Artsy fartsy March II: Advent calendar

So while we're in the process of talking about artsy fartsy stuff two months overdue, here's the second thing I worked on in March:

An advent calendar! ^^ I know.. Traditionally advent calendars are for counting down the days until Christmas, which is a joyful occasion. However, Angry Eddie had been busy preparing for an exam in April, and despite exams hardly being joyous events, I figured an advent calendar might help to keep him motivated with studying.

Using blue and white felt, I sewed some envelopes by following this very cute and simple pattern *here* on a blog called Allsorts. Her gorgeous little envelopes called for a simple running stitch, which would have saved a lot of time, but unfortunately I can't do a running stitch to save my life. Quite sad, eh? XD For some reason, mine always turn out looking wonky and uneven, so I just blanket stitched my way around each one instead.

I then attached each envelope to a thick felt mat (I think originally it was supposed to be a place mat?) that I'd bought at the dollar store. Finally, I stuffed in an inspirational quote and a piece of chocolate for each day. (What is an advent calendar without chocolate? :P)

The final result before sealing off the envelopes with thread:

It was a little time consuming, mostly because of the blanket stitching, but the end result was worth the effort. Hoorah! ^^