Saturday, November 7, 2009

Shop Update and Some Holiday Crafting

Aloha everyone! :)

I've been slow to update my shop lately so I'm thrilled to finally have these new editions soon to be listed:

Some Itty Bitty Ami Bears sitting in their origami gift bags . . .

And a trio of Bashful Blooming Cacti. Each cactus will now come with an instructional "How to Care for . . . " hang tag. It's an idea that I've been mulling over for ages and I've finally gotten around to doing it.

The tags read --

Caring for your Bashful Blooming Cactus:
1. Situate in a calm, peaceful place away from loud noises and crowds.
2. Encourage it to bloom without being too pushy.
3. Never put your cactus on the spot -- i.e., ask it to sing or if it knows any good jokes.

4. Finally, nurture your cactus by complimenting it everyday.

I'm excited by how the tags turned out! :)


This Christmas I'm attempting to apply the "use what you have" concept to my gift giving. As a platinum card carrying member of the hopelessly craft obsessed, I've amassed a mountain of fabrics, ribbon, yarn, and other supplies over the years. This Christmas is the perfect time for me to use some of my stock and make room for more. I'm being very strict about my "use what you have" philosophy. I won't run out to purchase something else in order to finish a project. Not even small supplies like thread. If I don't have what I need on hand, I'm going to have to improvise. This may not bode well for the friends and family that I will be creating gifts for. However, I am vowing to do my very best not to construct any Franken-presents out of random objects lying about like pipe cleaners, buttons, and toilet paper. I will strive to make things as cute and pretty as possible with what is readily available.

Here is my first "use what you have" Christmas gift project. It's what I came up with after finding way too many balls of red and green yarn in my stash.

I know, I know . . . they're just potholders, but they're cherry potholders so that's sort of cute, right? But then I discovered some cherry print fabric so I plan to make a whole cherry themed kitchen set. This project is still in the beginning stages so I have hopes that it will blossom into something more impressive than it seems. We'll see, I guess. Stay tuned . . .

Finally, the winner of the Kawaii Kitty for last month's Reader Appreciation giveaway is . . . Sew Very Carrie! Thank you for all your support Carrie! I'll contact you soon! :)

7 comments:

Tizzalicious said...

Those tags to go with the cacti are adorable!

And yay for cherry potholders! I have apple ones myself.

Carrie Me! said...

I am reading along...loving your cuites, and agreeing with you about your "use what you have" motto for Christmas (I am doing the same). Then last but not least, I see that I won the giveaway!! Yippee for me! Thank U ;)

Kristin L said...

I think your cherry potholders are VERY cute. I look forward to seeing what else you make for teh cherry set. Love the cacti and bitty animals as always.

tara said...

I'm new to this blog...do you sell any of this??

Piston said...

That's an excellent approach, I must say! I've kind of adopted that myself recently, so much yarn and fabric and notions...
Are you going to make a cherry apron with that? I think it'd look cute! The potholders are already adorable haha.
And I love your tags! Those are just insanely cute! A wonderful idea.

Unknown said...

Eeek I love your instructions and I have been eyeing your cacti for some time. I'm heading over to your shop now :) P.S I am loving my chocolates!!!

Sandy xox

Ana Zuzarte said...

Hello
I know your blog and loved it.
His works are a great taste and perfection
Kisses
Ana