Hello 2011

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I always get a little sad taking down the Christmas decorations. The house just feels so much warmer and cozier at Christmastime. But the beginning of the new year brings its own excitement… the promise of a fresh start and new beginnings. As excited as I am for the new year, I am having some major motivation issues. I haven’t sewn or crafted in over a week. Anyone else in a creative funk? Luckily, I have some handmade Christmas gifts to show you while I work on getting myself back in the swing of things.

Remember my ambitious handmade Christmas gift list? Well, I didn’t get through much of it. In fact, the only thing from the list that I actually got around to was a handful of I Spy Bags for my niece, nephew, and family friends. I used this tutorial from Jess at Craftiness is not Optional. The bags I made are about 6 inches square, and instead of sewing a list of items to the back, I took a picture of the items before I put them in, printed it out, and sewed it on the back…

I found this adorable tutorial for an eyeglass case. I decided I had to make one for my mother…

I have a new found love of stamping on fabric. Don’t be surprised if you see me use it a lot for a while.

I made this cute little zipper pouch for my mother-in-law…

I love the contrast of the linen and the dark cotton fabric. I’ve had those little buttons for about 15 years. I finally found a use for them.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my husband for a Christmas surprise. We don’t buy each other gifts for Christmas or birthdays, so you can imagine my surprise when I received this…

He said that this was one time when there was something that I actually really wanted, but he knew I’d never be able to justify buying one for myself. What a guy, huh? I’m a lucky girl.

I am loving this camera. This is one of my favorite shots I’ve taken with it…

I still need to read the manual and figure out how to use all the bells and whistles, but it has actually been pretty user-friendly so far.

A few loose ends to tie up as we enter the new year. Way back before Thanksgiving I mentioned that I won a giveaway and was awaiting the arrival of my winnings from Australia. It was well worth the wait. I didn’t get around to showing you what I won until now…

My winnings came from Naturally Carol. The apron wasn’t even part of the giveaway… she knew the bunting would be hung in one of my girls’ rooms, so she made the apron just for me and sent it along! What a sweetheart! If you have not visited Carol, you must. Not only is she super talented with a sewing machine, she has really unique ideas. And one of the big reasons I read Carol’s blog is to hear about life on the other side of the planet. She’s a hoot!

Also, April over at Cup of Delight passed the Stylish Blogger Award on to me a while back, and I just wanted to thank her for the honor. Go check out her blog, especially her travel adventures.

And one last thing… I reached a milestone over the holidays. I now have over 300 followers. I am in shock and am so appreciative of the support and encouragement that I get from all of you. A giveaway is in the works. More to come. Now maybe I can get motivated enough to go sew myself a camera strap cover.