Rugby World Cup Swap

I know that the Rugby World Cup has been and gone, that we all cheered on our respective teams and watched in awe as the host nation took the crown but I have a little reminder of the competition in the form of some lovely swap goodies.

During the competition Mousehouse asked if anyone from a participating country would like to take part in a rugby world cup swap, now coming from a rugby mad house we couldn't say no could we and I was partnered with Kimberley all the way from New Zealand. The idea was to send your swap family bits and bobs pertaining to your home country. We decided as we are half English and half Welsh that we would combine the two and we put together a package of English and welsh sweets, a handmade English and welsh cushion, some English and welsh card games, a letter from Jack to Kimberley's three boys and lots more. I completely forgot to take any photos of the bits we sent in my haste to get my parcel sent off as I was a bit behind but I didn't forget to photograph the parcel that Kimberley put together for us and here it is.

We all a share in the package with Jack claiming the All Blacks flag and key ring as well as one of the pens and pencils, Rachel nabbed the tea towel, the soap, a pen and pencil, Tomas was quite happy with the pencils and chocolate, Paul got the socks and I claimed the wool and the recipe book, we all enjoyed a bar of chocolate as you can see from the empty wrappers in the photograph.
Here's a closer look.

I thoroughly enjoyed this swap as it was lovely to receive a package from overseas. Kimberley sent me a lovely email saying how well our package had gone down especially my handmade cushion among her friends and family.
So it just leaves me to say thank you to Mousehouse for organising a brilliant world wide swap and to Kimberley and her family for being such great swapees!!!

P.s Kimberley has promised to email me some pics so i can show you what I sent!

Christmas Shopping - Handmade and On-Line!!!

The weather has taken a decidedly chilly turn over the past few days and together with the fog this has made me want to stay snuggled nice and warm indoors. But I'm not going to let this cold weather stop me from getting on with my Christmas shopping - Oh No! I shall be doing this from the comfort of my armchair at the Creative Connections CRAFTfest this weekend.

 There will be 175 (yes 175!) stalls selling an array of unique and wonderful handmade goodies at this 

on-line extravaganza.

So if you were thinking of heading out this weekend to start (or finish) your Christmas shopping then STOP 

pop the kettle on instead, 

grab some biscuits, 

get comfy in your favourite armchair

 and browse through the many virtual stores that will be showcasing their wares. 

I f you would like to see what's on offer then I am showcasing some of the stall holders over on my facebook page so pop over and take a look.....

A Fungi or two.....

Tomas and I decided to make the most of the sunshine this afternoon by getting out in the garden. Tomas got straight to work collecting leaves for Daddy's bonfire whilst Mummy wandered aimlessly around the garden looking for things to photograph!!

Even Barney joined in the fun!

There was even time to practise some pedalling.

Then we met a fungi or two.......

These amazing toadstools were on some of the logs in the garden.

Whilst these were under one of the Lime trees virtually hidden by all the leaves...

Collecting leaves is such a tiring job so a little rest was required but no photography was allowed.

The colours in the garden were amazing today I do so love this time of year...

Finally I will leave you with a picture of one of our bird feeders - I think there is a reason we're not supposed to put Paul's leftover soak seed (for his aviary birds) here!!!

 

11.11.11

Cupcake Swap Goodies

This is another of my catch up posts and is another wonderful swap reveal...
I was fortunate to be partnered with Sue over at crafts@home for the Cupcake Swap and this is what she sent me.

Goodies wrapped in cupcake paper



This was what was inside what to take a closer look?

 

a cupcake zippered pouch with tiny  glass cupcake



how cute is that!

Cupcake Bunting



A close up of the Cupcake Bunting



a felt cupcake in a silicon case



Cupcake card

Cupcake covered notebook

Cupcake cases and edible toppers

Cupcake tissues

I was thrilled with what I received from Sue, everything so well made and packaged beautifully, thanks Sue for making another swap a pleasure, and again like the last swap in my rush to send off my parcel (read late) I forgot to photograph what I sent, but this time I wasn't the only one Sue forgot to take any pictures of what she sent me so if you would like to take a peak then pop over to Sue's blog.
Sue and I have also been partnered for The Advent Swap so although I might not be able to show you all what I am working on at the moment I shall be busy crafting in the background!!!

Autumn Swap Goodies



I'm a bit behind with all my blog posts from last month so I'm going to try and catch up over the next few days..... Last month the lovely Lisa from Kandipandi and I were partnered in the Autumn/Halloween Swap organised by Bluberry Heart, both Lisa and I chose Autumn as our theme and this is what I received....

A wonderful handmade Autumn card

A stunning beaded bracelet

some dangly beaded earrings

A mini jar of buttons

Autumn Fruit Candles

A delicious bar of Galaxy chocolate

This beautifully made tree applique bag

A leaf design zippered pouch

A knitted poppy  - Lisa kindly donated £3 to the Bristish Legion too

A handmade felt leaf brooch

wooden buttons with a floral design

a leaf design keyring

All my wonderful Autumn goodies together



Lisa thoroughly spoilt me with all this lovely Autumn goodness didn't she so it just leaves to say a BIG thank you to Lisa for being such a wonderful swap partner and to Blueberry Heart for organising such a great swap.
I completely forgot to photograph what I made and sent to Lisa but if you would like to see them then they are here on Lisa's blog. 

My Sewing Room......

I've recently joined a new 30 day photographic challenge over on facebook, and the challenge for this month is a single theme photographed over 30 days so I have chosen

My Sewing Room.

1/30 - My Sewing Room at the bottom of the garden

I'm killing two birds with one stone on this challenge as my sewing room needs a really good tidy up so that some crafting can actually take place and I definitely can't photograph it in the state its in so I shall be busy, busy, busy. 

2/30 My Sewing Machines

 These are my sewing machines, I've hoovered up all the threads and fabric scraps and dropped pins etc and wiped down all the sides!!!

3/30 - magazine style shoot

 This photograph was taken after my friend Ruth came to lunch and we made some padded hearts as a trial run for a forthcoming craft evening at Ruth's church.

4/30 - tidying the zips

I did some more tidying today, cleared the table, hoovered half the floor and managed to squash the cascading zips back into their box!

If you'd like to see more of my sewing room and follow my progress on the tidying front then please pop over to my photography blog



Depth of Field



and if you'd like to join in the photographic challenge or to find out more about it then click on the link below

A Kitten Called Betty