Wipe container letters and numbers? Ta da!

Lavender sachets? Ta da!

Crocheted slippers? . . . pass for now.

Up next this cute little phone pouch pattern available from Nap Kitten. I assure you this pattern is much easier than her wallet, which kicked off this Create Along adventure.

Such lovely stuff! There were many exclamations of happiness while I unpacked everything! Here’s what I sent her way. I’ll be organizing one of these again for sure.

What did I win you may be asking . . . I can barely bring my self to type it I’m so thrilled, an embroidery hoop masterpiece from Lucky Jackson!!!!!

And I get an email saying go to the shop and pick one. Pick one. Seriously, how!?

Lookit these things? They’re fantastic.

People wonder how I have time to create so many things, I’m following patterns, or making 10 at a time, or spending 1 day madly crafting and not touching it again for a week. This lady makes one of these things every single day. I’m amazed. And then she says “how weird is it you won and I’m a fan of your blog?!” I love the handmade community.

You can see the works so far here in this Flickr pool.

Like a lot.

They’re ridiculously addictive.

I was inspired by Rachel’s hexie kit I stumbled upon while Googling hexies and sort of put one of my own together. I thought I had a punch but it appears I have every shape but a hexagon, it figures.

The pouch houses all my hexie worthy scraps, scissors, thread and the paper pieces. Then I keep my other scissors (why two? who knows) in the other container and plunk the finished hexies in there. I had a bunch that I’ve already sewn together but they’ve already moved down to my production area (aka corner of the basement).

I had the idea of doing a giveaway but then I thought maybe other people are having the same problem and we could set up a swap. I’ve got some things that came as freebies with Etsy orders, or items from other swaps, cute sticky notes, stickers and of course ribbon, fabric and buttons that I’ll probably never get to using!

Sooooo anyone want to play along? Sign up below until Wednesday January 11th. I’ll match us up (open internationally unless you tell me otherwise) and email partners so you can work out addresses and such. I suppose the contents should cost about $10-$15 but I’m hoping we can all just share some neglected creative stuff and pass it on to someone who may be inspired. Of course you can also include a handmade by you item, I know I will.

I was also hoping this post will distract from the fact that I haven’t completed a CreateAlong project in a while . . . next week I’ll reveal all my neglected projects, I promise!

Hi Fun People!

I’ve seen these adorable little figurines floating around the internet recently, I’m sure quite a few of you have seen them also. Now I’m normally not a huge fan of glitter, but these are simply irresistible. Enjoy!!!

DISCLAIMER::: I’m going to say this just in case you’ve been living in a cave up until now and have never worked with glitter before. Your going to want to do this on an easily cleanable or throw-away-able surface. Or better yet, outside. Or even better still, outside on a throw-away-able surface.

xoxo
Janee

Alright I actually did my homework quickly this time. I had plans to make this Saturday with a friend and it got me in the mood for it and even when she had to cancel I forged ahead and finished it.

For my 7 scalloped pieces I used vintage linen fat quarters I’ve been collecting for a bit. Most of them I got from this shop and some are from this one. I had plans for a quilt or something but it won’t hurt that I’ve cut into them a bit.

I made the rest of the bag with just plain black cotton, I liked how it looked with the flowery patterns. I also got fancy and added some interfacing and an inside pocket panel that I stitched to the lining to make with 3 sections. Sewing the scallops involved lost of needle in turning while sewing and when I turned my scalloped pieces right side out I had a lot of puckering, even after ironing. But I just strategically hid them with the other pieces and I picked the neatest one for the top row of scallops. I used some denim for the inside pocket and with the black inside a photo of this part wasn’t working so well.

Actually a photo at all wasn’t working so well. Home alone with 2 little ones it was tricky to get a great shot. As seen by these outtakes. Timer setting failed.

Mirror shot wasn’t working so well. So then I switched to an arty attempt, which is sort of silly.

I used the bag the next day when I took the kids to a birthday party and it got some attention. Thanks again to Kate for sharing such a fun tutorial. Be sure to check out the linky party to see all the great totes everyone made. Add your own of course.

Next on my list . . . a tablerunner!

I’ve admired these doily table runners for quite some time.  I think with snowy weather coming for some of us it will make a great festive decoration. There’s a great tutorial here, but it’s pretty straightforward – collect a ton of doilies and stitch them together in a neat way. Oh and come back and share!

I love you button making machine.

Now to iron out my packaging . . .

So I signed up for 2 craft swaps this year and in the first one I was lucky enough to get Shealynn for my partner. After a few emails I wasn’t really sure what to send her, she makes/made these great camera strap covers and I didn’t know if I could impress her with anything.

So I just plunged in and sent her a sewing machine cover and some other goodies. I figured if I went first I wouldn’t feel pressure to be awesome like her creations. Sure enough, this amazing ipad cover arrived for me a little bit ago.

Now I had made myself an ipad cover before, but it was showing signs of wear and it was like a sleeve and there have been a few times my ipad was on the verge of just sliding right out when I wasn’t paying attention. So a snazzy new cover was just the kick in the butt I needed to finally cut my old one up and reuse the material.

You know I don’t really need yet another creative thing to do but they’re always so fun and cute. Keyka Lou posted this great ribbon the other day which of course sent me off clicking to Etsy to see what it’s all about.

While I was admiring all the pretty chevron ribbons I had a lightbulb moment. I’m going to wrap all my gifts pretty simply, kraft paper or bags or boxes and then go all out making them look great with twine, ribbon, doilies and other such embellishments. That way the items are reusable, repurposable or biodegradable.

Allow me to share some of my fav items and shops that will help me, and you if you want to play, with this challenge. Click images to be whisked away to shops!

I’ve ordered a set of these already to make my own envelopes out of various papers.

You can order a printable PDF file for these vintage linen inspired cards.

Hoboville has the cutest rubber stamps I have ever seen! A great option for making your own printed wrapping paper.

Thriftypyg has some great ephemiria items that would jazz up some plain kraft paper nicely. Check out these cute stamps.

I’ve got some of these stashed away downstairs, no clue what I’m going to use them for but they are ridiculously sweet.

Baker’s twine is pretty easy to find on Etsy but these little mushroom spools are extra super cute.

Pretty Tape has a great selection of . . . pretty washi tape and loads of other great packaging accessories.

Some of my favourite shops for packaging supplies are Paper & Parcel , California Craft and of course I couldn’t have made it this far without Knot & Bow.