The Cafe Has Moved!

Hi there!

So…. surprise!   I’ve been a little MIA the past few days getting my new site set-up, and I’ve still got some work to do.  But it’s to the point where I feel I can finally make it official.  Won’t you please come by?  All the same content in there, past posts, same me, just my own domain.  (How techy of me!)

And if you happen to link to me in your blog… could you kindly update it?  The new link is http://www.the-craftycafe.com/.  I will leave this blog up and running, but it will no longer be updated as of today.

Boy that makes me feel a little sad… but grown up!

Thanks so much and see you at the new site.

P.S. Stop by today for a scrumptious new recipe!

A Lovely Little Song

For you today.

 Happy New Week! I’m playing a bit of catch-up and will post more soon.

Go make some art!

Five on Friday – Easter Eggs 5 Ways

1.  Boiled.

2.  Scrambled.

3.  Sunny side up…

Just kidding.  I’ve been punchy ever since an April Fools j0ke we pulled at work went off without a hitch.  I better watch out next year though.

I’ve been so busy this week!   Among other things, I have a test tomorrow as part of continuing education requirements for the day job, and have been immersed in extremely un-artful and crafty things.  But we do what we must so we can do what we love right?  Right. (but boo)

I am SO all over decorating for Easter this year… I need some colors around my house!  I’ve run across some of the cutest ways to decorate eggs in looking for ideas – people are just so gosh darn creative.  Simply type “Easter Egg Decorating Ideas” into Google and you get literally hundreds of possibilities. 

For today’s post – here are five that I have run across and love.  I think after that test tomorrow I’m off to get some eggs (cage free of course… I’m sure happier chickens make for better crafty Karma…. seriously).

1.  Tie-Dyed Eggs from Familyfun.com

I LOVE these!  And they are so easy.  Click the link above for the instructions (all you need is regular dye and a colander).  I’m totally trying these and adding a peace sign with a Sharpie.

2.  Pop Art Eggs from the Crafty Chica. 

Too much fun!  This makes me think too that I could do this with Alan’s comics…. oooh calm down honey… I’d scan and make a copy first.  Seriously… Batman eggs… I know you can picture it.

3.  Decoupaged Eggs like those seen here at Martha Stewart Living.  I found a little clearer instructions here at lhj.com .  What a great way to use up some paper scraps – or even print photos you love onto paper to do this technique. 

I just love those above on Martha Stewart.  Very nature inspired and almost elegant.  (P.S. if you actually do this to an emu or ostrich egg I reealllly want to see – and also know where the heck you buy such a thing).

4.  Naturally Dyed Eggs:  With excellent insturctions here at the Herb Society South Texas Unit Site.

I just love the colors so much, so beautifully muted.  I think I’ll try the beets, coffee, and maybe tumeric as I have all of those in my pantry already. 

5.  And here is one more from Familyfun.com that I have never seen before and am totally going to try!  They call it Lovely and Loopy.

Hee hee!

Happy happy Friday to you and hope you have had a great week.  Now s’cuse me I must go study escrow law… sigh.

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon!

Edited to add:  I realize upon re-reading this post I have briefly been taken over by a person who:

• Gushes and says love exclamation point a lot
• Thinks that typing in ALL caps further emphasizes my excitement clearly
• Says “Seriously” too much… but at least I don’t proceed it with “like”

My only excuse is that my brain is literally filled with such words and statements as:

• Incorporeal
• Application of the Common Law of Agency
• And the difference between Energy Efficiency vs. Conservation

Clearly in an effort to sustain itself, my right brain has shut down creative production temporarily as it transfers all necessary power to my left so I can get through this mumbo-jumbo jargon without over-loading.  Thank you for patience, and more intelligently written posts to come.

We hope.

AC Bailey Designs April Kit

This kit is absolutely gorgeous! 

Full of luscious goodness from SEI in some of the richest colors I’ve seen.  The photo really does not do them justice.  Some of the papers have a beautiful sheen to them and some elements are raised.  I love paper that adds texture!  The puffy alpha is super cute too. 

Here’s a layout I created with it (a very special one!):

Those are my wonderful fellow team members from AC Bailey.  It has been such a pleasure working with these ladies over the past year (I cannot believe it’s been that long already).  I will be sad to say goodbye for now at the end of this month as I free up some time to concentrate on a few other things, but I will always always cherish the friends I’ve made there.  And I’m not completely done yet…  I’ll be back here and there over the next few months as a guest designer – how fun is that?!  I am one lucky duck.  Thank you ladies for all you do and for being you. 

Sap sap mush mush.  Life should be more mushy though don’t you think? 

Back to the post at hand…. seriously go get this kit.  You can find it in ACB Store here.   And if you grab one today plus some necessities like Glue Dots or ink, you”ll hit the $35 mark which means you get free shipping today!  Wahoo!

Happy April dear friends and have a wonderful day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Kensignton Gardens & Findley’s Estate

Those paper line names make me want to jut out my lower jaw and say things like… “Yes lovey” and… “Double on the rawks please”.

Hee hee.

These two paper sets by Fiskars Cloud 9 Designs were so much fun to work with this month for AC Bailey.  I have to admit that they are not necessarily designs that I would pick up on my own, but once I started working with them I realized how really fun and versatile they were. 

My favorite of the two, Kensington Gardens, is perfect for spring.  In fact I have several photos that have yet to be scrapped using this set as soon as I get to it!  Here’s one:

Journaling reads:

Every morning the first thing I do is head straight to our coffee maker and flip the switch.  It whirs to life as I stare at the blinking red light just waiting for that moment when I can hit the button and brew my wake up elixr.  Hot frothy steamy coffee goodness.  I love my morning Java.

Hmmmm, coffee.  We use a Senseo machine for ours.  Anyone have one of those?  We really like is since it’s just the two of us and we’d never drink a whole pot.  And the coffee really is very good.

And here’s one using the Findley’s Estate set.  I’m not sure who Findley was but he sure had good taste.  I love greens and blues and the little touch of gold in this set is gorgeous!

Aren’t they a beautiful family?  That’s my dear friend Marge, her husband, and two lovely daughters.  Tracy in the middle is a budding scrapbooker… I’m doing my best to be a bad influence (we convinced her mom to get her a Cricut Expression for her birthday so I’m on the right track ). 

You can check out the paper sets and grab some for you at AC Bailey’s store.

Did March absolutely fly by for you too?  Because I cannot believe that tomorrow is the 1st!  I suppose it’s a little late for a “sneak peek” of the April Kit, but I will tell you it’s full of the most beautiful papers I’ve worked with in awhile.  And it comes with the cutest flowers and even a mini-album!  I’m wrapping up my layout to post for it tomorrow.  I LOVE how it turned out!

Hope you’ve had a nice week so far… I so appreciate all the wonderful comments I’ve been getting lately.  You all keep me inspired more than you know. 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!