Yummy Monday: Inspiration, Confections-Style!

Hello there, Sweet Bloggy Friends! I hope you are having a wonderful Monday. The sunshine is pouring into my little studio window and it feels so...energizing. I always forget how much the sunny Spring here in our Valley can restore my good mood and inspire me to create. You should see the blossoms popping out in all the orchards around here. Though this Valley is often referred to as "The Breadbasket of the World" for the incredible quantity and variety of fruit that comes out of it, this time of year it is quite simply breath-taking. Each tree that will produce the fruit so many of you find in your grocery stores this summer is blossoming this time of year and we happily live right in the heart of it all! We don't farm but we live in a tiny rural community where many people we know DO farm so it is close enough to see, smell and revel in! I have the windows open and I can hear the sounds of the schoolyard right across the street. Gosh I love Spring!


My sister, Whitney, took these lovely shots of the tulip tree in my parents' backyard. I adore it and want several of my own when we do the landscaping here.

In that spirit I thought it would be fun to make today's Monday Yummies Trip be all about INSPIRATION. Though I plan to have an Unplugged Day this week, inspired by Sweet Rebecca Sower, today's inspiration is derived from all over cyberspace! So without further ado or any more gabbing about sunshine and blossoms from yours truly, let's GO!

YUMMY THING ONE: Sweet & Shabby Clothespins by Leesiebella

I ordered some of these from Annalise (who I met up with on Friday...in person!...more on that later!), as well as some of her yummy vintage seam binding ribbon and OH MY GOSH! I am in love! I am ordering more! Look how yummy these are.

And here they are after I wound all my Springy trims around them and put them in a sweet little milkglass footed jar! I am inspired, just looking at them!

YUMMY THING TWO: Vintage Easter/Spring Kit by One Ripe Peach

This sweet little kit makes my heart pitter-patter! Just think of the pretties you could make with this!

YUMMY THING THREE: Vintage Milk Glass Bowls to Display Your Inspiration In!

Though these are readily available in thrift stores and antique shoppes, here are GOBS of them on eBay. Here are just a few I saw on eBay...
I just love them and have a little collection on my studio desk that I put inspirational tid-bits, trinkets, pretties and supplies in. Here's a few shots of my collection:

YUMMY THING FOUR: Vintage Breadbox by Summersdarling

Pat is just a master at making over vintage items into lovelies that tempt and inspire me! I have a couple of these bread boxes from her, as well as a couple sets of vintage cannisters and a sweet vintage metal lunchbox and cake cover. I know I've shown you some of those before! They are some of my favorite things here in The Confectionary, as they are so fun to store pretty supplies in! And they look lovely in my studio, as well as my kitchen!

YUMMY THING FOUR: Your Own Tags, Business Cards, etc.

I can't tell you how inspiring it is to attach one of these yummy tags to one of my "Confections" before I send it off to a customer! My DEAR friend, Linda, created these just for me and I ADORE them. Not only that, but she is a GENIUS at "branding" people...she has a real gift for seeing an artist's creations, asking just the right questions and then coming up with a name, a look or even a "tag line" that suits the artist to a "t"! She also made my etsy shoppe banner and my eBay ME page, if you'd like to see some more of her work. If you're dreaming of taking your crafting venture, your etsy store or even your gifts to the next level, pop over to Lola & Dahl and have a little chat with Linda!

YUMMY THING FIVE: Paint some stuff, SWEETS!

This is something I need to do more of and the Spring weather is encouraging me to get started. Look at this sweet little vintage hanging drawer display I bought on eBay for a SONG and then gave a little makeover with some ivory paint! I finally painted it and hung it and I'm using it to display some tiny pretties.

I've got some pink paint at the ready, Sweets, and I have PLANS!

YUMMY THING SEVEN: Create some Sweet Vignettes

Here's a few I've made today....

This one started with a lovely hanging sign my sweet friend Jenny Pafford made for me a couple months ago. I finally hung it on the wall and then hung some of my Spring creations from the pegs.

Here's a group of pretty Spring supplies, fabric, materials and doo-dads I'm going to be using in some upcoming creations. I grouped them in a yummy vintage bowl deal I found in an antique store. It blends right in with my milk glass bowl collection!

Well that's it, Sweets! Hope you feel INSPIRED! Do you? Let me know if you do, please, and I'd LOVE to see what you create with this inspiration. Please do tell! Whether it's piling up coordinating fabric in slurpity piles like so much candy or cutting some fresh roses from your garden and making a lovely display to see and smell throughout your day, do SOMETHING today that inspires you.

But don't go quite yet! Remember I said I was going to meet Annalise Sledd of Sugar Sugar last week? Well we met up on Friday and had a LOVELY time. Oh my goodness...what a sweetie Annalise is and I feel like we've known one another forever. I have several dear and lovely friends I've made through the internet, blogging, or who started out as my customers and then became friends. I even talk to a few of these precious friends on the phone. But I have yet to meet one of them in person! As it turns out, Annalise and I are practically neighbors so we decided it was high time to get together, so we did. I have to confess I was a bit nervous and almost wished we'd agreed to meet for cocktails rather than tea!!!! ;)

But right from the start it was like hanging out with an old friend..so much better than I'd hoped. We have so much in common and it felt so "meant to be." We exchanged little gifties and probably seriously confused the people around us as we stood over our table with our gifts spread out on it, each of us taking pictures of them! The lighting was bright but you can see the SWEET little birthday cupcake birdie Annalise brought for me, as well as the little altered egg box I made for her.

Here's my Birthday Birdie here at home. I put her on some blue grass so you can see her a little better than in the other pics. Isn't she sweet????

Stop by and say hello to Annalise and tell her I sent you! She is a SWEETIE and her etsy shoppe is just FULL of inspiration of the yummiest sort! And Annalise, thank you again for a really wonderful visit. I can't wait to do it again! :)

Well Sweets...I'm still feeling INSPIRED! At the moment I am feeling inspired to go and make a sandwich hehe! But after that I am going to try covering the cork-board backing of my desk with some of this vintage wrapping paper. I'll show you pics of how it turns out, of course, and if you "need" some yourself, you can pop into my etsy shoppe and pick some up! I have quite a few yards left, so if you want more than one, just convo me and I'll set up a listing just for you.

Have a lovely, INSPIRED day!

Hugs,
Cheryl