A year in crafts

On this eve of a brand new year, I decided to look back at all the crafty goodness I created in 2008, only to discover it’s been quite a productive 12 months. Here’s a snippet…

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

It’s been an amazing year, but I have a feeling 2009 is going to be even better. After all, I’m getting married!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Foggy

I can’t believe Christmas is over already! We spent four wonderful days at my parents’ house up in Fernandina Beach, and although we were happy to get back home to Tampa (we missed our kitties!), we certainly wouldn’t have minded a few more days with the family. 

The weather was beautiful and sunny for most of the time we were up there, except for one foggy afternoon that we spent on the beach hunting for sharks teeth.

One of the gifts I gave my mom was a tote bag that she “ordered” from me at least six months ago.

She mentioned many moons ago that she wanted a tote bag with her first initial and a large front pocket. I found out what dimensions would work for her and tucked all that information away until Christmas, hoping she would forget that we talked about it.

I’m really happy with how the front pocket turned out, and I’d like to repeat that feature on totes I make in the future.

I’ve mentioned before (and I’m sure some of you fellow crafters have dealt with this as well) that some people don’t use the stuff that I make for them because they’re scared it’ll get stained or ripped. Although I make it a point to ensure that my pieces are durable and machine washable, and I truly hope that people get a lot of use out of them, I’m certainly not offended when someone treats a bib or an apron as decoration instead. It’s quite a compliment.

However, with my mom, I always know she’ll use what I make her. This tote will not hang untouched on a hook somewhere in her house. Nope. This tote will get used and filled with books and pens and worn out and covered in dog hair and thrown in the back seat of the car and washed and dried and used some more. And I love that!

Happy holidays!

Wishing everyone a cozy, warm, inspiring and very happy holiday season from Fat Orange Cat.

(I purchased this squishy, adorable ornament from Red Marionette, and I LOVE it!)

Eggnog

Our landlords, who live about 20 feet away from us, invited us to their holiday party last night. An hour or so into it, one of our landlords started telling his mom and sister about my sewing endeavors because his mom used to be a seamstress and his sister is into various other crafts.

They both wanted to see my stuff, so I walked them over to our apartment to show them my totes and aprons.

And you know what they did? They bought two bags! So one second, I was sipping some eggnog and hanging out at a party, and the next second, I was making two sales. Goes to show you never know when you might sell something. Also goes to show that you should always keep your apartment clean.

It’s starting to feel really festive around here. We’ve hung a wreath on our front door, we received a huge box of presents in the mail from Alex’s mom, and I’ve been wrapping all our gifts.

It already feels like vacation, but I have two more days of work before I’m officially on vacation until the new year. I love this time of year!

Break

I’ve had a nice break from sewing. It’s a relief to be able to relax at home without feeling guilty about wasting time by not sewing. I have presents to make, but I’ll get to them. In the meantime, I’ve been spending my evenings taking bike rides with Alex, going Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts. Today, I made a little house out of a cardboard box for the cats. And I believe that proves that I do, in fact, need a hobby. See what spare time does to me? Maybe I should get back to sewing.

Two more bags are now for sale in The Boutique.

This one:

And this one: