I thought it would be fun to ask the girls who work in the shop what was on their crafty wish list right now. I also thought it would be fun to give away one thing from each of their lists to you!

Here’s Jerisse‘s Crafty Wish List

• Twinkle Sews! : I saw the origami shirt and fell in love with this cool detailing.  So many other amazing patterns and styling!
• Sunlight Print : It looks like fun and you can learn about the history of photography
• Encyclopedia of Crafts : Because I want to be a craft master like Karyn! (oh… and Martha Stewart too.)

Leave a comment here letting me know what’s on your crafty wish list right now and you could win a copy of Twinkle Sews! This book is filled with really awesome clothing and contains a cd with all the patterns on it. Don’t forget to include your email address so that I can get in touch with you, if you win. Comments will close on Sunday at 6pm EST. I’ll post the winner’s name on Monday with the next list and giveaway. Feel free to enter each of the four giveaways, but you can only win one of them.

Happy Weekend, friends!

I’m taking the downtime after the holidays to start thinking about next year’s holiday. Seriously. I hope that if I put a little pre-planning in now I’ll have a smooth sailing Christmas next year. All my presents will be made and wrapped before December 24, holidays cards will be received in the correct year and I will be fast asleep in the hours leading up to Santa’s arrival. This is how Martha does it. She has already planned and photographed the Holiday dinners we will be reading about 11 months from now. I aspire only to be on time, that’s all.

I had the last minute idea to use some fabric scraps in the last bits of my wrapping this year. I cut pieces of kraft paper and zigzag stitched a scrap of fabric to the top. Then I put the gift in the middle of two pieces of kraft paper and stitched all around to enclose it into the package. This clearly won’t work for large gifts, but for many of the small fabric gifts, it’s just perfect. I’ll probably use recycled newspapers or such next year.

I found this post yesterday on Wild Olive. Her version with painting looks really sweet and colourful. I’d love to try this too.

Sewing on paper is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. My cousin, Heather, made the beautiful holiday card below that she stitched on her machine. I really love the black and white photos of her bunnies with the red stitching. Brilliant!

One note about sewing paper on your sewing machine. You should definitely change your needle when you’re done. Sewing on paper will dull your need very quickly. Save that needle for future paper sewing projects and get a fresh one for sewing with fabric.

I also received some lovely gifts wrapped in fabric this year. One in a sweet tea towel and the other in a piece of vintage cotton. Do you have any creative wrapping ideas to share?

When I was told that Karissa Cove had retired from doing craft shows, I didn’t realize just how long she’s been behind a craft fair table. Karissa grew up touring around with her crafty mom. Wow, now I really feel like a newbie to the craft world! I’m extra honoured that she’s coming out of retirement for the Holiday Trunk Show on December 7th, especially since I’m in love with her knitted berets.

What is your first ‘crafty’ memory?

Karissa : I have a few memorable young crafty memories…I was 3 or 4 sitting on the floor making outfits for my cat, Dudley, out of my mum’s scrap material while she sewed on our kitchen table…making a quilt out of wool scraps while I was about 4….painting my feet green, then crawling around my house on my knees to avoiding leaving green foot prints….

How do you come up with your designs? I noticed one of your bags is called the Country Mouse Tote – does your childhood play a big role in your work?

Karissa : Yes, it really does, but I think that my whole life plays a role. When I was growing up my mum was a crafter, so I spent just about every holiday season with my mum at craft sales all over Ontario. Once I got a little bit older, I would make little book marks, and other little crafty items to sell along my mum’s crafts. Since I was a child I have understood how to figure out the cost of an item by the materials used, the length of production time, how to make the most of material.

Is there a craft or medium that you’ve always wanted to try that you haven’t yet?

Karissa : I can’t wrap my brain around crochet! I tried to teach myself from a Japanese amigurumi book and despite all the diagrams I just kept going around and around and ended up with a grey patty instead of a cute Japanese elephant.

Do you have any favourite local artists that you really admire?

Karissa : My local favourites…inspirations…admiration…goes out to:

Jen Anisef from Toronto Craft Alert, Dana DeKuyper from Damned Dollies, yarnovermovement, Allison Moyer from Cordially Yours.

What’s at the top of your holiday wish list this year?

Karissa : I really don’t need for anything, however, I would like the Martha Stewart circle cutter so I can finally cut a perfect circle out of print making softoleum!

Visit Karissa’s etsy shop and her flickr page for more!

The chilly fall nights have me craving warm comfort food. Macaroni and cheese made from scratch always leaves me feeling completely content. The recipe I use is from Martha Stewart. Her recipe is meant for 12 people, so I usually divide the recipe in half and still have leftovers.

I’ve been making this recipe for many years and it is one of the things people always remember when they think of me. To some, I am ‘the girl who makes that Macaroni & Cheese’. This dish is so delicious that I am often specifically requested to bring it to potluck dinners. One girl told me that years after she had it, she dreamt about it and hoped I would make it for her once again.

The cheese sauce is flavoured with Gruyere cheese and Old Cheddar. Don’t substitute the Gruyere for something else, this nutty flavour is key. There is also a bit of nutmeg and cayenne pepper in the sauce that gives it a slight and unexpected kick. What sets the whole thing off is the bread topping. Don’t skimp here on the buttery bread (pile it high) and put extra grated cheese over the whole thing. This bakes into an amazing crispy, cheesy coating that could be a heavenly dish in itself.

If you have a similar ‘legendary dish’ you’d like to share, I’d love to mix up my cheesy repertoire and be known for something else.