Unicorns

Dear Kelly,

I have a running joke with someone I work with about how when things get lost in cyberspace, they're somewhere with the unicorns and kittens. I decided I need to cross-stitch unicorns:



Love,
Shayne

PS I must stop being lazy and get out my real camera instead of using the one on my phone!

Harry Potter Letters

Dear Kelly,

Later this month, my sister and I are taking Sam and my oldest nephew, Dylan, to Universal Studios Orlando, which includes the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We are all super excited and I decided to make us all official Hogwarts acceptance letters like the ones Harry gets in the first book/movie.

At first I thought I would need paper and envelopes that were or looked like parchment, but I watched the begining of the movie and decided that some cream cardstock would be fine. I found that in the stationery section at Joann's. It took me about a billion years to get the right settings in Word to print on the envelopes, but I now have the A2 settings saved for future use.



For the envelope seals, I couldn't find a brass H, so I bought a fun rubber stamp alphabet stamp set which worked just as good. I already had dark red wax seals, but it took awhile to melt them because I couldn't find my heat gun and had to use a hair dryer instead.



I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and hope the boys think they're fun.

Love,
Shayne

LWA at Renegade SF

Dear Shayne,

This past weekend, I went to Renegade SF. As always, it was truly amazing -- I think it's my favorite craft fair. I saw many of my favorite bloggers and artists -- so great to see work in person that I've only seen online before.

I didn't buy too much -- perhaps I was overwhelmed at all the goodness. (Sometimes I get like that and cannot focus enough to buy things -- is that weird?)

But I did stop in at 16 Sparrows, home of the Letter Writers Alliance and I met the lovely and charming duo behind those endeavors, Donovan and Kathy. They were just as great in person as they seem online (and via real mail!)

They were giving out little envelopes of goodies for LWA members:


Inside was a sweet message and fun ephemera:


I also bought a little box of stickers from them -- you'll be seeing some of this in your mailbox at some point, I'm sure:


The other items I bought were also mailables and probably coming your way soon, so I'll hold off on showing them to you.

After Renegade on Saturday, I had a fun crafternoon with my crafty buddies on Sunday (Hi, Jan, Jocelyn, and Hollie!) so it was an all-around craft-astic weekend. Whee!

love,
kelly

A little giveaway

Dear Readers,

I got this book, didn't care for it and can't return it.

Create personalized mementos for your favorite people

• Turn favorite pictures and objects into one-of-a-kind gifts to treasure
• 13 fun projects easy enough to complete in a day or a weekend
• Personalize your projects the easy way with your digital camera, scanner, printer, or all-in-one

If you'd like it, leave a comment and I'll pick a winner at random on Monday.

Love,
Shayne

Hole-y Scarf!

Dear Shayne,

WOW. This week, I finally finished knitting a scarf that I have been fooling around with for... oh, at least 3 years (!!!) I posted an in-progress shot of it on our blog back in Sept '07, and it looks like I first mentioned it on Ravelry in July of that year.

I say again: WOW.



I have, of course, completed many other projects during that time. I just couldn't get into working on this one -- tiny needles and a somewhat tedious pattern. But now that it's done, I'm happy with it. (And, also, happy to be done with it.)

What are you working on these days?

love,
kelly