in the last few years i've just made more handmade gifts for x-mas, spending less and less time in the malls. i wanted this year to be ultimate handmade and i'm glad to say i accomplished that except for one purchase to get a real sweet and vintage mug for my dad, which at 25 cents, it shouldn't really count. the others got handmade scarflettes, hand felted jewelery and for the nomadic style of the brother, a handmade passport holder.
at one point i realized just how nice it was to stay out of the loud and obnoxious malls during the holidays on top of giving my family and friends the awesomeness that is one of a kind. i was invited to tag along for a few mall trips and happily declined. i figured if i'm not there to buy anything this year, i rather not be there at all. it genuinely felt pretty awesome to be able to give something entirely handmade and trust that this x-mas won't be the last :)
before going back to school and still on the gift making/giving spree, i came across a small collection of adorable teeny tea cups. with secret santa and a promise for hot fuzz gloves for x-mas, that covered a handful of classmates so i couldn't be stopped in making the little tea cups into pincushions for the rest of my class.
today was our first studio class all together again and i nearly tipped them off several times before lunch about the surprise i had in store for them. i'm getting pretty good at this keeping a surprise business 'cause my lips stayed zipped and they all loved it. kay tor joked that i was like santa but the best was when kate opened hers up and said "i love small things!"
on that note: in this first week back, i've taken advantage of the homework not piling up just yet and have been crocheting little keychain hearts for the on campus sale we have scheduled for before Valentine's day. what's more perfect for V-day then an itty bitty stuffie heart to give :)
I can't remember exactly where i read the tutorial to make these cutie pie hearts but it's possibly the easiest and quickest thing to crochet. one night i made a big mug of tea, popped on my muppet show dvd and whipped off five or six before the little bones in my hand started to called out for me to not get carried away. i'm an addict and i don't think my bones like it :)
in other news, i was requested to make an octopus stuffie. i've made an ocotpus before but i wasn't quite happy with it. i miscalculated the body and it ended up being a hexapus so i was happy to give it another go and i'm glad to say it turned out loads better than the first! it's official: i can crochet the fantastic octopus
also, i've gotten to know my second wee sketchbook pretty well. for some reason i'm really big on font and portraits this year. i've updated the album on my flikr account so check them out!
i now leave you with a lovely little ditty by Wisconsin based band Icarus Himself
internally yours,
sister valentine
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