Yay!  I’m super excited about these!  I’m totally thrilled with how they turned out; I hope you like them.

“Our Tree Dresses” is my latest hand-drawn illustration, set on lovely light blue-gray Canson paper.   Pretty gold glitter toppers too.  I would love a hat like that!

The size A1 (3.5×5″) cards are professionally printed on 100% recycled card stock with soy inks.  Each card has a matching kraft envelope which is also 100% recycled.  I guess you could say I was going for a “green” Christmas, hee hee.

Oh!  And included in each set are red & white candy button seals to pretty up your envelopes.

I have sets in 2 sizes: 5 card and 10 card sets.  The 5 card sets come specially wrapped like a sweet treat:

Quantities are limited this year.  Ah, here’s the back view:

If you want 3 or more of the 5 card sets, please let me know, and I can give you a fabled needle discount.  Just email me or contact me through le form.

» See “Our Tree Dresses” 5 Card Sets here.

» And see the 10 Card Sets here.

Happy Halloween!

Spoo Kee and I will be hibernating mostly this weekend, getting some rest; maybe we’ll do a wee bit of sewing, kick up some leaves and possibly hand out chocolates to little ghosts from our cauldron of sweets.

Oh, and readying our holiday card sets to be posted to le shop!  We’re super excited about sharing them with you.

Have fun and be safe!

Here it is again, my Paperclay Mushroom Tutorial.  I do advocate the making of mushrooms as there’s something very meditative about it.  The shaping is fairly easy and mindless.

For this year’s holiday season I made some in pink with sugary tops. (I simply dusted hem with clear glitter right after I applied the clear acrylic varnish to the caps.)  Oh, and while you are waiting for them to dry, you could be making something in the crock-pot, perhaps a stew with mushrooms in it.  Or a mushroom salad.  OR a mushroom loaf!  Now THAT would be fun.

(If you don’t believe how fun this is, check out this crafty gal’s mushrooms for more inspiration!)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year so far! Thank you for the holiday wishes too.br /br /I must say I’ve enjoyed taking a little break from the computer (in some respects - I’ve pretty much had to work through the holidays). I wanted to say hello to all of you lest you think I’ve fallen off the planet or, perhaps more fittingly, down the rabbit hole.

As with most new toys my new camera has been on many outings with me and snapped many random things. (Isn’t that what most new cameras do?) I’ve complained about my camera plenty of times on this blog, haven’t I? Well, I can’t really do that anymore! (Thanks sweetie.)

The first photo is sunset southbound over the Grapevine. (A.k.a. “The 5″ freeway.) I always appreciate a beautiful sunset or sunrise on a trip, it seems to foretell good things ahead. And I especially love the distinct bug splat on the windshield - that’s what you get with 10 megapixels.

One of the first photos I took was of this macaroon below from Boule. Their rose macaroons are my favorite and I love how they manage to add a sprinkle of edible pixie dust on all of them. Sparkles really make things more special.

We spent Christmas in the Bay Area and that Friday my boyfriend and I went to the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences. I thought this roof garden was kind of neat - I guess it acts as a natural air conditioner among other things.

Overall it was a bit disappointing. Since I grew up in the Bay Area, a trip to the Academy was a once or twice a year experience and, well, it just isn’t the same. It’s all so very modern and lacks a lot of the old, early 20th century charm.

Taking down the Christmas tree was always a little sad but this year it felt different; It was more of a ritual of hope and new beginnings. I look forward to things to come and spending a little time in blogland with you!