linques design speaks

ITouch Cozy

Mom, this is for you! Now you don't have to keep your ITouch in a sock! Hope you like it. It's a smidge short, but that's what happens when I don't measure and just eyeball things. The cozy is modeled by Derek's ITouch.

handmade gifts

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I sure did - and one of the best things about it was giving all of my handmade gifts. Here's a wrap up of them:

1. Beach Coasters

Made in Florida for my Grandma, who's condo we wonderfully get to use. She hasn't gotten to go down there in many years though, so all of these pictures are things from the condo. She said she recognized them right away!

2. Star Necklace

Made for a friend at work. I was so pleased to see her wearing it today; and not for my benefit but because she truly likes it!

3. Lavender Eye Sachet

Also made while in Florida. This was for my aunt who always asked me to make her an eye pillow. I never had a dried lavender source, but Derek found me some. The image is roughly based on one in The New Crewel, but I couldn't trace it (lack of lightbox) so I just did it freehand. The backing is just a tan floral print.

4. Needle Book

I won't lie, this was a gift for myself! But I really did need a needle book.

5. I won't even say it

This may be a conflict of interest. I live in Columbus, and some of you might know that OSU and Michigan are rivals. Fierce rivals. Derek is a Buckeye, so I do have loyalty to OSU, but not as strong as some. This is an embroidery done for a friend at work who is a Michagan fan. For Christmas, she gave Cosmo a Michigan sweater as a joke. I could have done an OSU embroidery, but I really wanted to give her something she could proudly display! The words are a little wonky because I traced this from the gifted sweater!

6. Embroidered Pillowcases

Probably the biggest hit of the year. These were made for my mom. I made a similar set to give as a wedding gift in October, and my mom couldn't stop talking about them. The inspiration came from here. I had gone through all of Alicia's blog last year, and I bookmarked this entry because I loved the pillowcases so much. Since the original ones I made were for a wedding present, I did them in cream linen thread on cream cases. I also cut down a lot of the pretty design. So glad you like them Mom!

7.  Girl Quilt

Made for my sister. You've seen pictures of it before, but I never did get a full shot of it. It was well appreciated; here is Katherine enjoying it right away-

And finally...

8. Boy Quilt

The back.

This quilt was finished in Florida. I had Derek come to the beach because I wanted a full length picture of it. If you can't tell, it was a little* breezy that day. (Yes, just a smidge!) I love this quilt. I wish I could have kept it! But then I wouldn't be able to see Mark open it:

All in all, I loved making these gifts. A lot of these were time consuming but so worth it. I made a few other things like drawer sachets, but nothing really amazing. I will definitely continue to make and not buy as many gifts as often as I can!

wishing you all...

a very Merry Christmas!

We're back!

What a wonderful vacation! So lucky to get (paid) time off, so lucky to have a condo waiting for us in FL! Gas and food are really the only expenses, and quite manageable. We had great weather for the drive down and back, and FABULOUS weather at the beach! In the 80's and sunny the entire time, except for the last day which was 60. I had time to embroider and craft, Derek had time to read and play his games, and Cosmo got to sleep in a new place! Here are some pictures; more to come about the trip later but for now it's time to eat!

Cosmo loves balconies, and this is the first time he wasn't scared of the one in Florida. Usually the sound of the waves freaks him out, but he was a very big boy. Only problem was the Red Tide which came a few days in, and made us all a little sneezy and coughy. Me and D could handle it, but not this little guy. Only a few minutes on the deck at a time, and only a few walks.

Here's proof of the Red Tide - if you look closely you can see Cosmo's about to sneeze!

holiday time

The tree is up! I've got lots of favorite ornaments on there this year. I think the best is a potato masher! And look at all the presents under the tree already!

Martha Stewart Crafts had a marathon on Thanksgiving day that I taped. One of the projects was glittered pine cones, which I had to make. I watched my brother and sister for a weekend, and they helped me collect these baby pine cones from the yard and then string them on thread. Katherine and I then glued and glittered them up. Love the way they ended up! I also got some pine cones from some trees around my apartment and made large glittered pine cones for a bowl on my table. The glitter sure is glittery!

Here's what I did yesterday:

I finally laid out the gift quilt and quilted it up. We moved around the living room, so there's not really any room to lay out a large quilt anymore. This was a tight squeeze. I taped the backing to the carpet--but I don't think I'll do that anymore. I think it actually caused puckers instead of keeping everything taut.

I guess you can't really see the puckers, but there are a few here and there. I think they'll be less noticeable once it's washed. I've done the binding and now all that's left is the hand sewing. I think that will be left for the car ride down to Florida.

We had our first snow last night/this morning. Let's just say I take one road to get to work and it usually takes 12 minutes. This morning it took 45.

Giving Thanks

Thank you all for being part of the blog world! To show some appreciation, I've created a special sale just for blog readers. I have just refreshed my website with new items, and added a special coupon code.

Get 20% EVERYTHING listed on my site from now until the end of the day Friday, December 7. There is no minimum order requirement, and you can use the code as many times as you would like. When checking out, enter the coupon code:

HolidayBlog

...and your order will automatically be disounted. The site will then take you to complete your order securely through PayPal.

Here's a peek at what's been added:

Regularly $18, but with the sale it's only $14.40!

Regularly $8, but with the sale only $6.40!

As always, everything ships free and will be ready to be gifted - either to yourself or a friend!

Hope you had fun!

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the jewelry party/trunk show this weekend! I hope you had a great time. I know I had a lot of fun!  Good food + good company + jewelry = nice afternoon. Congratulations to both Joyce and Terry, who won the gift certificate drawings! And to those who didn't win, I hope you're enjoying your take-away candles!

This was my final party of the year because of my schedule, but if you would like to have one (either at your home or online) next year, you can always e-mail me.

Here's my lovely assistant (sister Katherine) who was a big help. Thank you!

Today I will just be finishing up some special orders, and then I will do an update to the shop. I will only be able to accept orders until this Friday at 6pm to ensure holiday delivery. Once it's updated, I'll do a post, and *maybe* you'll also get a special sale coupon code! You'll have to wait and see...