Homemade Christmas Cards!

So because I'm so broke this year, I've decided just to do homemade Christmas cards. I spent this afternoon watching Love, Actually and putting the cards together from little bundles of cardstock and scrapbooking paper that I pre-cut and pre-stamped a little while ago. I made 10 of them today, and I have about 20 left to do. I'm having a lot of fun making them! I really like how these ones have turned out.

I may still add a few finishing touches to them with ribbon and the odd glittery snowflake. The next batch will be blue and violet coloured! Maybe I'll watch Elf next time :)

Forget Wrapping Paper...

Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy Christmas gifts this year. I kind of went a bit crazy last year, though, so if anyone says anything I'll just remind them of my past generosity, LOL!

Still, I am in love with this gift wrapping idea from Lune Vintage: A Silk Scarf Furoshiki.

Place the item to be wrapped in the centre of the scarf. Grab opposite corners and tie one snug knot, then grab the other opposite corners and tie another knot. 

You'll have 4 points to gather with a ribbon or bit of string. If you're using a scrap of fabric, you can also double knot and skip the ribbon. 

The next gift I wrap definitely gets the furoshiki treatment... unless it's, you know, a gift for a dude. I may have to find a cool, creative, non-wrapping-papery way to wrap dude gifts! I'll post it when I find it :)

Neck Lace.

Aye carumba... November seems to have gotten away from me a wee bit. I've been blogging over at the Victorian Garden Tea Room (a little project I started to try and help create a more active online presence for the tea room where I work part-time). This has left me feeling kind of unbloggery where my own blog is concerned. But I do still like stuff, so I will try harder to get back on track for the rest of this month!

Last weekend I went to the Made by Hand Show with my friend Crystal, her sister Carole (who blogs here) and Carole's friend Heidi (who Etsy's here). There were lots of amazing handmade wares on display by loads of talented local crafters and artists. I took some photos and got a bunch of business cards, but unfortunately, I can't remember what belongs to whom, so I'm not going to post them all, since I hate not giving credit to the appropriate parties.

However, there was one particular piece that stood out: 

This exquisite necklace (it's not lace, it's metal!) was at one of the first vendor stalls I visited, and it completely blew me away. The designer told me it was one of a kind. At $25 it wasn't even expensive, but since I'm pretty broke at the moment I couldn't justify buying it for myself, especially when I still had the rest of the show to see. So I made a deal with myself that if it was still there when I'd seen everything else, then I could have it. 

Of course, I wasn't surprised to find that it was gone when I went back for it. I shouldn't have let that one go... here I am four days later and I'm still swooning and pining for it!

Here's Jolanta modeling the piece... she's the vendor who designed it.

I may actually consider contacting her to see if she would make another one like it just for me!

Happy November!

I fell in love with this photo by ArtByChrysti just now... seemed like a great way to begin the month!

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