Inspired at Home Radio with Tiffany Windsor and Julianna Hudgins | Show Details

April 26, 2009 - Listen to this archived episode - Go>>

Just in case you missed any details of our April 26th radio show (or want to follow along with us during our live show), here's the facts, info, hints, tips, advice, musings and whatevers! Yep -- we actually talked about ALL this stuff on this show! Don't believe that we could have possibly fit all this info into one tiny show? Listen to the archived show now! Use our quick links to jump to any feature on this page:

Rave about FaveCrafts.com
Product Review - Texture Magic
Project Ideas of the Week
Feature Interview with Aleene Jackson
Guest Interview with Heidi Borchers
The Final Few | Musings
Sizzix | Herban Living | Go Go Green

All of our Inspired at Home projects can be found at FaveCrafts.com. We love to rave about Fave! This is a site that is a center for all things crafting with thousands of free craft projects from craft manufacturers, designers and craft bloggers. Here are our project picks of the week:

This clay project by Ellie Hancock for Amaco is really inspiring and creative. I would never have thought to use clay this way. A book out of clay -- I can think of so many occasions that this would make a wonderful gift -- for a personalized birthday card, a new baby, a new home or just a gift with someone's favorite quote inside. You could make it as is or just change it to fit your occasion. I can't wait to make this project! >>Candace

I love the "10 Crafty uses for an old toothbrush" compiled by Maria Nerius on FaveCrafts.com. I've had several in my tool box for years. Check out all the great tips on how to use them in crafting - from splattering paints to making an amazing tool for crafting! And, we definitely don't want these in the landfills! >>Heidi

My pick of the week is the Terra Cotta Garden Turtle by DecoArt. Total scream! Absolutely LOVE it…the best part is that these pots are usually on sale at Michaels, Joann’s or AC Moore! Great idea! I will be making one J >>Julianna

My project pick of the week is Screen & Tackle jewelry by Heidi! This is one of those projects where you go, what, huh! what's it made from? Yep! It's window screen and fishing tackle doo-hickeys! I don't know how she dreams up these things! >>Tiffany

Go to FaveCrafts.com -- sign up for their newsletter and receive "Creative Crafting All Year Round: Crafts to Celebrate the Holidays eBook -- 100 pages of holiday crafts -- it's FREE!

My Sizzix brand shape cutting and embossing system is my most favorite product. You can use it to create scrapbook pages, cards, home décor items, jewelry pieces and fashion appliqué.

Think detailed shapes cut by using a die & acrylic cutting pads with a variety of materials including cardstock, fabric and sponges. With the Original & Bigz dies you can cut anything that you can with a pair of scissors.

If you have ever been in a classroom and seen the large letters or shapes that a Teacher has cut out she has probably used a large die cutting system known as the Ellison Prestige machine. This is the larger industrial version of the Sizzix Brand die cutting machine. You can also find these types of shapes in the windows of some of your most favorite stores like Anthropologie.

Its really easy to use. You basically make a sandwich using your die and material along with your acrylic cutting pads and roll it through the system. The pressure of the rollers and the sandwich all combine for a perfect cut each and every time. There are thousands of shapes available including flowers, tags, letters, animals and much more.

You can also use your Sizzix Brand Die Cutting machine to emboss with using the NEW Textured Impressions Folders.

There is so much that you can do with the Sizzix machine that the possibilities are truly endless. I have taped numerous how to videos that you can find at Sizzix.com and on YouTube to help you better understand the versatility of the Sizzix Die Cutting and Embossing system. I cant live without mine and I am sure that you will love yours too! >>Julianna

How cute is this project! With my love of herbs and my love of recycling, this project from ilovetocreate.com fits into my crafting plans perfectly. It's one of those projects, where you say "why didn't I think of this?" Thank goodness Cheryl Ball did! What a fun way to recycle all kinds of containers, cut out pictures from magazines (some of those great hand-drawn illustrations from herb magazines would be great!), some scrapbooking papers, brown bags and best of all -- denim. Love this project! >>Candace

One of my favorite websites is Joggles.com - Everything for the Textile, Cloth Doll and Mixed Media Artist. I was supposed to pick only one project for the week but I just couldn't do it. I love so many! Barbara is the creative genius behind this site and she brings together many incredible teachers/designers that have put together on-line classes that are truly amazing and wonderful and very affordable. Some of the exquisite cloth doll classes (fairies, dragons) require sewing, but not all of Joggles projects do. She also has jewelry and bead creating, altered books and journals. Not only does Joggles.com have on-line classes, they carry all the supplies you need and more. Joggles also has a weekly e-newsletter that is full of information and other sources you may need for just being creative. And that's what it's all about. Just being creative! I love it!!! >>Heidi

My favorite project this week comes from WholeLiving.com - 25 Eco-Chic Ideas for Your Home. In the first photo, I flipped for the Mixed Glass Centerpiece. I was so excited to find some antique bottles at the local consignment store that look really close to this arrangement. There is something about the simplicity of the weathered bottles and the snips of flowers that just make my creative heart sing! And, my second favorite project in this collection is the tiered tray made with mismatched dinnerware. Love it! Love it!>>Tiffany

My favorite project this week comes from Sizzix.com. This Graduation Celebration Invitation by Debi Adams is definitely an idea that I can use NOW (my son is graduating high school this year!) and save lots of money by making it myself! >>Julianna

Join Our Mailing List

Listen to our
most recent episode!

Our feature interview this week is with the woman who started it all in the craft industry - Aleene Jackson. Before there was ever an inkling of Michaels Arts and Crafts stores, or before Wal-Mart, K-Mart or Ben Franklin stores knew that there was a difference between hobbies and crafts, Aleene Jackson was laying the foundation for what is today known as the $31 billion dollar craft industry. In 1967, Aleene launched the Aleene's Craftmakers Caravan which was the pivitol point in the birth of the craft industry. Check out our Aleene Jackson Craft Museum to see photos and history about this event. >>

What can an earth-conscious crafter do to help ease the eco-burden? Well, how about turning plastic bottles into bangles and baubles that can be worn over and over again? Eco-artist Heidi Borchers was recycling trash into treasures and glittering garbage long Green Bling Book by Heidi Borchers

before upscaling, updong, eco-ing and green bling became popular. Heidi's newest book by Leisure Arts is Green Bling. Heidi's green bling not only recycles plastic, it inspires you to upgrade your favorite outfits with bracelets and necklaces in your own new-again style. Featuring 23 projects to soothe your eco-qualms while revamping your sense of fashion. It is a fun and guilt-free way to be creative while keeping the landfills clean. Click here to learn more about purchasing this book!

We all agreed unanimously that our top product pick of the week is Texture Magic by Delta Creative. This pre-colored dimensional paste provides a fabulous 3-D effect. Texture Magic is non-toxic, acid free and cleans up easily. It is lightweight and drip proof so you can work horizontally or

vertically with no sags or runs. You can use it in a hundred different ways! My very favorite technique is stenciling with Texture Magic. You can pick a color and quickly stencil a design on wood, plastic, glass, metal, mache, paper or whatever! Texture Magic is currently available in 10 colors and you can also tint Stenciled Chair

the White Texture Magic with acrylic paint so the color options are really unlimited. It dries to the touch in about 30-minutes and dries completely overnight. If you are a traditional crafter, an indie crafter, a scrapbooker, a collage artist Dream Canvas

or you have never tried any DIY project, you are going to find SO many things that you can do with Texture Magic. So, the "thumbs up" that we give this project is that you can use it in a thousand different ways. The thumbs down that we give this product are -- well, we really don't have any thumbs down -- it's just that no one really knows about it! I did find it on-line at JoAnns, AC Moore, and Michaels.com where you can find 13 project ideas. Inspired at Home also has the following Texture Magic projects featured at FaveCrafts.com: Dream Canvas, Mosaic Jars, Seashell Treasure Box, Stenciled Chair. >>Tiffany

A few of our favorite things for the week that we snuck in during the final few minutes of the show that we think you should know about:

If you don't subscribe to Somerset Studio Magazine, then shame on you! This magazine is one of the best arts and crafts magazines around. Every time I need some inspiration or want to think outside my crafting box of comfort or just need a creativity boost, I sit down with a cup of tea and go through this magazine page by page and article by article. They even have the best ads in this magazine! Of course, I keep every back issue and I can go back anytime to recharge or just try a project that I didn't even see before. I don't seem to make the actual projects shown but instead use the project as a springboard of ideas to use in my mosaics or crafts projects. Somerset Studios has a lot of other specialty magazines that they publish and each one of them is a gem. So get a copy now and get creative! >>Candace

This last week on Oprah's Spirit Newsletter, a guest contributor was Sandra Magsamen who wrote 31 Ways to Get Happy -- for Free! I loved the nature ideas she shared like stargazing, watch a sunrise/sunset, plant a veggie garden, and have a picnic lunch. She also has 5 great movies to stir your soul or lift your spirits with her list of 5 books. And in one of the photos, Oprah is blowing bubbles - how fun is that!! >>Heidi

This week I want to give a shout out to CraftFail.com. I recently heard about this site through ilovetocreate.com. This is a new website where you can post your craft failures. Heather Mann and some of her crafty friends are professional craft bloggers and in the course of coming up with fantastic DIY projects, they had a lot of failures. Now you have a place where you can post your craft failures. You've get a good chuckle reading Vickie Howell's Bad Peeps. Check it out! >>Tiffany

Love her! Love her! SuzeOrman.com. She continues to inspire and motivate me to make the right personal and financial choices. LOVE HER!>>Julianna

Candace's herban living tip this week comes from the prompting of Tiffany

who asked her to put together some advice and information on the one thing that touches every crafter - hot glue gun burns. OUCH! Read here how to heal those burns >>GO!

Our very own Green Doreen has given us the challenge this week of going green with re-usable bags. Reusable bags come in all shapes and sizes. Small pouches that fit into a purse or large ones made from used grain sacks and plastic water bottles. Talk about turning trash into treasure! Each reusable bag has the potential of eliminating 1,000 plastic bags from use over it's lifetime. 12 million barrels of oil are needed annually to produce the 100 billion plastic bags the

uses. Plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade, polluting our waterways and soil for thousands of years. Paper bags are no better. It takes 4 times more energy to manufacture paper bags. Paper also creates more pollutants in manufacturing ands takes more energy to recycle than plastic. YIKES. Let's switch to re-usable (and they look so pretty when they're decorated!)

This week's Musings focus on "how do we get more newbies to craft?" Candace opened a design studio/retail store about five years ago in Grasonville which is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Customers can drop in during business hours and make mosaics and jewelry or shop from our gift boutique. We also offer classes, free lectures on herbs and Laugh & Craft where you can make a free make-it-and-take-it project on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday nights. It has been an interesting challenge to get people to come in for our crafts. It’s not that that don’t want to. It’s that they are scared!

Last Wednesday night, our new customer Heather came in for Laugh & Craft and said she had wanted to bring her mother-in-law who was visiting from Oregon but that her mother-in-law decided at the last minute not to come because "she was afraid to try it [stenciling] because she doesn’t craft." So, we sat down, started chatting, served a cup of tea, started talking about the stenciling project that I was going to demonstrate and before we even started the project she was so excited, she called her mother-in-law and told her “I’m coming to pick you up. You’ve gotta be here!” So out the door she went and about 10-minutes later they return. They both had a blast! Once mother-in-law saw how easy it was to stencil - her fear about crafting melted away.

So, my question and challenge to everyone is “ What can we do to get the word out to those newbies to get them in the doors of independent stores such as ours and into the retail chain stores?" I say that rather than just National Craft Month we have “bring a friend to craft week – every week!” So what do you think it would take to start a grassroots movement of "bring a friend to craft week?" Let us know! >>Tiffany