Day to Day

Easter swap - for kids

Remember the Easter swap that I took part in?  I know that I still need to share the beautiful goodies that I received with you, but today I'm posting about a cute swap that I did with the same group of ladies, but it was our little (and big) people.  An Easter kiddie swap!

The above treats were for Bella - chocolate bunny, a sweet Blythe dress and a beautiful print from Kate's Etsy store.  Kate has the sweetest  prints in her store and we own quite a few of them!

For James there were Lego mini figures (win, win!) and TWO Lindt bunnies, but he devoured one before I could take a photo.

Thank you so much Kate, James and Bella adored their Easter goodies.

Easter swap

After the Valentine's swap that I took part in with some lovely friends, it was decided that we would follow up with an Easter swap.  We kept the same format as last time:

• something for Blythe
• something for Easter
• something special just for me

This time around we all had a new swap partner to send and receive from.  My partner was Georgie and here are the gifts that I sent her, all wrapped up (in fabric) and ready to go:

This is a group shot of my gifts to Georgie:

Something just for Georgie - the starburst cushion that I've been working on, plus I added in some lovely little ear rings (from Etsy) that Georgie had popped in her favourites.

Something for Blythe - I bought a cute Blythe dress from Etsy and a pair of matching socks.

Something for Easter - A cute Belle & Boo tin filled with mini eggs and a chocolate rabbit.  He got a bit squished in the package along the way apparently - saves cracking him open I guess!

So, they were the goodies that I sent off for the swap!  Within the next few days I'll share the gorgeous gifts that Georgie gave me - I was totally spoilt.

Starburst crochet cushion

Ta-da! I finished the starburst cushion and posted it off, just in time for my swap deadline.  It looks rather fancy on my couch though, don't you think?

I would have secretly quite loved to keep it, but it was also very easy to part with because it's going to such a lovely person.  Fingers crossed she likes it!

I popped clear buttons on the side and mailed it without the insert, because it was less bulky to post this way.

There were some other goodies in my swap package too - I'll share photos tomorrow.  I wouldn't mind whipping up one of these in the same colour scheme for myself....adding it to my mental crochet list that just keeps on growing!

My Valentine swap gift

As I mentioned the other day, this Valentine's day I participated in a swap with some lovely online friends.  We each had to send three presents:

• Something Valentine related
• Something for a Blythe doll
• Something else fun

My swap partner was the delightful Melanie Brewin and she sent me the sweetest package.

How adorable is the owl hat for Blythe? It was crocheted by Sheree, who's hopefully opening an Etsy store soon that will be filled with all types of Blythe hat goodness.  The little white shoes are very sweet too.

My Valentine related present was a beautiful spoon and some heart sticks - I thought these would be really nice to save and use for a special cake - poke them in the cake once it's all cooked and iced.  Ta-da! Super cute cake.

The last part of my gift was this divine Jurlique rose lip balm - love, love - and some pretty nail polish that I'm looking forward to trying.

I felt very spoilt with all my gifts and it was super lovely to have presents to open on Valentine's day this year.

Oh, and here's what I sent Melanie:

I forgot to take photos of the gifts before wrapping them up, so I've borrowed the photos that Melanie took and posted to instagram as she unwrapped:

• Something Valentine related:  Lollipop heart and a love heart cookie cutter
• Something for Blythe: A little dress - Mel accidentally photographed the dress around the wrong way in the photo above, but below is a photo of it around the right way :)
• Something fun - A bath bomb from Lush, 3 fat quarters of fabric and a Babushka writing journal - that was my favourite item that I sent and I nearly kept it for myself.  I know, that was a very naughty thought ;)

Swaps are so fun and I really enjoyed taking part.  Now I just need to pull my finger out and finish the starburst cushion that I'm working on for our Easter swap!!

 

Is your name on this list!?

Hello to all the lovely Gratitude Swap girls :) 

I'd really LOVE to close off this swap so if your name is on the list below please contact me ASAP and let me know if you have received your swap items!  It's quite stressful trying to chase everybody up - so please drop me an email or just leave a message on this blog post.  I apologise if your name is on the list and you've already contacted me - if you think you have emailed me previously about this then please leave a comment here so you can ensure I find your message this time :)

goodsellmx@internode.on.net (Email me here)

These are people that I've tried to contact and am yet to hear from:

Amy Kennedy-Penuel http://www.taitaiknits.typepad.com 

Trishia Gallardo trishiag.blogspot.com  Trishia I need to know if you have mailed your gratitude swap off and also whether you've received one - I've tried to contact you several times, please email me.

Kat Storey (no blog)

Swap goodies.

We're back from our super little holiday away.  We had a great time (I'll blog a few pics next time).  Waiting in my mailbox when I returned (actually at Mum's house because she collected our mail for us) was our swap package for the children's swap over at Kiddio.  Our swap partner was the lovely Amy from Lets Explore.  The goodies that she sewed and sent for James and Bella were just beautiful.  They loved them so much Amy (and so did I) - thankyou :)  The stationery covers fold up into a bag, which is an awesome idea.  They look really nice hanging up in their rooms.

 

 

 

Amy also spoilt James and Bella with the cutest pebble crayons, handmade drawings from the girls and lollipops - yum.

 

 

There was more amazing mail today - my scrummy gratitude swap package from the lovely Rowena.  Rowena was exceptionally generous and naughty, spoiling me with such beautiful goodies.  Just so sweetly wrapped.

 

Inside the box:

 

 

 

Here are a couple of close up shots of the bits and pieces inside the wrap.  I really love the Kikki K goodies and hand made cards. Thankyou so so much Row :)

 

  

Don't forget to let me know via email (or post on here) as soon as you receive your gratitude swap in the mail so that I can sign you off the list.

Could the following people please contact me and let me know if their package has been mailed out to their swap partner:

Trishia Gallardo and Deanne Young.

Swaps & things :)

 

Have you mailed off your Gratitude Swap package?  If these people could please contact me and let me know where they are at with their packages that would be lovely.  (My apologies if you have already told me and I've somehow missed you off my list).

Tamara Wade, Jill Tacy, Rosina (from Canada), Amy (in Malaysia), Rachel Le Grand, Jodii Geddes, Trishia Gallardo, Deanne Young, Lisa Giddins, Fiona Carter, Floss Smythe, Erin Koch, Janelle Wind and Sara Degrace.

I was naughty and as of Thursday night didn't have my Gratitude Wrap sewn - so I sat up until really late and finished it, popped it in the mail on Friday to m lovely swap partner Row....then while I was at the post office realised that I hadn't taken a photo of it...grrrr.  Pretty silly hey.  So, that's a sneak of the fabrics that I used above :)  I bought the sweet Russian doll fabric from Japan out of Leslie's Goodness shop.

Some swap facts for you all - we had 60 people join in with the swap (cool hey!)  35 swappers were from Australia, 2 from Canada, 1 from Malaysia,  3 from New Zealand, 1 from England, 18 from the US and 6 people have already received their swap goodies :)

I'm away from Monday until the following Tuesday (8 day mini holiday) so if you email me during this period about your swap I'll get back to you when I arrive home.

Sweet Lissy - I know I owe you about 20 million emails, I've been thinking of you and please forgive me for being naughty.  I am seriously the world's worst emailer....but I'll try and email you before I go :))

 

I bought these delightful hand made dishcloths and felt jam drops (for Bella's felt food collection) from Jacqui's Market Store.  Jacqui has some gorgeous bits and pieces for sale (perfect for a handmade Christmas).  If you want to make your own yummy felt jam drops, Jacqui also has a tutorial here. 

Oh and isn't this dinner set to die for?

 

Vintage Botanica by Amy Butler - damm that would look cute in my kitchen :)

Hello :)

James and Bella went back to school today :(  I have quite a few bits and pieces that I wanted to blog about over the last few days, but kind of got sidetracked soaking up the last bit of them both before they went back.  We've also been pulling our kitchen apart ready to renovate, so that has left us busy and tired.

 

 

I created this for Bella's bedroom.  She's getting quite a few little canvas' on her wall space now that I've made.  This is one of her favourite pieces, she loves the felt butterflies and flowers.  I love the felt buttons (yes they are SO so good).  I used a selection of Heidi Swapp felt products combined with some Queen & Co felt.  It was for this post here over at the Aussie Scrap Source blog. 

I also designed these layouts for the Aussie Scrap Source blog:

 

 

Morning Bubble is all about Bella's morning bubble that she has going on.  She's always in a private little zone most mornings and loathes climbing out of bed to get ready for the day.  I don't want to think about this progressing into teenage years!!  I've used Inique Boutique products.  They're really not the type of patterned papers that I'd normally choose for a page, so it was a challenge to put the layout together, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I totally adore the handmade felt flower  (it's also Inique Boutique) - these would be perfect to use on gift packaging, stapled on a bag or tied onto a parcel with ribbon and also for sewing projects.  The hand and machine stitching on them is super cute.

 

 

This layout of James (wild thing) was for a brads challenge.  I used Basic Grey Archaic brads.  I have never been much of a brads girl but I have a real fancy for the Basic Grey brads.  They're so shiny, pretty and I love that they match the BG range of papers.  On this layout though I used the new Cosmo Cricket Mr Campy paper range.

 

 

 

My goodies arrived in the post from the lovely Cele.  Apart from sending the most amazing dishcloths (which look super sweet in my kitchen and they're so lovely to use), she also spoilt us with some treats for James and Bella and some extra goodies for me.  The emergency chocolate (which made us giggle) is long gone - it turns out there was an emergency on the day it arrived! Thankyou Cele :)

I can't think what else now, so I'd better go and attend to our fish for dinner.

Gratitude Swap update

Don't forget to take a peek at the photos already loaded over at the new Flickr group that I set up for our swaps.

If you don't have a flickr account and would like a photo loaded to the group, please email it through to me and I can do that for you.

There is just over a week left to get your swap packages finished and in the mail - so please don't forget! 

Also please remember to email me as soon as you send your package off and receive one, so that I can mark you off the list.

Thanks :)

Production

I think James was a little more productive than myself today. I procrastinated a lot and drank too many cups of tea.

Here's James' half finished model (it still needs painting and the base created).

 

I finally finished a couple of pencil/notepad holders that I was making (and should have had posted off a while ago) for Cele's two children (we're doing a little swap).

 

 

I also completed these two children's stationery holders for a swap that I joined over at Kiddio.  I'm putting a swap package together for Amy's two sweet girls.  I still have to track down a few little bits and pieces to add before mailing off, but here's the base of my swap package.

 

 

Pics are a little dark, it's edging towards night time here.