Create*Bloom*Grow

Growing through life creatively…

Tag Archives: creative create crafty


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Mystery Invite to the Pinterest HQ

So I got an e-mail in May (yes, I’m a little late with this post) titled, “You are invited to a special event at Pinterest headquarters”. My first thought was that it was a scam of some sort, but I was so intrigued, that I replied. I got another message telling me to come on Tuesday, June 2nd. Doors open at 10am. That was about all the info I had. Seeing as this was my kids’ last full day of school before summer break (and therefore my last day of “vacation” for a few months), I hoped on BART and headed to San Francisco.

I arrived and was routed to the correct table (press, partners & pinners) to get my name tag.

They were expecting me…AWESOME. I walked in to check things out.You could tell that this was just one of those SUPER COOL places to work. I’ve been out of the “corporate” workforce for 10 years and there have been some great changes.

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I still had no idea why I was here. Ohhhhh – bacon.

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They had a great breakfast spread with many things I’d seen on Pinterest. And champagne….Seriously, I’m about to have several months of serious SAHM time, so I’ll enjoy this while I can.

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I did feel a bit like a fish out of water. I mean, I’ve never exactly been “cool” or “hip”, so being 10-20 years older than everyone else was pretty entertaining. I think I was the token Mom from the suburbs. Lots of cool hipsters, artists, bloggers, journalists. Since I’m not shy, I walked up to anyone I could identify as another “Pinner”. My favorite conversation was with 2 young ladies that were fashion bloggers and avid Pinners. I mentioned that I had one board called “Cosmetically Challenged” and that was about it for anything fashion related. I don’t think she understood that was actually my ONLY board about fashion…

There was the opportunity to do a little leather craft project. Had to give that a go. Might need more practice. It was about this time I met a sweet girl who was a senior at Santa Clara University. I went there for my first 2 years of college, so we had fun chatting. She was kind enough to take my photo as I attempted to stamp a little pouch. We also took turns taking photos of each other later.

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I picked up a little swag.

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At some point everyone gathered around to hear Pinterest CEO, Ben Silbermann, announce the new “Buyable Pins”. This was the Media event to release that new concept. Kind of interesting. Making pins a little more connected so you can purchase the items you see. I think since I am more on the DIY side of Pinterest this may not come in as handy for me as someone on the fashion or home design side of it.

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We had gathered in the open space in the middle of the office building. There was a huge wall of “Potential Pins” that made for a colorful centerpiece.

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Things started winding down and I headed out, but not before grabbing a few more photos. This is actually printed on the wall right as you walk in. Totally NOT me, but I know people struggle with being creative, so I get where they are coming from by having this here.

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This was such a fun day. I am so happy I was invited (although I still have NO idea how that happened). If you are listening, Pinterest, I’d be happy to visit again any time…


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Lenten Crafting

I gave up something for Lent every year when I was growing up. For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is the 40 days before Easter in the Catholic Church.  A time of waiting and preparing. Eventually, it became more popular to “do” something instead of “give up” something.  Truthfully, I have not had my act together to even do that over the last few years, but this year I am going to make it happen.

I’ve decided to make sure I take time to “do something crafty” each day.  I was inspired by a woman at a quilt show a few years ago who quilted for 1/2 hour per day.  Some days she did little projects and some days she did a little bit of a bigger project. I think I would be so much happier (which will make me a better person) if I took time to do this each day.

Yesterday was the 1st day of Lent and I made a tutu.  I will actually be doing quite a bit of this over the next few months as I am going to have a tutu booth at a vendor fair in May.

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This one is not totally done, so I have a little more work ahead of me tonight. This may actually be one of the first tutus I sell. A lady online said she was looking for some tutus locally and someone referred her to me.  I would love to have some sales under my belt before I set up a whole booth of this delightful tullishness. I make my tutus fairly simply by sewing an elastic waistband and then tying on the tulle.  This particular tutu is kind of interesting because I did 2 red, 2 black, 2 red and so on.  Depending on how you fluff the tulle, it can look mostly red (as it does in the picture) or black.

How many tutus will I make for my booth?  I am planning on about 100 (20 or so in 5 different sizes).  Just like with my OCD cookie baking, I put together a spreadsheet of color combinations and how much tulle each size takes.  I just ordered 85 – 100′ rolls of tulle from my favorite website, Papermart.  Who doesn’t need 8,500 yards of tulle lying around their house?!??!?!

Can’t wait to update you on my progress!


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Olympics are almost here – Go Team USA!

I LOVE the Olympics.  I get so excited about cheering for the good ol’ Team USA.  This past week, I decided to use some of my left over scrapbook paper to make a Team USA Banner with my Cricut.  I’m going to give you a quick overview of products & techniques I used to make it.

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I had used the BoBunny “Liberty” papers to do a scrapbook of our Washington DC trip a few years ago.  I had a bunch of different patterned papers and the solid Dark Denim & Paprika “Double Dot” papers.

I made rosettes in contrasting color to the background of each pennant.  There are a bunch of different ways that you can make the rosettes.  I have always found it best to use hot glue as it is really strong and dries quickly.

I used a banner from the “Pretty Pennants” Cricut cartridge to make the base and the letters are from “Storybook”.

I used silver glitter craft foam cut on my Sizzix Bigshot for the stars.  At first I was going to put the stars in the middle of each rosette.  Then I decided to mix it up for the rosettes with letters and keep only the solid star rosettes symmetrical.

I finished it up by punching holes with my slot punch and stringing ribbon through the whole thing.  I figure that I will also be able to use this banner again at the 4th of July, but just taking off the TEAM part.  Double duty!

It is hanging right under my TV and once I get my Olympic flag up out front (and maybe my red, white and blue bunting if I am feeling really crazy), we are all ready to watch the Opening Ceremonies!  Go TEAM USA!


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Welcome!

I’ve always been creative.  From a young age, I have dabbled in too many creative endeavors to count.  I have tried sewing, cross stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, chicken scratch, photography, scrapbooking, card making, painting, baking, cake decorating, party planning, home decorating and many more.  Some, like photography, have stuck.  I got my first camera when I was 8 and have owned one continuously since then.  That one lead me to start scrapbooking at a young age (much more on that later).  I never did quite develop much talent for embroidery and chicken scratch was just a passing fad.

I think that “being creative” does not just mean that you are good at arts & crafts.  It has been said that the definition of creative is “to do something in a new or different way”.  I love a chance to learn new things and stretch my creative boundaries as far as I can.  A favorite compliment given to me was when my former boss (the COO at an investment bank) said that if she was stuck on a desert island she would want to have me there “because I can figure out anything”.  I was recently inspired to re-focus on the idea of creativity when I visited a quilt show.  One of the vendors had set up a personal challenge to quilt for 1/2 hour per day.  Some were quick projects she created and others were a few minutes work on a larger project.  It got me thinking that I should do this.

Although I create much more than most people, I really have let my passion and excitement for creating things wane as I dealt with the daily tasks of being a wife and mother.  I’ve let people saying, “It is so nice you have time to do that” make me think that what I was doing was optional when in fact, I have to make things to feel fulfilled.  Some people “have to” work out, I have to create.  My family often loves the things I make, so I have recently decided to embrace that side of me again.

Here is a little something I painted last summer that perfectly sums it up…

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I’ve created this blog to share those endeavors with you and hopefully inspire you to Create, Bloom & Grow!