A surprise in the post....

 I am feeling very blessed and grateful today to have made such good, supportive and generous friends through my blog. One such friend is Karen who is an Australian blogger who today surprised me with this Christmas parcel. Included in it was an Aneela Hoey quilting journal which  is filled with blank thick artist quality paper and some graph paper at the back and I can't wait to start using it. She also included a pretty embroidered laced edged linen and a very much needed bookmark. Much needed because I currently have no less than 5 books on the go. Yes books are my therapy at the moment as are girlfriends :-) 

Thank you Karen, you are so generous and thoughful :-)

 I have also been meaning to share this parcel that I recieved a couple of weeks ago just in time for the Christmas decorating. Back sometime in the beginning of November I agreed to do a Christmas ornament swap with Julie who follows my blog and is unfortunately not a blogger herself but I think she should be as she is a very clever crafter going from what she sent me for this swap. Everything is perfectly made right from the pretty wrapping of the parcel itself.

Julie generously made me not one or two ornaments but four ornaments all beautifully and perfectly crafted. 

Thank you Julie for your generosity and I would gladly do another swap with you next year!

I hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful and joyous Christmas/New year holiday break. For the last month I have been very busy sewing things for my shop and also some last minute Christmas gifts so will back here soon to share what has kept me away from blogging these last 3 weeks.

A surprise parcel !!!!

About 2 years ago or maybe a bit less I came across a blog called "Xue's Originals". I think actually Xue found me as she left a comment on my blog on a giveaway post and then I checked out her blog as you do. I'm pretty sure that's how our friendship started and we have been corresponding ever since. Xue, also known as 'Lily' lived in Tokyo at the time with her husband and 2 children but has since moved to Dubai. We have very much in common, and I think she is a very talented but modest artist. Last Friday I received the most amazing surprise package from her filled with all sorts of crafty goodness.

 

The package was so full it had actually ripped slightly at the top but luckily everything remained intact. It was like a mini Christmas and I was quite overwhelmed with her generosity and could just imagine the fun she and her daughter had had, putting this all together just for us. To my girls delight they included stickers, window decals, pencils and fans to paint, especially for them. I left it all on our dining table and for the rest of the day kept admiring everything and smiling to myself when I thought of everything I had received.  

 

This is the front of the package, beautifully decorated with her own handmade stamps along with stickers and tape.

Included in the package was this beautiful bag designed and made especially for me with a selection of pretty Japanese fabrics, machine embroidered with a variety of stitches and embellished with tags, buttons and charms. If you look at the charms above the tag can you see that it actually says "I love Sewing"!

The other side of the bag with more pretty fabrics and stitches, pretty little buttons and a tag that says "Sewing is my cuddly time".

 

I just love this little handmade owl, it is only about 2 inches high and now keeps me company in my 'sewing attic' although I might have to share it with Caitlin ;-) Here it is sitting on a bag full of the prettiest handmade covered buttons. They will be put aside to adorn something pretty or I might be talked into making a hair tie or two for the girls.

And last but not least is some of the fabrics she included. All are from her stash which she bought with her from Tokyo to Dubai. I love them all but am very grateful that she generously shared some of her precious Echino prints with me. (The one with the birds :-)) Xue's most recent post is all about her sewing studio in her home in Dubai where she shares photos of her amazing stash of fabrics and sewing machine prettily decorated with cherry blossoms decals.  Xue I can't thank you enough!

Purple crafting and some recent purchases...

About a month ago I was contacted by Rebecca from BecIam asking whether I would be interested in taking part in a 'Purple swap' to raise awareness for Epilepsy. March the 26th is designated Purple day and we were asked to make anything purple for our partners and have it posted to reach them by this date. 

It is always hard in a swap trying to decide what your partner might like and what their tastes are but having the colour already chosen definitely made this swap easier and I enjoyed thinking up things to make. The pillow I made is pretty much the same as the green bubble cushion I made and posted about here. I'm not sure if my partner sews but I made a little birdie pincushion for her because they are nice as just a little ornament too and of course it was a great excuse to make another one :-) The little zippered pouch is loosely based on this tutorial but I boxed the bottom corners so it would sit on its own and used 2 fabrics for the outer.

I did a simple 3 button enclosure on the back using 3 different purple fabrics.  I do hope my partner is pleased with her purple parcel when it arrives!

On Tuesday I had a day out shopping in Tauranga mainly due to Spotlight having a 30% off everything in store sale. I really like going to the Tauranga Spotlight store too as it's still fairly new and tidy and just seems to have different stock to older stores. I was very pleased to spot this print in their quilting fabrics section by Andover Fabrics. Spotlight definitely seems to be stocking  better quality items recently. I have a few of  these prints from this 'Early bird' collection and have them all put aside to make a new quilt for my parents bed so finding this print at $12.95 per metre was a bonus.

A few doors up from Spotlight is a large kitchen store that had a window display of these beautiful prints made up in tea towels, aprons and oven gloves. I think they are way too pretty to be used as tea towels, don't you? They are 100% cotton and are almost decor weight.  I can't wait to create something with them and have already pulled out fabrics to coordinate!

My brooch has arrived!

I have been patiently waiting for my brooch to arrive for the Brooch Swap that Susie from Flowerpress organised back in May and finally today there was a package waiting in my letterbox from Tasmania, Australia. As you can see it was beautifully wrapped in shiny red paper and tied with the makers own ribbon and there was not one package but TWO.

Here's what I received, a beautiful round black and white brooch AND matching earrings. I feel so lucky to have been paired with Katie from WhatKatiedidnext. She has an online shop here where you can find more brooches, hair accessories, earrings and pendants. You can also check out her facebook page here. Go on over and check out her cleverness. Trust me you won't be disappointed :)

Thanks Susie for organising this fun swap!

Finished brooches!

I know I was only meant to make one brooch but the creative juices were flowing so I just couldn't stop at one. Hopefully I've got my partners tastes right with at least one of them. I can't decide which one I like best so she'll be getting them both.

 I finished the second one up this morning. It's made using 3 shades of pink felt with a little white as well. The centre is made using Heather Baileys free tutorial here. I used this same tutorial to make a brooch for my Mother on Mother's day but forgot to take a photo. The french knots in the flower centres were replaced for some pink seed beads to add a little sparkle.

And here's my original brooch idea all embellished with some embroidery and beading. I used a tutorial I found on Pinterest for some of the layers.

I'll be popping them in the post tomorrow. For more brooch eye candy check out our Flickr page here.

Sneaky peek...

 It's been a wet miserable day here but I've been happily ensconced by the heater surrounded by various silky fabrics, tulle, felt, beads, thread and buttons creating a brooch for my secret partner in the Flowerpress Brooch Swap. We have 10 more days so I thought I'd better get a move along.

Tonight I'll be adding some pretty details with some beading and embroidery. Sure do hope my partner likes it although I do have a 2nd brooch idea that I might whip up as well....they're sort of addicting once you start.

You can see more beautiful brooches on our flickr group.

Brooch swap mosaic

1. folded flower bookshelf decoration, 2. Martini brooch, 3. DSC_0009, 4. recent brooches, 5. Making use of the new felt rope., 6. Vintage Brooches On Dressmaker's Form., 7. Heart mobile up close, 8.green, 9. Little Pink House, 10. flickr.com/photos/74067014@N00/4976499711/, 11. main 006, 12.Mixed Media, 13. 'Strawberry Sundae' wall art, 14. susans flowers, 15. Embroidery from our workshop at Ballarat Patchwork, 16. little garden pin cushion

This is my first ever mosaic made for the Brooch swap. I hope it gives my partner some idea of what I like. Making a mosaic is really easy and fun. I followed Jo's instructions here using the Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker. I think I might be making more mosaics in the near future :) 

A new swap!

While reading through my blog list last night (which is way too long) I came across this new swap on Susie's blog Flowerpress who is organising a brooch swap to celebrate her 500th post.  I've been wanting to join in  on a swap for a long time but really couldn't commit the time but this swap seems perfect for me. I love to make and wear pretty brooches and since Susie's given us 7 weeks to make one for our partners I'm sure I'll meet this deadline. If you are keen to join in sign ups are open till May 10th over here.

Fat quarter swap

I participated in Sew Mama Sew's fat quarter swap again this year. I love doing swaps, the anticipation of what you'll find in the mail, getting to know your partners and choosing fabrics for them and finding new blogs to read and add to my ever growing list of must reads.

My swap partners were:

1. Cat a fellow kiwi
2. Elizabeth from Portland, Oregon
3. Kriste from Texas
4. Dana from California (her blog is set to private)

As you can see in the above photo I received some beautiful fabrics, a handwritten poem, and a sheet of cute owl stickers. I wish I'd taken the time to photograph what I sent but Elizabeth has blogged about it beautifully here.Thanks ladies for being such great swap partners!!