Heidi’s weekend project

LOS OSOS, CA – Tuesday morning – I have been trying for weeks to find a new coffee table for my living room. I bought the seating back in February and I’ve looked for a table at a lot of retail outlets and just haven’t found anything I liked.  I was kind of thinking  ‘trunk’ or something with storage.  Looking at price range of trunks was much more than my budget for a coffee table.  So, I’ve also been looking on-line at CraigsList for weeks. Do you know how many people have coffee tables with glass tops? But I was looking for something with wood.  I finally got lucky last Friday. My daughter Starr and I picked up my treasure last Saturday. We also stopped at World Market Cost Plus on the way home and picked out some pillows for the sofa. So, I spent last Saturday afternoon sanding and staining my new treasure.  I still have to put a clear sealer on it but I think it’s perfect!  Now, I still need end tables, another chair and maybe a sofa type table for under the window.  I found some cool lamps at a yard sale. I’m working on the shades – when they’re done I’ll share a photo with you. Finally, one room in my house (of two years) is starting to come together. Can’t wait to share it!!! It is looking so cool!! >>Love ya, Heidi

If this is Monday, it must be Aleene’s Day!

GRASONVILLE, MD – Monday morning – We’re so excited because every Monday we are going to be sharing with you a new Aleene’s project that we have created. And, if we feel like it, we might just share two!  So, here’s my Aleene’s project of the day!  Enjoy >>Tiffany

Grab & Go Gift Bags
If you are like me, most times you want a quick and easy project that shouts creative fun! I make these grab & go gift bags by the dozen – and in all different colors – so that I will have the perfect quick gift when I need it.  The materials list is really easy and you probably have all of them in your craft supplies closet:

Gift bag
Shipping tag
Pre-cut scrapbook shapes
Rubber stamp – word of your choice 
Small beads and buttons
Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue Stick
Aleene’s® Fast Grab Tacky Glue®

So, you can probably figure this out really easy but here are the steps:

Glue scrapbook shape onto shipping label and gift bag with Aleene’s Glue Stick.  Stamp word onto tag. Glue bead and button onto center of paper shape with Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky.  Let the glues dry completely and tuck these grab & go’s away for your next special gift occasion. 

Need something interesting to put into your gift bag. We found these cute glass jars at Michaels and filled them with dried herbs.  Feeling ambitious?  Fix Candace’s Yummy Garden Salsa recipe and fill up some decorative jars:

1 cup plum tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (use fresh, as cilantro loses its zing when dried!)
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced jalapeno (optional)

Prepare all vegetables and place in bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and chill. You can spice this up if you think it needs more zing by adding more jalapenos or chili peppers. Serve with tortilla chips. Ole!

What has Heidi been doing???

LOS OSOS, CA – Sunday night – Time is flying by and some days I just don’t think I have anything newsworthy so I thought I would check in tonight anyway! I’m always working on getting all my design work done, which some days consists of just kind of  ’playing’ with design projects or products. Other days I am on special assignment to get ‘specific’ assigned works-of-art done.

But I do try to have a home life. I figure since my studio is at home, that’s home life right?  Actually, when I step outside my home studio, then my family life starts. Afternoons (LOVE the daylight savings time) and some of the weekends, my husband and I get a bit of gardening in. My vegetable garden is just starting to show signs of growth. Radishes and turnips are pushing through the soil.

Our fruit trees are continuing to blossom out. The plums always come first!  Today I looked at the new strawberry patch (remember it had to be relocated away from the dog’s path) and yep. . . there’s my first strawberry –  just about ready. Yummy!!  Can’t wait! I’m thinking that was fast for my first one so it won’t be any time at all … and strawberry shortcake!!  Fresh whipped cream oh yeah!!! Now we are talking!! I hope you had a yummy weekend too! >>Love ya, Heidi

Style Stone Bracelets – Take Two!

GRASONVILLE, MD. – Saturday night – Last night Candace and I taught our Style Stone bracelet class and what fun it was to watch as everyone jumped in to their projects with creative zest! 

The night’s creative endeavors were bright and bold with oranges, purples, bright greens and purples! I think we were all needing a boost of brightness during these gray dreary days on the Chesapeake Bay.

We have loads of rubber stamps at the Design Studio and many of the stamps selected in last night’s class had not been used for Style Stone bracelets before so it was so exciting to see the “reveal” as the stones were removed from the stamps.  From bold swirls to travel themes to inspired words, one-by-one each bracelet took on its own look.  It’s always a pleasure to see the confidence build throughout the evening. We always start with a practice tile before heading into the final bracelet project and these are so fun because they are completely reversible.  And everyone made a matching pin too! 

Our thanks to the girls at Caroline County Recreation and Parks for hosting such a fun event and we look forward to many more classes in their great facilities! 

Also, don’t forget that we have a Style Stones Bracelets class scheduled for Friday morning April 3rd in our East coast design studio. We’ll hope to see you then!>>Tiffany

Herbal Workshop with Candace

GRASONVILLE, MD – Wednesday morning – I have been SO busy with my herbal work over the past weeks preparing all the materials for my all day Herbal Basics Workshop which I held last Sunday.  At Inspired at Home, we believe that creativity and wellness go hand-in-hand! The class was just wonderful and everyone had a great time and learned so much. We covered all aspects of beginning herbs such as herbal terms, how to make teas, tinctures, about essential oils, salves, herbal oils, herbal cautions and the list goes on. Each participant made their own signature herbal tea blend, their own tincture, and an antiseptic salve to take home. The class was great fun and we all learned a lot and shared a lot. And, Tiffany’s gourmet lunch was fabulous! I just LOVE spending the day with people of like-mind sharing and learning and having fun and much laughter. I hope you can ALL join us at our next herbal workshop in June! >>Candace

Personal photographer….uhhh…caterer…uhhh…photographer

GRASONVILLE, MD – Sunday night – I was all prepared to take photos today of Candace’s fantabulous Herbal Basics Workshop but when I arrived at the studio I totally forgot. I had two simple jobs for the day. Take photos of the group immersed in their class and cook and serve lunch. I found a fabulous recipe for tomato and basil quiche at allrecipes.com. I used all organics for the ingredients. For dessert, I had received a great recipe from goop.com earlier this week for apple cake so I served that warm with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.  We paired all this up with a salad tossed with balsamic vinaigrette. Everything tasted sooooo good!  I got so immersed in enjoying every bite and absolutely enjoying the lunch conversation that I totally forgot all about photos!  Candace’s students were having a blast making their salves, tinctures and custom blended herbal teas and chatting about how to add balance and wellness to their lives.  I won’t go in to details because I’m certain that Candace will be blogging about it.  But, let me just say, the group was so fun and so lively! So sorry I forgot to take the photos! >>Tiffany

Medicine Animals

GRASONVILLE, MD – Wednesday morning -  OMG! We had THE most fun this morning at the Wye River Designs Studio! Candace Jedrowicz taught her Medicine Animals class and we had a blast!  She started off the class with a guided meditation where we got to “meet” our own medicine animal. We then learned the spiritual message that our animals bring to us and then we crafted our animals from Kato Polyclay. 

Once we were able to let go of our pre-conceived notions of what we thought the animal should look like, then we really got in to some creative expression.  And, we didn’t stop with just one animal – sister Candace made a snake and a squirrel (but she kept calling him a woodchuck), Lisa made a dragonfly, rabbit and bat plus a moon to pair with her dragonfly which she is going to turn into an aromatherapy neckace, I made two bears (although my large bear looks more like a buffalo which represents prayer and abundance so that’s OK by me!) After baking our works of art in our toaster oven, we finished them off with small shells and semi-precious stones secured with a dab of Aleene’s Platinum Bond Glass & Bead glue and several wraps of thread.

Our thanks to Candace J for guiding us through this fabulous class and for her patience while we fussed trying to make them perfect! We LOVE them! And Lisa, you’re a natural at this so we expect to see a lot more creative clay work from you!

We’d love to see you at our next Medicine Animal class! >>Creative kisses & hugs, Tiffany

Just Had To Share This!

LOS OSOS, CA – Tuesday night – Hey Girls!! I wanted to share this project with you. It was created by Liz, who is a regular student  in my studio. Liz is almost 80….she  is funny, quirky, and very inspiring. She comes to the studio on a regular basis. I look forward to every visit. It’s always fun to assist her with one of her ‘visions’. It  could be mosaic, it could be collage or a little of both. On this particular visit (actually it took several visits) she wanted to make a mosaic with a message and she was going to hang it in her hallway. She was on a creative mission….she brought her mirror,  board, and lots of her life collectables (jewelry-pins-necklaces etc.). She  started to lay out her masterpiece. She glued she grouted and we both said ‘Wow’?!   It truly turned out better than she ever imagined.  By the time she was done, she had even added lots of ceramic cookies and other goodies from my studio shelves.  If you can’t read the saying on the mirror…it says  “Mirror, Mirror on the wall…..What the hell  happened” !!  She just constantly reminds me to laugh at life and enjoy. Isn’t it wonderful to have such a great sense of humor !! Lots of Love and Humor>> Heidi

Hokey Pokey Bracelets

GRASONVILLE, MD – Tuesday evening –

You put your left hand in, you put your left hand out, you put your left hand in and you shake it all about!  

If this is Tuesday it must be Laugh & Craft at Wye River Designs Studio!  This morning’s L&C group had lots of fun making yarn bracelets.  These are super easy:  Measure off a few yards of yarn. Apply a dab of hot glue to wooden bracelet and place end of yarn into glue. Start winding the yarn around and around pressing the first few wraps into the glue.  When you come to the end of the first length of yarn, tie on the next (be sure to keep knot to the outside of the bracelet.) Keep winding yarn around until entire bracelet is covered.  Apply a dot of hot glue to the end of yarn to hold in place. Cut off any excess. If you like a fluffier look, add eyelash yarn by wrapping around bracelet. If you want more dimension and intrigue, string small beads onto gold metallic thread. Wrap thread around bracelet, tying and gluing to secure.  And that’s what it’s all about! Happy Crafting! >>Tiffany (P.S. What are you waiting for? Join us on Tuesday mornings at 10 am or Wednesday nights at 7 pm for Laugh & Craft. We laugh and we craft and . . .  it’s free!)

Creative Blast

GRASONVILLE, MD – Monday night – I can’t believe a week has gone by again and I’m just now posting last week’s Laugh & Craft updates!  If you saw the original post for these plaques, you’ll see that when Candace J. and Beth returned for last week’s Laugh & Craft, they had a fun week of embellishing, embellishing, embellishing!   Not satisfied with the simple stenciling and stamping technique that we shared at Laugh & Craft, they took their empowered statements home and blasted them with more creativity. We’ll see what they have in store for tomorrow’s Laugh & Craft! >>Hugs, Tiffany