SSCS 2011 Pressies

Well all Secret Santa presents have been opened, Christmas Day was full of excitement, I love surprises. My partner in Chookyblues SSCS 2011 was Kerstin and what a bundle of goodies she sent.

parliament of owl ornies

 zippered pouch, tissue cosy, very cute ring pincushion and sweets

 mug rug

 xmas wallhanging

and handmade gift tags.

Thank-you Kerstin for all the beautiful goodies and thank-you to Chookyblue for hosting another great xmas swap-travaganza!

Secret Santa

My FIS Secret Santa parcel from Kylie of Country Wishes arrived last week but I kept it in the box until our first was allowed to be opened and here's all the lovely wrapped pressies that were inside

 and look at the first one I've opened...

gorgeous bon-bon full of chocky santas!

Thank-you Kylie!!

I'll do a post after xmas of all the rest including the big pressie.

So now I'm counting down the days, only 1 1/2 days of work left for me then I'm on 3 weeks of R&R, spending most of it at home painting my new craft room and then moving in plus I plan to get lots of stitching in...look out Gardener's Journal here I come (That last comment is just for Chooky!)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

SSCS is Here!

My SSCS parcel arrived today all the way from Kerstin in Germany and inside is this bundle of wrapped goodies

We're only allowed to open the ornament pressie,

and what a surprise to find not one but 3 ornaments....

.....my very own parliament of owls!

Aren't they adorable!!

Thank-you Kerstin!!

Thanks also to Chookyblue for once again hosting this swap.

Now roll-on Xmas day so we get to open the rest of our packages!!

Camping and Xmas Swaps

I have much blogging to catch up with after escaping to the bush for the last five days. We camped beside the beautiful Ringarooma River amongst fox gloves which played havoc with my hayfever but it was so relaxing. The sound of the river and birds was wonderful for my soul.

 

We did spend Xmas morning at home and I was so excited as I opened all my gifts.

These are the gifts I received from Marie of Wonderwoman (Not!) in Chookyblue's SSCS 2010

Gorgeous decorations to adorn my house every xmas, Thank-you Marie for the beautiful pressies and to Chooky for hosting another great swap.

These are the gifts I received from Carol - Narromine Quilt Club in Marie's (On My Verandah) Xmas Swap

Thank-you Carol, I felt so overwhelmed with all these beautiful gifts, it made me cry with delight!

Thank-you Marie for another fun swap.

I posted gifts to Maricarmen and to Gai in both of these swaps.

That's it from me for today, I'll post some more pics tomorrow and in the meantime I have loads of washing to do!

Cheerio!!

One More Sleep...

...Till the man in the red coat and white beard squeezes down tiny chimneys or magically opens front doors to put pressies under trees. My son tells me he's going to wake up at 3am, I have news for him!

Thank-you for reading my little corner of the blogoverse and becoming my friends even though most of us have never met in person. It's been a wonderful journey so far and I look forward to continuing on in 2011.

I hope you all have a magic day tomorrow with family and friends and the man in the red coat and white beard leaves you something special.

Merry Christmas!!

P.S. I'll be back online after New Years to show you what I received from Marie in Chookyblue's SSCS and from Carol in Maree's Xmas Swap.

Lunch for busy girls

H and I are both busy ladies and it's hard to tie us down for a casual lunch and chat but we managed to find sometime today that suited us both. We lunched at a local cafe, caught up on what's been happening since we last met and exchanged gifts, H now has her own little stitching tote and I received a gorgeous box of  6" squares in xmas prints. I'll show you them next post I do.

I love this little bag, so quick and easy to make and handy for sitting on a table full of all your sewing bits and bobs, mine goes everywhere with me.

I've only got two patterns left of this project then there'll be no more. ***SOLD***

I'll be back tomorrow with a couple more pics then I'll be signing off for the Xmas Period.

Cheerio!

Simply Christmas

Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique has been hosting Simply Christmas and has had some wonderful guest designers and giveaways and I've been so lucky to win two of them! Arriving today is this gorgeous plum pudding painting by Kerryanne herself, isn't she so talented. I love how she has achieved the glass dome effect!

The second prize will be here soon so I'll show you it when it arrives.

Thank-you Kerryanne for hosting Simply Christmas and to all those designers who contributed!

What's come in and what's gone out!

 What a lovely surprise to come home to find a parcel waiting for me from my blogging buddy Maria (Wonderwoman [Not]!). I opened it wondering what would Maria be sending me and what a great surprise to find she was my partner in Chookyblue's SSCS. Everything so beautifully wrapped

We're allowed to open the ornament gift but the rest must go under the tree until xmas day...can I be so strong!

This is the beautiful ornament Maria made, I wonder what she's put in the other parcels?

Here's the goodies I've sent to ..... for Maree's Xmas swap

They only have to fly across Bass Strait and one more state to reach their destination.

A finish and a challenge

I finished the second runner from Marg Low's first Christmas Club pattern. I think it looks gorgeous! I'm looking forward to the Quilted Crow's gathering, only two weeks to go now, Marg is sure to impress me with more lovely projects.

This is what my Ugly Fat Quarter Swap partner, Elyte, has sent me to work on. I've been mulling over a few ideas and I think I'm on the right track now!

So much for me not signing up for any swaps this year but I couldn't resist this challenge

hosted by Fee and Jenny!

Swap Pressies revealed

I don't know about the rest of you but I was very spoilt this christmas.

Firstly the trip away to visit my bestie from high school was meant to be my pressie but my wonderful hubby and son also bought me some beautiful perfume and beads for my charm bracelet. As for the trip I promise to do a post later about where we went and what we did.

The swaps I received from my cyberspace buddies Dawnie and Stina, are awesome and I just love them, here's what Dawnie sent, so much work has gone into these, can't wait to use the wine bottle carrier and the scented sachet is devine. There's a covered notebook, a chenille bag, stitchery pattern and a xmas door hanger too!

and Stina's gorgeous Tilda wallhanging and wire angel will be gracing my walls every xmas from now on....Thank-you ladies for doing a swap with me, I know how busy you both were before christmas and I'm amazed at how much work you've put into these gifts, they are fabulous!!

My bestie from high school is also a talented stitcher and she made me this lovely wallhanging for my sewing room....

Thank-you V!

My dear friend Sarah gave me a Lynette Anderson stitchery, button and a timber frame. Sarah's made one of these before and they're just gorgeous, can't wait to make mine!

and last but not least is my SSCS from Chookyblue's swap. My secret swapper was Renee from the US. Renee made me this paper pieced wallhanging out of lovely fabrics and also sent me a huge amount of fabric that I'm sure I can find many uses for. Thank-you Renee!Swaps have definitely made 2008 a great year. I've made so many new friends through blogging that my life just seems to be very fullfilled. I've got two major milestones coming up, one year of blogging and 100 posts so keep an eye out in the new year for a giveaway.

I hope you all enjoyed your christmas day as much as I did and I hope you all have a fabulous New Year!!

I'm Back

What an adventure I had! I went to the Barossa Valley to surprise my best friend I've known since high school for her 40th Birthday

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY V!!"

There's more to tell about my adventure later, got lots of work to catch up on first!

A package from Dawn was waiting for me when I arrived home, it's now under the tree!! Thank-you Dawnie, I know I'm going to love it!!

Xmas pressies galore!!

The beautiful blogger Stina and I have done a little xmas swap. If you pop over to her blog you can see what I made for her. Stina says there was a little hole in the package which grew and well she just had to open it. I however am going to be strong and wait until Christmas Day. Look at the lovely parcels she sent and some yummy sweets too, I'm eating them now!

My SSCS parcel has arrived too, it's from Renee in USA, another one for under the tree....

and my gorgeous friend Valerie (no blog) has sent me a pressie too, so that makes three pressies under the tree.

Thank-you ladies for the gifts, I can't wait until Christmas Day, I'm going to feel very spoilt this year!!

And that's it from me for a week now as I head off on a little adventure, I'll tell you all about it when I get back. Hope you all have a lovely week blogging.

More of Xmas Past

Just want to show you my two favourite christmas decorations, firstly is this reindeer I made, he's a cutie...

and this lovely xmas wreath made by my DS when he was in Grade 1I've kept all his ornaments he's made over the years and proudly display them each year.

I'd also like to apologise to those of you who have left comments and I've not yet replied, life is a bit hectic at the moment, I've been lurking around the blogs when I can squeeze it in.

I'll be offline next week and I'm sure I'll have alot of posts to catch up on when I'm back and hopefully I can find sometime to leave comments and reply to them too.

Bye for Now!