Two swaps

 I have taken part in lots of swaps so far this year and here is the Stationery Swap (organised by Tracy from Mad About Bags).  I was partnered with Amanda from Graham's Landing and we did the usual email chat to find out likes and dislikes and got swapping.  I was stunned by Amanda's generosity!  We had to swap five things, one of which needed to be hand made. I loved the beautiful tissue paper the gifts were wrapped in.

 Here is a photo of the whole parcel - Amanda had put together a wonderful mixture of unusual items...

 ...stickers, postcards, number pegs, envelopes...

 ...writing set, notebook and more stickers and trims.  There was also a lovely felted notebook cover with a heart.  I love it all - you can never have too much stationery, can you?  Thank you so much to Amanda for being a fantastic swap partner.

Here's what I sent to Amanda, including a bookmark I made incorporating some of her favourite blues.  It was a great swap and thanks to Tracy for organising.

The other swap I recently took part in was organised by Kimberley from Creative Chaos and I was partnered with the lady herself!  (I must say how fantastic the postal service was - my parcel got to New Zealand in five and a half days!)  This was the Send Us Your Country swap and the idea was to do just that - send things from your country and your area.  Again, I have to say how generous people are in blog swaps!  The photo above shows the mountain of goodies Kimberley sent to me.

Lovely wool socks, tea...

sweets, a Kiwi pencil, postcards, a kiwi key ring...

 a beautiful bright and vibrant bag (perfect for shopping!)...

 a gorgeous cushion featuring New Zealand flora and fauna (Kiwi and Tui birds)...

...the sweets and chocolate haven't lasted long, but were much enjoyed!  Thank you so much to Kimberley for both organising the swap and being such a wonderful swap partner.

Here's what I sent to Kimberley - Lincolnshire postcards and note cards, a ceramic K by a local maker, stationery items, English Breakfast tea from a local tea shop, a bracelet and felt heart, fridge magnets and ribbon.
I have been so lucky with my swap partners (and all the lovely gifts I have been sent) and have really enjoyed taking part in all the swaps I have done over the years.
There are two more swaps to report back on in the next week or so - an Easter swap and a Tea cup/Mug exchange.

Christmas Cracker swap

I have taken part in Tracey's (Mad About Bags) Christmas Cracker swap for a few years now and it is one of my favourites.  You just have to fill a kitchen roll inside with lots of little gifts and wrap the filled tube in material.  I was partnered up with Melanie of The Patchwork Robin , which was lovely as we had been partnered up before in a different swap, so we had already done a bit of research about each other's likes and dislikes.  I received the lovely cracker above, packed full with little golden treasures...

as well as some printed linen ribbon, two seasonal green teas, some chocolate coins and a genius ideas to make your own apron (perfect colours for me too, with the teal pattern).

 Once the little golden parcels were opened, here's what they contained: seasonal washi tapes; a tape ribbon and Christmas ribbon; a pair of scissors with a scissor lock so they can't be used for anything other than material or thread cutting (!); some rose scented hand cream (which is gorgeous); a fridge magnet all about cakes and a candy cane.

 The linen ribbon is beautiful and I felt it deserved a close up!
 A HUGE thank you to Melanie for being so generous and choosing such lovely gifts for me and thanks to Tracey for organising such a fabulous seasonal swap each year.

 Here's my cracker for Melanie.

Material with a sewing theme, sewing thread, Christmas ribbon, a magnet peg, hot chocolate drink, mini chocolate reindeer, a felt bird, a key ring/bag charm, a pair of earrings and a bracelet.  I thoroughly enjoyed being part of this swap and am looking forward to next year's already!

Brooches swap - "Such Fun!"

You know how I enjoy blog swaps (did you get the quote from Miranda's Mum?) and I signed up to a brooch swap run by Jo at Three Stories High, who had the great idea of making a brooch in your favourite craft medium and then swapping it - just a little pick-me-up for the end of Winter.  Terrific idea, I thought, and put my name down.  I was partnered up with the lovely Emma at Bubsiekins and after the usual emailing to get some clues about likes and dislikes, off we went to create.  We swapped gifts last week and here's what Emma sent me:

 Two lovely gifts - how exciting!  So, what was inside?

 A beautiful brightly coloured circle brooch and the happiest cat in the world brooch!  She had been very generous and made me two.

 I mean, just look at him/her - isn't he/she just gorgeous?  He/She makes me smile too.  Thank you so much to Emma for being such a thoughtful and clever swap partner!  You would probably like to know what I sent to Emma?

 I made her a flower brooch from my own felt in colours that she told me she liked and put a pearl in the centre as that is one of her birthstones.

I also made her a bracelet, because, like her, I wasn't sure that the brooch would be to her taste (it is such a personal thing, after all), but I think she likes it.  All in all, a very successful and fun swap to be involved with. Thanks to Jo for organising it and to Emma, for her lovely gifts - it really was "Such Fun!" (hmm, perhaps a bit too much with the Miranda quotes?!).