For the Alphabet Inchies Swap! Somehow, I got myself placed in the "Naughty" group, so there's a bit of, erm, a mature theme to some of the inchies.
CM's Inchies - D, J, P, V
DN's Inchies - C, I, O, U
CY'S Inchies - F, L, R, X
NK's Inchies - A, G, M, S, Y
AL's Inchies - B, H, N, T, Z
HS's Inchies - E, K, Q, W
And here are a few inchies that were made as I was racking my brain for suitable themes for the alphabet inchies swap :)
Three ATCs for the Ongoing ATC Swap!
Birdie Zentangle - Bristol board, gel pen.
Language Cogs - Chalk ink, pigment ink, pages from foreign language books.
Hussy's Kisses - Aluminium foil, computer printout label, scrapbooking paper, chalk ink.
I do most of my fiber dyeing either via the microwave method or via the steamer method. One of the gals mentioned something about dyeing fiber in the oven (5/50) and of course, I had to try it. Love the method, love the results. I now have another way to colour my fiber! This batch of soft squishy merino roving is mostly for a swap, but I also kept a 4 oz piece to play with.
Braided!
Labeled!
Made a bunch of project bags (4/50) for holding a variety of smallish WIPs...some for swaps, some to give away, and a couple for myself. Keeping in line with my goal to do something with my rather significant fabric stash, I managed to use up about 3 yards of fabric for these! Awesome! Most of the lot managed to skip town before the camera was found...but here are a few that stayed put. 
And in other news, my lovely swap partner, SC (whom I sent a trio of project bags to) made me a couple of kiwi stuffies! Love, love, love them. The brown one has a bit of dried lavender stuffed in his erm, tushie (which oddly smells divine) and the bright and colourful kiwi has a glow-in-the-dark stick of a beak! They make quite the handsome couple, no?
As usual, I slacked off in the picture-taking department...but I had a blast meeting up with CD (a fellow crafter I've corresponded with for the past 5 years or so!) for a weekend filled with good conversations, dubious food, neat finds and c-r-a-f-t-i-n-g. Yes, crafting!
After a wee bit of dodgy furniture moving from my room, down the hallway to CD's room, we had ourselves a lovely work space for papercrafting (check out CD's awesome blog for erm, the incriminating pictures). We worked on ATCs, inchies, and I started on a couple of possibilities for chunky houses...but we had the most fun coming up with themes for the inchies. CD kindly offered to help me out with a swap assignment (though I felt guilty enough when I got home to realise I need to get them done myself :P)...so here are the inchies we made:
CD, the prolific inchie-maker's masterpieces:
My meager number of inchies:
And of course, we thought it would be fun to do a collaboration of sorts, so here's my side...
and here's CD's side!
But that's not all! We also found time to work on some wrapped rings (erm, still looking for these because they seem to have gone a-hiding...) and my first punch needle embroidery project!! CD was an excellent teacher. Not only did I learn a few neat tricks about embroidery, I actually enjoyed embroidering! Unreal.
On to pictures of the finished project. Yes, I love me some shroom! The bright colours make it a cheerful piece, and the bobbles and rick-rack (which I happened to have in my stash) seemed to be the perfect finish for the tin.
A lovely pattern by Rebeka Lambert that I've been meaning to try for ages. This weekend seemed like a good time to do that...especially since it's horribly cold outside, and also because I already have all materials needed for constructing the bag (ah, the merits of having too much fabric). I decided to use a fine wale corduroy for the exterior. The finished bag was approximately 12 by 13 inches, and I'm definitely likeing the long handle strap. Good design! I don't usually care much for using patterns, but this one was a piece of cake to work with! 
Whee! I'm back from the STS meet-up in Vegas, and boy did we have fun! Aside from the usual Vegas hijinks, we also managed to fit in some quality crafting time. Before the meet-up, I was frantically working on small craft items (1/50 in 2010) to gift, AND a medium item (2/50 in 2010) for the white elephant gift exchange. Talk about swap anxiety! I knew I had to up my game because I was meeting up with a bunch of seriously talented crafters!!!
It took me awhile to figure out what to make, and I finally settled on sewing a bunch of pochettes (aka 1/50 in 2010). I don't have any pictures of the ones that were given to the girls, but here are examples of some that I made this week:
In the exchange, I received a plethora of small crafted goods from everyone...
My contribution to the white elephant gift exchange, was a knitted scarf (aka 2/50 in 2010) using the April Showers Scarf pattern. Being the procrastinator that I am, I was only 85% done with the scarf when I boarded the plane for Vegas. Thankfully, due to a significant delay in my travel plans, I finished the scarf in time for the swap. Oy vey.
Image provided by NP
And I managed to snag a couple of skeins of squishy yarn in the gift exchange!!
Other highlights of the weekend included...
A buffet of craft supplies looking for new homes...
Image provided by CDM
A mini felting marathon led by NP, in which I completed my first felt!
A duo of cards (destined to be framed and hung in my work office) that I purchased from a local artist at the First Friday event!
I can't believe how much we did in one wee weekend!!!
A trip out West inevitably translates to a shopping spree of sorts. I figured I might as well stock up on things that aren't readily available at home.
Who can resist Japanese craft p*rn?!?
Yeah! My favourite craft magazines!
Something to help me beef up my knowledge about bookbinding!
I've pretty much limited my stamp purchases to cling stamps because they don't take up as much storage room as regular stamps. At least that's what I keep tellin' myself.
Adding to my collection of fabric inks and inks for altered art!
OMG yarn of 80% baby alpaca/20% bamboo in a neutral mustard shade. The moment I picked up this yarn, I couldn't stop, erm, fondling it. I also picked up some bamboo needles because I thought I might want to knit while I was on vacation....but that didn't happen. 
Gobs of trim and a new ruler!!!
And then, there was fabric *sigh* Lots of fabric *embarrassed*
A canvas panel and waffle weave fabric
Fat quarters
1/2 yard cuts
1 yard cuts
2 yard cuts
2.5 yard cuts
5 yard cuts
I have some plans for the larger cuts of fabric (a kimono? some totes? pj pants? sarongs?) but the smaller cuts are "just because they're purdy" buys. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how much fabric I purchased, but I think I'd rather not know!
I don't usually bother with resolutions, but craft-related resolutions might be doable. So in random order, here goes...
#1 Use my craft books to create items (and not just for their craft p*rn value)!
#2 Destash. Destash. D-E-S-T-A-S-H.
#3 Make a conscious effort to curb impulse purchases of craft supplies.
#4 Make a list of Christmas projects right now!
#5 Start and finish at least 50 unique projects in 2010!
#6 Learn how to bind books. Properly.
#7 Find a charity or special needs group to craft for.
2010 is gonna be a fabulous start to a new decade!