Stitching Santa 2017

I took part in Stitching Santa, organised by Sheila at Sewchet, which was a new blog exchange to me.  We were given a recipient's details and our details were given to someone else, so it was a big surprise to all of us.  My sender was Nikki from SewingNikki and she was so incredibly generous.  I have been so lucky with all the swaps/exchanges I have taken part in and it is lovely to know that there are so many kind and generous people out there in Blogland.  My parcel arrived and I had to leave it alone until Christmas Day.

 On opening it, there was a beautifully decorated box, adorned with all kinds of pretty ornaments.

Inside was tissue paper, held together with sewing related stickers. 

 Inside that, was a beautifully made bag and under that...

 ...was all this!  What a treasure trove of sewing goodness! Stickers, decorations, wool, a pack of material to make a cushion, an embroidery hoop, a pattern to make bags, a tape measure, some flowery organza type material and a jar of trimmings.

 I love the sheep fabric for the cushion - just gorgeous.

 Definitely an embarrassment of riches.

Wasn't I lucky?

This was what was in the jar - an array of trimmings and haberdashery (I love that word!).  A HUGE THANK YOU to Nikki for her amazing gifts, her generosity and kindness.  I love it all and will enjoy using it over the next year(s).

My recipient was Kimberley from Creative Chaos, who lives in New Zealand.  I had been partnered with her before, so had an idea of the things she liked. I have already shown the fabric box I made for her.

 Here are the other things I included: a felt heart with a pearl charm, some hot chocolate, some red and orange patterned cotton material, some gingham ribbon, a spoon rest/tea bag rest, a reel of sewing thread, some notelets (as I knew she liked stationery) and a little notebook as I also knew she would be starting a teaching degree at University and thought it might come in handy.

Here are the parcels ready to go. They arrived safely and I received a lovely thank you card with two little gifts from her.
It was a lovely swap/exchange to be involved with and I really enjoyed taking part.  Thanks to Sheila for the expert organising.

Stitching Santa blog swap

Over the years, I have taken part in a lot of blog swaps and exchanges and have really enjoyed them.  It's always lovely to make new friends and send presents.  Receiving presents is nice too, of course.  Recently, I haven't noticed so many to take part in and I have been missing them, so when I saw one which Jo from Through the keyhole is taking part in, I went off to investigate.
It is being run by Sheila at Sewchet and you can choose either knitting/crochet or sewing to take part in.  It is more like a Secret Santa, where someone sends you a present and you send someone else a present, so it isn't a straight swap.  You can spend up to £10.00 (always a good idea to have a limit) and I am looking forward to finding out who I will be sending to.  Some blog stalking (in a nice way), once we have the details will also help to tailor the gifts to the person.
If it sounds like something you'd like to join in with, go on over to Sewchet, where you'll find all the details.  Sign up is open until 31st October, so there's still time!

Send a Little Love Swap 2017

I have just taken part in Tracy (at Mad About Bags') 'Send a Little Love' swap 2017.  I have taken part in this swap for several years and always enjoy it.  This year I was partnered up with Pilar from Cenefas de Flores who is from Barcelona.  We were given some guidelines with this swap:

"The idea of this swap is to send 5 things to include :

Some sewing or yarny notions that have a love theme

Something heart shaped or themed

Something deliciously edible

Something handmade

Something red "

So, we emailed and looked at each other's blogs, as usual, to pick up some clues and then we got making and swapping.  My parcel from Spain arrived and it was the hardest thing not to peek before grand opening day, although I did manage to leave it alone until then.  As you can see from the top photo, I had been sent the most beautifully packaged gifts.  I loved the floral tissue paper with the labels.

Here's what was inside...wow!  There was ribbon, lip balm, heart shaped decorations, rose scented flower petals, violet flavoured sweets, heart shaped buttons, pompoms, red flower linen material, two beautifully made cross stitched pin cushions/decorations, a fridge magnet and two recipes.

 I was, yet again, extremely lucky.

 She had been so generous.

 Aren't these absolutely stunning? I found out that the little black cat was inspired by Scruffy.

The wooden decorations will be added to my seasonal tree stash.  Thank you Pilar (she has put her post up about the swap too) at Cenefas de Flores so much for all the lovely gifts - they are fantastic - you were an amazing swap partner. 

So here's what I sent to her.  The heart swap things are on the left, including heart bunting, heart cutters, love heart sweets, heart ribbon and washi tape, a felt heart (of course), a heart mug and a polymer clay and gemstone bookmark.  On the right are the extras, a UK cross stitch magazine, some pearl earrings and some wooden pegs.

 Here's the heart things...

...and the extras.  I did wrap them in heart wrapping paper, but forgot to take a photo before I packaged it all up.  Thanks to my lovely swap partner and also to Tracy for doing the organising. 

Scruffy enjoyed playing in the wrapping paper, but of course he moved when he saw the camera and although he does actually have his eyes open in this photo (amazingly), he is studiously ignoring looking at the camera.

Seasons swap - Wow!

 I do enjoy a good blog swap, as my lovely followers will know, so when I saw the Seasons Swap, organised by Kimberley of Creative Chaos, I signed up.  It was a great idea - find out your swap partner's favourite season and then buy and make things to send them.  I was partnered up with Maria, from Dotty's Daughter .  We emailed and found out that we are scarily similar, even down to our ages!  Maria told me that she didn't have a favourite season and I responded that early Summer was my favourite.  So, armed with some information, we started shopping and making.  Our parcels were swapped and I received the parcels above.

 I opened them to find a plethora of gorgeous gifts.  Maria had been so generous!  Flowery bunting, tulips, felt squares, felt flower pegs, a heart decoration, buttons, a gardening themed scissor fob and a personalised patchwork pincushion with sewing charms,

 The patchwork pincushion deserved its own photo.

 Bunting, buttons, hearts and flowers...

...and the gardening scissor fob, complete with welly!  I emailed to thank her and received a lovely reply, but she also said that she had forgotten to add in another part of the parcel so that would be sent too. Lucky me - two parcels!

 Here's what was in parcel two.  Lots of sewing goodies including needles, pins, ribbon and some patchwork for me to start.  There were also seeds and a dragonfly bracelet, some cat clips and some angel decorations made by her daughter.

 Here are the angels - aren't they lovely?

 Here's my patchwork project for the autumn evenings...  A HUGE thank you to Maria for her amazing generosity, thoughtfulness and kindness and for being such a lovely swap partner.  As I was opening my parcels, it did strike me how we had sent similar types of things.

Here's what I sent: Spring (magnets, seeds, a scissor fob/keyring/bag charm and bird material), Summer (a mug, magnet pegs, some sewing machine material and a piece of the London material, (which I used to make a doorstop for my friend in Canada) as she used to live in London), Autumn (hot chocolate, a spiced candle, a notebook and some pens) and Winter (a felt heart, monochrome bracelet and earrings).
It was a marvellous swap to be involved with and I really enjoyed it.  Thanks to Kimberley for organising it and of course, to Maria.

Golden Autumn Blog Swap

I really enjoy taking part in blog swaps now and again and this is one of my favourites.  It is run by Blueberry Heart and this is the third year I have joined in.  I was partnered with Amanda from Crafty in the Med and after emailing a few times and doing some research about likes and dislikes, we started gathering and making.  We swapped parcels last week and goodness me, what a wonderful selection of goodies I unwrapped.

Here they all are, waiting to be unwrapped.

 Here is everything once unwrapped.  I was so lucky as Amanda had been very generous.

Saffron (I know, I need to find some special recipes to use this in), watermelon seeds, hazelnut chocolate and a notebook.

 Some gorgeous crochet including a doily, a crochet bracelet (which is really light and comfortable to wear), a crochet purse containing another surprise and a beautiful crocheted collar.

 The surprise was a lovely ceramic magnet which is at the top of the picture and there was also a beautifully decorated bowl and a brochure about a traditional Spanish costume.

 More things kept appearing - badges, ribbons, charms, buttons, needles and pins.

I loved this badge - very appropriate indeed!  A huge thank you to Amanda, who was an amazing swap partner.

Here's what I sent to Amanda - lots of autumnal coloured bits and pieces, including felt and jewellery (of course). She said she liked orange, so as you can see, that colour featured quite a bit! Her post about my parcel can be found here.

Here are my parcels ready to be wrapped and sent off.  Thanks to Blueberry Heart for organising the swap, thanks to Amanda and here's to the Autumn swap next year!

'From My Home to Yours' Blog Swap - Parcel Two!

As you may know, I took part in the blog swap organised by Betty and my swap partner Emma sent me a lovely parcel.  She also told me that there were more things she had got ready for the swap, but had forgotten to post them, so to look out for them in parcel two. They arrived safe and sound this week. 

 The parcel was unwrapped with great excitement and here's what greeted me...

I set it out and there was a lavender shortbread pack, made with Jersey lavender, a map and tourist guide of Jersey, a bags of blue beads, a blue crocheted flower, a peach rose brooch, and a very pretty bead necklace (the flowers and necklace made by Emma),

 Here are the necklace, beads and flowers - so pretty!

 So, I put the two parcels of goodies together and this is what I received.

Wow - what a fantastic lot of loveliness!  I am really looking forward to making (and eating) the shortbread - I'll let you know how I get on. A HUGE thank you to Emma for all the beautiful things.  Blog swaps are so much fun!

From My Home to Yours blog swap - parcels!

I like taking part in blog swaps and have just been enjoying the 'From My Home to Yours' swap organised by lovely Betty. The idea was to have four things from your home area, one of which had to be hand made, and anything else you felt like including.  I was partnered up with the fabulous Emma and we got in touch, emailed and looked at each other's blogs for inspiration, as well as likes and dislikes.  We made, gathered, bought and created and then swapped.

 Here are some of the lovely things which Emma sent me in the first parcel (excitingly, Emma told me that there would be another one too).  There's a lovely blue bag, made and embroidered by Emma, as well as some fabric washi tape, some floral straws, some flower pegs (perfect additions for my seasonal tree), the sweetest little crocheted owl and some delicious praline chocolate, made on Jersey.

Such a lovely and very appropriate zipped bag!

How gorgeous is this little blue owl?  Thank you so much, Emma, for your lovely gifts  - they are great!

As it was Emma's first ever blog swap, I really wanted her to enjoy it.  I found out she liked owls and her favourite colours were pink and purple.  As you might imagine, those things featured quite highly!  I included a felt heart (hand made and incorporating Lincoln Longwool), and a magazine about Lincolnshire, a map of Lincoln (in case she ever wants to visit) and various postcards and fridge magnets with images of Lincolnshire.  I also included some owl related things, craft related things and jewellery.  I think all my blog swaps so far have included felt and jewellery (that could be a clue for my next swap partner!).  I was lucky to find some owl material and an owl mug and I painted some pastel owls, taken from the wrapping paper which can be seen below, onto a notebook.

Here it all is, wrapped and ready to be packaged up.  It was a lovely swap to be involved with, so thanks to Betty for the organising and huge thanks to Emma for being such a lovely swap partner.  When parcel part two arrives, I'll post about that as well.