greetingarts

snowflakes and swaps

My ornaments for the 2nd Annual Holiday Ornament Swap were all packed up, addressed and mailed yesterday, I hope everyone likes them.  They're about 2" or so in diameter (I'm not really sure, I didn't measure), just the right size for a tree, I think.  I embroidered two circles of felt with a snowflake pattern, added some glass beads, and sandwiched a scalloped circle of white felt in between.  The inspiration came from here, scroll down to see the coasters.

And here's a closeup of the bookmark I sent for the Crafty Daisies Bookmark Swap.  I crocheted a snowflake, added a long chain tail and a little circle at the end.

Fun stuff.  Now I've really got to get started on those cards... it's okay if I send them out on December 20th, right?

better to give

Thanks for indulging me and sympathizing with my whiny post,  I think I'm over it now and moving on with the spirit of giving.

A little girl needed a hat, so I knit her a wool one with earflaps. 

But, knowing she had two siblings, I just couldn't send a package without including a little something for them, so I crocheted a horse purse for Emma and a knit up a princess crown for Mary.  Hope they like everything, and that Elizabeth has very warm ears all winter long.

In an email, another friend mentioned her lack of an advent calender this year, and I wanted to give her a little pick-me-up since 2007 has been pretty tough on her.  So I mailed off a set of 24 plain white die-cut boxes that she can decorate, fill and hang.  I also sent her these because I can't wear them myself, and she deserves them.  Always making socks for others, now she has her own pair.  Not for feet, but oh well!

And finally, here's my box of mittens for Lynne and her project.  No, I didn't knit all sixteen pairs myself, a few incredible people from my knitting guild pitched in and together, we filled a box that I'll be mailing off tomorrow morning. 

I feel better, and now it's beginning to look - and feel - a lot like Christmas.

let the holidays begin

Oh my gosh, go, go, go, sign up!  It was so much fun last year, and I'm already brainstorming ideas for what I'll make this time around.  What are you waiting for?  Click, send, and start creating!

i heart buttons

This was so unbelievably fun.  All the buttons were swapped out, packed up, and will be on their way to their new homes tomorrow morning. 

As swap hostess, I got some extra goodies, and I so appreciate the special things and extra buttons some of you sent.  Everyone received an additional sixth button, one of these robots, as a thank you from me. 

Seeing as I don't want to stop making these (and I suspect I'm not the only one), you can look for Round Two sometime early next year. 

I took some photos and posted them in the Embroidered Buttons Flickr Group, so that you could see them all and identify who made them, but I've got to apologize for the quality of my photos.  It's just horrendous, even worse than usual, and doesn't do justice to any of the buttons.

I'm sitting in the middle of about 17 raging fires right now (and the number unfortunately continues to rise, up from 13 just a few hours ago), seven counties burning, hundreds of thousands of homes evacuated.   Right now there is no imminent danger for my family or our home, but the light at midday is an eerie dark orange, the air is acrid and sharp, and my daughter's school isn't allowing the kids to play outside at recess.  When I went outside to try to get some daylight for the photo shoot, ash was swirling all around me, so I had to snap some quickies and then run for cover.  We're absolutely hiding, hunkered down inside with the air conditioning, hoping that the 98 degree weather will die down (it is the week before Halloween, is it not?), and the firemen will win their battles quickly.  We could definitely use a little less wind, a lot more water, and probably a good bit of luck as well.

brown paper packages

Finally!  A spare hour or two while Becca is at preschool and Jess is playing with Dora and Boots.  I've been feeling so guilty about not showing off the wonderful mail I've been getting, it's been weighing on my mind and now I can post to my heart's content.  Oh, wait, let me go change a diaper and get someone a refill of milk.  Okay, now I'm ready.



Susan sent me this cute little hand quilted surprise because my package for the Doll Quilt Swap Round I hadn't arrived from overseas, weeks and weeks after it had been lovingly packaged and sent.  But shortly after I hung this little beauty up on my daughters' wall, I was greeted by the long lost package itself.  Well, sort of.  I got the quilt, and that's what matters most.

Isn't it fabulous?  Made and worried about by Liz, I'm so incredibly happy and grateful that it finally made it home. 

Check out the little gnome ribbon detail on the back!

I sewed two little plastic rings onto the back with some embroidery thread, for ease of hanging.  I love and appreciate my two doll quilts so much.  I've got the makings of a pretty cool collection, and I should be getting my package from Round 2 any day now to add to the others.

But that isn't all!

Katie was my Special Swap partner this time around, and she sent such a lovely-smelling package filled with goodies from the garden.  Lavender soap was the source of the fragrance, and helps to soften the blow of my own lavender seedlings being destroyed by an overly helpful 2 year old.  There was a charm packet of Moda's "Sunflowers of Provence" fabric line, of course some yummy yarn, and gardening gloves for me and both kiddies, along with some fun-handled garden spades (that got squeals of delight).  Katie is a wonder with the sewing machine, and I got a handmade card, needlebook (which I so need, thank you!), tissue holder, and knitting needle roll, which is already housing my favorite bamboo double points. 

But my favorite thing in the box was the garden-themed picture frame, complete with photo of my two kiddos!  That detail was so thoughtful, and incredibly touching.  If you'd have left it to me, the frame would still be empty, waiting for me to get around to filling it.  Now, it's sitting right here, next to my computer, where I can look at it often throughout the day and smile every time.

I've been doing my fair share of sending off packages, too, and you can see (and read about) what I sent Katie here, since I once again forgot to take pictures before wrapping everything up.  I had fun making the little rose doll, I see more in my future. 

Two fun and easy-to-make ribbon snugglies went off to Cindy for a very good cause, and I hope they bring love and comfort to their recipients.

I finally sent Laurie the shawl she'd waited for so patiently (she took a much better photo than I did), and Regina's package that was several months late.

A crocheted shopping bag

that tucks into its own pocket when you're not using it.

And some things to keep her boys occupied this summer.  Arrgh, matey! 

Just last week, I mailed out my quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap Round 2 (on time, I might add!).  First attempt at machine quilting, and I guess it was okay for a newbie.  Some puckers, but for the most part it was pretty smooth. 

I was more proud of the embroidery, though, and I'm a little nervous, I sure hope my partner likes it.

Whew, mammoth post.  How's that for getting back into the swing of blogging?  Finished just in time for preschool pick-up.  Coming up?  Wedding invitations, handmade cards, two late birthday gifts, more completed blocks-of-the-month, and half a dozen other things, too.  My hands are never idle, that's for sure.

love that rick rack

I received my beautiful tea towel from the swap from blogless Wylie, who must have known how happy rick rack makes me.

Very cute placement of the buttons, can you spot them?  And though it's decorative and pretty, it's still utterly useful and the embellishments don't get in the way.   Not sure I can say the same about Becky's eggs, but Wylie liked it and that's all that matters, right?  All in all, a very fun swap! 

tea with the Queen

This was a Special Swap, indeed.  Over the past two months, I had fun putting together a taste of Asia for Beth, and she sent me and the girls to England, on a carefully planned excursion.

We received an itinerary (new word for Becca that can now be used liberally along with "agenda"), and each package was numbered.  The girls loved diving through the pile, searching for the proper package to open, inspecting all the stickers (I had to rip or cut off each one!), and tearing through the mounds of tissue paper.

There were snacks, a sock knitting book, Cherry Tree Hill "Country Garden" sock yarn, a William Morris printed linen, British tea, scone mix, raspberry jam (with seeds, the best kind!), a magnificent lace shawl pattern, forget-me-nots, sunflowers and chives to plant in my growing garden, beautiful Amy Butler cardstock, teapot stickers (the girls didn't spy these before I squirreled them away), and one of the sweetest, cutest touches was the pairs of gloves and hats that my daughters could wear for our tea with the Queen.

Such an amazingly considerate and thoughtfully presented bunch of gifts. 

But the best part of all was making a new friend.

so glad I asked

It all started with this pouch.

Is that not the cutest sassy little nurse you've ever seen?  On the greatest fabrics ever?  Who can resist dots paired with stripes?  Not me.  And robin's egg blue with chocolate brown and mojito green (okay, I've never actually had or seen a mojito, but I associate them with this color).  A very good friend of mine is a nurse, and her birthday is this month, so when Regina blogged about the zipper pouch back in February, I boldly wrote to her and asked if I could barter with her, and get that pouch for my friend (damn, do I really have to give it away?).  Of course, being the kind, generous, creative soul that she is, she said yes!

But look.  Just look what I got along with that pouch, for me and my girls!

There's a little pink peep and a yellow tissue paper flower missing, but you get the idea.  A drawstring bag, handmade ponytail holders (so clever!), stamped fabric, Arizona edibles, birdie ornament, painted box, so many things!  I managed to get just a few close-ups...

... like these adorable stamped notecards with matching envelopes.  I think the illustration itself is wonderful, and the fact that Regina carved the stamps herself?  Utterly amazing.  I wish I could take better photos, because these pictures don't do justice to her workmanship, but whatever.  I couldn't wait for natural light, I couldn't be bothered to set things up any better.  I was just too excited to show it all off!  And to say thank you thank you thank you!

Look at these gorgeous sewn and beaded coasters.  Four of them!  I do not own glasses nice enough to place on top of these, but I pet them once in a while, and maybe I'll break down and put my "regular" glasses on them, just because I want to look at them all the time, every day.  The beads glimmer and they make me and my Fancy Nancy daughter smile.

Oh, and Regina, you didn't seriously think I was going to let my kiddos get their paws on these, did you?  There's no way you could have known, because I'd even forgotten about it myself, but I coveted these when I was in elementary school.  I'd save up and get them at the Hallmark store and never ever entertain the notion of touching or removing a single one of the stickers in the books.  I must still have those Hello Kitty and Little Twin Stars booklets somewhere...  Anyway, I digress.  Rebecca would have my walls peppered with those stickers in ten seconds flat.  No way is she going near these!

Gosh.  I'm gushing, I know, but I am being entirely sincere with every word I type.  To me, this package represents a friendship that has developed through blogs, comments and emails, and it just completely warms me, for lack of a better expression.

Thank you, Regina, thank you so much.

hearts and flowers

It's been a rough week.  First day of preschool, taxes, bills, three stuffy, runny noses and very sleepless nights.  Work, dryer repairs, wacky weather, looming deadlines.  Brain full of ideas and projects to complete, zero time to craft.

But look what I got in the mail.

My Hearts and Roses Special Swap from Lorinda arrived this week.  All sorts of stuff to decorate and use around the house,

wonderful things for the kiddos (I'd just been reading about that book!),

chocolate,

and, of course, some incredible cotton yarn and the cutest kit I think I've ever seen.  Everything I need to make my own felted Gerbera daisy!  I can't wait to try that out.

Thanks, Lorinda.  More than once this week, when I've felt too stressed, I've had to tell myself to stop and smell the roses.  And what could be better than smelling the very first one from my garden, cradled in that beautiful vase?

made for china

When I went to my knitting guild meeting last month, I mentioned Carol and the Made for China project, and showed a few things I'd been working on.  I was so incredibly touched and really quite speechless when, last Wednesday during the March meeting, I was presented with bags and bags of items destined for China.

Twenty-five knit/crocheted rectangles, about 12" x 18", most with a crocheted border, for little ones to drag around and cuddle.

A bunny from this pattern, such clever construction.   Wish I'd thought of it myself!  I used some Homespun that I had, even though I hate to work with it, because it really is soft and snuggly.

Four cute, palm-sized teddy bears, from Judy.

A kitty, four bunnies, two chicks, two teddies, and... a monkey-teddy finger-puppet thingy (anyway, it's super cute).  And each one could fit right into your front pocket.

Betty knit up the Goldilocks and the three bears finger puppets, but changed the color of Golidlocks' hair to better fit with the little Chinese girl who will soon be getting a new friend.

And 28 (30 minus 2 because Jerri said you wouldn't mind... my girls spent *so* long choosing ones that were *just perfect,* and wear them every day and are so sweetly careful with them!) sparkly, delicate, amazing beaded bracelets.  From Patti, who lives in another state, and doesn't even know who I am.

Along with the items I created earlier, and a couple of scrunchies, I'll be sending off two large boxes of goodies to Illinois tomorrow afternoon.  I thank Marsha, Jerri, Diane, Betty, Lynne, Judy, Carol, Sue and Patti so very much, from the bottom of my heart.  I am truly amazed and moved that all these people would simply take my word for it and so quickly, so generously, so wholeheartedly take their own time, supplies and effort to produce such wonderful gifts for children halfway around the world.  Thank you, thank you, I'll have to find some way to show you how much your efforts meant to me, personally.  And I know those babies and children will feel loved and know that people care, even people they'll never meet.