Trend Alert: White Hot Ceramics

Simplistic, elegant white ceramics are a huge trend for spring! We've noticed them popping up at all of our favorite stores, including West Elm, Anthropologie, and Etsy. Many of these simplistic pieces include a sweet message or poetry either stamped or painted onto them. I am LOVING this unexpected detail!

This adorable "Musings Bowl" is from poet and ceramicist Kylie Johnson's collection for Anthropologie. I love the combination of meaningful words against delicate ceramics.

This ring bearer bowl from Paloma's Nest is another beautiful example of how well ceramics and meaningful phrases can be combined.

Pigeon Toe specializes in creating heirlooms for the modern home. I love the unexpected pop of color inside these tumblers.

Even mainstream West Elm is adopting this white hot trend. I love the fun, whimsy spin they add to the trend.

While all of the above pieces are amazing, they can also be a bit pricey. Why not create something just as fabulous yourself?! Our new Duncan Oh Four Bisque Organic Vases would look GORGEOUS painted in our White Satin Glaze.

It's never been so easy to be on trend! Your friends will be so impressed by your chic new home decor accents, and even more so when they realize you made them yourself!

New Year, New Duncan Oh Four Bisque!

Happy 2011! I realize this is a bit late, but I feel like I'm just beginning to crawl out of the holiday fog. To me, it's still Christmas until the 12th day of Christmas (which was last Thursday). No judgement, please. After that it takes me a few days to take down the decorations and get over my post-holiday blues. But here I am! I'm done mourning the Christmas lights and wonderful smelling Christmas tree, and I'm ready to get on with 2011. 2010 was a great year (largely due to the birth of my wonderful niece Sophie) but I have a feeling 2011 is going to be even better!

2011's off to a great start here at iLoveToCreate with 24 new Duncan Oh Four Bisque Designs! Here's a look at some of my favorite new designs:

New Cupcake Bank, Cupcake Cookie Jar, and Cupcake Dinner Plate

New Chef Soup Bowl, Chef Sandwich Plate, and Chef Soup and Cracker Mug

Everyone knows I have a small obsession with cupcakes, so of course I LOVE these three new designs. I may be biased because I helped design them, but I know you're going to love them too! I can't wait to paint a "Happy Birthday Sophie!" plate. My Mom has a birthday plate that she made at Color Cafe a loooooong time ago, and she still brings it out for all of our birthdays. I always feel so special when I'm eating off the birthday girl plate! I also love the additions to the Chef Collection. Aren't they clever?! I can't wait to use the Chef Soup Bowl and Sandwich plate. On a wintry day nothing tastes better than grilled cheese and tomato soup. Mmmm now I'm hungry... Make sure to visit ilovetocreate.com to check out all 24 new Duncan Oh Four Bisque designs and to learn how to create the above projects and all the others featured in the new bisque brochure!

My Favorite Time of Year

The holiday season is without a doubt my favorite time of year! Yes, I'm that annoying person that starts listening to Christmas music as soon as Halloween is over, and I'm not the least bit ashamed. I love the traditions that come with the holiday season. Here are a few of my favorites:

Spending Time with Family

(this picture was taken in Hawaii awhile ago, but it's still a cute shot of some of my favorite people)

Holiday Drinks from Starbucks (especially Gingerbread Lattes!)

Baking Cookies with my Family

(image via Sunflower Baking)

Enjoying Warm Holiday Drinks while Walking Down Christmas Tree Lane

(this is my brother-in-law Chase showing off how it's done)

Watching Holiday Movies

and a new tradition.... painting cute gifts!

I love this Peppermint Swirl project! Wouldn't it make the cutest hostess gift? Just add a few holiday cookies and you're good to go! I feel like I'm always struggling to find a festive, personalized gift for all the holiday parties I attend. And it looks so easy, even I could do it! Visit ilovetocreate.com for all the project details and instructions. You can also learn how to make a cute cake stand to display goodies at your own holiday party! Happy Holiday painting!

Sweet Baby Sophie!

In this post a few months back I shared with you the exciting news that I would soon be an aunt! I also showed off the super cute onesies we made at my sister Sarah's baby shower using Scribbles Dimensional Fabric Paint. Well, I'm now an auntie to sweet baby Sophie! She's tiny and precious, and I'm so in love with her. When she was a week old my sister decided to have a little photo shoot to show off the onesies everyone made. Sophie was a good sport and made it through quite a few of them!

And here she is on her four week birthday!

It's crazy to see how much bigger she looks after just three weeks. She's probably going to outgrow those onesies pretty fast, so I better tap into my creative side asap and whip her up some new ones! I'm thinkin' she'd like a cute tie-dye onesie, like the ones made by Kristina over at Diapers.Deadlines.DIY!

We Love to Create!

One of the best things about working at iLoveToCreate is that everyone once and awhile you get to let loose and just play! Friday was one of those days. At our monthly Sales & Marketing meeting we discussed a little business, and then we all got to paint our new Duncan Oh Four Bisque Travel Cup with Removable Silicone Sleeve & Lid! Not a bad way to finish off the work week, right?! Here's our entire team showing off their creative sides:

Here I am hard at work!

And here's a few of the finished pieces...

I can't wait to use my Travel Cup tomorrow! It will definitely spice up my boring morning coffee!

Ceramic Flashback

Last night I had dinner at my grandparent's house and for some reason we started looking at pictures that nobody had paid attention to for years. I was checking out a picture from my high school graduation when I heard Ammy (my grandma) say, "Oh look! Here's one of you being creative!". Clearly these pictures frames hadn't been updated in forever because this beauty dates all the way back to 1998:

Have you stopped laughing yet? OK good. Even though it's TOTALLY embarrassing, I just had to share. Obviously the picture's not great, but can you see what I'm painting with? For you Duncan die hards it's easy to tell those are Concepts underglazes! In fact if you look even closer, you can tell I'm painting THIS jumbo latte mug I blogged about over a year ago! All I can say is thank goodness we switched to this beautiful new label...

...and thank goodness I don't wear my hair like that anymore!

Sarah's Baby Shower

Some of you may remember this post about my older sister Sarah's wedding in May of 2009. Well, come October I'll have a beautiful niece! A few weekends ago my Mom, sister Libby, friend Valerie and I threw Sarah a baby shower. We were all so excited and loved celebrating with family, candy, cupcakes, good food, brightly colored poms, beautiful flowers, and of course, presents! Here are a few pictures from the day (isn't my sister the prettiest pregnant woman ever?!):

Valerie, Mom, Sarah, Libby, and Me

Libby and I with our cousins Lea and Vida

I was obsessed with these poms!

All pink Candy Bar

Instead of playing games, we had the crafty idea of having everyone decorate a onesie for Sarah. What did we decorate them with, you ask? Scribbles Dimensional Fabric Paint, of course! Here's all the goods sitting on my desk a few days before the shower:

I went a little overboard, but with so many fabulous colors to choose from, I really had no choice! Everyone had so much fun decorating their onesie. And who knew we had such a creative bunch?! Here are some of my favorites:


My cousin Lea with one of her many creations

My Aunt Veronica with her witty onesie

After everyone was done we hung the onesies up to dry on a clothesline outside. Doesn't it look cute?! I couldn't have been happier with how everything turned out. Now I just need it to be October already!!