more felt goodness!

I must admit... been on kind of a felt kick lately. Well, when I'm not feeling totally overwhelmed by the impending holidays. Are you almost done with your list? I actually didn't plan that big this year, but these last-minute things I keep adding... someday I'll learn. Here's a quick recap:

A Ruby Doll (from Jhoanna Monte's pattern in the Craft Hope book) for my niecey Ella:

Some quick-and-easy birdy ornaments for my fabulous coworkers:

And finally, some folks are getting giftcards. Totally the opposite of handmade, probably, but it happens! And that doesn't mean the packaging can't be fantastic! Here are some simple felt gift card envelopes (free tutorial over on the Lark blog if you're interested):

And the saga continues. I don't know what it is, but I feel like a crafter possessed! Something about the early darkness makes me want to crank up pandora and sew, sew, sew! The dolly and birdies were fun - a nice break after sewing a lot (!) of flat things. Still pondering some possible blog themes for next year. In the meantime, happy solstice everyone!

a green holiday!

It's December, the time of year when I remember that I should have started hand-making all my holiday gifts months ago. Same for you, you say? Well, I've decided that if I can't hand-make every gift, handmade wrapping is a good - and green! - alternative. I've posted a tutorial for this reusable felt (of course!) gift bag over at LarkCrafts.com (my day job!). We'll be posting all kinds of felt goodness over there throughout the month of December. And looking for other green wrapping ideas? Join forces with the Green Grocery Bag Challenge, a neat project in which folks are encouraged to make, give, and use cloth grocery bags as wrapping paper.

In other news, it will be my two year blogiversary this month.... wowzers! I actually spent a bit of time the other night looking over the last two years of posts. It was so nice to look back and realize what a neat slice of my creative life this blog has become. I'm not sure what I was aiming for back when I created this space in December 2008, but I think I've acheived that! And I thank everyone who has tagged along! Thanks for your encouragement after my creative false starts, your positive feedback, the sweet comments when I submit you to endless photos of the brindle squad... I'm pondering a fun thank you giveaway later in the month - be on the lookout!