adhesive gems, washi tape, small fabric flowers, and rubber bands to decorate eggs, but this year I streamlined my supplies to four kits: the Unicorn Easter Egg Kit by American Crafts, the Galaxy Egg Decorating Kit by Easter Unlimited, the Easter Under the Sea Egg Decorating Kit by Spritz, and the Eggmazing Egg Decorator. Kits are perfect…
That groundhog was right about six more weeks of winter. But those six weeks were over a while ago, and we still have winter! I am more than ready for spring! Mom and I headed to the Indiana Flower & Patio Show on March 12 to enjoy some spring color indoors while we wait for winter’s thaw. It’s one of our favorite annual traditions, and this year the show celebrated its 60th anniversary. Our favorite parts of the show, held 9 days each March at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, are the feature gardens in the center of West…
Today I’m sharing two sweet little scenes my mom and I made that provide instant cheer and a pop of Spring wherever you set them. These displays were inspired by the adorable Garden Bunny Cloche Pottery Barn featured in their catalog last year. My mom saw it and sent it to me as Easter craft inspiration. (Pottery Barn’s cloche was $169, with a sale price of $101 – way out of our budget!) When I saw Michael’s had cloches on sale for $12.74, I picked up one for each of us. Their cloches are really nice…
Last October I shared with you my Halloween fairy garden, a fun artificial garden display that I set up indoors shortly before my outdoor fairy gardens succumbed to the first frost. Well now we’ve made it through winter and I’m thinking Spring! I can’t wait for flowers and warm weather! Already the snow and bitter chill are gone, daffodil shoots are starting to come up, and the days are getting brighter and longer. To tide me over to Spring planting time, I set up a cheerful little indoor Easter fairy garden. I saw the Easter fairy garden…
A few years ago, I saw this wreath on Pinterest and was inspired to make a wreath like it. I then searched for and found a great yarn wreath making tutorial on Pinterest. I was so happy with how my wreath turned out, that I started making yarn wreaths for other seasons and holidays, and now I have a collection of them to change out with the seasons and enjoy all year long on my front door. Yarn wreath making can become addictive because the wreaths are so easy and fun to make. Wrapping the wreath with yarn does take…