Don’t buy this Christmas - make!
Felicity at Happiness-Studio has invited me to join her “Homemade is Best” campaign.
At this time of year, we all just hit the shops looking for presents.
I do it automatically. Why not stop and think first - could I make a gift myself?
I know a set of blank greeting cards like these from a previous post would be appreciated by most women. Maybe even some men! I’d enjoy making more of these and can think of lots of people I could give them to.
I’ve never made any jewelry for my sister-in-law. Perhaps it is high-time I did.
Who on your gift list would appreciate something homemade by you?
If you don’t have time to make it yourself, then you could at least support an artist or maker by purchasing direct from them. It is fun to go shopping at holiday markets and see what stuff people are making.
Felicity created the green gift image shown here. She is waiving her copyright, and invites anyone who wants to add it to their blog and write a post about making gifts, to do so. Just right click on the image and save it to your computer, then upload it to your own blog or website.

I’ve been toying with this idea of taking on a personal art challenge. Initially , I thought, “I wonder if I could make 100 art dolls in a year?”
There was a bead expo on in Melbourne last weekend, put on by The Bead Society.
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s biggest horse race on the first Tuesday of November, and I backed the winner this year: Efficient.
Here in Melbourne we had a glorious sunny day so at lunchtime I went into the backyard and flopped on my son’s trampoline. I stared up into the branches of our big oak tree and reminisced about the trees I had climbed during my childhood. We had a wonderful maple tree in our front yard. Our neighbors had good climbing trees, too. I especially remember a tall pine I used to love to climb high into. I would sit up there swaying in the breeze and smell the pine needles.
This pendant reliquary (a relic container) and matching earrings were designed by Violette for her Shrines eClass offered through
I invited six girlfriends to my place this afternoon for a tea party. Each was instructed to bring a homemade treat and supply the recipe, to be emailed out to everyone afterwards.
Aisling D’Art is an artist AND an expert in Feng Shui. She wrote a great article for
Issue 4 of Astarte’s Mega-Zine is themed “Eye of the Soul”. It relates to the Joseph Joubert quote, “Imagination is the eye of the soul.”


