Dove Chocolates, Up in the Air, Valentines Purses, and Christopher Buckley

So I've been eating entirely too much chocolate lately.

Dove puts a little message inside of the wrapper

Some other messages from ones that I just ate;  "Share a Sunset"and "Make somebody melt today"  

Pretty insipid.  But I'll tell you something that is NOT insipid.  The Movie "Up in The Air"  (Yes, I know that it is old news, but I've finally seen it).  Now THAT is a good movie.  I like how it followed three characters, had some well-developed female characters, and demonstrated that people can have lives who don't have lives in the traditional sense.

So anyway, yeah.  I've put together some Valentine-themed items.  

Lots and lots of pink,

red, 

and white.  Was listening to lots and lots of Christopher Buckley while I put these together.  Do I like him?  Well enough anyway.  "Boomsday" is entertaining, but had to stop listening to that 'mum and pup' memoir; all of the name dropping made me want to vomit.  

Going to put my shop on sale pretty soon,

Maybe even as soon as this afternoon.  So come on by.....

New Clutch

Here is a new clutch that I have just designed.  

It is pretty simple, uses upcycled denim and a patchwork design.  

It's a good size for storing all sorts of toiletries, etc.  

And I have several of them for sale at my etsy store  

Small Handmade Evening Bag

Here are some little purses that I've made in the past few days.

I designed them with a wedding in mind; since I was going to a wedding on New Year's Eve, I needed a small bag that would hold just a few 'essential' items, such as the ones below.  

And so I came up with this simple design.  

All of the purses are made from repurposed clothing;

Sheets, shirts, jeans, that I found at the Goodwill bins.  

It turned out to be a pretty useful bag, and now I have several for sale at my etsy shop.  

Scrap Quilt

Just two days ago, I finished making a scrap quilt.  Here's a photo of some of the scraps that I used when I started the quilt.  

 After sewing several of the scraps together, I combined them with large pieces of mostly purple fabric.  

 Then I added strips of solid-fabric to join the smaller squares together.  

Here is the almost-finished quilt, taped to the floor so that I could tie the quilt-top to the base.  

And this is the finished quilt!  All ready for the wedding that I am going to today.  I really liked this one, will probably make another in the near future, the next one will be for myself  ;)  

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....

Here is proof that I have officially gotten into the Christmas Spirit!

A Gingerbread house that I made with the kids who I nanny for!  

Too cute!  Little Joseph-Bear sitting on Santa's lap at Macy's!  

And here's Esther...asking Santa for an Ant Farm!  

Last but certainly not least; some plates of yummy treats from  a cookie exchange I had
on Sunday.

And God Bless us, every one!  

The Laziness Challenge

So anyway, yeah.  I am a lazy blogger, sometimes going for days, weeks, or even months between posts; ten days have already elapsed since my last post~  

~but I'm beginning to see that laziness may not be a deplorable attribute.  Last Sunday's NYT featured dancer Ashley Bouder's Sunday Routine; in the course of given Sunday, Bouder says that she sleeps until 10 or 11, drinks up to three glasses of wine, takes her dogs on three walks, spends 3-4 hours watching television and reading, plus finds time to bake and cook omlets for herself!  Hot damn.    

And I found myself trying to recall whenever I had spent a day in a similarly leisurely manner....it certainly hasn't been recently; nor, does it appear, will I be having time to laze in the near future.  Take this coming Sunday for example; I'll be having some friends over for a cookie exchange, which means that I'll be awake between 6 and 7 and spending hours cleaning, buying groceries, and cooking.  Do those sound like leisurly activities????????????????????????  Not hardly.  Add to that spending the afternoon playing the hostess; that trying chore of looking presentable and finding pleasant things to say!

And so Bouder's Sunday Routine has really inspired me: in addition to losing the 2-3 pounds I'm gaining from eating non-stop during these holiday weeks, in January I'm also going to resolve to become lazy.  Yes, you did read this correctly; next year  I am going to put myself to a laziness challenge, and to carve out do-nothing time to read, and read, and read, and drink and watch all of those television shows that people always talk about and which I know nothing about.  (Example; Jersey Shore).  Maybe I will also buy myself one of those really cushy couches that you sink several feet inside of every time you sit down.      

How good are you at being lazy?
One way to check it to do a simple inventory of things in your home;

How many bath bombs do you own?  (And when was the last time you took a bath?)

How many bottles of wine, maragarita fixings, or bottles of Baileys are lurking in your fridge or pantry?

How many pairs of sweatpants and slippers do you own?

;)

Handmade Christmas Cards

Jo Ann's had a really sweet paper sale the other day, and here's 

some of the paper crafting that kept me busy over the weekend.

I used embossing powder on the Madonna stamp to create a shiny surface.

Here's a fun square pattern I came up with 

And some simple packages.  

  The inside is lined with cream linen paper.  Real simple.

As usual, I haven't made nearly enough, but at least I'll be able to stay in touch with some of my new/old friends and colleagues.