Inspiration is Everywhere - Truckers Pick Up Quilting and Knitting

Totally awesome. This Wall Street Journal article follows a growing trend among truckers who have picked up quilting, sewing, and knitting as a hobby. The downturn in the current economy has meant that instead of dropping off a load and picking up a new one right away, truckers will sometimes have to wait hours or days until they can head out again. Some men (95% of truckers are men) have started using a needle and thread (and sewing machines!) to pass the time.

The article is a fun read and it is full of great photos of their work and a video that shows a trucker and how he incorporates quilting into his routes. Very cool. Inspiration really is everywhere!

~~ Found via Craft Blog

Meaningful Gift Giving

My camera is officially dead. This is so, so sad. I like to document my progress on the shop and post what I've done, but until I get a new camera you just have to believe me that I'm working on things! Things are good and I'm making progress.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about Christmas. Eric and I have never been big Christmas spenders. Last year we took off for the holidays and celebrated our honeymoon instead. What a stress-free way to go through the holidays. We're planning on doing a repeat again this year, but I still want to get Eric something.

Meet the Giver's Log. This is a beautiful blog about giving gifts, wrapping gifts, and gift ideas.

Inspired by this blog post, I'm thinking of getting Eric something he wants, something he needs, and something he can treasure. I'm always trying to not spend a lot of money, so I've got to be thrifty and creative. I think the 'treasure' gift may be something I create that can be printed on this free canvas being offered by http://www.canvaspeople.com/.

How do you approach gift giving each year?

Inspiration is Everywhere - Magazine Page Pennant

I'm addicted to pretty little hanging pennants (also called banners or bunting.) Here is one I made from Yoga Journal and Real Simple magazine pages for a friend in a craft swap.

I highlighted an adorable pennant on Etsy in this post last month and below is a DIY I'm planning on making from Cathe Holden's blog Just Something I Made.

I'll post pics of my own once I've made it. If you haven't checked out Cathe's blog yet, head over when you get the chance. She is a great designer and offers a ton of freebies and tutorials.

Inspiration is Everywhere - Framed Flowers and Shelves

I'm still diligently working on my frame ideas so any creative way to use frames grabs my attention. The folks at the. (that's right, their name is "the") have created these three beautiful ways to use them as decoration in your home.

School starts next week, so I'm focusing on lesson plans at the moment, but I'll still continue to post beautiful inspiration and Etsy finds until I have a new shop update.

Inspiration is Everywhere - Rainy Day Cloud Box by ISLY

When I first discovered the wonders of Etsy.com and started to dig deep into DIY and the handmade movement I just couldn't believe how creative people were. I have a long blog roll I read every day in Google Reader and it is chock-full of blogs where people continue to dazzle me with their ingenuity and craftiness.



This craft is from ISLY (I Still Love You). I love how she describes her inspiration for the project and that she offers the template for her readers to download for free. You can guarantee that many of my fellow teachers and maybe even a student or two will be receiving one of these boxes this coming school year.