tidings

God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy.

Merry Christmas, all! Wishing you all a holiday of remembrance, comfort, and joy.

(Expect regular posting to resume sometime within the next week, including more pictures of the Jane Austen bridesmaid dress!)

flurries

Both the snow kind and the activity kind!

First off, a big thank you and hello to all my new visitors! Yesterday, the Marta purse was featured on Etsy's front page, as a part of a treasury made by Spongetta. It's such an honor to have my work featured among such beautiful pieces. Unfortunately, I was out for the day and missed seeing it myself! Casey was kind enough to capture it for me, though, and you can view the treasury itself here.

So what between filling orders and finishing this bridesmaid's dress, I've become quite the busy bee! Thankfully I've got a pretty good head start on my own Christmas shopping. Still, my week is pretty packed, and so in case I don't "speak" to you all before then: Merry Christmas!

Christmas time is here . . .

Note: I had this post typed up last Thursday night, and then I fell off the face of the earth. Actually, it was hardly that dramatic, but almost as stressful - company, unexpected weather, and lots of work (subbing and a last-minute dress commission). Sorry for the absence!

Christmas time is here . . . Happiness and cheer . . . Isn't that such a great song? For me, it perfectly captures the soft, subtle excitement that creeps over me as the Advent season approaches. And links like these only add to the excitement!

• Simple and elegant gift wrapping ideas from A Little Hut (3 separate links). Keep an eye on this one, she's promised more!
• Lime and red: a fresh twist on the traditional color scheme
• I've always disliked earmuffs, but one look at these was enough to stop me in my tracks AND change my mind. The store offered a much wider range of cheery tweeds. Way over priced, but these shouldn't be impossible to make, right?
• Easy and adorable stacking trees. It doesn't get much easier than that, does it? Check out Calvin's version!
• Last year I was fascinated by 3D snowflakes, this year it's paper ornaments that are just as cool and even easier
• And finally, isn't this photo from Jenny enough to get you into a creative Christmas mood? If not, check out her one-hour challenge!

Note2: At this point in the post, I began to innumerate my Christmas project ideas, along with a slight musing on how busy life gets and how little I actually accomplish. I consider the events of this last week proof of that musing, and shall henceforth not tell of my projects until they are DONE.

Merry Christmas crafting, all!

enchanting enchanted

Alright, so the Christmas links will have to wait until later this week. I'm coming across so many lovely ideas and inspiration, I'm having trouble editting my list! My own head is spinning with ideas and inspiration as well - we'll see what comes of it all! In the meantime, I can deliver on the promised movie review:

So after the company had left on Thanksgiving, the four of us rolled over to see Enchanted. I'd been looking forward to this one since the trailer first came out this summer, and overall I'd say it didn't disappoint. Amy Adams was the perfect Disney princess, and the only criticism for James Marsden as the archetypal prince was that he a had a trifle too much personality.

Nathaniel: Sire, do you . . . like yourself?
Prince Edward: What's not to like?

Prince Edward: I don't know what 'melodramatic' means.

It ended up being slightly more chick-flicky and less spoofish than I would've preferred, but still a great film. If you're at all a Disney fan, you'll smile at the many classic touches. And it won't take a genius to figure out my favorite part (click if you have no objections to spoilers). I highly recommend! Warning: the soundtrack WILL be stuck in your head for days.

open for business

It's here! The Felicitous shop is open for business!

Featuring, of course, my cabled bags. I decided to offer just the purse size, since so many people expressed concerns over the sturdiness of a tote (actually, I have a tote that I made for myself and it's held up great - but if a buyer has concerns they won't buy!). I figure if these go over well I'll work on a tote design for the spring.

For the holiday line I've offered four new designs, but there are only a couple of each design available, so take a look!

Thanks so much, all of you, for your encouragement and help throughout this process. I couldn't have done it without you. I'm going to take a good Sabbath-rest tomorrow. Expect me back on Monday with some Christmas links, plus a mini-review of Enchanted! Have a great weekend, all!