My Slow Return to Blogging

Hello there!  Remember me?  Boy it has been a long time since I have posted something new on this blog and let me tell you... I have missed it!  To quickly fill you in: I got a new job as a family consultant (social work) and I am figuring everything out for the first time.  I also celebrated my first year of marriage to my wonderful husband.  Oh, and did I mention that the wonderful husband of mine is building up my craft room?  Yea, it's been a good year.  The only part I am missing is this blog!

That being said, I am yearning to get back into the "swing of things."  I don't think I will be able to do my bi-weekly posts like I used to (at least until I get my schedule figured out with this new job) but I would like to start crafting and blogging again.

Okay, enough of my talking.  I wanted to share with you some pictures from our vacation this summer.  One of the stops was the home of President Eisenhower and his wife.  The property was AMAZING and so inspiring.  Allow me to share a few things that inspire me:

 

Surprise, Surprise, I love the rustic stuff!  I have never been a fan of anything "blue" but I LOVE these vibrant, funky shades of blue/green.  They have popped up in popularity the last couple of years but they can be found in real vintage items from the past! This color inspires me!  Plus... this lovely piece looks like something that would fit perfectly in my Route 66 room.

What I love about this is the stone wall/wooden door together.  It mixes two of my favorite materials into one beautiful, real surface.  I can only imagine a hard working man or woman (ladies, we can do the job just the same!) laying each stone piece by piece on the wall or swinging open that stunning door to explore the wonders that lie behind it.

Maybe that is more cheesy than realistic but I love the concepts of hard work and preserving the past that this one picture exemplifies for me.  I am inspired!

 

This was the outside of the Eisenhower home.  Most of the house had to be changed but one small end of it was able to be preserved...and it is stunning.  Look at those colors!  Pink, Green, Blue, Brown, Grey and more!  I would have never imaged mixing these colors but I love it here.  These colors inspire me.  This idea will not only transfer into my decorating scheme but even into jewelry that I make!

How much do you love this?  I will admit: I much prefer my washing machine when it comes to doing several loads of laundry.  That being said, when I look at this it means so much more than doing laundry.  It means hard work, it means time with family.  Today, I throw a load into the washer, walk away and move onto something else.  From what I understand (or maybe I am just being nostalgic) washing laundry this way involved a little more elbow grease and a lot more chatter with friends, family or anyone who was around while you washed!

Okay... maybe that is not the case but it does make me happy.  I am sticking with my washing machine but I do love what it stands for! It inspires me to get more out of my tasks than just "checking" something off of my list.

I never had any animals of my own (any that stay in stables at least) so of course, I find this endearing.  I also enjoy this because it is so simple.  I love things that were not made to be beautiful, lovely or inspiring and then... they just are!  It actually makes me want to get our metal tins out and throw together that summer BBQ that I was planning.  What is that you say?  It's fall now?  Oh well, better start planning for next year.

Last but certainly not least are these personalized equipments!  On the left is a close up of their car... yes, their CAR!  I asked my husband if we could put our names together on the side of one of our vehicles.  He said no.
On the right side is a cart found in their stables that had the "We Like Ike" slogan on it.  If I had a slogan (We're Crazy for Kelsie?) I would be putting it on everything too!

Both of these things inspire me to get more personalized with my stuff!  For example, Christmas is coming up... maybe I will make a wreath with an "S" on it.  In the meantime, I will be trying to convince my husband to add our names to the car.

See you again soon
I am so sorry to everyone that so lovingly stopped by this blog and has waited patiently for me to return.  I am grateful for you and hope that you will return and join me in all of our future crafting adventures.  Let's made a deal:  Starting next week, every Friday at 5:00 pm, expect to see a new post.  Deal?

...Now is your part of the deal.  Tell me what inspires you about the pictures from this post!  Do you love them or think they are just a bunch of old lame junk?  OR... tell me what kinds of crafts you would like to see in the upcoming weeks.  I might just pick one to do!

Happy Crafting,
Kelsie Ann

Decorative Clothes Pins (Not Just For Clothes!)

What is small, handy and totally cute?  Did you guess clothes pins?  Well the truth is... they are!  There are so many ways they can be put to use.  We made these adorable clothes pins for our wedding "guest book" .  They held up the small cards where friends and family wrote messages for us.  It was a clothes drying out on the line sort of sweetness.

{Above Wedding Photographs taken by jhendonphotography}

Want to see them close up?
We made over 150 of them, but here are some of my favorites, separated into a few groups.  Each one was made using scrapbooking rub-ons; either pre-bought or made at home:


PERSONALIZED

{These were made at home (really!).  All you need are the printable sheets of rub-on paper and an ink-jet printer!  This is a great option if you don't want to be limited to the rub-on packages at the store}

WEDDING THEMED WORDING

{These are so perfect for a wedding.  I especially love the brackets around "Marriage Vows"}

"THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE"

{These are some of my favorites.  How darling are these tiny word definitions?}

FULL DESIGN

{Many store-bought sets of rub-ons have a row or two of long designs.  For these pins I just cut that line into 3 or 4 pieces and voila!  Beautiful, decorative clothes pins that can be used for anything!}

BEAUTIFUL LETTERING

{These just make my heart melt.  The lettering looks so vintage (and a little circus-ey) while the coloring makes it really fun!}

INSPIRATIONAL WORDS FOR ANY TIME

{These are all marriage words too, but could also be used for hanging pictures of family, friends, or just for a little inspiration in your day}

THIS ONE MAKES ME CHUCKLE...{It was supposed to say "Committed"... you know, like a husband and wife should be.  However, after I put it together all I could see was "Commit Ted".  I don't know who Ted is, but I didn't figure that it fit our wedding theme!}

I love these clothes pins!
I plan on turning some of these into magnets so that I can hang notes, the grocery list or whatever on the refrigerator.  I think I will also keep a few to hang pictures in my craft room, and maybe keep a few to use for gift wrapping.  Who knows?!

How would you use clothes pins?
What would you do with them?  Hang pictures, notes, or (let's get crazy here), clothes on the laundry line?

It seems that there are hundreds of ways to use clothes pins and when they can so easily be made this cute, why wouldn't you?

With Love,
Kelsie Ann

LINK LOVE!  This post is linked up to Every Day is an Occasion, go over there & check them out as well!