Valentines Day is the day we are supposed to celebrate Love.  There is a lot of hype and pressure from the  card, flower and candy companies, not to mention the media.  Even so  Mothers day holds the record for the most flower sales, and Halloween for the most candy sales.  Personally I prefer my Husbands thoughtfulness of bringing me flowers and gifts when ever he feels the urge, as I am assured it is from his heart and not because society reminded him to.

As I’m watching the news and advertisements about Valentines day, I begin to think we should take a new approach to this special day and make it more about how we can show our love for our fellow man.  We are encouraged to “Keep the  spirit of Christmas” in our hearts through-out the year.  Well  then Valentines day would be a good time to show our love for all mankind, regardless of gender, race or religion.Listening to the news lately I have been inspired to change our family traditional celebration of Valentines day.  In one story some elementary students decided to sell their handmade cards and flowers to raise money for a local charity.  They had a special event at the school the Saturday before Vaentines Day  to sell their items and with the communities support, they were  able to raise a considerable amount for their  charity.

Yesterday Justin Bieber went to visit a little girl he heard about, who was such a big fan that she referred to herself as Mrs. Bieber!  The darling Mrs Bieber is a six year old cancer patient.  He spent some time with her taking pictures and sharing hugs, he tweeted the experience saying: ”this is one of the best things I have ever done!”  I am sure it is one of the best experiences in “Mrs. Bieber’s”  young life as well!  Here is a young man blessed with talent and a great career, taking time from his busy schedule to share his loving spirit with another, who, I am sure, really needed that burst of joy his visit brought her.  What better way to celebrate Valentines day?!

Another example of this is Julianne Moore, who has arranged a collection of Valentines Day cards created by fellow Childrens books Authors and Illustrators.  They come in a box of 20 for $25.00 and can be purchased on Opensky.com.  All proceeds are being donated to Save the Children, to help kids living in poverty across the United States. Did you know that the amount of children living in poverty in our country is now up to 25%?  Thats right 1 in 4 children in our country – the United States of America, are living in poverty!!

So instead of spending your money on flowers or candy, ( and who needs to add that to our waisteline!), why not reach out and do something to show love for others. It doesn’t have to be costly, volunteer your time at a V.A. hospital, make some bright, cheerful pillowcases for cancer patients, or send a child in Haiti a cheerful blanket, or some shoes.
A little bit of Love shared, goes a long way!

Be Creative and share some Love today with someone in need, then make a family plan for next year and have fun with it!!

Kerry♥

Last year I purchased a new Macbook Pro to help me with my business and blogging, as I was trying to design a blog format and work on other social media sites, I wanted easier access that I could take wherever I went, especially as I have three children to taxi about!  The reason I chose this item was due to the Design colleges my son was considering attending, and they all suggeted the Macbook Pro as he would need it in much of his design work.

I have learned the basics but not even really tapped the potential of my Mac, and  I am already  incredibly impressed by the endless possibilities it possesses.

In the last two weeks I was able to purchase an iTouch, and  then an iPad . I am completely blown away by the creativity in these devices!!  There are apps galore that you can install in all of these, incredible Art programs, and applications for various photo software, movie making programs and music programs – not just one but a variety that have many different aspects to each one, so there is no limit to what you can create in a little hand held device the size of a cell phone!  I spent hours going through and reading what they offer- I was like a kid in a candy store!

Up until now I couldn’t understand why everyone was so wrapped up in their iphones, and frankly considered it so rude that you can hardly get eye contact from anyone anymore.  I still do not have a cell phone, I use my iTouch with the “text free” app and can even make calls that way when in a WiFi area. Today I understand the obsession, not for the games, I am not a gamer, but for the creative opportunities they possess. Even someone who does not consider themselves as creative or an artistic person, can easily become so with the help of a few apps from Apple and other software providers.

I have held out all this time from purchasing these hi-tech devices – especially the iPad, as “not buying into the hype and obsession” – well now I know what I have been missing!!!

I am watching my children’s creativity explode with these devices.  My eight year old daughter is drawing and painting pictures that you would not believe came from someone her age, and yes, she is that good on paper as well. However now she can learn and practice her skill anywhere at anytime, and save it to print or make a project out of it, that she otherwise would not have been able to.  She already has a library of short movies she has made with our dogs.

So, late last night I finally picked out a few apps to try out, several of which are free!  My first pick was one called “brain-stormer” where you can jot down ideas, words, phrases, and  be ispired by a picture or word stream, Then there is “Fabric Stash” where you can take pictures of you fabric- record the content and the amount that you have- This is a big one for me, and though it will take a while to go through my glutenous amount of fabric- in the end it will be so worth it!!  They also have a “Pattern Stash” app!!!  For you knitters, there is one for yarn  called (get this) “Ewe Stash”!  These are just a few that I am going to start with as I work through them I will let you know how its going and what I like and don’t like about them.  This will be coming from someone who really is not tech savy- but slowly learning to adapt to this new world of high tech living.

Please let me know what your favorite apps are and how you use them, even if they are not a “creative” program.  We all need easier ways to manage our everyday lives as well.

Check out s new app today and  get inspired! I sure am!!

Kerry ♥

 You may have noticed that we are not posting as often and that some of the authors you have come to love are no longer posting here.
When I began this blog it was intended to be a ‘group’ blog, there were 8 of us and we were excited to begin this new venture, something some of us had never tried before.   At the same time  we were also working on developing a new venue for Artists and their handmade items, called LotusMade.  We have already discussed what the delay in that venture has been, (refer to our Archives of “The Lotus Connection”).

Working with-in a group of Women teaches you a lot, in the last year there have been many hard lessons to learn. When you are the one financially responsible, that puts you in the ‘hot seat’ or the “boss” chair, so-to-speak, and being diplomatic is not always possible.  Keeping the peace in a group of creative people, who have very different opinions on any given subject, is an incredible challenge.

We lost several members due to a  difference of opinions and hurt feelings, that was tough on all of us.    Not making promises of financial gain is easy enough, but allowing group members to voluntarily take on an unequal amount of responsibility is a BIG mistake and will lead to hard feelings in the end.  It was, by far, the hardest lesson that I had to learn.

I had always heard Oprah say never-never give away  any of your financial  or business control in your own company.  So true and advise I shuld have followed completely.  There are times when you may think these rulles don’t apply to your busines, as when  you are  working closely with others, and building  personal relationships that you believe you can trust.

There came a time when I needed to take a step back from BloomingSisters due to an increase in my personal business, an ailing parent and other family obligations.  Several members offered to step up and cover the needs of BloomingSisters, after numerous emails stating their willingness to do so, I agreed.  BIG MISTAKE!!

Once you give up control, for any length of time, it is extremely hard to get it back with out stepping on someones toes and having hard feelings.  Once you give someone else control to make decisions for your company, it seems to be hard for them to consider it ‘your’ company, they forget that they need to consult with you about decisions that will affect your company’s reputation.  Ultimately this was my biggest mistake and hurt the group the most, for that I am very sorry.

So  now our group of 8 women has separated to go in different directions.

Karen, Louise and Bridgett can be found at Indiemosaic.com, where they have begun an interesting new venue for Artists and buyers and will continue to blog there.

Charlie can be found at  her personal blog Clayspace.com.

Mary, Nancy, and Diane, have their own personal and family concerns to take care of.

I wish them all well and much happiness and success in their future endeavors, they are all very creative and talented women

Blooming Sisters will continue to celebrate and inspire creativity.

The schedule as well as the categories will change.

I, like other Women who wear more than one hat; wife, mother, daughter, business owner, and blogger, have a busy life to manage, so I will not be able to blog every day. I will do my best to maintain a 4 posts a week schedule.

The categories I will focus on are:

For the Love of it- What we do creatively, for the shear enjoyment of it.

Re-Make it –  recycling, reusing and repurposing items we have or find

The Creative Process   —  what inspires us, and how we create something new

The How and Why of it – learning new techniques or crafts

Where we Create – our creative spaces and studios

Business Tidbits –  for those who wish to turn their passion into $$, or increase their
existing business.

I will be inviting many different Artists, business owners,and the casual hobbyist  to blog here and tell us about what they do and how they do it. So keep checking in, because as informative and helpful  as this blog has been, it is only going to become even more inspiring.  Encouraging you to explore your  own creativity!

Kerry ♥

Though I studied Architecture and Interior Design in college, it does not compare to actually doing it in your own home, and especially for your own children!!  Decorating, depending on how involved you get, can combine many creative outlets.  Being the type of creative person I am- I insist  on doing it all!! I enjoy learning new processes, like when we remodeled our home, I decided to learn how to tile and lay wood floors, but thats another story!

In decorating my children’s rooms, I have employed sewing, painting and furniture refinishing.   I love to decorate their rooms in themes that they like, to give them a feel of owning their space in our home.  Amazingly this also inspires responsibility for their rooms, which they take more pride in and try harder to keep clean. Yes! it really does work!

We have had many themes through- out the years: Paddington Bear Nursery, a Teddy Bear Picnic Nursery, a Garden Nursery.

Then as they grew up, for the boys, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Harry Potter and now  a Beachy/ Nautical theme due to my boys involvement in Rowing for Crew.

Many times we have used the redecorating of a childs room to help them transition into a new phase, like giving up the crib and moving onto the toddler bed

This was Andrew’s transition from the Nursery above- “Teddy Bear Picnic” to  a Woody theme with a special “Woody” Toddler bed, since we needed the crib for his baby sister.

In Andrew’s Woody room I tried color washing the walls, that is why they look a different hue in places. It adds a softer touch of color and has an aged look.  Then I stenciled the “Woody” motif and rope design.  On the bed I used a wood graining tool to add that western feel.  He was so excited about his “new” room and bed!

My daughter progressed to a Tinker Bell theme.

I used a wavy vine to accent the top of the wall as a boarder so that the flowers would stand out more, then I sketched out the flowers using a Tinker Bell coloring book as inspiration.  These walls were also colorwashed, I just love the soft layers of color that come through with this method

Now being all of 8 years old,  she is requesting a more sophisticated “Paris ” Theme, with all the Glam of course!!

I have learned many painting techniques through-out the years; Pickling, Weathering, Glazing, Crackling, Ragging, Sponging, Color washing, Stamping, Stenciling and Woodgraining, using them on walls as well as furniture. Unfortunately, due to a computer virus we lost a lot of our family pictures, so I only have a few left to show.

Our latest transition was from a Harry Potter theme to a Beach theme.

Here we tried a new technique called “weathering” usually done on furniture, but my son wanted his walls to look like an old weathered Beach shack. Along the way through all our redecorating,  I have taught my children how to do it as well.  The boys started as young as three years old.  There is nothing as exciting or scary as handing your three year old a loaded paint roller or brush and telling them to “go to town!”.  At eight and thirteen my boys learned how to pull up carpet, nail strips and three layers of old linoleum, they loved the crow bar action!!   Meanwhile my daughter was working on coloring my bedroom walls with her crayons!  So she was given a paint brush too!

The only downside to inspiring my childrens creativity this way, is that they frequently come up with new ideas for their rooms.  they love the process so much that they want to do it frequently!!

I am always on the look out for  inspiration and ideas for decorating with new window treatments or accents that we can work on together.

These are two of my favorite books that have inpired me:

Rooms your kids will love, by Paige Gilchrist and Mary Engelbreit’s,  Childrens Companion

I hope this has inspired you to collaborate with your child on a room of their dreams. I promise you it is a rewarding teaching and bonding experience.  Have fun exploring your creative urges together!!

Kerry ♥

So it is no supprise that I have followed suit. I find it challenging to throw things away, I stare at the item and try to think what could be done with it now, especially when I was home-schooling. Which, of course, could easily put me into the catagory of “hoarder”. We are in a time of cross purposes: recycle, re-use, re-purpose, or on the other hand  we hear “don’t hoard- purge!” So, in trying to find a happy medium, I recycle in the usual community way and since I am a seamstress/designer, I examine every piece of clothing that is ourgrown or damaged in our house, before it goes to Goodwill or the trash.  If I am particularly attatched to the item, like baby clothes that hold a special memory, it is saved, or if it is something I think I can use in a new project, it is put in my Project box- or boxes, in my case!!This pillow, for example, was made with my sons’ outgrown Tshirt and matching patchwork shorts, that he and I both loved, and co-ordinated with the “surfer” theme we were working on in his room.

Recently my daughter, Brianne,  outgrew a favorite shirt that she did not want to part with as it is an official “American Girl” shirt and she just recieved an “American Girl” doll for Christmas, that of course, looks just like her.  So my solution? I will make her doll an outfit from the shirt. 

So I cut it up through the sides, seperating the front and back, then cut out the “American Girl” emblem so that I can later applique it to the front of the dolls’ top as it did not fit the pattern piece for the top because of where it was located on the shirt.

Then, using a popular 18″ doll’s clothing pattern, I laid out the pieces I needed to make a similar style top and matching pants for our AG doll.

Notice I cut the doll’s top using the existing bottom hem as the doll’s hem as well to retain the original decorative stitching.

I was able to get all the pieces I needed for the top and a ruffle for the pants, from my daughter’s shirt.

I appliqued the American Girl emblem to the front of the top, suprisingly it just fit!

Then I  went on to finish the outfit and - voila!!

She has a new outfit similar to one of my daughter’s favorite outfits!!!  Needless to say, Brianne was thrilled!!  Considering how much these American Girl outfits cost, this is a great thrifty way to fill up her closet. (No we don’t have the “Armoire” yet- but I am sure we soon will!)

Best of all I did it all with-in one hour!!

Next week I will show you how to make something really practical that everyone could use and will save you money!!!

Keep up the recycling, re-using, and re-purposing.

Kerry

[1] Photo Lanterns [2] Pinecone Camp DIY Lamp;

[3] Woven Rope Pendant Lamp; [4] Spray Painted Ikea Lamps

I hope you will enjoy lighting up YOUR life.

Charlie

Keep it Crafty <3 Charlie

Materials:

• Headpins
• Random but coordinating beads
• Chain (preferably cable or rolo)
• Clasp
• Rosary Pliers
• Flat Nose Pliers

Instructions:

1. Gather up all your materials. Use coordinating but mismatched beads.  You could even use all the same type of beads but of different sizes. Use your imagination here.
2. Grab a headpin and place a bead on it.
3. Make a loop with the headpin by wrapping the wire around a rosary pliers.
4. With the loop slightly open, add the bead to the chain.
5. Once the bead is on the chain close the loop with a flat nose plier.  Repeat steps 2 thru 5 until your content with the necklace.
6. Place the clasp on either end of the chain using a jumpring.  Close the jumpring with a pair of flat nose pliers.

Viola!  There it is, your own beautiful cluster necklace. 

I have some kits available for sale, just click on my signature.  Keep it crafty <3 Charlie

Adjustable Dog Collars from Ours for a Year

Dog Scarf from With a Thankful Prayer and a Grateful Heart

Recycled Bottle Birdfeeder from Centsational Girl

Collapsible Travel Dish for Your Pet from Craft Stylish

A Suitcase Pet Bed from Camille Styles

Recycled cardboard kitty pad from Design*Sponge

Pet Food Containers from Momtastic

Keep it crafty <3 Charlie

So as always I made the cake from scratch as I have been blessed with the opportunity of high altitude cooking. The cake itself came from my grandfather’s cookbook and turned out delicious with the following modifications. The high altitude modification for the cake portion of the recipe are parenthetical and in red; my sea level friends just follow the recipe without modification.

Happy Baking!

White Chocolate Fruit Basket Cake Recipe

Ingredients

Butterscotch Sundae Cake

• 2 ¼ cups (+7 Tbsp) sifted flour
• 3 tsp (-1.5 tsp) baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups (-3 Tbsp) packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup (+4 Tbsp) milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup unbeaten eggs

Buttercream Icing

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 Tbsp whipping cream

Topping

• 11 Kit Kat Candy Bars (White Chocolate variety)
• 2 lbs fresh strawberries
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1 pint fresh raspberries
• 2 Tbsp apricot preserves

Directions

Butterscotch Sundae Cake

1. Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375^oF.
2. In a bowl, whisk together, sifted flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in the eggs, along with the vanilla, beating well to blend.
4. On low speed, add the dry ingredients. Once all of the ingredients are mixed together, increase the speed and beat for 2 minutes.
5. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan or 2-8″ diameter pans.
6. Bake the cake for 30 to 33 minutes (or until the cake tester comes out clean).

Buttercream Icing

1. In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter.
2. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
3. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.
4. Once the cake is cooled spread prepared frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.

Topping

1. Separate Kit Kat bars and lightly press into sides of cake.
2. Arrange berries on top.
3. Brush berries with apricot preserves.

ENJOY!

I adapted this recipe from the following sources:

• Cake Recipe is from My Grandfather’s Cookbook
• Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is from Food Network
• General Idea is from Chocolate Fruit Basket Cake featured in Sunset Magazine

Keep it Crafty <3 Charlie