Swapping into Spring

As promised, today I am sharing with you my little pressies from the swap I did last month.  My pressies came from Thea, who writes the MummyCat Gets Organised blog.

A little heart keyring that smells deliciously of my favourite thing - lavender.  I actually assumed she had bought this until I read her blog and realised she had made it!  

Well dur, it was a handmade swap after all so I am not sure why I would assume it would be anything other than handmade, it just it looks so perfect!  Just look at the teeny embroidery and the delicate beading, absolutely gorgeous!  I am going to attach this to a bag and carry it about with pride :)

I also received "everlasting flowers", which are so detailed and intricate...

Clever, right?  This little bunch of flowers is made from floristry ribbon I think, they are so dinky and sit perfectly on my kitchen window sill cheering me up as I scrubbed pasta-bake off the oven dish this morning :)

Thea also sent me a large tub of homemade chocolate and pistachio fudge.  Holy moly that fudge was DIVINE.  Unfortunately I did not have the self-constraint to take photos before hubby and I scoffed the lot.  I may have to look up the recipe (I believe it was Nigella) and make some myself, though this could lead to me regaining the weight I have lost since having Phoebe...

Thanks Thea for my wonderful pressies, and thanks too to everyone who took part!  Not all the swappers have blogs but for those that do here are the blog posts about their goodies:

• Thea at MummyCat Gets Organised
• Fiona at frou-frou
• Claire at The Hookery
• Lily at Making it Vintage

Aw, now I feel all warm and fuzzy...happy swapping everyone!

x

Swappity Swap

I love snail mail, there is nothing like getting a little beautifully wrapped gift through the post is there?  Lovely when it is unexpected, and lovely when you have the anticipation of knowing something is going to arrive soon.  I love sending things, choosing, making, wrapping, taking my little parcel along to the post-office.  It's all such an enjoyable process.  That's why I mentioned a little while ago the idea of a little swap to brighten up the long post-Christmas months.  As there have only been a couple of lovely takers I thought I would raise the idea again with a little more detail in case there is anyone else wanting to join in.

The swap would be very simple:

• Your sender would be different to your sendee - in other words if you were sending your parcel to me, your own parcel would be coming from somebody else. This makes it all the more exciting :)

• Your parcel should contain two handmade items for your sendee, these can be anything you like.  If you include any other little shop-bought bits you should spend no more than a couple of quid, it is January and we are all poor after all!

• Don't reveal your identity to your sendee before the swap!  You can include a card/letter in your parcel to say who you are :)

• I will do a short Q and A for all participants so that each sender gets a small overview of what their sendee likes.

Sound good to you? 

If so, then please copy and paste the questions below, along with your answers, into a comment below, or email them them to me, by Wednesday 18th January and I shall set it all up (those that have already let me know they are interested could you please fill in the Q and A too!)

Where are your online homes? (e.g. blog name, ravelry username, instagram, twitter etc)
What is your favourite sweet treat?
What crafts do you do?
What crafts would you like to try?
What are your favourite colours?
Do you have a favourite scent?
Do you have children (if so, how many, how old etc)?
Is there anything you wouldn't want to receive (i.e something you don't like or might be allergic to)?

 

Happy swapping!

 

x

Crochet headband, goodies and...a swap?

Just nipping in quickly to share with you pictures of my first ever Crochet A Long! A Crochet A Long, in case you didn't know already, is where you choose a pattern and all work on it at the same time but at your own pace.

This one was on the Hooked for Life group on Ravelry and seemed nice and simple and useful. I didn't have the correct yarn or hook but I just plunged straight in anyway...luckily it came out beautifully and the size is perfect...

The pattern is the Cozy Flowered Headband and it's available for free, woo!

I grabbed the photos whilst the light was semi ok, which meant the only model available was me, hence why you get to see my trusty Nikon too :)

I enjoyed doing this, the CALs are monthly so there's always plenty of time to have a go and it encourages me to try patterns I might not have looked at otherwise.

I've been having other fun via Ravelry this week too as my Secret Santa box arrived from my Spoiler over the pond in Florida!  Here's a glimpse of the lovely items I got...

I also got this beautiful hat and scarf set...



(another self portrait..ahem)

Just look at the detail on this quilted bird decoration, amazing...

So it's been a good week what with finally feeling better, completing a project and getting some lovely gifts in the mail.  I love snailmail, in fact I feel a swap coming on.  Anyone fancy a little swap for new year?  To brighten up January?  Anyone interested leave me a comment and I shall organise it!

Heart Swap

I don't often sign up for swaps because I don't need the added pressure :) But when I saw the heart swap over at Beki's blog I thought it seemed a lovely simple swap to join in with; five heart themed things to be sent to your partner by the end of March. No problem, I thought, plenty of time.  I still managed to send my parcel off at the very last possible moment though :)

I sent off a modest little parcel containing heart themed bits and pieces and a couple of bits I made. 

As well as one of my radiator smellies, I popped in this hanging heart decoration...

I love this pattern - the hearts come out really sweet.  If you want to try it out the pattern is on Ravelry and I linked to it in this previous post.

But never mind what I sent! You want to know what I got, right?  Well, my partner was Sue at http://blog.suepops.co.uk/ and she sent me a gorgeous package of lovely things...

Ooh!  Look at my goodies!  Shall we have a closer look?

A handmade card, extremely sparkly...

Phoebe loved this and stared at it for ages whilst drooling and trying to grab it (presumably to eat it...)

I also received this kitsch little hanging heart...

I have added it to my growing collection.  Do you think I have enough...? ;)

I love love love this handpainted candle holder (and the little heart candle)...

And just look at this...

LOVE this brooch, it is utterly gorgeous!

Unfortunately the calculator, being pink, has been stolen by 5-year-old Lillia already, I had barely removed the wrapping before it was whisked off to perform complex additions. The bath ballistic from my No.1 Favourite Shop has been fizzed and enjoyed already, and the chocolates?  Well...er..ah...ahem... :)

Absolutely lovely gifts, I am so glad I decided to take part in the swap, lucky me!  Thanks Sue!  xx

To Ali, With Love

Well well, a whole week has zoomed passed in a whirlwind!  So much to share with you!   Firstly, I finally decided to make the move away from breastfeeding.  It had been a long hard and exhausting experience and one I was determined to give my best go, I am very sad to be stopping, very sad, but at the same time I am now emerging faster and stronger (and ever so slightly fatter) from this post-natal depression.  For the first time in over three months I straightened my hair, bought a new top, stopped subconsciously wearing only black, started enjoying my baby.  I am still feeding her every evenng and there is a lot to say about this whole story, but another time. 

This week is half term and it has been insane here.  My first week alone with my two girls has been...brilliant.  Granted it has been hectic, messy, nuts, noisy, stressy, sometimes verging on impossible but on the whole it has been so bloody rewarding, the sense of achievement I get from surviving the day with nothing to show for it but two exhausted, snoring and happy girls I can't put into words.  Plus, we've had four nights with the baby sleeping through (touch wood) which means I can finally indulge in a couple of well earned glasses of wine :)

Two other things have brought smiles to me this week - both of which arrived via snailmail...

What's my favourite colour? That would be yellow.  What's my favourite combination of colours?  Um, yellow, orange and pink actually.  What's my favourite craft?  That'd be crochet. 

The ever glamorous and ever fabulous Charlotte who writes the hugely inspirational Lottie Loves blog sent me this scarf.  It was a huge surprise when I reached into my mailbox (yes we have a mailbox) and retrieved the parcel.

"What is it mummy?", asked Lillia. 
"I don't know but it's from America", said I.
"Ooooh, Amerwica...can I open it?", said Lillia.

I shall be wearing this scarf until the weather turns spring-like and warm and the other mums on the school run think I am nuts.  Ha!  Thank you Charlotte, it really has made me smile :)

The second snailmail surprise I received was this utterly gorgeous print...

Gretchen, who writes at June at Noon, has been a long-term bloggy friend, but she is also somebody whose work I am in awe of.  Her sewing and embroidery is amazing, but her illustration...well...

I just love it, it is totally my "thing", completely my style.  I love to collect original prints of art that just appeals to me but I don't often treat myself.  Hubby surprised me by ordering me this print of Gretchen's "unexpected" illustration for Valentine's day.

Included was a small print of her "catch" illustration too.

I am a lucky girl.  I have a friend who cares enough to make me something gorgeous just to cheer me up, a bloggy mate who is an inspiration on many levels, a husband who surprises me with something he knows I will love.  Plus I have two beautiful girls who I am at last appreciating and enjoying fully.  And it's only February...

:)

Presents from across the pond

I mentioned before how I love buying handmade, so when it comes to preparing ahead for Christmas I'm always going to go for something that little bit unique.

When I saw Gretchen of June at Noon's gorgeous and clever Eye Spy bags I knew my own little girl would love one, and I would love the five minutes of peace it would bring!  So I ordered one to put away for Christmas and this morning it arrived...

Having spent the last few days keeping a close eye on the postie I was almost unprepared for an exciting delivery on a lazy Saturday morning.  But not as unprepared as my hubby who was standing right by the door with his back to it when the postman knocked loudly and nearly sent him through the roof with fright! 

It arrived beautifully packaged, as Gretchen's things always do, and the quality of it is perfect...

If you've spotted that perhaps it looks like there may be more one bag you'd be right, but I can't show the other one as it is a gift for a little girl whose mummy stops by this blog sometimes :)

And the best thing about buying handmade is the purely selfish pleasure of the little extras...





See that stone?  Hang on here it is bigger for you...

It is utterly lovely! It's the one Gretchen mentions here and it somehow she has managed to send me the one that matches my living room colour scheme perfectly!  

So thank-you Gretchen for being very clever indeed, and thank-you for the gorgeous little gifts that cheered up a heavily pregnant, hormonal, fat and uncomfortable lady very much!

Surprise gift

I do like a bit of karma. 

No sooner had I offered out my spare magazine (and it had been snapped up) than the postie deposited a little package in my postbox!

My lovely friend Lottie is one of those amazingly caring and talented people who always seem to pick the exact right moment to surprise you with a little unexpected gift or email.  I was having a really poo day until this arrived...

Yes, that is a sewing themed antique-look handmade charm bracelet, and it's mine! 

Thanks Lottie!  Your timing was, as ever, impeccable :)

x

Secret Post Club

I am playing catch up this week, can you tell?

Nearly two weeks ago now I received my first ever Secret Post Club parcel.  Having sent mine off to the US a few days earlier I was so excited to receive mine so quickly!  Annie of Incessant Ramblings sent me some lovely bits.  A little pampering set of bath and shower smellies...

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love smellies so these are right up my street!

Annie also made this beautiful cherub...

Isn't he lovely?  He is varnished so can be displayed in my garden, where he is currently nestled amongst the herbs and young vegetable plants. 

Annie's blog is well worth a visit, she is an amazing photographer, I mean seriously good.  She also sent me a bar of proper lovely Green and Blacks milk chocolate but..er..I can't seem to find it right now...can't think where it might have gone..ahem...

I am loving the Secret Post Club, the pleasure of putting a package together for somebody, the excitement of receiving something in the post, and the opportunity to discover other crafty women in the blogisphere, other mums, like-minded people. If you want to get involved click on the link in my sidebar *points to the right* over there, you won't regret it!

xx

Giveaway winners!

It's time to announce some winners!  Thank-you everyone who took the time to say hello, and to those who suggested such wonderful names.  As there was such cosy number of entrants I decided to draw names the traditional way.  So I wrote all your names down...

Then I popped them all in a large cup...

Then I enlisted some help picking out a winner...

And Lillia picked...

Congratulations to Smbumblebee!  The doll is yours and will be on her way as soon as she has packed up her borscht recipes and her Russian ballet DVDs.  But she will need a name for her passport.  The suggestions were all marvellous and a few really made me smile, I really wish I could send a gift to each of you, truly, in fact I probably would if I didn't have hubby to talk me down to earth!

But in the end, after much debate, there was one name that all three of us agreed on...Valentina, suggested by Pea Green Kitty, after the first woman in space Valentina Tereshkova, who was Russian and, it would appear having googled her, pretty cool.  Before she was an astronaut she was a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist!  How could I not choose to name her after such a woman!  So thank you Pea Green Kitty for such a great suggestion, a runner-up prize will be on its way to you! 

If both winners could please email me (address in my profile!) with the address they would like their parcels sent to that would very handy :)

Ah.  I feel better for getting ready to send some gifts out into the world.  It's been a long tough week but it has all been worth it.  Yesterday I managed to bag myself a new job in the organisation I work at - a job that will allow me to work more flexibly and be there more for Lillia when she starts school.  It has always been so important to me that I would be there every day, well almost every day, to pick her up from school.  Now I will be able to. 

My heart is full :)

Valentina

The Felted Rainbow

Ever since my sudden matryoshka doll frenzy I have been enjoying playing around with felt quite a bit.  I love the way it is such an instant material - you cut it and it's ready for sewing with no hems or fraying to complicate things. 

Last week, with the intention of perhaps treating myself to a new stash, I indulged in some window-shopping on Folksy.  I was delighted to stumble across the Felted Rainbow shop.   They are a UK based supplier of felt made from...recycled plastic bottles!  Colourful, felty and eco-friendly, oooh!

I ordered a pick-your-own-colours pack of ten sheets and a nano second later I had an exciting looking package kerplunk through the letterbox...

Ooh!  You can see the impatiently ripped paper, ahem..!

I chose a selection of pinks and blues and yellows, my photos really don't do the colours justice, but they still look pretty yummy...

Can't wait to get started with this stuff!

They have a Flickr group which I am sure I will soon be adding to very soon!

Ah a lovely dose of colour to get me through a rainy evening, hope it has perked you up too :)