Stickyfingers

Welcome to this week's edition of Stickyfingers, lovingly brought to you by InkSpot Workshop. I've included a few "kid friendly" crafts to help fill the long days of summer vacation. Enjoy and go make something!

How about rounding up the kiddos to make some felt beads? String them up and make all sorts of pretty, fuzzy jewelry. Thank you Kleas for introducing us to this project.

Got scraps? How about turning them into this fun Fabric Scrap Memory Game compliments of Inchmark.

Paper projects need a little zing? I love how button and string closures look and was happy to find this great tutorial from Erin Zam.

Le Papier Studio Interview

I'm so flattered to have been asked by Vana, at Le Papier Studio to be part of her Featured Artists series. This week was about Yours Truly! Click here to read.

New Bath Find

Further fueling my addiction to bath products. Can you just stand this? Introducing Joyful Bath Co. The super cute packaging and intriguing scents. These are on my "next to purchase" list. Thanks Rochel, for finding me on Twitter.

iCANDY - 39th Edition

I love all things food! If you follow me on Twitter, you will notice I frequently post links to newly found Etsy foodie shops late at night when I'm most hungry. Etsy's food category is constantly growing and at last count there were 10,128 items you could munch, snack or drink on! With backyard entertaining on the mind {if it ever stops raining} I found some new places to help make any spread more fun. ENJOY!

1. Summer Sun Tea - Owens Acres, Placerville $22.00

2. Vintage Ice Cream Cups - Paper Treats, Michigan $4.95

3. Hibiscus Soda - Botanary Confections, New York $9.50

4. Luau Party Cookies - Lori's Place, Kissimmee, FL $24.99

5. Vanilla Marshmallow Cream - Sweetie Pies Delights, St. Peters, MO $6.95

6. Strawberry with Cinnamon Jam - Lemon Bird, Wrightwood, CA $8.00

Stickyfingers

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful Memorial Day. Today I am launching a brand new blog feature called Stickyfingers. It is here where I will post some of my favorite craft tutorials finds. I hope you not only enjoy this new feature, but get inspired to CREATE something new yourself:)

Jennifer Stuart of Simply Designed and Etsy Finds is making this cute Herb Garden

Amy over at The B-Line made these fun Pinwheels

Sarah and Abraham is the master at making personalized Note Pads

How about these colorful and easy Hammered Flower and Leaf Prints? compliments of Build Make Craft Bake

I just can't get enough of these Fabric Flowers from Nest Decorating

iCANDY - 38th Edition

Directions: For optimum viewing pleasure, click on collage

This week's iCANDY is all about the beach! The family and I will be heading South to the Florida Panhandle for the long Memorial Day weekend and I can't wait. Here are some super cute seaside inspired items from some super talented fellow Etsy sellers. Enjoy!

1. Mermaid's Treasure Chest Locket - Story Tales, Ormond Beach, FL $42.00
2. Sand Dollar Drawstring Bag - Three By Sea, Clearwater, FL $16.00
3. Drilled Sea Glass - A Kkricket, Anchorage, AK $5.00
4. Market Tote - Sky Box, Seattle, WA $10.00
5. Wall Decal - Leen The Graphics Queen, Wilmington, NC $15.00
6. Summer Fun Lampshade - Sassy Shades, Edmonds, WA $79.50

A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words!

It's pictures like this that make me honored and proud to have my little side business, InkSpot Workshop. I love seeing that my hand crafted paper goodies really do make people smile and as korny as that may sound, these smiles mean a lot to me.

Thank you Amy, for sending me this picture and your email. Amy was the winner of my Mother's Day giveaway and with her big heart used the gift certificate (along with her own money) and purchased 7 sets of Personalized Teacher's Notes. The ladies shown in the picture are 2nd grade teachers at Ladera Ranch Elementary School in California, where her son attends school. Wow! what a nice way for one mom to honor her son's teachers for all they contribute.

email I received from Amy...

Stacy- Here is the email from my son's teacher, Ellie, who just loves her 'Bulldogs'. Thank you for helping me to spoil the 2nd grade team at Ladera Ranch Elementary School. Jack happily delivered all the stationary to these wonderful ladies who have taught him more this year than just multiplication facts and butterfly life cycles.
With Budget cuts, we are hopeful that all 7 ladies will be back next year (for my second son, Ben, goes into 1st grade next year).
Thanks again for helping me to honor these hardworking ladies. Amy

hi amy!here are some pics of us with our fab stationary!!! we love it and love you! thank you for having such a big heart!

xo
Ellie
2nd Grade TeacherLadera Ranch Elementary School

New Wardrobe Additions

Contrary to popular belief, I really do not enjoy clothes shopping. In fact the thought of going to the mall gives me anxiety because I never seem to find exactly what I'm looking for, which is why online shopping is my weapon of choice. So why am I doing a blog post about a clothing site? We'll I found one that really impressed me, please read on...

Bathing suit shopping has to be the worst shopping of all ... until now. I'd like to introduce you to Athleta, a new website and catalog from the Gap family of stores. This place is choc-full of just about the cutest women's active wear I have ever seen and/or worn. Everything from a HUGE selection of bathing suits, easy to pack and wear clothing and even yoga garb. The best part is that everything is super comfortable, as though you were living at the gym and needed round-the-clock clothing, plus it's affordable.

So do what I did...order a couple sizes of everything and when your order arrives, get a glass of wine and get ready to see your post winter backside. Then simply ship everything that you didn't like right back to them. They only deduct $6.00 from your bill for returns and the shipping charges are free for orders over $150! You really can't beat this! I had such an amazing shopping experience and I hope you do to

Perhaps the most comfortable Bermudas I have ever worn!

You'll see me in these this summer! OK, these flat bellies have inspired me to get back into Pilates!

Spring in the South

Like most of the Southeastern US, Atlanta is getting it's fair share of rain this Spring. With all this rain brings nice green grass, plus a chance to get the yard looking spiffy between the raindrops. The backyard is next, but until we get around to that project, I thought I'd leave you with some pretty shots of my handiwork.

Spring also means a chance to get out and visit family. Last weekend we were on Singer Island, in W. Palm Beach, when I spotted these unique fishing lockers at Sailfish Marina. Each strip of lockers has a different set of pastel doors. At first I thought these were fancy out houses:)

iCANDY - 37th Edition

Directions: For optimum viewing pleasure, click on collage

This week I am in a sparkly mood and am bringing you images straight from my Etsy Favorites. I've never really been all that interested in diamonds but with these images I can see why they might be a girl's best friend.

1. Iceberg Ring, Leela Bijou, Canary Islands $40.00

2. Petite Crystal Quartz, Luxe Design Workshop, Atlanta, GA $23.00

3. Large Rock Quartz Crystal Ball, Earth Wrapped Jewelry, Tennessee $19.95

4. Ice Crystal, Ana Kim, Tel Aviv $52.00

5. I Can See Your Future, Pole Star, Raleigh, NC $20.00

6. The Moon Goddess, Shamila, Seattle, WA $348.00

Enjoy! and please contact me if you have iCANDY!!

Paper Pops

May 11th - June 12th

Papergoods & Art Market

only at PoppyTalk

Come visit InkSpot Workshop's Virtual Table

Poppytalk Handmade is a monthly online street market curated by Poppytalk - to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world.

Here are a few of my favorite fellow exhibitors...

Notebooks by Sweet Graphics

Vase Wrap by Pip & Fig

"Protection" a print by Angie Muldowney

Better Blogging

It's been 1 year since I started this blog and every day I am thankful for the number of readers who stop by to take a read. As I strive to bring you content and material you {hopefully} find useful and interesting, I've come across a good blogging book I'd like to share with you, since a good portion of my readers have blogs of their own.

I just finished reading No One Cares What You Had for Lunch, 100 Ideas for Your Blog, written by Margaret Mason, also author of the shopping blog Mighty Goods and her personal blog Mighty Girl. It's a quick and easy read, perfect for your commute or to keep in your bag to read while you wait in line at the post office. It offers up topic suggestions whether you have 15 minutes or 1 hour available to write a post. This book is especially great if you are thinking about starting a blog but feel insecure and think..."what do I have to say that other people will find interesting?"

My top 3 favorite "ideas for your blog" are as follows:

RISK EVERYTHING
Talk about the biggest risk you would take in your life right now if you had all the money and/or nerve in the world. What if you had all the time in the world?

GIVE A TOUR
What is the inside scoop to your small or large town or another place you know well? Tell your readers about the best place to get a hamburger, shop, see the sunset, etc.. Be the expert

FILL THE GAPS
"Use memory triggers to help you generate interesting stories." Find an old photo, scan it and tell about the memories it evokes. Have something given to you from an old friend or relative? Take a picture and tell the story. How about a familiar smell, texture or sound that takes you back?

Next on my list of ways to improve my blog is getting into one of Holly Becker's e-workshops for blogging. Holly is one of blogging's pioneers with her ultra popular design blog Decor8. To read a recent feature she did on InkSpot Workshop, click here.

What types of content would you like to see in my blog? What are some great things you've enjoyed reading about in other blogs? I'd love to hear.

Thanks for stopping by!

iCANDY - Mother's Day Edition

Directions: For optimum viewing pleasure click on collage

This week's iCANDY is brought to you a few days early in order to show you some last minute Mother's Day ideas. These are my favorites!

1. Memento Jewelry - Jeanne Flint, Atlanta, GA $125.00

2. I {heart} U Mug - Vessels and Wares, Atlanta, GA $20.00

3. Mommy Tee - Fire Daughter Clothing, Scottsdale, AZ $26.00

4. Luxury Gift Set - Sweet Petula, Seattle, WA $42.00

5. Custom Silhouette Pillow - Le Papier Studio, Chicago, IL $24.00

6. Custom Mommy Calling Cards - Sarah and Abraham, Chicago, IL $14.00

ENJOY!

We Have a WINNER

In honor of Mother's Day, I had my very own mom pick the winner of InkSpot Workshop's giveaway. Thank you everyone who participated and please visit us regularly because we have all sorts of contests up our sleeves for this year.

In my mother's own words...

"I read everyone of your entries and although I found some of them very amusing or funny, I was particularly touched by Mrs. Hemphill's Online Classroom. Teachers are so important and very much needed, and when I read that her local school is experiencing some serious budget cuts, what better way to brighten their day in a small way with a special card or note. Because after all, your products are"paper goodies that make you smile"."

Here is Mrs. Hemphill's posting

"The teachers at our local public school, Ladera Ranch Elementary School, are pink slipped currently due to budget cuts. All year, my son and I have been spoiling his teacher with Inkspot Workshop goodies. I would love to gift the 2nd grade team (7 other teachers) with notecards expressing our thanks for all their hard work."

Congratulations Amy! Contact me to claim your prize:)