Handmade Gifts

I know the gifting season is way over, but I saw this feature on a couple of other blogs and I thought it looked like fun and I wanted to do it, too.  I gave (and received) a lot of handmade gifts this year and I just wanted to share a couple of my favorites.  You might like them too, for yourself or someone else maybe?  After all, birthdays and other gift-giving occasions come up throughout the year, right?

Here is a gift I gave and received: (note to etsy, a to-buy list you could keep secret would be a good idea!)  Luckily I pretty much never give anything I don’t like too.

An owl ornament needle-felting kit by fancy tiger.  Here is my finished owl:

My sister and I had a lot of fun making these together on Christmas Day.  It is so easy and fun and the kits contain everything you need!   My sister also gave me a kit to make a sparkling jellyfish ornament which I have yet to make but can’t wait to crack open.

This is another of my favorite things that I gave to my other sister:

The Love Rat necklace by Gypsy Rabbit.  It is so cute and the packaging it came in was adorable.  You could tell this seller puts a lot of love and care into her work.  Personally,  I have been obsessed with the Love Whale Necklace for quite some time now, if I don’t receive it as a gift myself (yes, family members, it is never too early to start thinking about upcoming birthdays is it? )I guess I will just get it for myself!

This is something I did receive and I LOVE:

An adorable address box by Assembly of Text.  Although it did make Jon laugh that I got so excited over something so…simple.  Yes, I have an address book on my computer, on my iphone, why do I need a box that looks like something he used in his first job?  But there is something so nice about actual business cards and I have stacks of those just waiting to be put in here.  I am not sure if they will all fit, but we shall see.

How about you?  Did you shop handmade this year too?

Diaper Bag Update

In case you were wondering the outcome of the diaper bag situation,  I made my choice, and here it is:

It is so cute!  I love it.  It is all packed for the hospital.  I seriously cannot believe I am going to go there one day and then come home a few days later with a little PERSON.  It is the weirdest thing ever, but obviously very very exciting!

Anyway, I chose this one because it is the one I normally would NOT choose.  I figured I could have a bag for myself any old time, but this one is a lot more fun and I just felt like making a “different” choice this time.

Plus, the colors go with his room, which is almost done, so I promise pictures very very soon!

Happy New Year!

I’m back at last!  Yes I lagged at returning to blogging once again.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Year.  There is so much to look forward to in 2009…Usually I spend a little more time reflecting on what I’ve accomplished and what I want to do in the coming year, but this year I’ve been a little more short on time as we had out-of-town visitors, and I’m definitely more short on energy right now!

Instead I decided to try visual journaling as suggested by Lisa Sonora Beam in her book The Creative Entrepreneur.

There is also a website, which I have yet to fully explore, but looks like it has lots of great information to go along with the book.

I had read about this book on a couple of blogs–first at decor8, but what really brought it to my attention was the inspiring things being created by Melissa of PugNotes!  She wrote a few posts about exercises she was doing from the book and they looked so fun I decided to get the book for myself.

“Visual journaling” is something that I used to do all the time just for fun, but somehow got away from, and haven’t done in years.  Last year I did work on a business plan but it didn’t really “stick”.  I think this might work a little better for me.  Trying to express my ideas and dreams in a less wordy way, using pictures,color and other means of expression instead, will help me to think without thinking, if that makes sense.  It may help me to access what I really want and need to do a little more easily than just sitting and writing things down, or…thinking!  I think way too much for my own good sometimes!

So instead of resolutions this year, I’m creating a visual journal during the month of January, to help me create a roadmap for the year.  Here is a little glimpse of the beginnings of that:

I’m also participating in the Creative Every Day challenge, and keeping a daily creativity log to go along with that:

It doesn’t have to be anything big, just a little something every day–I counted making cookies one day, or blogging, or even wandering around and looking at things with an observant eye would work!

I figure this is enough to do while I’m waiting for the baby.  I have a lot of ideas for new things to try this year but I’m going to just see how it goes once he gets here.  I’m really not expecting to get too much done (ok anything) for the first couple of months at least, but we’ll see how it goes.  It may end up helping me to learn to make better use of the time I do have.  It’s also encouraging to me to know there are a lot of other moms out there who are running successful creative businesses and raising their kids at the same time–I feel like if they can do it, it is possible for me to do, too.

What are your plans for this year?  Are you doing the Creative Every Day challenge or something like it?  Please feel free to share!

Diaper Bag Decisions…

I feel like I haven’t been blogging in so long…and looking at the date of my last post, yeah, it’s been a while!  Sorry…things just get hectic and sometimes I’m just not feeling it, you know what I mean?  We had a fun Thanksgiving and now Christmas is just around the corner–I can’t believe how time flies sometimes.

We have also been doing a lot on the baby’s room.  To be honest, I’m sick of it!  I think if you are going to have a baby, you should do the room during month 5–before you get crazy.  I have taken this decorating obsession to a new level and believe me, it’s not pretty.  Jon keeps asking how I can be a designer if I can’t make a decision on anything.  Well, when it’s not my own house, for some reason it is a LOT easier.  And when your husband is not putting his two cents in…!  Anyway, we are getting there.  It’s not what I originally envisaged, but it looks cute so far.  We have strayed from the “cities” theme into zoo territory…I’ll post pictures when it’s finished, which will be soon I hope.  Only 8 more weeks till the baby is “due”!  So things are moving along!

Since you can tell I’m having trouble with decisions, I thought I’d ask all of you to vote on your favorite diaper bag for me.  At least I’ve narrowed it down to two!  Actually, I had it down to one but that one is sold out.  So here are the new choices:

Choice 1 is by Room Seven–the Flying Car Diaper Bag.  Totally adorable and I like the colors and all the pockets.

Choice 2–the V-Casual by Oilily.  This one is more “me” and I like that it does not scream “baby” and it would pretty much go with everything I usually wear.  But does a diaper bag really need to coordinate?

Your thoughts please!

New Pillows for Fall/Winter 2008

They started like this:

But now the new pillow collections are finished!  I am thrilled to introduce to you:

Caroline:

Charmaine:

And Camilla:

All of the pillows have been designed by me or in collaboration with Anna from Beebeary Interiors from upcycled and reclaimed designer fabrics.  They have been carefully handcrafted/appliqued by yours truly, and come with a 90/10 feather/down insert and zipper closure. Prices range from $118 to $150.

They are currently residing in a posh store in La Jolla:

But would love to go home with you!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday–I’ll be back next week!

Mixed Message?

On my walk this morning, I spotted this sign:

It always makes me smile.  Actually the whole house is fun to look at.  It is immaculately kept up, but with a very quirky diy style.

Happy weekend to all!

Baby’s Room Schemes

So, it is not quite complete but I couldn’t resist giving you a little sneak preview into the baby’s room:

My concept was inspired by the “This is…” books by M. Sasek, and is about international cities and travel.  Jon is from England and he and I have always loved to travel everywhere…I hope my baby will grow up to see the world because it’s an amazing place to be!

I didn’t want anything too “babyish” either…as you can see I have yet to pick fabrics for bedding, and I am deciding between wallpaper or a cityscape mural to put some color on the walls which right now are white.  I also need to either get a wardrobe or design a place for his hanging clothes because there is no closet in the room.

Quite a bit left to do…and I had better get on it!  The dr. is still deciding whether he thinks the baby will come early or not.  Personally, I’m guessing he is just a big baby, based on the men in my family–my husband is 6′ and quite hunky and my dad is 6′ 5″…although I have to say at this point, I would not mind if he decided to make an appearance a week or two early, if he is ready!

Shop Update!

I’m so excited to announce a new item in my etsy shop–camera cases! 

I’ve been working on this idea for a while now and finally made them a reality!  I just couldn’t wait until Monday to share them with you as I had so much fun making them this week:

They are made to fit a Canon Powershot but I am thinking of perhaps offering some other sizes to fit a few different cameras or iphones/ipods.  What do you think of that idea?  And which one is your favorite?  I would love to hear your feedback!

Henri Hopper has been busy too.  He will have a new item in his shop to share with you next week!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Monday!

This weekend was definitely feeling fall at last with gray skies and rain.  So nice!  In keeping with that fall feeling, here are a few shots of a gorgeous flower arrangement I was given last week to inspire you…

The colors are stunning and perfect for the season.  This arrangement came from the wedding of a friend of a friend, and I was the lucky recipient!  I hear the wedding was amazingly beautiful…judging from just this arrangement I have no doubt that it was.  I’m not sure who did the flowers but when I find out I will post a link.

The weather is back to being sunny but that’s fine by me as we have visitors in town from England for the week and I’m sure they will appreciate having a break from the rain!

Wishing you all a lovely Monday and a productive week!

Wishpot

Have you heard of Wishpot?  I have been wishing for something like this for a very long time!

It’s one website where you can organize all of your cool finds into lists.  As Ez from Creature Comforts pointed out, it’s a great way for bloggers to keep track of all their inspirations in one place!  I also think it’s a little easier to use and more organized than bookmarks!

I am so happy she blogged about it as I am already using it to keep track of things I like for the house, the baby’s room, things I might blog about one day…you can choose to keep your lists private or share them with your friends.  With the holidays coming up, it’s also one way of ensuring you get at least a few things you’re really hoping for!

What do you think?  Are you already using this, or something similar?