Dried leaves piled into a bowl have that holiday spirit. I picked leaves off my fruit tree and dried them under a heavy sheet (that allowed the edges of the leaves to curl a bit, giving the leaves a holly feel). They are too delicate to string into the garland, so the alternative is this arrangement that reminds me of a wreath. Love!

I found this little tree with birds in it at a thrift store. It was painted black (yuck) and lacked personality. I took it home and repainted it (above) and added a bit of t-shirt yarn that resembles both a nest and a scarf. Love it!

A waterless snow globe: miniature tree, tiny gifts and kosher salt captured in an inverted glass and glued to a glass coaster. The gifts roll around in there to my delight.

The Ladies and I made holiday decorations this weekend. Suz was on a roll and made a wreath for every room in her house and inspired me to make one for my front door. Of course it had to have a bird on it…

We are fortunate to have citrus trees in our garden not only for the obvious reasons, but the limbs naturally die off leaving beautifully curved branches that are easy to harvest. They are close to the ground and break off in my hand. I chose ones that curved the most and lashed them together with sisal twine.

Those of you following me may have been wondering where I’ve been. I have the most spectacular news…but first, the non-news…

For the Holidays, my theme is buttons! I wouldn’t normally take myself for a button person, but after I started making my own out of clay, felt and (pictured above) screen printed fabric I was hooked. Now I search thrift stores for the coolest buttons to fill out the collection.

You may remember my foray into wallet making. I started with Vinyl (read about it here) then graduated into sewing felted wool sweaters. Pictured at left is one of my wallets with a sculpted porcelain button. I’ll have this and others for sale at the upcoming Crafteria at Frances. Cyndi and I were thrilled to be of of the 40 chosen out of the 150+ makers who applied. It takes place the First Friday in December~
Friday, December 3rd, 6-9pm. Below is the close up…

Finally, my favorite of all my current makes~the button bracelet. All my buttons come together in one fun grouping that are selling like hot-tamales this season. I thoroughly enjoy the process of choosing and tying these little bundles of delight. They are available on my Etsy site >> Click here!

Okay, now the big news. Let me start out by saying that I am a graphic designer by education and trade. I gave it up five years ago because I no longer found it fulfilling or fun. Since then I have painted large canvases that hang in private collections and several galleries around the country, written a novel, got hired by Provo Craft to create crafting content (how-tos), and remodeled a vintage Airstream to inspire my creative heart. As for working in the design community~I never looked back.Then, a few weeks ago, the most extraordinary connection happened and I was asked to join the creative team at philosophy inc.

I never expected to find such an awesome group of people in my life. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work for a premier skin care company with the nicest, most talented people I have ever met. So, in light of that, I may not be posting as regularly as I used to. I’ll keep you posted on my making, though. Tune in soon~

xoxSarah