A Variety Of Craftiness

For the past couple of months I haven't been too crafty. I do pick up my stitching on some evenings, but getting things done in the craft room has not happened. Working some extra hours, and working different times has thrown my routine off completely. I guess I'm one of those people who thrives on routine!

I did do some sewing for a gift at Christmas. I made this project bag for my group's December stitch day. As I mentioned in the past, we exchange gifts at each stitch day, and I thought that someone would really like this.

I used the Twisted Stitcher's project envelope instructions for this, and love the way it turned out. Because of a weird early snow, we had to postpone our special Christmas extravaganza stitch day until January. And that suited us just fine!

I opted for a magnetic snap for the closure for this one. You can get them very inexpensively at Amazon.

The snap shows on the outside of the project envelope so I needed something pretty to cover it. I looked around at Joann's and didn't find anything, but when I looked through my own jewelry making supplies, I found this! I think it's a connector of some sort, but it worked out perfectly because I could sew it right over the snap.

Don't you just love the lining fabric? You can't see it here, but it's sparkly!

Meanwhile, other people have been crafty! Here's another edition of Other People's Creations.
In case you're not familiar with this feature of my blog, I'll explain. Occasionally I like to show what other crafters are doing. They are mainly friends of mine and I do have some talented friends!

Let's start with some knitting. My daughter in law, Stephanie, always amazes me with her knitting skills. She was working on this sweater when she and Matt visited for Christmas, and recently sent me this photo of her completed project.

Wow, right? Not only is it something that can be worn, it's incredibly detailed. I haven't mastered knitting, so this to me is wonderful. As are these socks.

See, I told you she is amazing. I'd say she has a gift for knitting.

My sister, Sheila, crafted a beautiful gift for each of us at stitch day.

She made these rose ornaments out of polymer clay. Again, this photo doesn't show the real beauty of this flower. They're luminous and kind of iridescent, as well as very detailed. What a lovely gift to receive!

And all of us Sisters In Stitches were lucky to receive another wonderful handmade gift.

Thea presented us with these sweet pin cushions. She used deep red velvet fabric and a pretty button to crown the top.

This pin cushion is very solid as it's filled with a combination of emery and crushed walnut shells.

How lucky are we to receive handmade gifts? As crafters/sewers/stitchers, we all know what goes into handmade items, so it's pretty special to be gifted with something that someone made.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the craftiness of my friends and family, as well as my own! Please stop by again. I still need to find a good balance of work and working on my own creative projects. So hopefully, I'll get back to more regular posts. Watch for my Wipocalypse post coming at the end of the month for my stitching progress! Until then, have a great week!