5 months, 53 handmade gifts! Bring it on!

So as you may or may not know, last year I was intending to make Christmas presents for all my family and friends but ended up not being able to *sad face* BUT this year, I'm aiming to give it a second shot. I would love nothing more than to be able to give beautiful handmade and personal gifts to everyone I care about this year! I've learnt so much this past year and every day it becomes more and more apparant how truly special the people in my life are and how important it is to show them how much they are appreciated. I'm an absolute nightmare when it comes to birthdays and mostly all special occasions, and it always makes me feel so guilty because other people go out of their way for me and I'm so forgetful and hopeless at that sort of thing. But, Christmas? One day when EVERBODY is special and amazing...one day where I can give gifts of appreciation and love to anyone and everyone I like just because I want to make them happy :o) And to let them know that I do think about them, and am not entirely the most horrible niece, grand daughter, sister, wife in the history of man. So last week, I decided to begin my journey into christmas pressie making MAYHEM. I started with a list...on that list I wrote down people's names.... I then added up those people's names and saw that I had a whopping total of 56 people I wanted to make for!! I had a slight moment of my usual panic-before-making-a-commitment but suprisingly it subsided quickly and the feeling of determination came rushing back. It's July! It's totally do-able right! I can make 53 gifts without it costing much right? I can think of something for everyone.... right? Right?! RIGHT?!?!


Of course I can!! ..... I think! Pinterest is helping... I have an inspiration and ideas board to keep me on track and inspired.


And as of today, I am 4 gifts down! So only (bahahaha, only lol) 52 to go! And whilst I obviously can't share who each gift is for, I can at least show you what I'm making along the way! (you might even get inspired!)

I made this crochet heart garland using three different kinds of crochet hearts... I actually think it turned out quite nicely!

8 balls of Inca alpaca wool went into this gorgeous thick ribbed crochet scarf! It's going somewhere chilly, so it will be welcomed I hope!


Not all the gifts will be crochet either, but I've just been in such a mood for hookin' recently I haven't been able to help myself!

Funky isn't it? As soon as I learnt the chevron stitch, I couldn't stop! I loved it so much... and ended up with a scarf! How handy! :p


And lastly, gift number 4 is this lovely soft chenille hat and scarf set :o)

Am I crazy for thinking about Christmas is July? Yup...most likely...
Am I crazy for thinking I can hand make 53 gifts in time for December? Oh yes... very!


But you know what? Doing something awesome takes a certain level of crazy... and my newly acquired can-do (sickening) attitude seems to think I can do it, so hey! Let's go!

so much to do!

Ok so you can come back and read now :) I've cheered up somewhat! haha

I have been a busy bee these past few days with bits and peices... for starters our new unit is an absolute disaster zone and we're doing battle with it trying to find places for all our stuff and attempting to clean it... so far unsuccessful as I am sitting here blogging aren't I? :p We've also been calling around a fair few places as my husband is keen to go back into study and do Engineering and the Sciences to steer away from his current I.T career so we're busily trying to find out as much as we can about that so he can get started on that asap. And of course I have been busy with my sewing! I had my first international order last week (does happy dance) and a lovely custom made handbag and matching clutch went on it's way alllll the way over to the UK!

I have my fingers and toes crossed that I get another custom order for this bag style, I love making them so much!! Hmmm what else? Oh I tried my hand as doing some digital paiting for a logo design but didn't go so well.. I've taken courses in digital media before and was quite good at it and thoroughly enjoyed it but my current lack of resources makes for a tricky creative process as the software I was using then was a lot more advanced that what I have access to these days... but that's ok, one day maybe!

I've made all sorts of new goodies!

From pretty vintage floral fabric headbands...

To lace flowers...

To adorable new clutch purse design...

To digital invitation designing....

To making new super cute nappy wallets...

To creating kids aprons....

To making failed tutus...

And completing my second custom order :)

So as you can see my past few days have been very busy indeed! But they have been happy days! I like it when my sewing machine loves me and doesn't make me want to throw it out the window!

Valentines Day card making today!

So I bought another scrapbook stack today (I own quite a few...I can't help it! They're so pretty!) and it happens to be very pink and glittery so I figured I'd make some Valentines Day cards with it! I still have the flu and am very tired so settling down at my desk with some pretty papers seems the perfect things to do. The photo came out a little yellow there but they really do look very nice! I'll just keep card making until I run out of double sided tape! (Then go out and buy more! haha!)