Too Sweet

While wondering around Pinterest a few months ago I stumbled upon a sweet idea perfect for newly weds or for a couple that has recently moved in together. I also think if you make two of these it would be a great way to stay connected in a long distance relationship. That way when you visit one another you add a message to hold your loved one over until the next time you meet. I am talking about an I Love You Because  picture that you can write messages on. Here is my interpretation:

I used a large unfinished craft frame with a 8x10 opening and gave it texture by loading up on white acrylic paint then gave it a quick coat with a white gloss spray paint. I used a double mat to size the opening down to a 5x7. I used what I call a fancy font and used filled the font with chartreuse and left the outline black. The message was left by my partner after I nearly completed our dining room makeover (all that's left is painting the chairs). Made my heart squish when I saw this. 

Without further ado here is my inspiration:

Posted by Lianne on A Contented House Wife, go here to find step by step directions. I have have been toying with adding some type of 3 dimensional accent to my frame like Lianne did, but I haven't found that perfect something yet.

Paint Chip Art

It's everywhere! Pinterest is over flowing with paint chip crafts. The majority of the ones I like are framed art, but I also love to see these little blocks of color used in many different ways. To find more inspiration go here.

So when I finally took stock of the many paint chip themed pins on my Crafty Board, and decided enough was enough. Time to make something! So I made this:

It is far from perfect, I eyeballed the "squares" so most are not actually square. I had to cut down paint chips that were 7 colors long. I chose the paint chips by the last and deepest color pulling from the dining room curtains I made (which will be a future post). I could have taken more time to measure out each square, but life isn't perfect so I don't think art should be either. :)

This is the pin that inspired my blocks of gradated color using paint chips:

This awesome work of art was created by Mallory from Our First Nest go here to see her post and go browse her great blog!

So, yay! First creation post done! There will be more to come, if you are a Pinterest craft lover you may spot a hint at what pin inspired project I will be showcasing next! :)

Hello Big Bad Blogosphere

I am one of those crafty people whose brain moves too fast from one project to the next to take the time to document anything! Yet, I am crafty. I come up with stuff on my own, I take inspiration from others, and on occasion I will copy an idea directly (just for my own use, never for profit).

I am an avid blog reader. I love food blogs, such as www.joythebaker.com and www.smittenkitchen.com, and I am addicted to home decor blogs, such as www.younghouselove.com and www.housetweaking.com. I get so much inspiration from these blogs and many like them.

I am also a Pinner. I love www.pinterest.com. It is simply a plethora of ideas and inspiration. I love that it is creating a community of DIYers, just the other day a woman in Target asked to follow me on Pinterest after a one minute conversation about party decorations. So neat!

However, there is a downside to pinning. Many of us are guilty of pinning away to our hearts content, but then never actually making or doing the things we pin. I am totally guilty of this, for every 20 things I pin, I might make 1 of them. It's sad and has to end. Sherry from www.younghouselove.com and a few of her blogging friends felt the same way, so they started a quarterly pinterest challenge to make something you have pinned. It is totally awesome and very inspiring to see the things these ladies (and men) have made. Click on their names if you want to see for yourself: Sherry's Summer Challenge and her friends Katie from Bower Power, Kate from Centsational Girl, and Michelle from Ten June. At the end of each of their blog posts is a list of other people's pinterest challenge responses. It is like a wave of creativity taking over the internet!

This Pinterest Challenge inspired me to create more of the things I had pinned. It also inspired me to share the things I have made. As I stated above some are inspired by pinned projects and others are my version of a direct copy, this may mean the finished project looks incredibly similar, but in a different color or medium. When it comes to these copies I would never make them for profit if the original creator is selling them. No matter the level of inspiration I take from the original pin, I will be sure to post a link to that pin or to the creators website, I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due!

This blog will also be home to things I make from the scary corners of my mind, these items will not have a correlating pin. However, if someone has seen something similar to my creations, please post a link to the similar item, I would love to see it! I totally believe that crafty minds think alike!


Coming up with a name was interesting. Crafting can be a PAINE! Or Crafting: to pin alone is not enough! I also liked CIY to stand for Craft It Yourself, but that was taken. So I went with To Pin Alone Is Not Enough. Straight to the point!

I will be posting finished projects over the next few days. I hope someone out there will find inspiration in my crafting, cooking, and baking like I have found on so many other blogs!

Thanks for stopping by!