new laptop cozy

both of my sisters got laptop cozies from me for christmas because they both have new laptops. i'm sure they were so surprised when they opened their gifts!

i designed this one for my youngest sister, who is obsessed with chocolate brown and blue. apparently i am obsessed with little birdies, as i seem to put them on everything now. oh well. they are so cute!

tick tock

i love these wall clocks by decoylab design studio. what a great modern twist on the cuckoo clock!

purse lust

i think i'm craving a new handbag. check out this lovely collection, all on my want list!


this pretty clutch is by LouLouBell.


uniques makes gorgeous upcycled bags. she says "Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value." hooray!


pocket carnival makes super cute clutches and coin purses.



anisa of makool has opened an etsy shop, and has some adorable bags for sale.

she also has some gorgeous, unique bags on the makool site.




i LOVE this polka dot clutch by luii. (polka dots, lobo!) she also has a lovely blog.


enju modern & handmade has some fun bags. i recognize that fabric!



i love this clutch by the lonely octopus. it's made of paper and vinyl! cute!

christmas loot

i had a rather successful haul this christmas, from a crafty perspective.

my lovely cousin kelli and her new (and great!) husband nick got me amy butler's fabulous in stitches book. there are some super great projects in it that i can't wait to try.


my grandpa (via my mom) gave me a neat felting book by gillian harris, complete feltmaking. i have wanted to try this, and now i'll know how!


my aunt teri mailed me (from florida) jenny hart's book, sublime stitching. i can't wait to lean to properly embroider! (i've been making it up so far...)


my baby sister, knowing all about my love affair with etsy, gave me some gorgeous fabrics. i'll have to think of something special to make with them. thanks lobo!

(from left: katrina kaye, pinkalmond supplies, and karaku tokyo)

those things are all so lovely, thank you so much everyone!

BUT, are you ready for the piece de resistance (from mom and dad)?



voila!

holy crapola! a computerized sewing machine! i had to get out the instruction manual just to load the bobbin and top thread. it may take some getting used to, but i think i may grow to like this machine.

i was a little torn, and still am, about getting a new machine, because the one i was working on was my grandmother's, who i never got a chance to know as she died right after i was born. i think i will still use the old machine (after it has a much needed tune-up) but will keep the new one too, for more precision work.

thanks mom and dad! you're the best!

shop sale!

i'm offering a sale on the (few) holiday items in my shop. check it out!

sugarloop and a painted room

mr. m and i finally got the office in our house painted. it looks so good! it's a lovely warm gray, and we put up some pictures, including work by sugarloop.

i have had these little prints (which i love!) for awhile now, but i wanted to wait to put them up until the office was painted. a year after purchasing my house, the room is finished!


don't the prints look fabulous next to my sewing table? hooray!

be sure to check out all of sugarloop's gorgeous prints. i would buy one of each she produces if i could...

p.s. - the reason the room finally got it's makeover is because i have put my house on the market. i am moving to phoenix (as soon as the house sells)!! i am super excited, a lot nervous, and ready to go. mr. m moves first to start his new job, so i have to do the house selling myself. if you know anyone in the market for a lovely old house in a great neighborhood in lincoln, ne., let me know!

holiday cheer

i just wanted to give all my lovely readers a big thanks, and say happy holidays! knowing people read my blog makes posting so much more fun!

hope you get lots to eat, and just the presents you asked for.

cheers to you!

p.s. - the lovely card you see is by empty george.

p.p.s. - remember the sexy turkey hat? check out this gem.

for the new year

mr. m says it is not even christmas yet and i shouldn't be talking about the new year, but if you want to have a fashionable calendar on your desk when you return to work, you need to order now!

here's a list of some truly lovely calendars.

enjoy!


cindy jaswal of cedarseven


don't press me (an omaha etsian!)



joom also has lovely pillows



linda and harriett (check out their cute piggy pattern!)



sure as blue's lovely objectification calendar



i love all of susy jack's work!



vanessa kimball has lots of lovely paper goods. (and a lovely blog!)

shop local!

etsy has a great feature up for the holidays (and after, i hope!). they ingeniously are giving shoppers the ability to view etsy sellers in their area, so they can pick up last minute gifts.

lovely idea.

i found some shops in lincoln and omaha that i love, and may have to contact for some last minute shopping, as i still have not made any of my gifts. ahhh!


honeysuckle of omaha makes really cool lamps from vintage slides. as a photographer, i love this idea!

we may as well stick with pictures for a minute, because fiery eyed photography of omaha has lovely holiday photo cards.

jenny hofer designs out of omaha makes super cute wallets.

elisabeth space of omaha makes gorgeous jewelry.


decidious soul of omaha also makes fabulous jewelry.

i have long admired the work of lincolnite aorta. super cool!



turns out that aorta's creator is multi-talented. she also sells delicious vintage jewelry through the shop automaton. color me impressed!


i always knew my towns were super talented! hooray nebraska!

link love!

i've added some new links to the list of links i love.

check them out!

business cards!

so i am a terrible person.

my lovely friend christopher has the most fabulous letterpress business here in lincoln, porridge papers. they make all kinds of super sweet cards and do a lot of cutom printing work.

i talked christopher into printing up some yummy business cards for me, and he did a lovely job. i told him i would post about them on my blog, and, a few weeks later, i have yet to do it.

so i am now!

aren't they gorgeous? i sent them out with all my recent orders.

christopher also has an etsy shop, but he doesn't keep it very well stocked (tsk tsk!), so if you are in lincoln you should stop by his brick and mortar shop. it's on 14th(ish) and south streets.

amy carol gift tags

i love amy carol! i have her book and i read her blog, angry chicken. she does such great stuff, so i wasn't surprised when i loved these gift tags she posted on her site. she even included a pdf so you can print them out and put them on all your holiday gifts!

so hilarious!


hint - click on the picture to see it larger!

elfrida

i am so sad it is too late to ship things before the holidays, because i love the gift tags by elfrida.

here's what she says about them:

"Each pattern has been painstakingly designed by myself with love. With each design, I try to make each a unique piece, giving itself its own character. These tags are truly unique, requiring layers and layers to make."

lovely!

in my backyard

in my backyard makes really gorgeous things. i especially love the hand painted pins (since i am currently obsessed with brooches) and her scarves. so pretty!

she also makes "patches and pins, pendants and scarves, magnets and gocco prints, and other lovely things, all handmade in a little old cottage with a big garden in New Zealand."

sounds lovely!

udder

udder makes really adorably whimsical critters. i would love to give one a home. so cute!

she also has a great blog!

brooch, part 2

here's the brooch i forgot yesterday! it, too is up in my shop.

i hope your holiday preparations are going well. i have not made one single gift yet. am i in trouble?

a brooch

does anyone else think brooch is a funny word?

i have become rather obsessed with making them, regardless of their funny spelling. i made a couple last night, but i forgot to bring the other to work to photograph, so this one will have to tide you over until tomorrow.

p.s. - the post office says i can ship domestically until the 18th, and it will still make it to you by christmas. so get your shop on! orders placed on monday the 17th will go out the 18th, so the 17th is your last day to order! thanks!

brooke medlin

i am IN LOVE with brooke medlin's delicate, feminine, and just darn pretty jewelry. her new line of delicato rings are divine!

gerri jo

i am really loving the super cute work of gerri jo. so adorable! each piece is hand made (of course!)

right now, gerri jo is offering free shipping (10% off an international order) for the 100th item sold in her shop. if you want this discount, you'd better hurry, because she's at 99!

check out these lovelies:

how about orange

i've been reading the how about orange blog for quite some time now. jessica, a talented graphic designer, posts some really lovely stuff, and often includes free tutorials. fabulous!

she recently posted these cute ornaments, and kindly included, you guessed it, free tutorials!

i love these made of foam, which could easily be adapted to my favorite medium, felt. get the template here.

i also love these paper ornaments she posted yesterday. love the orange! get the template here (and on her blog too, of course!)

just start

see that little (actually, i think it's rather big, but that wasn't my doing) green widget on my sidebar? it's not an advertiser, i promise!

i entered a little contest, with a grand prize of a boatload of money and the tools to start up a business.

i suppose it's no secret to those who know me that i dream of one day opening up a shop where i sell lovely, handmade goodies. but to take the leap from journalism to small business owner, i will definitely need some help.

and winning this contest would be just awesome.

so, if it's not too much trouble, and you have a few extra minutes, you can click on the link and read my contest entry. i think you can rate it and leave comments, all of which help get the judges' attention. judging starts on the 16th, so get clicking!

i would be ever so grateful!

thanks!

new cozy!

so i didn't get to bed until 2 am last night (or i guess that would technically be this morning). i had a vision for a new laptop cozy, so i just had to get it finished.


i think i like it! what do you think?

change of plans

so it turns out i will not be out of town next week.

the nebraska volleyball team lost in the regional final tonight, which means they will not be going on to the play for the national championship, which means i will not be going to california to photograph them in said tournament.

which means you can place orders all week!

i'm sad (i know most of the team fairly well), but rather relieved that i won't have to be out of town for a week just before christmas.

so keep looking for posts next week!

thanks for reading!

toys

with all the controversy over toys filled with baby damaging lead, i thought i'd offer you some handmade alternatives to the factory messes china is importing these days. enjoy!

sleeping forest studios makes great, classic wooden toys. you know these toys are durable and will make kids use their imaginations.


mod mom furniture makes a great kids play table with a chalkboard finish and a detachable lazy susan to hold tools of play. a crafty kids dream!


story blox makes really cool twisterblox. they're handpainted wooden alphabet blocks with a tongue twister on one side. neat!


i love the whimsical stuffed animals made by two little banshees, especially the little bug. great fabrics!


how sweet is this little owl by chet and dot? so cuddly!


cheryl a. smith makes adorable finger puppets.


happy handmade shopping!

shop update

the holidays are getting ever closer! i'm about to have a crafting panic attack, as i have not started to make any gifts, and i have to go out of town next week for my real job.

since i will be out of town, that means i will be unable to mail orders from tuesday the 11th through sunday the 17th. so get you orders in this weekend if you want them to arrive by christmas! i hope to do a lot of mailing this monday!

i've added a couple of things to the shop. my favorite is a scarf i spent a couple of days (lazily) working on. i rather like how it turned out. the front is hand stitched with a blanket stitch. two of the little dots (one on either end) are lightly stuffed for some extra depth.

i also finally got around to making a christmas ornament. it's a sweet little felt bird. maybe i will make more on sunday...

and finally, i made three new iPod cozies, as well as a revisited design. check them out!

sweet deal!

i am slightly obsessed with marking shops as my favorites on etsy. when i see work that i love, i want to be able to revisit it, so the favorites feature is wonderful!

yesterday i added mizdragonfly to my list, and was rewarded with this lovely email:

"You are my 200th heart! Yay! I offer you a 25% discount on 1 piece of your choice."

thank you! i am totally taking you up on this offer.

her recycled jewelry is just fabulous!

my only problem is choosing which piece to buy...

and when i hit 200 hearts, i will definitely extend the same offer! (i have 133 people who (heart) me so far!)




check out mizdragonfly's blog, too!

tragedy

i had a tough day at work today (yesterday now).

yesterday afternoon, a 19 year-old man opened fire on a mall in omaha and killed nine people, including himself.

i'm a photographer for the paper in lincoln (a city just down the road from omaha), and i was sent to cover the event.

i'm from omaha.

i called and emailed family and friends to make sure they weren't shopping this afternoon. i haven't heard back from everyone, but i'm fairly confident that all my loved ones are safe.

i grew up in this city. i always felt safe.

it's scary. everyone always says they never expect these kinds of things to happen in their town.

not in my town. i know i've said that.

but yesterday it did.

please remember the families who lost someone in this tragedy. if you're religious, say a prayer. if you're not, please take a moment to reflect. then be sure to kiss your mom, daughter, son, father, husband, wife. . .

for more information, please visit my newspaper's webpage.

a little hut

i stumbled across the blog of a little hut this afternoon, and instantly bookmarked it.

i love the cut paper illustrations that are for sale in her shop. they have really great, clean lines and simple colors that marvelously show off the intricate work. fabulous!






i also love this idea for a gift tag. i have long wrapped gifts in craft paper, and i think this idea is better than using a plain old ribbon.

cute, don't you think?

kirin & co.

i love fabric. i love buying fabric. this creates a fabric buying problem. as in, i buy too much fabric.

i just couldn't resist these two fabrics from kirin & co. they are gorgeous handprinted goodness.

i purchased a couple of her prints a few months back, and when i saw these posted on her blog, i had to have them!

if you want some, you had better hurry, as her fabrics sell quickly. check it out!

new bags!

i've put a couple of new bags up in my shop.

one is my traditional tote, the other is a new style i dreamed up today.

ok, so the style may not be entirely new, but it's a new one for me!

enjoy!