I THINK IT'S TIME

This world of blogging is fantastic, isn't it?
In fact, it's been even more fantastic than I thought it would be.
Blogging has been good to me—really good to me.
I've met amazing people, and learned amazing things. And I'm not just saying that.
But, I think it's time to say goodbye to Made Sweet.

But what is this? A eulogy?

I simply think it's time to focus on graduation and finishing school.
I have ever so much to do.
I'll probably come back to blogging someday. And by probably, I mean almost definitely.
Except with a new blog. Someday. I'll let you know when that happens.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your wonderful comments, and for reading. Made Sweet has been fun. Happy blogging!!

(if you wanted to buy a copy of the love, love me do print but never got the chance, send me an email! You can still contact me at madesweet@gmail.com)

Some of the favorite posts to reminisce on:

60th wedding anniversary bottles

Last month was my grandma Leonora and grandpa Maynard's 60th wedding anniversary! My aunt asked me to make a little something for the celebration party, and I had so much fun putting together these soda pop labels. They were delicious too—Leonora Lime, Mango Maynard, and Gushing Guava. One of the best parts was gathering stories and stats to put on the labels. We had everything: their first kiss, their world travels, adventures while raising their children, plus how many years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds they have been married.

Here's to a happy 60!

Happy New Year Package

Some simple New Year's packages I designed and put together: cider and hot chocolate packs wrapped in white tissue paper, put in cellophane packages with a candy cane, and sealed with a matching sticker.

My new year has been filled with fresh snow (as you can see), and it's been absolutely beautiful. Hope your holidays have been wonderful as well!!

Christmas Card Series

Series of Christmas cards I did this year with acetone ink transfers (my new favorite method). And then put between board covered in my favorite book cloth, of course.
Anyway.
Merry Christmas!
See you in January.

Merry Christmas Eve

It's Christmas! Good luck with last minute present buying and wrapping.

Paul Nicklen

National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen has some incredibly beautiful and inspiring work. I first learned about him here (take the time to watch that slide show full screen, it's amazing.) He's spent his life documenting the polar regions so that the rest of us living in "cement jungles" can get a glimpse into places on our planet we will probably never see. Can you imagine scuba diving in that?!

the girl effect

This is a video everyone needs to watch. I was going to put the video on my blog, but I'd rather you go here to watch it full screen and check out what they're doing.

These aren't the only people who believe that helping girls can be a powerful force for good in the world. Read this book if you haven't yet.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

If you haven't seen it, go.
The absolute best movie I've seen in theaters in...I don't know how long.
Incredible stop motion animation and wonderfully fun, quirky humor. I was impressed with every frame. This is a glimpse into how much work went into making this film, and this is one of my favorite clips from the movie.

down to the wire.

it's wintertime.
& crunch time.
finals and all.
see you in a week or two.

Krystyna's Mission Book

My dear friend Krystyna leaves on her mission for our church next week and I made her a book to take on her big adventure. Good luck out there Styna, I can't wait to hear about the life changing experiences you have in the next year and a half.

what I love about this book:

the book cloth.

I've been looking for a nice neutral book cloth and finally found some this week. I'm completely smitten with it.

the grommets.

Usually I think that grommets look a bit tacky. I'm not sure why. But they're beginning to grow on me—especially these natural colored ones. I like that they give the book a finished look.

the size.

I adore how this book fits in my pocket. Why have I not made a book this size before? It will definitely not be the last.

the title page.

Instead of printing the title page on a traditional printer, I did an acetone transfer (the ink is rubbed off from a different sheet) and I like the authentic and rough feel that it created.
the inside cover.
Instead of using decorative paper like I usually do for the inside covers, I used the same book cloth. It kept the book simple, and in my humble opinion, quite beautiful. I've been adoring neutral colors much more than usual lately, and the way this book turned out fits my mood just perfect.

I suppose it's time to make one for me.

New Emma Movie

I've been watching BBC's newest adaptation of Emma. (It doesn't come out until January in the US, but the entire thing is on YouTube. Email me if you want the entire set of links instead of fishing around YouTube for them.)

I'm hard pressed to ever love a Mr. Knightley more than the one in the '96 version with Gwyneth Paltrow, but there have been some pretty scenes. And isn't that wedding cake charming?

Altitude Design Summit

All my favorite bloggers right here in my home town? Too good to be true.
I so want to go.
Now all I need is a sponsor.

sky

oh, i am loving it.

A Field Journal

Being a university student myself, I am blown away every time I see Livy's blog. I don't know how she does what she does while being in school. Absolutely incredible. This week has been "apple week", and I've been loving every day of it. You must check it out for yourself.