Victoria at sfgirlbybay, is the creator and inspiration for this post, so, Victoria, we thank you. You have brought us back to the beginning…to where our hearts are. We are grateful for the opportunity to share a little insight into our creativity, which is inspired by our surroundings, and, lucky for us, we are surrounded by unwavering love and beauty. Our, hopefully, unique way of sharing this “glimpse” with you is to put it to a song, in a video

NOTE: “Inspirations” video, including all photographs in the video were taken by either Rachel Bovee or Bonnie Moritz and are, therefore, copyrighted © 2010 by TLC Inspirations. Music is titled “Blessed” by Brett Dennen.

I imagine you caught Ink + Wit, since their Blog it Forward post was yesterday (Mar. 3rd), but if you haven’t, please go back and take a look at what is inspiring them. And, after watching our video, please head over to Jack + Jenn for their Blog it Forward post, tomorrow! I don’t know about you, but we are definitely enjoying the “Blog it Forward” phenomenon…keep ‘em coming!

“What’s Up” is a new monthly feature to update our followers about our projects, discoveries, thoughts, and adventures.

Since the first of the year, we have made many new friends, have been blessed with sales, and honored to take part in some good causes.  We recently upgraded our Artfire shop, and discovered some great guilds to share our journey with.  We joined three guilds that share our interests, and we have met some extremely talented, fun loving artists and crafters.  Pacific Northwest Artfire guild unites those of us that call that beautiful part of the country “home.”  Yarnies is all about the yarn, baby!  And now it gets interesting…we discovered “Plurk” and a guild called  ”AF Plurkies“, and they are a little crazy (their words, not mine, lol), but a lot of fun. Plurk is another way of linking up with friends, family or groups, etc.  What is really unique about Plurk is that you can actually carry on conversations in an organized way, with your group, friends, or family, or even have a private conversation.  It’s great for guild meetings, group discussions, or when you’re in need of feedback.  Look for us on Plurk : bonnijmor and smileee2.

We are both currently working on new projects, and hope to share them with you very soon! Neither of us are setting any speed records, and, unfortunately, tend to have the attention span of a 2 year old, but  I’m looking forward to taking you on a journey with me, as I attempt something I have never done before.  At the very least, it should be interesting, and  a challenge for me to document my process.

We seized the opportunity to donate Valentine cards to OperationValentine, giving military families the option to share a Valentine with their loved ones.  When the earthquake in Haiti hit, we were moved to donate a valentine card to Hearts for Haiti, which, happily has sold several times.  It’s a small contribution, but it all helps, and we are glad we could do something. As a collective, great things can happen!

Another exciting thing that has happened is the “Link Love” phenomenon on Facebook, which was innocently started by Zur Designs.  It’s a link exchange that has taken off like wild fire. Please support each other by becoming fans, and posting all your handmade-related links on each other’s discussion boards. You can read more about it on Zur Designs.

We are also planning some new things in the coming weeks.  Blog it Forward, the blogger mashup, is an interesting concept, and we decided to take part.  If you are interested, you can get the details from the above link.  We are also looking into doing some craft shows this year, something we have never done, so it’s a little intimidating.  We will keep you posted on that adventure!

We hope you will keep visiting our blog, as we work hard to make it interesting and fun, with new regular features, interviews, giveaways, tutorials, and peeks into our personal worlds.  Thank you for letting us share our journey with you.

Bonnie & Rachel

Ok, I don’t make treasuries very often (usually because I’m not paying attention to when it opens up), but this is, by far, one of my favorites that I’ve created. It reminds me of of forbidden love or even the truest of affections. Are you ready? It’s dark, sultry, with a heavy dose of drama….

"Black Tie Love Affair"

Just kidding, of course. The Sunshine Blog Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blogosphere. We were recently awarded the Sunshine blog Award by Stella, of Inspirations by Stella and we truly appreciate the nomination. To see what inspires Stella, please visit the Inspirations by Stella Blog.

There are a few small rules for accepting this award:

1. Post the Sunshine Award on your blog or in a blog post
2. Pass this award on to 10 well-deserving bloggers and link to them in your post
3. Inform the nominees of their nomination by commenting on their blog, convoing, twitting, email, etc.

Inspirations can be brought about in many ways. It can be inspiring how a mother teaches her child , the eager writings of a college student finding her way in the world, learning that a woman’s true passion is crafting for a cause, a well-written dose of reality, in a person’s determination, or merely the way a photographer’s vision is able to see something from a new, distinctive perspective. Please use this as an opportunity to explore, learn, and meet people. This list was gathered with great care. Now, for our nominations…

• Erin Garrison Studio
• {Bits of Beauty}
• Savvy Stitcher
• …pursuit of happiness
• Rebel Blossom
• Krafty Max
• Well of Creations
• Consider the Coffee
• My Name is Michael…I got a Nickel…
• A Creative Dream

I originally was led to this information through Delaney Gates’ Blog and we are so grateful that she did!

“Operation: {Valentine}” is a program that provides deployed service members with blank Valentine’s Day cards to send home to their loved ones. They are in need of cards and our community of crafters is the perfect place to shout it out! I know we have some paper masterminds and creative crafters, so let’s take a little time to give. Valentine’s Day is officially on it’s way!

You can show your love and appreciation by providing them a way to share theirs. Share the love…isn’t THAT what it’s all about?

Here’s how:

1. Design and create a Valentine’s Day or love-themed card(s) that is left blank inside. Please, no bulky and/or heavy embellishments
2. Send your card(s), along with a blank envelope(s) to: Operation Valentine, PO Box 2290, Rogers, Arkansas 72757-2290 (Please Note: Deployed servicemembers send mail home at no cost, so there is no need to add postage to the blank envelopes)
3. Please have your package postmarked by Friday, January 15, 2010
4. Are you  not crafty? That’s okay! You can still help! Leave a comment at http://delaneygates.typepad.com if you’d like to donate toward the cost of postage and/or the p.o. box.

Please help spread the word! Feel free to copy and paste the above blog post to share on your own blog, on Facebook, in an email to all of your contacts or link to it on Twitter!

I haven’t done a Spotlight for awhile and I was “pouncing” about on Etsy and came across some downright beautiful items. I just wanted to share them with you. Hopefully, you will love the vintage style in which most of these handmade items were created.

I’m a 36-year-old mother of two. Christmas is NOT new to me, but I find that I’m still constantly learning new things. This year, for the Christmas holiday, I learned….

10.  …that a Dyson can suck up a small tree skirt.

9.  …that if cinnamon buns don’t “proof”, they don’t “poof”, thereby resulting in cinnamon stones.

8.  …that my dog truly believes a Christmas tree is just another tree and he peed on it.

7.  …that not everyone looks “festive” in a red sweater.

6.  …that ornament balls are highly explosive when bitten into.

5.  …that “it’s the thought that counts” only applies to thoughtless gifts.

4.  …that you should salt your walkway before a 2-year old visits.

3.  …that tissue paper is edible and will come out the other end.

2.  …that an ice ball is very dangerous in teenage hands.

And, the #1 thing I learned this Christmas was…

1.  ….that the words “Merry Christmas” are not offensive to anyone.

TLC Inspirations wishes everyone a Happy  Holiday, filled with warm hugs, lots of smiles, and a joyful spirit.

We want to thank every one of our fans on our TLCI Facebook page!  Our “Big Fat Giveaway” was a huge success, and we thoroughly enjoyed all of your Holiday memories; the sentimental, the silly, and the outrageous.  It was so much fun, I think we’ll be doing this again next year!

Ronit is the winner of our “Big Fat Giveaway,” and she won her choice of anything in our Etsy shop.  This is her response, and her prize pick…

“I’ve gone through all of the items in your Etsy shop, alongside my mom and grandma, and we all really loved the Women’s Black Fashion Scarf. We all want to wear it! (I can see we’ll be fighting for rights over it!).”

This {GiVeAWaY} is now ended.  We will post the winner, as soon as we get verification.

Well, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and, just as we’ve promised, we’re doing our “Big, Fat Giveaway”…our biggest one of the year, actually. This is a Giveaway in appreciation of our FACEBOOK FANS, so our only requirement is that if you’re not already one of our amazing fans, please consider becoming a fan of the TLC Inspirations Facebook Page. We’re only interested in acquiring true, long-term fans, and they will be well rewarded with handmade news, blog updates, deals, giveaways, and great finds. We promise we’ll make it worth your while.

Now, here’s the {BIG} part: YOU CHOOSE YOUR PRIZE!!!
Here’s a “sample” of items currently available in our store (prizes may be other than what’s shown here, as items sell and new items are listed)….

To enter, please post your favorite holiday memory from your childhood (in a “comment”, below). It need not be long, but something that sticks out in your mind as special time. We can’t wait to read all of the entries! A winner will be chosen at random, but whoever is chosen will have the unique prospect of choosing whatever they’d like from our store…old, new, expensive, whatever. It’s YOUR CHOICE. You can’t beat that with a stick!

If you’d like additional entries (up to five), please promote the giveaway online in any way you can and post a new comment (with link) for each promotion. Contest ends at noon, December 9th.

{BlaCk FriDaY}

Ok, now on to the money-saving. Black Friday officially starts at 12:01am, this Friday and our sale goes through 11:59pm Monday night. During this event, TLC Inspirations’ Handmade Gift and Accessories Shop will be MARKING DOWN most of our items, offering FREE worldwide shipping and FREE gift wrapping (upon request) on EVERYTHING in our store.

I think that qualifies as a pretty kickin’ sale, so leave all the other people to get up at 3am and head to the mall for not-so-killer deals and, instead, with slippers on and coffee in hand, click on over to TLC Inspirations and take advantage of some super savings. While you’re at it, check out many of the wonderful handmade items alive and well at Etsy. Many are participating in this weekend’s sale, so take your time and ease into the holidays with grace and style

Wow! The holidays are here, or just around the corner.  I better get busy, thinking about menus, gifts, lists, and decorating!  I have been tossing arount the idea of  making my holidays a little “greener,” so once again, I went “diggin” in the handmade community, and found some “dazzlin” creations that  will definitely warm home and hearth.  I am sharing with you a few of my favorites, that  will hopefully delight and inspire you to “green up” your Holidays!

Thanks to all of the artists that have given us this opportunity to look at Christmas with a different perspective.  Please share your comments with us, and let these crafters and artists know they are appreciated. Thanks.

Stay tuned Thanksgiving week, when we will be announcing our new giveaway!  I can hardly wait, it’s going to be very exciting, you won’t want to miss it!