Because I'm in the Holiday Spirit

There's still plenty of time to get cute stocking stuffers and gifts for awesome people at my shop, and you can save 15% all weekend while you're at it.

Shop Update

I added a couple of new pocket journals to the shop last night, and I'll be working on more this weekend.

It's funny to me that I took these photos on the same day, only minutes apart with the same camera settings and the same background, yet the light is totally different.

Hope your weekend is filled with lots of relaxing good fun. xo, Mary

Ornament Swap

Because I can never be involved in too many artsy things, and because I most likely will never conquer the arduous task of going to bed at a sensible hour (and thus need artsy things to occupy my time in the wee hours of the morning), I signed up to participate in a blogger ornament swap last month, organized by Micaela of Dolce Vita. I was paired with Dawn, the book fiend behind the blog, Candidly Clyde. I knew I wanted to incorporate books into her ornament; that was a no-brainer. Then I read her blog a bit and discovered she also loves cats and the color red. I added reindeer antlers on the cat and sparkly stars because that just makes everything Christmasy to me.

Dawn broke the rules a bit (which instantly endeared her to me) by sending two ornaments; both are adorable. She said she'd never worked with felt before but decided to give it a go knowing how much I love it.

She also included this sweet vintage Christmas postcard. I think next year I will probably participate in more swaps like this one as it was a lot of fun and a great way to meet other bloggers.

Have you guys done any handmade swaps this year?

Scenes from Life

I found a bunch of photos from last summer that I never posted. Sometimes, looking back at summer adventures is just the thing to brighten up a rainy dreary December day.

Stocking Stuffers

I've mentioned before how I love stocking stuffers: something about lots of small, cute gifts is endlessly appealing to me. Here's a collection of pretty things for every style and taste (and everything is under $20):

Hand soap (hee hee) from foliage

Hand-calligraphed notecards from sparrownestscript

Silver bow earrings from RingBinder

Polaroid magnets from paintedfishstudio

Illustration postcard set - pick any five by minifanfan

For lip balm addicts - pick 5 from Flourish bath & body

Shop Update

I've added lots of new stuff to My Hideaway this week: two ornaments, three hand-illustrated journals, and a flower brooch.

I've been buying lots of stuff on Etsy too lately, mostly gifts for my family and boyfriend, but a couple of things for me too, which I'll share soon. (Thanks to Melissa for the "Shop Handmade" button I added to my sidebar, which I am definitely doing this Christmas!)

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! xo, Mary

Free Printable Holiday Cards

I was working on a hand-lettered holiday card recently, and it didn't turn out exactly as planned (mostly because I was using a heavily textured paper). This one:

Rather than scrap the whole thing, I thought I'd add a fun background and make a couple of free printable holiday cards for you to download. They aren't perfect, but if you find yourself writing the last card in the box and realize you still have several more people on your list, pop some nice paper in your printer and there you go!

Red Holiday Card

Green Holiday Card

These are pdfs sized at 8.5" x 11", but if your paper is smaller, you can always check the box in your settings marked "shrink to fit" or "fit to printer margins." This is the first time I've uploaded pdfs to Google Docs, so if it doesn't work, please let me know!