Bad, bad, blogger and a Super Swap!

No I don't mean Blogger the system - I mean me!

I was lucky enough to be part of the Snailblazer swap which was organised by the lovely and talented Cass and received the most amazing array of goodies when the swap was complete, which I have been very remiss in blogging, til now.

So while some of you may have seen them around on other "good blogger's" pages before now, I don't care, you can enjoy their loveliness again!

Here we go:

Cass made a fabulous patchwork mini-scarf, perfect for Melbourne weather at the moment
Allison sent a handmade soap with a little swapcard girl on the front
Kylie who is clever with all things wool and fabric knitted a sweet washcloth

Carolyn made a lovely project bag in this great apple and pear fabric that I have been eyeing off for ages;

Cindy created a wristlet using reclaimed denim as well as upcycled zips and lining with sweet yo-yo detail

Meika made a crocheted hat which has been claimed by the eldest of my girls as her own. (I couldn't get the flower to photograph well - hence the detail shot)

Adds made this very handy and beautifully made mushroom fabric basket which has been ideal for storing all my new felt supplies (more to come on what they are for next post!)

Ingrid the always clever crafter made a loyalty card holder for all those pesky cards that won't fit into my wallet

Claire made the gorgeous cheery cherry apron that came complete with a Cherry Ripe in the pocket (long -gone sorry folks!)

and lastly Clair sent one of her gorgeous soft owls which one of the girls saw and declared to be "Toot", which is her version of Cute.

Claire has since named this little pattern "Toot the owl" which is very sweet.

I sent out to all the ladies a button brooch that I made a la Jodie's workshop at the Stitches and Craft show.

I used a mix of vintage and new buttons for them.

And I also made up fabric flowers in fabric from Amy Butler, Park Slope, Anna Maria Horner and Sandi Henderson fabric and thanks to a great idea from Kirsty I attacehd both a brooch clip and a hair clip to the back so they can be worn as the ladies choose.

I put them all on a little piece of patterned scrap-booking paper with a word that describes the joys of crafting for me and sent them on their way.

Belated but sincere thanks to Cass for all the planning and organisation that went into this swap - it was really great.

Treat yourself

I've been lucky enough to meet some lovely crafty types at a handwork circle I've been going to at The Little Sparrow shop.

One of them is the very talented Kirstie or Princess Kirstie Jane as she is known in her blog.

She's recently completed making up kits you can use to make up her gorgeous felted brooches.

There are Love Birds, Owls, Mushrooms, a baby Butterfly and of course a Princess.

They use such goodies as 100% wool hand-dyed felt, upcycled fabrics and 100% cotton embroidery thread and include everything you need to make them - right down to the needle!

Check them out and give yourself a chance to win one by visiting here and leaving her a comment.

Well worth the effort I can tell you.

Good luck!

Show stopper

I'm almost embarassed to blog this the event was so long ago!
But what's that old cliche, I mean saying, "better late than never".

So here goes.

The Stitches and Craft show was on here in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and I had a lovely child-free morning strolling around taking time to actually look at the things I wanted to look at and even participating in a short workshop/tutorial class.

The class, or Craft Lab as they were called, was on making rings and brooches from vintage buttons and was run by none other than the fabulous Jodie of Ric Rac fame, you know, the creative selvedge freak lady (she calls herself that not me mind you!).

I hadn't read the guide close enough when I signed up to even know it was her running it, so it was almost a bit embarassing to walk in, given that I had outed myself to her as a reader of her blog about an hour earlier.

Must have appeared very stalkerish!

To make matters more strange, Lara of Thornberry, another blog I love to read, was there with one of her daughters doing the button thing.

So I said Hi again.

As everyone always says, both ladies were incredibly friendly and neither sought a restraining order against me so I was delighted to make their acquaintance.

Blogland is proving itself time and again to be a very friendly world and I am always glad when I take the plunge and say hi.

Of course there were plenty of other crafty bloggers who I didn't 'out' myself to, but maybe next time!

So on to the goodies.

I popped over to the Kelani stand and got some Heather Ross Mendocino mermaids just because it's lovely, picked up a piece of this fun and cheerful Sprout fabric that I might use for appliques and also some babushka's, who could resist them really.

Also got some doll clothes patterns from AK Traditions, some cute robot fabric from the Amitie stand and lastly some lovely felt flowers that I plan to make into brooches or hair clips for the girls.

Definitely make the trip to the show when it's on in your state and sign up early for the workshops and classes.

Feel the love!

It may be the day after Valentine's Day but I certainly feel loved today, as this morning I received a wonderful parcel of goodies from Cass at Snailblazer as part of the EB Valentine's Day Swap 08.

Cass is a very clever bag-maker and I was lucky enough to receive one of her "It's a bag" bags which fold in on themselves into a pocket so they can be tucked in almost anywhere ready to be used.


The parcel also included these two lovely ladies, Miss Lucy Buttons and her sister Miss Alice Buttons, who have been an instant hit and this morning have been walked in the pram, had a jump on the trampoline and been for a swing, as well as being kissed often.

In fact when I pinched them for the briefest of moments while I took this pic, there were tears!


The rest of the goodies included Lindt bunnies (my all-time favourite chocolate - well done Cass!), they appear to me to be bite-sized! Some fabulous fabric, four great patterns, sweet heart-shaped buttons and a huge bag of other buttons - some of which will be sewn onto a shirt today.

Thanks Cass, I feel very loved!