Annie Lang's Blog!

If you've never participated in a Secret Pal activity, you've been missing out on the fun and joy of reaching out to others.  Whether it's the elderly lady down the street, a co-worker, a friendship group or social networking acquaintance, it's a great way to bring smiles and curiosity to someone's life.  Many believe it involves leaving anonymous gifts for someone to discover, but in most cases an unexpected card in the mailbox may be all that is needed to let someone know you are thinking of them.  I've just added 13 new Secret Pal greeting card designs to my online card shop hosted by Greeting Card Universe you'll want to check out.  Best of all, you can have them mailed for you if worried about the local postmark giving away your identity.  The easiest way to find my cards is to click the image below and type "Secret Pal" into the store search.  All the cards will pop up with descriptions and prices.  As an added bonus, you can also personaliz

Sometimes it's the simple designs that make the best home dec projects!  By using a plain square wood frame, printed art and a small bundle of lavender from my garden, I was able to create this project from start to finish in less than an hour.  I've included the art at the bottom of this post or you can use any favorite art of your choosing.  I've had this dimensional project hanging near my coffee station for nearly a year and it's a wonderful reminder that life doesn't have to be complicated.  I hope you'll give it a try!

With the household budget so tight this year, I decided to use only the stored autumn decorating items I have on hand instead of purchasing anything new.  The planter used for this photo was simply 2 stacked paper mache pumpkins glued to a plain wooden box.  All it took to spruce it up for use this year were a few leaves snipped from a fall garland, a seasonal greeting card front and a little glue.  I may even add a strand of fairy lights later!  If you like the greeting card I chose to use, you can find it along with many others suitable for Autumn decorating from September through the Thanksgiving season.  I think I also might try this with a few silk poinsettias and small fake evergreens for my Christmas decorating, too!  

Autumn is now upon us as we pack up the pool toys, send the kids back to school, harvest our gardens and get ready to make our Fall homes happen!  Fall themed goods, pumpkin spiced food and drinks and Halloween costumes have been out on the store shelves for the last few months, but most of us prefer to simply make our own homespun season at our own pace.  I've just started my creative to-do list for upcoming home project planning and I thought I'd go ahead and share some seasonally themed publications and how-to draw videos all in one place to inspire your upcoming creative Autumn adventures. Enjoy the season and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, Like or leave Comments on my YouTube Channel !   

It's that time of year again when the best of our country farm markets are ready to put on a show!  County Fairs are such fun as we get to sample local homemade delights, marvel at handcrafted workmanship, cheer the blue ribbon 4-H participants on, check out the livestock and poultry booths, watch the rodeo competitions and barn dance the night away with friends and neighbors.  If you've never been to the County Fair, now is the perfect time to mark your calendar, pull on those denims, grab your hat and head on over in support of your local community.   You don't need to live on a farm or ranch to enjoy the fun of a county fair.  Keep scrolling and y ou'll find links to all of Annie Lang's homemade  County Fair themed line art patterns, decorative papers and clipart images to help inspire your creative homemade adventures.  Enjoy the festivities! Watch this short video to see what's in the pattern book!  Download the printable " Farm Folk and Cowboys "

Grab your umbrellas and give this   fun DIY rainy day project a try!  With only a few basic supplies, you can turn an ordinary umbrella into a cheerful fashion accessory item to get you through those rainy days.  I first tried this project with my 5 year old granddaughter on a light colored umbrella and assorted colors of permanent ink markers .  I let her decorate it "freestyle" with all the colors of her choice.  The markers used were purchased at Walmart and they did not bleed through the fabric, dried quickly and didn't smear.  You may want to test other brands of markers on the umbrella pouch bag before using them on the actual umbrella. For my own umbrella (pictured in this post), I chose to hand paint with acrylic paints as follows.  I created my umbrella design flowers "freehand" for this project but you can easily use stencils or transfer the sample linework pattern I included at the end of this post.  You can also use Sharpie paint pens in lieu of craf

  It's time to enjoy those fresh from the market lemonade and make yourself some zesty fun!  From lemon fresh clipart to new lemony fabrics to pretty printable paper prints to lemonade stand apparel, you'll have plenty of bright and cheery lemon themed merchandise to brighten up your creative adventures. Just click the images below to find what you are looking for! Whether you need art for making lemonade stand signs, home dec items or paper prints for small gifts and handmade greeting cards, you'll find what you need with Annie Lang's Clipart Images and coordinating printables at Creative Market ! See what you can make with Annie Lang's Lemon themed fabrics ,  wallpapers, home dec items and more from Spoonflower!   Annie Lang's tote bags, tees, hoodies, popsockets, pillows, wearables and more on Amazon. Choose from  Sweet and Sassy Lemons or   Lemon Fresh Lemonade collections Download and print Annie Lang's FREE Lemon Sign trace, transfer and color line