RubyKitty

A really great bag. (I agree about the lack of snacking while crafting. If I'm not sewing I'm nose deep in the biscuit tin. Just one more reason to make things ...)

That's a great shade of green, and the butterfly detailing is really lovely. A fab slouchy bag.

Really pretty choice of colours.

Very original and good choice of colours. Really nice work.

Ahhhh! These are so cute. Really sweet little gifts for Easter.

So colourful and really pretty. Bet they taste good too!

These catnip mice would be a great present for a new cat owner, or half a dozen would be a good donation to a local animal shelter. Those kitties must get a bit bored waiting to be re-homed.

Good idea, and really nice clear photos.

Gorgeous colours, so lively. A great quilt.

What a great idea. These look so effective, especially when grouped together. Very impressive.

That's a fun idea. The camera cases you usually get are just boring black or grey, so these are a nice change.

Really like the idea of embroidering them. I'm so pleased embroidery has got stylish again after years of being relegated to a dull 'granny craft'. (Sorry to any grannies out there, but you know what I mean!)

Great colours. I made a rag rug ages ago, just plaited lengths of rags then sewed them into a coil and kept going until I ended up with something bath mat sized. The resulting rug was very tough and lasted years and years.

Love the bag. It's funny and quirky, and I bet you won't see another like it!

I had to make the sad (but right) decision to have my elderly cat Caesar put to sleep a few months ago. I'd owned him (as much as anyone can be said to own a cat!) for about 15 years, so it was a big wrench. I miss the sweet, funny fella and totally understand how upset you are. Grief over a pet dying is real grief. They do become a part of your family, and they're such unique personalities they're not easy to replace.

The mighty Amazon also have some books based on Marie Claire Idees - one out already about bags, some more look as though they're due out in early 2009.
Something more to save up for!

Beautiful colours, really vibrant.

That's such an elegant design, it looks really effective.

They're pretty, and practical too!

What a goreous looking place, and with that fantastic lion display. How could anyone fail to be inspired by those colours and textures?

What a great quilt, and in years to come it'll really spark lots of memories of an exciting time for the U.S. I love quilts that tell a story.

I love the way you give away so many patterns. It's a very generous thing to do.

It's so funny and clearly very well made. It would make a great cat bed too.

Looks very snuggly and perfect for wintry days. Such a straightforward pattern too. I bet it's really quick to knit.

Lovely, vibrant colours. (Never figured out why children get lumbered with so many dull pastel shades of plain blue or pink.)

Ahhhhh! What a cutie! It's a lovely outfit, I hope it still fits next year so it can get a second outting.

Beautiful choice of colours. Great to see an original scarf design.

Love the poisoned lollypop. Really witty.

There's some great fabric to be found in old neckties, and they regularly appear in thrift shops. Often silk and in good condition, if just needing a wash. I've seen a lovely design for coin purses too with the pointy end of the tie making the fold-over part of the purse.
Love the wrist cuff.

Ahhh, bless! Aren't they sweet? I love making cute little projects that are just purely decorative. Practical things are great, but there's real fun to be had in just crafting for the fun of it.

Really like the yo yo choker. Striking and original work.

Very pleasing shape to this bag. Really lovely work.

Silver or gold thread or ribbon would add a lovely sparkly touch too.

Though I'm officially not even starting to think about Christmas until December, this is a fab idea. It looks lovely and I could see someone making it and bringing it out year after year. So much nicer than shop bought tinsel trees.

Ideal for the hippy chick in all of us :-)

Lovely material, and a good idea for keeping the dust off your machine.

Great mix of colours and sizes of beads in this bracelet. Like the sharp greens that really bring out the colours of the larger beads.

Another idea for an unwanted Scrabble set - I recently saw a magazine photo of a home interior. The owner had glued scrabble letters to the bathroom door - saying BATHROOM (naturally!) - they looked really good.
The scrabble tiles would look good as individual brooches too, with just a fastening glued on the back.

The pumpkins are particularly good. Really like those.

What a fabulously wacky bag. Original, great vibrant colours too.

Ahhhh, love the panda especially. Soooo sweet.

Great flowers. Making these kind of small projects gets really addictive, doesn't it? Hope you've put the flowers to good use - liked the suggestion about using them on barrettes.

What a great looking bag. Lovely colours.

Very pretty, with lovely flower detail.

I love the expression on this little guy's face. He looks rather grumpy about being disturbed from his slumbers.

Fab octopus, he's really an original. Very quirky.

Glam bag and glam outfit. I love forties films - such sharp looking women. Red's such a apt colour, like the pillar box red lipstick they'd wear.

Great scarf with the practical pockets, such a good alternative to carting a bag around.
The dead bunny scarf is funny and creepy, nice combination. And I agree about real fur that thankfully you don't see too much nowadays. No need for real fur with all the realistic imitations around now, as well as witty alternatives like your bunny scarf.

Luscious colours, really beautiful yarn.

Really like the cowl - looks very snuggly and cosy. I knitted some arm warmers recently, and they cover that chilly gap between your sleeve ends and your gloves beginning!

As you say, unique. So much nicer to wear a one-off crafted design than a High Street bit of plastic. Really pretty.

A magnet - what a good idea, hadn't thought of that when making a pincushion.

Really nice idea for using pretty buttons.

Lovely warm colours - not that nerve jangling Barbie pink that assails your eyes in the girls section of every toy shop. What a great keepsake for your daughter when she grows up.

Now, these I love! I've been seeing Matryoshka dolls in lots of places lately, and these are definately some of the nicest.

Ahh, they're really sweet. Such a good idea to personalize a shop-bought gift like a CD or DVD. The case could be adapted for all sorts of other gifts - small notepads, a couple of bangles, photos. Thanks for sharing this.

These look so useful and handsome too. I'm definately going to try making some.

Really vibrant flower colour and great design.

Lovely flower brooch, really pretty.

Wonderfully daft hat! What a great pattern.

Who needs more neutrals? The world is full of taupe and beige and harmless shades like that. Bring on the pink I say!!!

Great colours and designs, really exuberant and original.

Really nice colours and designs. They'd be much better than any shop bought tag I'm sure.

Great autumnal colours in the yo-yo bag, and it's such a striking pattern.

If nothing else, then at least crafting keeps us away from the TV with its endless doom mongering. If we're not going to lose our jobs and go bankrupt as a result of the recession then we're told global warming will be the end of us all. I think crafting calms the mind and is soothing, in the same way stroking a cat is soothing and literally lowers the blood pressure. I remember seeing a video about quilting and an elderly lady in the US deep south talking about how for her sewing by hand was like prayer. Every time she pushed the needle into the fabric she felt as though she was offering up a prayer. In these scary times a few prayers won't go amiss.
I'm sure they'll still be a market for craft goods, even when people are being careful with their cash. Better to buy handmade and wellmade than buy cheap and shoddy, or buy from a faceless corporation.

Very clear instructions and photos, love those kitsch elves (pixies?). Will be having a go myself at one of these calorie free treats!

I'm not surprised these won the Flower Power challenge. They're lovely, such pretty colours.

I agree with the previous comment. Stunning is the word. They're fantastic, so detailed for such tiny objects. Very, very pretty.

Unusual embellishments on the tote bag. Really pretty and individual.

These pouches are great. Strong graphic patterns and a pleasing shape to the pouch itself. Really nice stuff.

Cute! The cow ornament is delightfully daft as well as good looking.

Fantastic finger puppets! Wonderfully silly ... I hope there's a Sarah Palin one ... and maybe a moose too?

Lovely shape and colours, and great to see fabrics being recycled. One of the nicest things about crafting is transforming what could otherwise end up in a landfill site. Thrifty and green, that's a good combination.

Good luck Pamela. It takes a lot of nerve to walk away from a job and a steady wage, but sometimes you just have to trust your instincts. I left a job a few years ago - one where I was being bullied by a supervisor and felt constantly demoralised. I got a part time college place learning ceramics and walked into a temp agency and immediately got a job for evenings and weekends to pay the bills. I ended up being pretty hopeless at ceramics, but I now work full time at the same company I temped. The set up is so much more relaxed, I feel appreciated and I'm much happier. I'm also starting a small craft business in my spare time. At the risk of sounding hippyish sometimes you just have to have faith that the creative, nurturing world around you will let you find your place in it.
Leaving a job and starting your shop is daunting, but I'm sure it'll also be great fun. Fingers crossed for you!

The news about the economy is scary, partly because I just don't understand it. How does a solvent bank go bust? How does a country like Iceland find itself talking about being virtually bankrupt. A country!! Crafting is soothing. The repetitive motion of stitching a seam or knitting a row is calming, and lets the mind settle. It reassures you that whatever the dour economic news normal life will still go on. You still have your family and friends, you still need to clean the bath and buy groceries, and you still need to create. Crafting can be expensive if you buy lots of gadgets and geegaws, but there are plenty of sweaters waiting to be recycled in thrift shops and I'm always finding crafty goodies someone else doesn't need any more - knitting needles, crochet yarn, the contents of someone's button tin. Crafting is thrifty and that has to be the word of the moment.

Beautiful bag. Love the ruffles, but it would be nice to see the lining too.

Beautiful strong blocks of colour in this quilt. Hope you make lots more. Unlike most things they look even better the older they get, just adds to the character of the quilt.

I love the paws! Beautifully made but also really funny. But what would you use them for? Scratching your back? Stroking the cat? Really nice plush creatures too. Lots of character.

Really good design and colours. It would make a great glasses case too, or a much longer design could be a knitting needle stash, though I suppose the closing tab at the top would have to be wider to avoid your needles dropping out. Great to see another use for recycled material.

Love the dogs, especially the darker one who looks ready to launch himself off the chair. But I have having the grandparents in the room would be too spooky for me! Those eyes would follow you around ...

Fantastic project, and really inspiring to see the video. I loved the glimpses of Jennifer Marsh's other projects too - especially the idea of making a garment from a sheep's wool then dressing the sheep in it!
The gas station reminds me of Knitta Please and the way they knit cozies for urban environments. Also links in with the artist Christo and how he 'wraps' buildings, bridges etc. Makes you look at your world in a different way.

Fantastic! I'd love one of these just to see people do a double take when they walk in the door and see it on the wall. An animal-friendly version of those gruesome hunting'n'shooting trophies that posh people hang on their walls. I agree - they're both cute and disturbing.

Very pretty and colourful. I love these kind of small projects. You can accomplish something useful and original in a relatively short space of time, and it spurs you on to make more. Really sweet.

Beautiful colours you've chosen. It makes me think of a gorgeous sequinned cuff I bought last year, and wore until it practically disintegrated on my wrist. Lovely alternative to a bangle, makes me want to make one of my own.

If you're not packing relatively large stuff like an embroidery hoop, or if you just want a sturdy container for a sewing kit while you're traveling - try recycling the plastic case from a video cassette. You could pack one with lots of thread, needles, reels of cotton, and the case won't get squashed in the bottom of your bag. Best wishes Valerie

Really sweet, pretty leaves and acorns. They'd make lovely tags to add to a gift tied with ribbon, like a little extra present instead of a shop bought gifttag. Best wishes Valerie