I'm a Lucky Girl

Lisa at Lydias Treasures organised a wonderful COLOUR swap - of course I just had to join......the rules of the game were to send our partner six pressies - one of which needed to be handmade.  We also got to choose the colour we would like the pressies to be based around - mine was yummy tomato/french reds and my swap partner was the beautiful Dzintra of Queen of the Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries. 

My parcel of treasures arrived exactly and perfectly at the end of 12 days straight at work...........so of course, anyone who knows me will know I quickly tore it open..........then remembered to grab the camera..........

laid all of the treasures wrapped in this pretty red paper with the most gorgeous sticky tape out like this..........

Then........I popped on my PJ's, grabbed a glass of Brown Brothers Cienna,  made myself comfy by the fire and began to open with very controlled excitement......

I did show remarkable restraint (for me), and opened the smallest parcel first - which revealed this gorgeous roll of twill tape with the word Vintage printed every few centimetres......

Second came these absolutely gorgeous little miniature wooden pegs with the cutest flowers attached.....then a block of yummy Lindt chocolate...no picture just in case any bloggy buddies are on the chocolate bandwagon - I'd feel incredibly guilty if I pushed any of you over the edge.....:)

Oh no, 3 down only 3 left.......the fourth parcel held this beautiful little pincushion........

The fifth

this absolutely delightful little needlecase - and if you flip them both over they look like this.....

and last but definately not least......a cute little pouch.........

 which when opened revealed a gorgeous little sewing pouch crammed with lovely bits and bobs

a tape measure, pencil, little clippers, thread and a lovely little Bless this House kit by Anni Downs

Each of the handmade items had a beautiful "Made for Me" label attached to them........

Wow Dzintra - I was soooo excited.....each and every item is absolutely gorgeous....you nailed this swap in every possible way - I love the colours, love all the items and can finally boast a collection of sewing accessories that I absolutely love - and the ''Made for Me'' label on each of the handmade items definately made me feel all warm and fuzzy (or perhaps it was the 2nd glass of wine).......I have picked up my goodies several times today for a touchy feel and have begun to fill my pouch with my favourite tools of the trade!!  Thank you Dzintra - your gifts are perfect and I'm still excited!!

As for what I sent  - well, I have to admit I forgot to take a photo before heading to the Post Office, but I have pinched this photo from Dzintra's blog

Along with stitching, Dzintra loves to cook - her blog is a mixture of crafts and fine foods......Dzintra's chosen colours were "Soft Country", so a Christmas pincushion, a fabric covered notebook, Jamie Oliver tea towels and Bbq brush, a notepad alluding to diets paired with a bag of dusted jelly babies (yes, my sense of humour is a little warped), a Bareroots pattern book with 2 skeins of Threadworx threads, a little bundle of Tangled Threads fat 1/8 and a yummy smelling sachet of ......yummy smelling stuff :)

I must thank Lisa for organising the swap - it was lots of fun, not too much pressure and a wonderful way to make new friends!!

I think I may have an addiction now - I have to admit, I get a bit of a buzz heading off to the Post Office to send a parcel of goodies on its way - they say its always better to give than receive......and as much as I like to give......this girl just loves to find a parcel of goodies in her mailbox!!!! 

Friends With Benefits

My last post I shared what Sisbabe had sent to me for our Friends with Benefits swap organised by Kathy at Sew Happy House....it was the first swap Kathy had ever organised, and she did a fantastic job.  Well done Kathy, and thank you!!

My swap partner likes contrasts and did as an example mention browns and pinks.....well, couldn't do browns and pinks however did find some Momo fabrics that I (in my not very contrast mind) did believe fitted into the category of contasts.  Sisbabe also likes lots of colour, and I think the fabrics I chose certainly packed a punch there!!!  I also purchased a Gail Pan pattern from Sarah's online store Patchwork Plus (button on her blog), which I have had an eye on for a long time......of course, I had to change it just a little (not necessarily the correct thing to do), so my block keeper came out looking a little different........

Gails original pattern has the stitchery turned applique'd or reverse appliqued onto the front cover - I'm still reasonably happy with how it turned out, however when I make one for myself I shall definately follow the pattern.

The pattern also included a pincushion and needlebook...........

...............and I also added a tape measure - easy peasy - a fabric flower encasing a Birch plastic retractable tape measure sandwiched with felt (leave a hole for the opening don't forget) and my ever trustworthy glue gun!! 

Then because I didn't think it looked ''quite enough'' I quickly put together a dilly bag which I found a tutorial for on Lurline's blog - thanks Lurline, the tutorial was so easy to follow and I just loved the batting base that makes it stand all on its own (no pellon at all in the bag sides).

So I think altogether it was a nice little parcel to send......I have to admit, I didn't particularly enjoy the colours I was working with but I believe I should probably now label myself a Swap Addict!

Best now go continue  Dzintra's "Colour" swap gift's organised by the lovely Lisa at Lydia's Treasures

Happy Sewing

xoxoxo

Lots to Share

So this is going to be one long post :)  Where do I start?  Perhaps in date order.....at the Craft & Quilt Fair in Launceston last Friday......it was my first ever quilt fair and also on the last day of my holidays.....wonderful way to finish almost 3 very relaxing weeks.  Lots and lots to drool over and equally as much to purchase......I was however, very restrained (only because I had a budget)!!!!!

The day began at 7am at  Kathy's house, then off to collect Christine and Di.   Road Trip!!!  First stop - the Raspberry Farm at Christmas Hills for breakfast - or should I say break-FEAST.....muffins, toast and raspberry jam, scrambled eggs, bacon and sweet potato hash browns.....ohhhhh my goodness - small serves were big enough to feed an army....and very delish!  Guess who didn't take a photo - doh!

Then off to the fair....wow - there are so many talented people in this country.  The quilts were so impressive - (no photo's) and the stalls were equally so.  It was wonderful to see so many Tassie businesses there - and I finally got to meet the gorgeous Fee - her stall looked absolutely wonderful with lots and lots of lovely patterns and fabric bargains........no, I just couldn't resist :)

I purchased this lovely tablerunner pattern and the prettiest fabric behind.  I think you should all visit Fee and check out her online shop also.......

Next purchase was from Blue Willow Cottage.........

A super cute teeny tiny rotary cutter and mat - perfect for cutting hexies (I've had the papers and template for a little while, but have not yet dabbled....they look rather addictive)....both items are super portable.  I also purchased a dresden plate template - dresden's have grown on me over the last couple of months, so I think I shall definately have to try my hand at making one or two!  The absolutely gorgeous chenille ric rac came from another stall, however I can't remember the name.

Later in the afternoon after much wandering, returning, umming and ahhhhing and completing our purchases, we slipped out to Esme's at Kings Meadows..........

...... I was delighted (read ecstatic) to find 2 more fabrics from the Fleur Rouge collection I blogged about a couple of posts ago......it's soooo pretty.  Of course I couldn't resist buying just a tiny bit more ric rac - I have such a thing for it at the moment.......its almost as addictive as fabric :)  I had a lovely day out with 3 gorgeous friends and can't wait for another road trip soon!

On Monday when I returned home from work I had this waiting for me.....I knew it was from sweet Friends With Benefits swap partner Sisbabe.....now - you must understand that when I get a pressie in the post, I normally have the packaging ripped to shreds before I even step inside the front door.......I have showed much restraint with this gift to produce the appropriate photo's........

OK, so I may have had a little squeeze between the letterbox and the house.....

Ohhhhh I love pressies with ribbons.......and tissue paper........how easy is that to tear open quickly...

What a beautiful pouch......and on opening the zipper I found.......more pretty bows the tissue wrap (I was so excited by now)

The next pressie was this perfect piece of stitchery which opened out to.........

Isn't it lovely - Sisbabe's stitching is just perfect - AND the clever lady designed the stitchery herself.

A matching notebook to complete the set......and last but not least

this teeny 2 1/2 inch charm pack (I had no idea they came this little), which has lots of the lovely french reds I am in love with at the moment.

Sisbabe, my gifts are absolutely awesome - the words you chose were very meaningful to me........thank you for the TLC you put into each stitch!!!!  It's been wonderful getting to know you bouncing lengthy (very lengthy) emails off to each other....a true new blogging buddy!

Sisbabe on the other hand, is totally the opposite to myself.......her parcel arrived a day later than mine, but ohhhh nooooo, my new friend likes to look at the pretty wrap, and touch and squeeze and feel and play for waaaaay longer than I can manage........its almost 36 hours since the postie delivered to her door and she still hasn't opened it........can you imagine that......I'm going bonkers waiting.....I think secretly she is enjoying torturing me........what do you think?

xoxoxoxo