Addiction: Craft Blogs

I am addicted to craft blogs. Most people begin their mornings by checking their email, but part of my morning routine is visiting my subscriptions on google reader. These women are seriously amazing!!! For most of them, being crafty is a full-time job: selling their products and patterns, writing articles for crafting magazines, conducting private classes, etc. And I have to remind myself of that frequently when I see my craft to-do list get longer and longer.

But over the holidays I knocked a lot of those craft to-dos off my list. It was great! And really quite relaxing. Although perhaps not for my mother since all of my stuff was spread all over her house for days... but I digress... The first craft on my list was the gathered clutch.

You've probably seen them and got scared off by either the ruffle or the zipper. Well, it was my first time for both techniques and honestly, those hurdles were pretty easy. The ones above were all Christmas gifts but I've made a couple more since then for roomies and baby shower gifts. Like I said, pretty easy. And really, really cute!








I also made an apron for my friend Regina. I'm not sure she's gone to Tucson yet to pick it up, so SURPRISE! This apron was a long-promised gift but I wasn't able to find a great fabric until a couple months ago. (Ignore the wrinkles ;))

 Check out those pockets... Yep, I used the same ruffle technique as the clutch! It's just a great detail and adds some fun texture.

Lastly I made some cards. Truth be told, I made LOTS of cards... Like over 50... I didn't count, I just felt it in my back :) I got this idea from a card my roommate received a couple months ago. It's so simple, like a mini-quilt.

Update:  Here's a picture of the cards I made over Christmas.  It's just squares of scrapbook paper and odd-buttons from my mother's button box.  I'll upload the pattern for it if anyone is interested.