(lizardpress)

(looky-loo letterpress)

In the spirit of buying handmade, here are some great holiday card designs from my favorite Etsy sellers:

(ink+wit)

(albee studio)

(enfin, la voila!)

Esty seller Corid made these adorable and affordable ($18) prints from a recent artwalk show he had in Palouse, Washington, anyone know where that is? The archival prints are based on his ink drawings on vintage paper with acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil and a white sharpie. The prints are laid over a tea stained layer which gives it that vintage look.

So my sister Britt writes me and asks if I like these handbags, then tells me that my Mom got me one for Christmas. They found them at the Sugarloaf Craft Festival in Maryland. Luckily they are super cute so I will be psyched to have one! Made by Janae Michelle, she uses vintage materials and recycled goods to craft these quality patchwork handbags. Oh and no one can keep a secret in my family at Christmas time.

The talented jewelry designer Alisha Louise has a beautiful new website and even more important is offering 20% off her designs! Use the coupon code gooddeals07* when you check out.

I’ve taken the Handmade Pledge and therefore if I am your Secret Santa, your friend or your family member you will be getting a really cool handmade gift for Christmas. I should probably mention it won’t be handmade by me, lucky you. I’m really excited because the greatest craft fair of all is headed my way just in time for the holidays.  The Bazaar Bizarre, the hippest of all hipster craft fairs! From their website: The Bazaar Bizarre began in 2001 in the Boston-area as a hodge-podge of friends and acquaintances cobbling together their handcrafted DIY wares to sell and staging an offbeat entertainment extravaganza. The San Francisco Bazaar Bizarre will be December 15th 11AM-6PM at the SF County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park ($1 admission).

Toronto based artists Alissa Coe and Carly Waito create small porcelain objects under the name Coe & Waito. Inspired by nature they hand finish each piece and some are embellished with silk screen decals. They have a delicate beauty and lightness I like. If you live in San Francisco you can find them at Rose & Radish or contact them directly to purchase.

I don’t like to mix business with pleasure or politics with anything, unless it’s a stiff drink, but these vote totes from Freddy & Ma are worth sharing. I like anything that makes politics less serious and at $25 you can feel even better about your purchase. Also check out the rest of Freddy & Ma for their great looking custom handbag designs and custom melamine plates!

Tia and I both flipped out over John Robshaw’s textiles for baby crib sets. You may recognize his patterns from Anthropologie, they carry some of his items. But now you can buy directly from the man on his new shopping website, including clothes, bedding, pillows and curtains. Inspired by his travels around the world his patterns are so rich and exotic all hand stitched, hand embroidered and printed on the finest cottons and linens, sigh…

It feels so great to give a great gift! I got the sweetest call from my friend Mallory yesterday. She said she was in tears when she unwrapped the personalized plate I sent for Kerris, her new baby girl. She said it was the most beautiful gift she had received for Kerris. I wish I could take the credit for making it too, but that goes to the uber-talented Mary Mar Keenan and her Purple Bird Designs. Her baby plates and bowls are the perfect size for little ones to use, or to hang as a decoration.

I’m thinking jewelry would make a nice birthday gift this year, just in case your initials are WDM, you are married to me and you’re reading this blog.

I spotted Cassia wearing one of these dainty four leaf clover necklaces by artist Amy Nordstrom, who, it turns out, has her studio in Sausalito. Apparently Amy has quite a loyal following and its easy to see why people would be drawn to these delicate pieces. She uses 18k yellow gold and semi-precious stones in her work. Check out her website for where to buy.

Natalie and I once went on a camping trip in Big Sur with our boyfriends. Being in our early 20’s and rookie campers we thought it would be a wise idea to take four HUGE bottles of cheap red wine with us. Little petite Natalie got stuck carrying them up 8 miles of steep terrain with no help from the boys. She never complained and I think she made it to the top before anyone else. So it’s no surprise that she is now fronting a successful jewelry business, Nat Frasca, with designs as delicate and strong as she is.

I thought I’d share a picture of my chair living happily in our book nook. Maglie made a pillow for me out of the extra pinwheel fabric and gave it that finishing touch.

My friend Cassia, co-owner of the fab Sausalito boutique Green Apples, turned me on to the recently launched online boutique Tobi. The talented gals at Azalea SF are behind it. They have a great selection of designers but what caught my eye was the Eco-Tobi section filled with eco-friendly designers in skincare and fashion. They carry the hottest brands from Bono’s Edun line to Korres, the must have body care line from Greece. These dresses from Doie, made of bio-degradable bamboo jersey have my name written all over them.

All those hours logged on the bus home from work this year gave me a lot of time to read. I thought it would be fun to put a photo collage together to remember my favorites.

A few I chose because I am a fan of the author: Barbara Kingsolver, Ian McEwan, Joan Didion and Tom Wolfe or they came highly recommended: The Dirt, Searching for the Sound, Drop City and The Glass Castle (thanks Carter, Mikey B and Sam Chen). Some I chose for the media hype and was glad I did: Water for Elephants and Prep. And lastly I Feel Bad About My Neck, by Nora Ephron, a book about getting older, being a woman, menopause and empty nests, that was given to me by the hubs on my 33rd birthday, which made me laugh. Oh and lastly The Sportswriter because the hubs loves Richard Ford and insisted it was a must read, it was good but definitely a man novel.

I adore the latest Amy Butler pattern for her Gum Drop Pillow, seen on blogger Yvestown, who made her own, below.

Maglie get your sewing machine out, cause once I buy some fabric from the neat-o Japanese fabric spot SuperBuzzy, we’re making a pouf!

Yvestown’s Gum Drop

Check out one of Maglie’s latest creations

The hubs and I are determined to renovate our little guest bath. We’ve taken a free tiling course at the Depot and bought a beautiful pedestal sink and faucet on sale, so with the help of a how-to-book and some major patience we should be set to go. All that’s left is picking the tile and deciding on a wallpaper, yes wallpaper. I think it will make the bathroom look very glam. Here are a couple of great wallpaper sites.

Alpha Workshops, a not-for-profit that trains and employs people living with HIV/AIDS in decorative arts, makes these hand-painted wallpapers using a combo of stamping and faux painting techniques. They also offer custom colors and sizes.

This one’s easy to remember, Wallpaper from the 70’s. I love these so much I might need to marry them.

I’ve posted about Frazier & Wing previously but wanted to share her latest White Mobile Collection. With Winter upon us these white mobiles would be a nice addition to your standard holiday decorations but pretty enough to keep up all year round. Made from heavy stock white and colored artist paper which is handcut into multi shaped elements with your choice of accent color. Below is a snap of her multi-colored mobile made from recycled magazine pages.