Creative Gift Guide

Holiday season is here! I don’t know how it is in your part of the world but here (where I live) we have long queues in the stores already: people are looking for gifts for their relatives and friends. It might be not so easy to choose gifts for crafters (who create stuff themselves) and simply creative people. Of course you can always buy yarn for crocheters and knitters… But there are many other wonderful options, except of yarn. I am not a blogger who creates gift guides often. Actually it is my fist post of this kind. I just thought I would share my treasuries with you, because I think all these items are wonderful gifts for crafters. Some of them were given to me as gifts. And some of them I bought myself.

Exclusivity by Cohana

Not long ago I was gifted a set of Cohana accessories. Cohana is a Japanese brand creating high quality hand-made items for crafters. Each and every of them is beautifully packed in bright gray stiff paper boxes with cute ribbons and leather labels. The items are hand made by local artisans from different parts of Japan. The whole story of a brand is filled with a special spirit.

“The brand name 'Cohana' is derived from the goddess Konohanasakuya-hime from Japanese mythology. Konohanasakuya-hime is beautiful like the blooming of cherry tree blossoms, and worshipped as a goddess of Mt. Fuji, the symbol of Japan, and symbolises prosperity.” This is written on Cohana’s website.

Cohana uses traditional Japanese colors that reflect the changing of the seasons: bright yellow color of daffodils, color of roses, blue color with a hint of green, color of Asiatic dayflowers, bright grey with a hint of blue (sky gray). Altogether they have a very calm and gentle impression.

I am not a kind of crochet designer who exclusively uses brandy and expensive tools. But when I look at Cohana products and use them I get a very special feeling of “one of a kind”. The exclusivity of these tools adds a certain exclusivity to my own finished projects, if it does make any sense.

Only high quality materials are selected for Cohana products. This canvas project bag, for example, is made of very stiff and nice to touch fabric.

Marking pins are decorated with handmade glass beads and pincushion is made of Cypress and Banshu Textile and is filled with special material preventing metal pins from rusting. Shozaburo Thread Clips are super sharp and they are wrapped with Iga braid, a material made primarily for use in armor making since long ago. Carefully dyed silk threads are very gentle to hands. Can you imagine the pleasure of using these clips?

You can order all these beautiful items directly from Japan, or if you are in Europe you can purchase them via Black Sheep Wools – one of the very few retailers stocking exclusive Cohana products.

Goodies by Scheepjes

It’s not a secret that I am an official Scheepjes blogger, and as a member of bloggers’ team I have early access not only to new yarns, but also to other products produced and sold by Scheepjes (yes-yes, they produce not only yarn!).

Have you already spotted cute canvas totes with yarn related prints? I have a granny square bag at home. Love it! And also dreaming about the one with a bicycle.

Another yarn related accessory I use a lot (and if not used it is proudly displayed on a shelve together with other goodies) is wooden bowl. Great tool for those who think a lot about saving yarn from dust, or hiding it from pets. Very elegant and useful item, in my opinion. If you are stuck with a present idea for a crafty friend – think of a yarn bowl.

Or what about a colorful mug with a design print? Every year Scheepjes releases a new mug. There are two mugs in Scheepjes limited collection and both will become wonderful gifts to a friend who is obsessed with yarn, crochet or other crafts.

All items shown in this blog post are available in your local Scheepjes shop and via Wool Warehouse (with international shipping): canvas totes*, yarn bowls*, mugs*.

Capture by Lucy

And here is something else I would like to show you. I made an early Christmas gift for myself and ordered four new photo backdrops from Lucy, the owner of Capture by Lucy brand. They arrived a week ago and when I opened the packaged my heart jumped up to the ceiling.

Lucy creates vinyl backdrops with different textures and patterns which can be used in photography. I have been using them for a year already and will probably purchase more samples in the future (all pictures in this blog post are also made with them). Lucy’s backdrops are high-quality and very handy to use and storage. I just roll mine into a tube and hide in the closet.

The prints come in several collections representing natural textures of wood, metal, stone, fabric… Backdrops are printed with real pictures Lucy is taking with her camera: old wooden doors and floors in her house, watercolor paper, linen canvas… Well, what to add. I use them a lot! And they work excellent for blog pictures, and Instagram. So if you would like to make a present for someone who is much into object photography – you might think about Lucy’s photo backdrops.

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