I hope that you all enjoyed Christmas and have recovered from the holidays. I am getting there. This was my most ambitious holiday season yet; I made the most Christmas gifts by hand that I have ever made. This made for one very tired me. But I was thrilled with how the gifts turned out and the recipients’ reactions. Here’s pictures of some of the goodies (some made it out the door without getting photographed - that’s what happens when you’re last minute):

The black and white bag with the flower was inspired by a design by Lisa at Pink Lemonade Boutique. I just loved the appliqued flower on the black and white background. I am very happy with how my version turned out. I made the bag for my mom hoping she would be able to use it as a work tote. It’s pretty big and would make a nice travel bag too.

Then there are the fetching gloves I knit. And a wristlet I designed. Plus some earrings to match a necklace my mom received from her husband (that he bought from my etsy store). Then there’s the pearl earrings for my aunt Lynn. And coasters and ornaments that I made for secretary gifts and my dad. And lastly, there’s the shawl I knit for my mom, in front of my mom, that I finished at 1am on Christmas morning.

Unfortunately, there’s some things that didn’t get photographed. I made a necklace for my mother-in-law and another necklace for my number one salesgirl. There’s probably others but I’ve forgotten in all the craziness.

My next post will be about some of the beautiful handmade gifts my husband got me from etsy.

Tags: Christmas, finished projects

Look what I’ve got! My mother-in-law knit me this little duckle as a mascot for my business. Isn’t he cute? I’ve got the perfect corner on my desk where he can keep me company. It was so thoughtful. Now he just needs a name. Any ideas? And I’m assuming it’s a he, but it could be a she.

Oh, and Merry Christmas Eve! Do you call it Christmas Eve Day or just Christmas Eve? This is an on-going debate in our house. Regardless, hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Thanks again, Jeanne!

Tags: Baby Duckles

I can’t believe that Christmas is 4 days away. 4! And I might just get everything done that I want to get done. As if I didn’t have enough to do with all the gifts I wanted to make, I decided that I needed to do some touch-ups to the kitchen. It was lacking a little character. And oh, it needs to be done before Mom gets here.

These is one of the gifts I made - the fetching gloves. They were for my dear friend, Claudia, who’s always cold. I was literally finishing them on the way to meet her. She’s tiny and I know her hands are smaller than mine so I knit them on size 5 needles. I added in 4 extra rows, but when I finished, they didn’t seem long enough. It was after midnight and I didn’t have time to undo and add some more rows so I decided that if they were too short, she would have to give them back to me to fix. As luck would have it, they fit perfectly. Like a glove you might say! (ha, ha, ha)

Well, it’s early and I’m actually up for a reason! So I’ve got to run! Laters!

Tags: Christmas

Here are my little birdies, patiently waiting to be finished. Bill helped me stuff them, all they need is to be sewn up. The pattern is from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts. So far I’ve only done one project from this book, but I plan on doing more. I highly recommend the book, it is absolutely beautiful and the instructions are well written. And I’m not a very experienced sewer (what do you call a person who sews?), but the birdies look the pictures in the book.

I’m a little under the weather, so this is a short post. G’night.

Tags: projects, Christmas

Does anyone else hear a clock ticking? I freaked out a little yesterday because of the holiday shipping deadlines. I got it in my head that Christmas was 10 days away and but’s not. What a relief! Suffice it to say, Bill and I will be busy wrapping and shipping this week.

I’ve been keeping track of my Christmas crafting using my “white” board. It’s this cool sliding linen covered bulletin board/glass “white” board that I got from the evil pottery barn. I like it because I can slide the bulletin board over my to-dos because sometimes I get a little stressed with it staring at me. I’m getting there with my crafting. I’ve swirled my list in case you’re name is on there. I don’t want to ruin any surprises.

This weekend was wonderful. We met our friend, Mark, for breakfast on Saturday. He was in town for a quick visit and it was nice to catch up with him! Then Bill and I went to the mall to do a little Christmas Shopping. It was nice to be in the stores, soaking up the holiday atmosphere, but we get there when the stores open to try and avoid most of the crowds. And I knew exactly where I was going and what I was getting. Focused as I was, I did get drawn into one store and make some unplanned purchases. ‘Tis the season! We got home and I intended to do some sewing, but I was kinda tired from getting up early so I snuck into bed to take a little nap. Bill found me and decided it was a good idea so we snoozed the afternoon away. I did get up and we had Indian for dinner (yum!) and I did more crafting. We stayed up until the wee hours catching up on Grey’s Anatomy and House. Thankfully, the pups let us sleep in on Sunday. For the rest of the day, I was glued to my sewing machine. Boy did I get a lot done!

Still no tree, but we are making progress on that end. We found a tree stand. Slightly harder than you might think as Bill couldn’t find any at Target. Bill’s been putting up lights outside and they look very festive. We’ll have to get moving on the inside decorations!

Tags: Christmas