Crafty Treasures from Special Friends

Couldn't go on without sharing some of the crafty goodness I received from special friends this month.
 

This handmade calendar and card came in the mail recently from my sweet friend, Lynn.

I think this die cut "maneki neko" (lucky cat) is so adorable with his stylized "fu" (for good fortune) character on his tummy and shiny gold bell and baker's twine collar. I really liked how Lynn rolled the ends of a piece of cardstock to create a scroll, stamped with Chinese characters "gan xie" (for gratitude) for lucky cat to hold up.  The neatest thing about this lucky cat is that he can be lifted from the card front to sit upright on his mat, using his little tail as an easel stand!

Lynn also sent along this super cute Valentine easel desk calendar featuring  a stamped, colored, and fussy cut image of my all time favorite Pooh bear. 

My amazingly creative friend Lorna made this pair of kawaii Valentine treat holders.

Reminiscent of  the silk rose truffle holders seen at fancy weddings, Lorna cut and folded the petals of this fabulous rose from red cardstock to create this sweet rose candy holder. Look carefully and you'll see Hershey kisses and Dove chocolate hearts tucked in the center of the rose. Little Mocha Bear standing on the petals with his bouquet of roses just doubles the cuteness of this treat holder!

Lorna also pieced together this irresistible pink "maneki neko" (lucky cat) as a Valentine treat holder. I wasn't even aware that different colored lucky cats represent different things. Pink lucky cats represent romance and brings love; perfect for Valentines Day!

My dear crafty friend Kris put together this sweet heart shaped basket perfect for a fellow crafter (like me!). This sturdy and roomy basket has room enough for a lot of treats. I love that Kris filled it with crafters' favorites... diamond glaze and chocolates! The template for this cute basket was designed by Kim of Crafting Cheerfully.

Hope you enjoyed seeing crafty projects from friends and hope they may have inspired  your creative juices as much as they did for me.