yuletide inspiration

After an unsuccessful search for this year's Christmas cards (is it me, or are the mass-produced ones just boring this year? Maybe it's the limited selection in my area...) I've decided to ... gulp.... make my own Christmas cards this year! This will be only my third set of hand-made cards--my foray into card-making, scrapbooking, and papercrafts has been slow! Too many fun crafts, too little time! So I'll be making a trip to our local scrapbooking store for supplies and inspiration, but I've been scouring the web for ideas in the meantime. These great cards from Impress Rubber Stamps' website are inspiring me right now!

I never understood what was exciting about all those fancy "punch" tools until I saw this ... how inventive! (it's a bunch of "fern" leaves assembled in the shape of a tree)


Ooh, love the pearl accents!

I could definitely handle this one... cute, too...

Duck!

[all images courtesy of Impress Rubber Stamps]

utilitarian patchwork

I've already cast on for another Coronet, but I'm also dreaming up some patchwork tote bags for my next project. I snagged some linen-look-alike cloth at JoAnn's, and right now I'm really loving these color combinations. I'm envisioning something simple--just a stripe of accent cloth and some embroidery for fun. But that may change as it develops! :-D

my first cable

Soooo much easier than I ever expected! If you're looking for a great project for your first attempt at cables, I highly recommend Coronet from knitty.com. So cute! So easy! So gratifying! I had no idea how much fun it is to watch the cables weave together as you knit ... this could get addicting.

This project used about 3/4 of a skein of Berroco's Ultra Alpaca in pale pink. Warm, soft, and fuzzy. I'll be using it again!

snow day!

This morning I woke up to a winter wonderland ....