Christine Chitnis: December 2008

Happy New Year!

It has been such a wonderful year, full of creativity and inspiration. Thank you to everyone who joined me here on 'Lavender and Limes.' I look forward to an even better 2009, with improved blog design, the launch of my own website, some exciting magazine articles in the works and, of course, tons of crafting!

I will leave you with this image of my poor, water-phobic husband attempting to learn to scuba dive! A great reminder to challenge ourselves to new and exciting things in this upcoming NEW YEAR!

Sunny St. Croix

It comes time to reveal our mystery location...drum roll please! We are lucky enough to be spending the week in beautiful, sunny, St. Croix. Vijay and I are here with my family, including aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandma! This is our second year coming here. Last year we came here for our honeymoon.

The weather is lovely, hot but a nice breeze cooling things down, the waves are perfect for body-surfing, the tennis courts are calling out for a little mixed doubles and I am into a great poolside book...life is good! I hope you are enjoying what is left of this glorious holiday break!

I am so inspired by the amazing array of sea sponges that we have been collecting on our daily beach walks.

Posie Doll and Nursery Fun

Hey there everyone...hope you had a Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful time with our family. Lots of handmade gifts were exchanged, including this doll that I made for my mom from Alicia Paulson's book, Stitched in Time. I loved her so much that I almost couldn't give her away, but my mom adored her, proving girls of all ages love dolls!

We also pulled together my cousins nursery and it turned out so cute. Unfortunatly, by the time we finished, it was pitch black outside, so I couldn't take any pictures of the whole room, but I did manage to get a few of the little shelf vignette that we put together. I made the booties and knitted the elephant!

The sweet bookends were a great vintage find. You can see the cute jungle stencils below the shelf. The shelf and stencils frame the changing table area!

There is also a shot of the finished giraffe growth chart...very sweet! Hopefully I can get my cousin to take some shots of the finished room!

I am lucky enough to be posting this in my bathing suit from a very warm, mystery location! I am taking a few pictures and will be posting again soon! So secretive, I know!

The Most Amazing Tree

This tree just blew me away with its uniqueness and creativity. Thank you 'Alltheluckintheworld' for a great twist on the traditional Christmas tree! Speaking of the holidays, we are heading back to Michigan tomorrow and we will be gone until January 5th. I will be posting, but it will be very sporadic! I am excited to take you along to a surprise location...so stay tuned! I want to wish everyone safe travels and a very merry Christmas!

The Prettiest of Ornaments

I bought a few of these ornaments when I was in Chicago over Thanksgiving, but I would love a few more to round out my collection. Luckily, they have a gorgeous selection over at Cox & Cox. The reds and blues are especially tempting!

Everything DOES Count

I can't get enough of this 'Everything Counts' poster from Ink + Wit. What a great reminder that every one of our actions does indeed count. Click over to view the message close-up!

The Tag Makes the Gift

or at least this tag does!

This Close!

I am 'thisclose' to breaking down and buying this print! I love everything about it...the design, the colors, the funky lion. Not to mention it would be perfect for a little home project I am working on, which I will tell you about at a later date! Ohh, so many secrets! But I am trying to be good, especially this Christmas season. I have made all my gifts, the (I can't tells) for my mom (I know she will read this), the monkey for my brother. We did break down and buy something for my dad, but come on...men are so tough to craft for! Most of our extended family has agreed to a gift-less Christmas, which gives us more time to reflect on being together. My husband and I are also abstaining from giving each other gifts this year. We are starting to house hunt and we both feel that a home would be the best gift of all! But all that being said, I still want this print!! Even more tempting, 100% of the profit from this print will be donated to the Uganda Village Project Scholarship Fund.

SparklePaw

Another wonderful line of stationary, SparklePaw, offers playful cards for every occasion! Receiving one of these would be sure to put a smile on any face!

sweetbeets

This letterpress company, aptly named sweetbeets, offers the sweetest little gift cards and tags.

Pretty Random Objects

Oh my...would you look at that sweet little bunny ornament! He has on his very best striped shirt! You simply must visit Pretty Random Objects for the cutest selection of ceramics!

Add it to the List

I am dying to try these amazing embroidered buttons! Purl Bee has a wonderful step-by-step tutorial.

My New Little Purse

I am thrilled to announce a new adventure that Sarah (crafting partner extraordinaire) and I are embarking on. We are going to be teaching crafting classes at Kreatelier in Providence, RI. We will be teaching a few different classes every week for both adults and children! We spent all day yesterday making samples, including this adorable purse, originally from Martha Stewart Baby, which, unfortunately, is now out of print. Is it the cutest thing you have ever seen or what?

Roddy & Ginger

Look at this sweet little onesie from Roddie & Ginger. Love it!

One Shelf: Two Ways

I love this gorgeous robin egg blue shelf from Cox & Cox. I also love seeing it in two completely different settings! Oh, and I love the idea of wallpapering the back of the shelf...just a whole lotta love I guess!

The Sweetest of Tutorials

1. Pom pom bunny at Once Wed 2) Love birds from Pretty Ditty 3) Winter garland from The Field Journal

Gift Wrapping Inspiration

Wonderful gift wrapping ideas from 1) Maya*Made 2) HopSkipJump 3) Martha and 4) Simple Song Designs

Giraffe Growth Chart

Yesterday was just a day of crafting accomplishments. I also started this adorable giraffe growth chart for my cousins nursery. It is one of several lovely projects from the book, 'B is for Baby!'

The Christmas Mitten

My friend Sarah and I had a craft fest yesterday and finished our little Christmas mittens (pattern from oliver + s). Well, when I say finished, I mean we still have all the blanket stitching to do! Mine, of course, are the ones in bubble gum colors! Hers are the beautiful, sophisticated ones!

Color Explosion

I love the bright colors and fun vignettes in this home office, which belongs to Kim, the Canadian half of the Desire to Inspire team!

Holiday Gift Tags

The cutest gift tags ever from Camilla Engman- and their free! There is a set from '07 and '06, let's hope she comes up with one for '08! Listen to me, aren't I just too greedy!

Terrarium Party Favors

This is the coolest party favor idea I have seen in a long time! Thank you Design*Sponge!

A Freebie Just for You!

As a little welcome gift to all of the decor8 readers who are stopping by today (I am the decor8 blog-of-the-week!), I would like to offer this original embroidery pattern...Hey Diddle Diddle! I chose to do a combination of embroidery and felted wool applique, but you could do plain embroidery as well! Wouldn't this look so sweet on a onesie...it would be the perfect baby shower gift!

Simply save the picture below and print. You can enlarge it or shrink it depending on your needs! If you would like this in PDF form, just email me and I will send it your way (christine.chitnis@gmail.com). Enjoy!

Elephants on Parade

Just a reminder...there are still some elephants available in my shop! Click over to check them out!

Garn Studio

Garn Studio offers the most extensive selection of knitting and crochets pattern and over 3000 of them are free! How cute are their baby designs?

Little Dresses

Head over to A Print a Day for this sweet little download. Wouldn't they make the cutest gift tags!

Stuff My Stocking

I love these embroidered felt pins from Prints Charming! Perfect little stocking stuffers!

A Weekend Well Spent

We had a wonderful weekend here and I hope you did too! We took a long walk by the shore and enjoyed how everything was dusted in the first snow of winter. We listened to Christmas music and drank spiced cider. I crafted up a storm and finally organized (in my head, at least) all of the crafts that I am going to make for the people on my Christmas list! I am trying to make everything this year...in part because it makes a gift so much more special when it is made by hand and also because going to the mall makes me break out in hives!

Here are a few crafts that are making my to-do list: Star ornaments from Purl Bee, Jingle Mouse from Pimp Stitch, Pomander from Betz White, Ribbon bracelets and Tooth bears from Martha Stewart!

Why I Need To Learn To Crochet

Look at all these amazing free tutorials...aren't people just too generous?

1. Posie Gets Cozy 2. Soozs 3. Whip up 4. Perdi o fio a meada 5. Roman Sock 6. Berroco

Fleecy Monkey

I love my little monkey from Wee Wonderfuls! I wonder if I will be able to part with it come Christmas time?! Also...do you notice anything wonderful and fancy...that is my newly acquired Photoshop skills...oh yeah!

Atelier LZC

These hanging cut-steel wall decorations from Atelier LZC are so lovely. The garland wreath would be perfect for the holidays. You can find them at Mirror Mirror.