happy new year.....

.......finally!

I hate to say it, but I am so so so happy that the holidays are over. They were slightly traumatic for a variety of reasons and it took a while to recover from it all, but I'm finally feeling a little more like myself again!

The best part of my Christmas - I was too lame to add the button to my sidebar, but I did take the Handmade Pledge. Most of what I bought was from Etsy, craft fairs, or uncommongoods.com, which isn't technically within the rules, but is a very cool site that does carry lots of handmade and fair trade goods, and allows you to donate to various non-profits when you order. OK, dad did get the groovy wireless weather station from Brookstone, but I knew he would love and use it, so the spirit of gifting was intact there. He's getting a scarf soon, too :-)

Shopping from these amazing artists was so great because there was such a sense of personal connection with every transaction. The emails and notes and sweet little free gifts were such a change from the craziness of a normal holiday shopping season.

Shoutouts to a few of my favorite etsy sellers - Bread and Badger (cool etched glass), Tiddlywinks (sweet handmade stuffed animals), jdryerart (retro art prints), Paloma's Nest (gorgeous unglazed pottery and ornaments), and Bijoujuju (neato graphic pendants). I also picked up some calendars from a graphic artist I've been following for a while, JHill Design. Read her blog, Places I've Never Been. So very cool.

Knitting is happening. I've been really unhappy with my photos recently so I'm going to try to upgrade my setup (not my camera, I like it just fine. I just need to find a place with better light!) I'm through the hard stuff on Cherie Amour, I think, and I'm trying to line up my next few projects. I have some specific knitting goals for 2008, so we'll see how that goes!