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All posts for the month September, 2015

ToT card

Here’s the first make of the season. It’s a set of four note cards, blank inside, with custom envelopes. I haven’t figured out how I’m giving things away this year, because I’m not sure how much I’ll do…

…which leads me to the why: I hurt my punchin’ arm.  It started a couple years ago, and I thought it was amongst the usual aches of aging. I tried lots of stuff to treat it, most recently adding special exercises to my usual workout. And if it were just me getting old, well, that should have been more effective.  Yes, I have an appointment with a highly recommended doc. So highly recommended that I can’t get in until November.

Painting, drawing, sculpting, carving–almost everything I like to do–is what makes it flare. So I’m limiting those activities to stuff I absolutely must get done. What I can do is stamp and glue and use my paper trimmer. I can even use my sewing machine. I can probably do other stuff I haven’t thought of yet. So this year, it’s paper crafts, fabric, and other assemblage-type things. I shall have to use my imagination, but I’m pretty good at that.

Loot!

I should have posted this last week–haven’t been on the computer much.

I don’t join a lot of swaps. In fact, it’s usually one per year. This year, I was invited to a private swap by a friend, and I couldn’t resist.

Thing is, when I’m in a swap, I get focused on making the thing I’m going to send, and I often forget that I will also receive something. So when my loot comes, it’s a lovely surprise.  This one was especially wonderful:

loot

Yes, it was a “secret pal” type swap, but my partner was easy to find–Mari Mortem made many wonderful things. And if you go over there right now, the first couple posts are about her process.

purse

I’d been planning to make a spooky purse–something small and cross-body. I never mentioned it anywhere, I swear! And yet, Mari sent this wonderful thing. It’s perfect, and I’ve started using it already. Also pictured is a lovely pair of leather bat wings. They are meant for boots, but I don’t have any (yet–I’ve been looking!). They are, however, the perfect size for a beardie costume, so I’ll be figuring out a mostly-non-annoying attachment so I can put them on the girls for Halloween pictures.

punkin charm

She also made a tiny pumpkin phone charm from polyclay. He’s delightfully spooky.

watercolor

The last of the handmade items: a really darling watercolor. I love the kitty–I can’t photograph it well enough so you can tell how nice it is in person.

There was also all sorts of other doo-dads–a bandanna, stickers, a cool box, a card, and more! What a joy it was to open. Thank you so much, Mari!