Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Giving and Receiving Handmade

Hello Lovelies! I do so hope that you enjoyed, and are enjoying your holidays. It has been quite sweet here at the little green cottage, if a tad busy and messy. There has been a glut of good food, a windfall of friends and family, and an all around feeling of being very fortunate. I offer one caveat; it may be some time before I am up for baking cookies again.

It was a very handmade holiday 'round here, though I did very little of the hand making myself, wait... I take that back, the food was all hand made; the treats, the dinners, the bread, etc. and my hands were definitely involved in the making. Except for the traditional Christmas Morning Belgium Waffles which were all The Engineer (thank you again darlin', perfect as usual!)

Because I didn't have time to make much for the holiday, I purchased some handmade goodness to give. I thought I should share a little of the goodness with you.

This gorgeous hand crafted ceramic horse ornament came from Christine's shop Shepherds Grove Studio. She was a joy to buy from and I couldn't be happier with the ornament. Pony Girl was pretty thrilled too!

Photo by Claire Moxon

A stunning bracelet made by Claire from Scotia Spinner. Claire spins amazing yarn and beautiful fibre creations, and she makes wonderful jewelry. Claire is one of the first blog friends I met when Lola Nova started out. Please check out her great shop! I was very tempted to keep this for myself, but I did give it to my sister in the end.

On the receiving end of things - there were hand made earrings from my beautiful sister, handcrafted beeswax candles from the divine Crystal, art from my dear friend Tricia and more!

I did want to show a very special gift that was made for Pony Girl by Aunt Lydia.

This amazing paper doll kit made from fabric! Dolls and outfits, a quilted panel with pockets to keep the clothes in and all in a quilted carrying tote! The pictures don't do it justice. The amount of work and love that went into this is amazing, I am completely in awe! Thank you so very much Aunt Lydia, you are a doll!

Lastly, I did manage to make one gift for the Engineer. He is a big fan of Waylon Jennings so I made him some wall art.

Here is a link to the original album cover I used for inspiration. My version is totally wonky, but my heart was in it.

Well, that's enough of my rambling on for today. All I can say is, I love handmade!

13 comments:

Vic said...

I do too Sweets, and you, of course. ;)

The "paper" dolls... um, WOW! And your handmade album cover is super cool, clever thing.

B.................. said...

The paper doll kit is adorable and I love your wall art, such a great idea and I bet the Engineer was over the moon with it xx

greenrabbitdesigns said...

Me too and I was lucky enough to get some as well!
So glad Christmas was a happy family one for you!
Best wishes for 2012. :)
Vivienne x

Sherri B. said...

Those paper dolls are the bestest! Pony Girl must be thrilled beyond thrilled with that lovely gift. Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas...A very Happy New Year to you all! xo

Wendy said...

Yes, those "paper" dolls are incredible!

Crochet Addict UK said...

I think I am going to take a leaf out of your book for next year. I think there is something so much more special in a handmade gift!

june at noon said...

So much great stuff! I didn't make much myself, either, but I ordered lots of stuff from Etsy, which makes me just as happy. :)

I am also ready for a break from cookies. We made 750+ in one day, and I will be glad never to see another one again--for a while, at least!

charlotte said...

ah great gifts all round!

Katiebee said...

love the paper dolls....lucky pony girl!

happy new year to you & yours!

xo

katie

Christy said...

I adore handmade! Those paper dolls and your Waylon wall art are both awesome! Happy new year!

Colette said...

those 'paper' dolls are amazing, I got my girls some paper ones this year - wish I'd thought of this though!
Lucky Pony Girl indeed!

silverpebble said...

Your handmade purchases are very beautiful and your images in the Making WInter Flickr pool have been a joy- thankyou SO much for including them in our project. I made some mosaics with some of the gorgeous images today.

Happy New Year to you! I hope 2012 brings some good good things for you.

hlimbrick said...

The ceramic horse is gorgeous! This year I really wanted to be making Christmas foodie treats but I ended up making nearly all the presents and didn't finish until Christmas Day itself! Have decided that next year I will be buying presents and making decorations and treats! Hope you had a great Christmas, wishing you a lovely New Year, Hx
www.helenlimbrick.com