spring clutch from b.bags

Every first Saturday, the Heights goes nuts. Lots of shops have great sales. Pet adoption foundations come out and line Heights Boulevard with puppies. And over on 19th Street, the First Saturday Arts Market is going on.

I try to make it every month as there are always new vendors to scope out. A couple of months ago, b. bags founds its way into the market. Her products were absolutely adorable (and SO me,) but of course, I could not spend any extra money at that time.

To my wonderful surprise, b. bags was back at the Art Market today!

Needing a new spring purse, I decided to help out a fellow crafter and purchased the little goodie below:

Adorable, right?

Not only is this cute little bag handmade and locally made, but all of her products are made from upcycled materials.

I'm pretty keen on my new find.

You can check out b. bags on etsy and you can also visit her blog.

holiday handmade- part two

As I mentioned in my previous post, my co-workers and myself decided to give the gift of handmade this year! Check out the lovely gifts that I received.


A gift from Sarah

Sarah hand knit this beautiful scarf! It is so warm and so soft. Seriously, when I first felt it, I wanted to snuggle up with it in bed! I wore it many times in Milwaukee's bitter cold winter. The thing I love most about it is that it is long enough to wrap around my neck three times! Super cute and practical!

A gift from Lisa

Lisa always throws the most fun get togethers. All of her girl friends are tons on fun to be with and the food is always amazing! Knowing how much we all like her cooking, she made us all little recipe cards of her "signature" dishes. My favorites are her cheesy potatoes and her Red Lobster biscuits!

A gift from Heather

Heather gave another beautiful hand made scarf, a la Martha Stewart. It's not as warm as Sarah's, but it sure is fashionable! And, I must say, I love the color!

A gift from Nellie

Nellie's gift seemed to never end! She is our graphic designer and she was able to put her talents to good use. She made a whole coordinating desk set! She designed a list pad with a personalize picture, a pencil cup, personalized stationery, and cute matching desk clips inspired by Susy Jack. She even choose the exact same paper that I have used to decorate my house. Remember the magnet board? It's perfect!

A gift from Katie

What a fabulous idea! Katie was able to get her hands on some cut metal and created a recipe card holder from it. She even made personalized magnets for each one. Could she and Lisa have exchanged gift ideas? Because their gifts work perfectly together!

A gift from Tracie

OK, so Tracie didn't necessarily follow the handmade rule, but she did get me something that I can use to make more handmade items! Truth be told, I was having a pretty crummy day before our holiday party. To cheer me up, Tracie told me that she couldn't wait to give my my gift. What could it be? What did I want? Well, I knew I did not want anything in particular, so my guess was as good as any. I literally jumped out of my seat when I opened it! I love it so much!





And I really loved ALL of the gifts that I received. Each one was created or purchased with thought and love. I couldn't ask for anything more. I truly worked with some of the most amazing ladies that I have ever met.

holiday handmade and the stress of christmas

I can't even begin to describe the amount of stress that the holiday brings each year. I keep having to remind myself that my Christmas is super easy...I don't have family coming in town which means that my house really doesn't have to be as clean as it should be. I don't have that many people to get gifts for, just the fam. But all of that doesn't really matter because there still seems like there are a billion and ten things to do!

Some of which are (and need to be done this week if not within the next couple of days!)

• Finish making all of my gifts...only 4 or 5 more to go!
• Wrap all of the gifts and put them under the tree so that I can share a beautiful photo of my very first Christmas tree!
• Finish up a custom doll (okay, that needs to be done ASAP!)
• Finalize the design for my best friend's save the date/holiday card
• Re-design my holiday card and print it on my very new Gocco printer! (More to come about that...)
• Address and send out my cards.
• Stay sane.

Christmas is in 11 days from today. ELEVEN DAYS! I am spending Christmas this year in Houston with la familia and actually need to get all of this done in only 9 days. Whooped-de-do!

This year I decided to take the handmade pledge. What this means is that I have pledged to only buy handmade gifts or make my own gifts this year and have also asked for my friends and family to do the same. There are many reasons that I took the handmade pledge and here are a few:

• ONE: I'm broke. And making gifts is (sometimes) way less expensive.
• TWO: I hate the idea of junk. Just look around your house. How many things do you actually need? Very little. And how many gifts have you received in the past just because you want them? Probably a lot. Please don't get me wrong here, because there are tons of presents that I receive that I absolutely love and may not have any specific need for them, but I love them anyways. But buying handmade or creating gifts makes to really think about what you are giving.
• THREE: Handmade comes from the heart. Pure and simple. Handmade gifts take time, energy, and love to make.
• FOUR: They are unique and can be one-of-a-kind.
• FIVE: Handmade just rocks!

With all of that said, I have been oohing and awing over gorgeous embroidered hoops by designers all over etsy. I particularly like the designs by Chez-Sucre-Chez and September House. And so I made my own little embroidered hoops for my co-workers. I also thought that just a hoop wasn't really enough, so they each got their own matching embroidered tea towel! Each gift was made with lots of love and lots of thought!