Annie Lang's Blog!

It's a gloomy day.  It's too cold for outdoor activities.  You're bored and restless. You head to your craft supply shelves.  You discover a stash of scrap fabrics.  You also notice that wire frame you picked up from the Dollar Store.  You grab a pair of scissors and head for the table with your coffee and supplies and turn on your favorite music playlist.  Before you know it, you have made a whimsical wreath.  Hope you'll try out this traditional craft and experience the joy of creating a handmade treasure! 

It was certainly a most bewitching and inspiring show this year at the Calhoun County Fairgrounds in Marshall, MI.  Though I'm not a big fan of Halloween, I am totally captivated by the imaginative artistry, creativity and quality craftmanship of the arts.  From one of a kind doll making, meticulously sculptured creations, whimsical fiber arts and ceramics to beautifully rendered mystical artworks, curious candles, glass and jewelry, the Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween show had it all.  I was simply awe-inspired with each booth I visited.  I had previously attended the Ghoultide Gathering show ( see photo at the bottom of this post ) and many of the artists I discovered there were also vendors at this show.  With 40 artists represented, this well attended show was quite busy and many of the treasures were sold out within hours of opening.  Here's just a few of the magical creations that most captured my imagination and I hope you'll visit their online galleries. Enjoy!    

  One of my favorite Autumn themes are harvest time Scarecrows and gatherings from the pumpkin patch.  Not only do scarecrows stand guard over our gardens, but they do a marvelous job of displaying a wide array of colorfully repurposed clothing!  Best of all, the theme carries through from the first days of autumn until the Thanksgiving harvest celebration concludes.   I decorate my home and outdoor living spaces with all the incredible colors and textures of the season, from leaves, acorns, woodsy animals, happy scarecrows, leaf wrapped lanterns, apples and pumpkins galore and bows of calico and plaids.  So fire up your imagination, gather up the harvest and let's simply Fall into Autumn smiles!   Need some fabrics for seasonal inspiration?  You'll find my fabric, wallpapers, home decor items and more in my Spoonflower Shop!  The above image features  Starecrows Scarecrows print, Brush Stroked in Ivory print,  Pumpkin Patch Scarecrows print, Naturally Brown Burlap print, 

Now that the days are growing shorter and the nights have turned cool, it's the perfect time of year to venture out to enjoy the summer flowers and sunshine before they fade away.  Applewood Estate was the ideal destination to casually enjoy the spectacular gardens and beautiful estate vistas this historic site offers to the public for free.   Applewood is a hidden gem located in the cultural district of Flint, Michigan and has been meticulously preserved and maintained by the Ruth Mott Foundation as a tribute to the legacy of Charles Stewart Mott and his many contributions to the Flint Community.  Applewood is the historic home of C.S. Mott and his family.  It is not a grandiose mansion, but rather a warm and welcoming country estate home with sprawling gardens, a greenhouse and interesting historic architectural features. Though it only takes a few hours to tour the gardens, it's time well spent as you leisurely tour the apple orchard, numerous flowering gardens, visitor'

Annie Lang now offers downloadable printable paper sets so you'll never run out of decorative pattern prints for all your creative papercrafting projects.  Each themed publication has 12 delightful full size color mix and match pages that you can print and use for your handcrafted adventures.  They are .pdf formatted and you can print as many as you'd like which makes them ideal for groups, classrooms, craft party gatherings and more.  Can be used to create scrapping page backgrounds, papercrafts, wrappers, cardmaking, frames, Mod Podge projects, notebook dividers, office accessories accents or anything else you can think of.  Royalty Free Usage allows unlimited printing usage for personal projects and handcrafted items you can resell.  However, the data files cannot be resold/shared or used for commercially printed merchandise retail products. Download your paper collections from the Activity Crafts page at Annie Things Possible right now and you can start your creative proje

Bright and cheery Bookworms make reading a little more fun for the kids!  Just print out this colorful reading list and let them see how many books they can add to it.  It's always nice to add a little reward, too so why not use some bookworm character cutouts as small incentives?  Simply print and cut out the motifs to create stickers, magnets and fun craftables to inspire them to progress through their book titles.  Mount them on stars or heart shapes cut from color cardstock and write a positive message on the back.  Hang the shapes from color ribbon to create danglers and watch your bookworms be amazed as they hang each one as a reminder that Bookworms really DO know stuff ! CLICK HERE to download Annie Lang's FREE full color, ready to print set because Annie Things Possible!

What's under YOUR jar bonnet?  Just fill a canning jar with anything at all, dress up your homemade delights with a colorful paper bonnet lid designed by Annie Lang and you've got the perfect homestyle gift for any occasion!  Whether it's canned goods, bath salts, homemade jelly, hot cocoa mix, coffee beans, candy treats or dried flowers, herbs, dried mixes or whatever, you can make it even more special in just minutes with a homestyle paper bonnet you've crafted by hand.  Annie's 53 page Paper Jar Bonnet Lids publication includes templates for both regular size and wide mouth size canning jars, templates to make perfect size round metal lid stickers and folded hang tags that you can attach to your filled canning jars.  This papercraft activity book also includes step by step instructions along with 48 vividly colored full size patterned printable papers that have been custom designed by Annie Lang to create your jar bonnets. You can print as few or as many papers

Here's a fun decorative project you can paint up on a rainy day and use it as an accent piece on a shelf, bookcase cubby or even outdoors in the garden.  If using outdoors, be sure to give it a good coat of clear sealer finish once the project is completed to protect it from the elements.  This house can also be modified to create a cute gingerbread house, mock birdhouse, fairy garden house or anything else your imagination can come up with!  Here's how I painted the pictured sample but you can use any color, painting technique or brushes you desire. I hope you'll give it a try because anything IS possible when you're on a creative adventure!   NOTE:  Here's the online links to my wood suppliers... Stand Alone House Shape:    https://www.craftdealz.com/deal/stand-alone-house-shape 5" Garden Gate Ornament:    https://www.cdwood.com/collections/garden-gate/products/5-garden-gate-ornament

I must confess that I have a rocky relationship when it comes to my sewing machine!  Though I've owned one all of my adult life, I've mostly put it to use for hemming curtains, altering and repairing my clothing and for crafting small project.  I am however, a passionate fabriholic and my heart skips a beat any time I walk through the fabric aisles, captivated by the colors, textures and irresistible urge to buy something!  As a textile designer, I find great joy in creating repeat patterns, experimenting with color combinations and the simple challenge of creating something fun that can be used for future projects keeps me creatively motivated.  While recently organizing my craft shelves, I decided it was time to pull my scraps out of the bins and put them to everyday use.  Since a making a quilt is well beyond my skill level, I did an internet search to see what more talented experts were doing.  Here are a few of the projects I came up with that I wanted to share with my fel

Here's a fun and easy way to brighten up both your world and your day with painted wooden Flower Swags!  You don't need to be a decorative painter to make these fun little flowers in only a few hours or less.  All you need are some craft paints, brushes and glue and then use the finished painted items to decorate and embellish all kinds of items for your home or friends.  Enjoy this step by step tutorial along with a few ideas to get you inspired.  Happy Crafting!

Whether it's pirate treasures, house cats, Halloween fun, bright and cheery summer prints or light and airy flutterings for your creative projects, you'll find 20 delightfully new fabric inspirations by Annie Lang now available!  Visit Annie's home website fabric page , select a swatch and see all available designer products at Spoonflower !    Need Free Sewing Patterns and Ideas?  Check out the Spoonflower BLOG page right here! 

Watermelon is a favorite any time of year and these new watermelon themed designs by Annie Lang are fresh from the drawing board for everyone to enjoy.  Whether it's fabric for new placemats, napkins, potholders or kitchen aprons to spruce up the kitchen, fun wearables and home dec ready made items or sweet clipart and printed papers for your DIY projects... you'll find them all here.  So go ahead and shop to your heart's content because Annie Things Possible when you have whimsical watermelons for creative inspiration! 

  It's that time of year when bugs and happy little critters come out to play!  Annie Lang's playful bugs, whimsical bees, sweet ladybugs and other fun characters have been around for years and still remain as popular as they were when first released as line art patterns, fabric designs and digital clipart collections.  Here's where you'll still find them on newly released products and merchandise so you can make your own world of happy little bugs because Annie Things Possible with a little imagination!

  The 2021 Greeting Card Universe Founders' Choice Awards have just been announced and I was absolutely thrilled to have one of my whimsical cards chosen as a winner!  I first joined the Greeting Card Universe community in 2015 and it's truly been a joy creating and sharing professional greetings for all the treasured milestones, seasonal events and everyday sentiments for shoppers and card recipients of all ages.  This is the 3rd GCU award I have been honored to receive over these past several years and I am truly grateful to all of those remarkable people who have encouraged and supported my work.  If you have never visited my online card shop, you are cordially invited to drop by and browse all available designs posted at Annie Things Possible .  Here's a quick and fun little video I put together back in 2015 that provides details on how to personalize and order customized designs from Greeting Card Universe...enjoy!  

You don't have to be an avid gardener to grow your own smiles!  Just grab a few craft supplies and let your imagination take over.  If you love papercrafts as much as I do, you'll truly enjoy working with my newly released  Seed Pack Envelopes Activity Crafts downloadable .pdf publication. If you'd rather create with resizable clipart images, Annie Lang's Garden Seed Pack Clipart has everything you need to get started.  This collection from Creative Market comes with a license option available to suit your personal or commercial needs so you can use them for yourself, for your online retail business or simply create something amazing for your print on demand merchandise stores. You don't have to wait until the danger of frost has passed to get those creative smiles growing today.  Happy Gardening!

Have a little creative fun by dying and decorating fake eggs for Easter this year!  I'm always on the lookout for new crafting surfaces so when I stumbled on these fake eggs that were pre-packaged in cartons at Walmart, I just had to take them home to play with.  Unlike shiny plastic pull apart eggs, these are actually solid lightweight plastic with a lightly textured realistic feel matte surface.  Unlike real eggs, you don't need to boil them or keep them refrigerated until Easter, they don't crack when you drop them and the price is right.  It so happened that my 4 year old granddaughter was visiting the day I tested this new product and thought it would be a fun crafting project for us to work on together.   Here are a few supply suggestions and tips if working with this kit.  Make sure the work area is covered with plastic.  Dye will wash out but you should have plenty of paper towels and baby wipes nearby.  Pitch the tiny little plastic bags that come with the kit and