A Happy Homemade Christmas part 2 - handmade gifts

I am quite jealous of people that make things. I dabble - I try to cook, try to be crafty with my scrapbooking and so forth but have come to recognise my limitations. I'm no artist.

However, I love supporting people that are, and turn what was a hobby, passion or talent into their livelihood.

Here are some nice handmade things I've been browsing lately on Etsy. My guide for choosing presents for other people is: pick something I would want someone to give me!

 

Clockwise from top:

Floaty Feather Tea Towel Citron - from ElkhornDesign 

Vintage map organic cotton cushion cover - from mybeardedpigion

Funky teapots bag cotton hand stenciled print - from PrintingPretty

Resin bangle. pink orange yellow. sunrise. gloss. - from whizzbangle

Scarf Dahlia Wrap in espresso - from ElkhornDesign

Bec's Hummingbird fine art print - from kittensandcrumpets

 

So I think it's clear that I like things like vintage maps, tea, linen, birds and bright colours! 

Do you have a favourite handmade or bespoke crafter or artist? Tell me in the comments!

Life Lately

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Quite a few things have been happening around the traps lately.

I’m fully back into the work groove and really, really finding it boring. It’s such a First World whinge, but I can’t help it – I’ve been there almost a year and yes, they pay me well for what I do, but my role has become extremely repetitive.  I have been hanging on until the wedding so that I could get leave, and now that it’s all over I am looking to move on. I’ve applied for one particularly intriguing job I spotted yesterday, and am also going to recruit my cousin who works in HR to see if she can find me something were I actually have to use my brain to solve problems.

It’s quite an exciting time in our lives as I have been discussing with hubby how this is a time of change. All the projects and plans that we have been saying we’ll do “after the wedding” are now coming into focus. We now have the time and freedom to concentrate on those plans that have been placed on the backburner! For C, this entails putting his energy into his business, and for me it means focusing on my career path, and also starting the small business that I have been thinking about for quite some time. I’m going to open an Etsy shop!

That’s right, I’m going to turn my hobby of op shopping for vintage homewares and kitchenalia into a business, and sell some of the lovely things I find. I’ve done lots of research and am in the process of working out how to photograph my stock. Once this is done I’ll be one more step closer to opening. Watch this space. I’ve so excited about it, I’ve been sitting on this project for such a long time and haven’t talked about it with anyone besides hubby and my mother, so it’s great to finally share it with you all, my readers.

In other news, I’m slowly progressing in the laborious task of changing my name on everything. Still waiting for my “proper” marriage certificate from Births, Deaths & Marriages but I’m already asking for mail to be sent to me in my married name. It makes me smile when I get post with “Mrs” on it. Dorky but true.

This weekend we are going up to Toowoomba and the farm. We have an appointment to see our wedding photographers and I cannot wait to see all their pictures! We have ordered a gigantic expensive hard-paged (I don’t know how else to describe it – it has pages like cardboard?) album too so I’m hoping it might be ready. And then LOOK OUT, I’ll be scrapbooking up a storm with the proofs. Lucky I’m going on scrapbook camp again in June, I’ll have days to work on my wedding album projects! Yes, projects plural. I plan on making more than one for sure :p