LissyLou's Vintage Easter Swap!

The Lovely LissyLou is hosting her first swap.  I had been hoping a nice swap would come up, so of course I just had to join in!  If you want to take part too there is still time!  Pop over to LissyLou's great blog or click on the picture to be taken directly to sign up!

Have Fun!!!!

Lots of Love xxxx

Good Enough to Eat Swap....

I know what you are all thinking! That was ages ago!!

Well yes it was! I signed up for this fabulous swap, hosted by Claire and Em, and then my life got a bit hectic!!!

My lovely partner Penny @ Planet Penny was fantastically understanding and patient with me and was pleased with her package (when I finally got it to her!)
Pop over to Penny's blog if you want to check out her post on the swap!

I am long overdue in posting about the gorgeous goodies I received from Penny!
I was very excited, on opening my package, to find this beautiful box


The minty smell when I opened it was 'good enough to eat', look at all these goodies!


Penny had made me a perfect little felt teapot decoration and a lovely little felt heart brooch with teapot charm, I love it! Also she had made a mint scented coaster, which releases a great scent when a hot cup is placed on it (sooo clever!)
There was some mint tea 'teapigs' which worked wonders with my mild morning sickness (thanks for that Penny!) and some peppermint foot spray (which was a godsend on my painful, pregnant feet!)

Penny had obviously spent a lot of time and effort and put a lot of thought into my package, I felt thoroughly spoiled!!!!

Thank you so much Penny you were a great partner!!!

Lots of Love

xxxx

Pamper Yourself - A Reveal!

It seems like ages ago I signed up to The lovely Michela’s Pamper Yourself Swap! My partner was Claire of Dolly Dollop and it has been a pleasure to meet her I have to say!

We were asked to send our swap partners pampering goodies that would appeal to the 5 senses!

I chose to receive an exotic fruits theme, I just love mango, passion fruit and limes, (chuck in a bit of ginger and I’m in heaven!) while Claire had asked for her gifts to be rose and/or cinnamon based.

Last Friday the postman knocked and handed me a very exciting looking package! When I opened it a gorgeous scent of my favourite mango peach salsa Yankee candle filled the air and I was greeted with cheery bright yellow and lime green parcels and a gorgeous card from Claire urging me to pamper myself ‘exotic style’!

Yay! my package had arrived!

Look at all of the gorgeous gifts Claire sent! I was so pleased and jumped in the shower to pamper myself ‘exotic style’ immediately!

Thank you so much Claire for my lovely treats and big thanks to Michela for organising such a lovely swap!!!

Lots of Love

xxxx

Pink Presents!

I recently took part in a Colours of the Rainbow Swap organised by the gorgeous Lululiz in Lalaland.
My lovely partner Vicky Plum sent me some extra goodies that I am overdue in posting about!
Look at the sweet little Cath Kidston polka dot badge mirror and dotty tissues!



Thank You Victoria!

They really cheered me up when I was feeling poorly!!!

Lots of Love


xxxxxx

My Secret Santa Revealed!

A few days before Christmas I was lucky enough to receive my Secret Santa swap package in the post!
My Secret Santa was the lovely Susan from Rabbit Hollow Prims who sent me all of these lovely goodies!



I love all the decorations Susan sent me, she must have seen how I love to decorate at Christmas!

A big Thank You to Susan for her gifts and for taking part!!

Lots of Love


xxxxx

Stocking Swap Reveal

What seems like an age ago now I signed up to take part in Beki's 'Stocking Swap'.
I received my fantastic package from Sarah at Dotty Daisies some time ago now and Sarah received hers last week so I can reveal both packages in one post!

First look at the fab gifts I received from the very talented Sarah!




WOW!

A beautiful handmade stocking, some lovely toiletries, some lush smelling Yankee Candle goodies, 2 of Sarah's amazing handmade brooches, a gorgeous felt and button, heart keyring, a much lusted after wreath decoration, a fab Christmas pudding decoration, some pretty badge magnets that spell out the word 'dream' and an equally pretty badge mirror.

Also Sarah added a gorgeous handmade card and a needle felting set so I could have a go myself!
I'm very much looking forward to trying this out, watch this space for the results!

I'm sure Sarah sent me everything I had admired on her blog! I love everything!
A big thank you to a fab partner!!!


Here's what I sent Sarah!


As you guys know by now I do tend to get carried away with these things! I included some craft supplies, some decorations and some pretty practical bits, and, great minds and all that, some Yankee goodies!!

I loved taking part in this swap, what a great idea! Big thanks to the fabulous Beki for organising it!

Lots of Love


xxxxx

Rainbow Swap Reveal, Pink Lady!!

I'm long overdue in posting about the fabulous swap package I received from the lovely Victoria Plum as part of Lululiz's 'all the colours of the rainbow' swap.

The idea of the swap was to choose a colour, I chose pink of course, Victoria chose grey!!! I then received a Swap package of wonderful, pink presents and sent Victoria a parcel of grey gifts in return!

So enough of the science bit, wanna see what I received?

OK then!

Beautifully wrapped presents! I always think it's such a shame to open them when they look so pretty! But I'm not that good!

I loved everything Victoria sent me! If you can't see the picture properly I received:

A pink flower ice cube try, some beautiful rose pink yarn, a yummy rose scented candle, A beautiful knitted flower brooch, some gorgeous fabric, a flower soap, some greeting cards, some beautiful decorative papers, some fab barbie sprinkle for my cupcakes, a face pack and some yummy pink smarties.

I was so pleased with everything, Thank you so much Victoria!!!!

You can see the package I sent here, I had allot of fun choosing the items for my package even though I was slightly scared at the prospect of finding nice grey items!

I love taking part in swaps and this one was great fun! A big thank you to Liz for arranging it xxx

By now all of those joining in should have received your details for the Secret Santa Swap!

We are so pleased so many could join in (we have 35 participants!) It took a while to sort out I can tell you! A full list of participants will be available shortly. (when I've done it!) Keep an eye out because one of them could be sending to you!

Lots of Love

xxxxxx

Happy Halloween and a Spooky Swap!

Hope everyone had Happy Halloween!!!!

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to reveal the swap package I received from the beautiful Beki and her DD Jess!

An absolute age ago we arranged a Halloween swap between my Cousin Marcus and Beki's DD Jess, we decided to maximise the fun by swapping between ourselves as well!
I am long overdue in posting about the fabby packages Beki and Jess sent us. Check out Bekis post to see what we sent here!

Marcus and I were so excited when our packages came through the post, 2 boxes filled with Halloween treats, you can't get any better than that!
Marcus couldn't wait to open his!!!

One he got through the spooky spiders webs that is!!!

Marcus was really pleased with all the things in the package, there was: Balloons, witches fingers, a Halloween tote, spiders, eyeballs, a dvd, a book, a jumping bat, chocolate skeletons, slime, skull stickers and Spiderman candy sticks. and a really nice card. thank you so much Beki and Jess!!

My package was equally as great!!!! All the gifts were wrapped beautifully! It seemed a shame to unwrap them!!! look!

Beki made me this pretty fabric cat! I'm very taken with her, I have called her Dotty and she now lives in my craft room, as you can see she is very comfortable on my chair!

Beki also sent me my fave DVD! I'm really pleased as my copy has gone walkies!!!, A book (Perfect for the train to work!), A yankee tart (pumpkin of course!), Some napkins and a black nail polish!

Some more decorations to add to my stash!

Beki also made me a lovely tote bag in a great autumnal orange with black lace trim! How pretty!

Look at this cool postcard!!!

I will be framing it ready to get out next year!!!!

Thank you beki and Jess we had great fun gathering your gifts and loved everything you sent us! When's the next one???? :)

Speaking of swapping, don't forget about our Secret Santa swap,

Victoria and I have been working hard to make sure that you all get your partners ASAP!
Any one who hasn't joined in that would like to, what are you waiting for! Just e mail me the completed questionnaire and please include your postal address (can't believe we forgot to ask for that on the original post!)

we appreciate that Christmas can be busy for all and expensive so remember you can choose a £5 or £10 gift option

We would like you to have signed up and emailed questionnaires to us by 2nd November so we can start letting you know who you are buying a gift for on 4th November Don't fear if you're worried about timings, we will take swappers up to the 11th November but remember you'll have less time to put your package together

As always please speak to Victoria or I if you have any questions!

Think that's all folks!

Need to get to reading and commenting now!!!

Lots of Love

xxxxxx

Kelly & Victoria's Secret Santa Swap

Victoria & I decided it would be fun to host a Christmas swap… but with a difference!!!!

Instead of the usual one on one swap we’ve decided to take our inspiration from the office gift giving favourite - Secret Santa!


(Thank you to Happy who has donated this button for our swap - please feel free to add to your blog)

Victoria has explained how the swap will work so if you haven’t already done so please see her post for more detail

My job is to ensure all participants answer some questions that will help us pair you up and ensure the secret gifts put smiles on your lovely faces

If you would like to join in the swap please email me the answers to these questions

Name

Blog Address

Email Address

Swap Value - £5 or £10?
You will be assigned a partner at the same price point

Can you ship internationally?

Previous Swap Partners
This will enable us to pair you with some new!

Favourite Crafts
eg. Crochet, Knitting etc

Christmas Style
eg. Red & White…. Gold & Red…Vintage… Kitsch…

Christmas Favourites
eg. Santa? Gingerbread Men?

Likes
eg. Baking, roses etc

Dislikes
eg. Cinnamon, lace etc

Allergies
We thought it was worth including as smellies seem to be popular at this time of year!

We would like everyone to send their Christmas gifts out by 4^th December giving Royal Mail enough time to deliver them to the right doors


Remember – do not divulge who you are sending your gift to we want surprises!!!!

Hope you all join in!

Lots of Love

xxxxxxxx

Kiddie Swap Reveal

You may remember me telling you all about the Kiddie Halloween Swap that my Cousin Marcus and I took part in? This fun swap was hosted by the lovely Denise at Polka Dot Moon and what a fabulous job she did!

I must thank her for partnering Marcus and I with Mallory and her fab Mum Sherry.

Marcus was over the moon with the package he received ( I have used Sherry's picture because he put everything in the bag and wouldn't let go long enough for me to get a decent photo!)

Sherry and Mallory sent Marcus an absolutely brilliant WWE tote bag (perfect for a wrestling obsessed 8 year old!).

He was so impressed when I told him that Sherry had made it just for him.

The next sound I heard was 'WOW dead bodies!' as he pulled the funny skeletons out of their wrapping! The package also contained lots of sweets, crayons and Halloween toys, all of which he inspected and loved.

I had to prize the fake teeth out of his mouth so I could get him off to school in time!

Here is a picture of him and his beloved bag!

We sent Mallory a Halloween themed craft package as Sherry said she enjoyed all types of crafting. There was a kit to make a felt decoration, stickers, papers, gift bags, cards, ribbons, brads, pens, erasers and loads of other stuff to craft away to her hearts content! We also included an activity book with loads of ideas not just for Halloween but to keep her occupied all year round!

We also sent some clackers (some of you probably remember these from the first time round?) which Marcus brought back from Italy especially for Mallory. There was a pair of Halloween tights and lots of sweets (we put in plenty so Mallory could share with her brothers!)

We had such fun putting together this package. I just love a swap :)

PHEW!

Off now to read today's gossip :)

Lots of Love

xxxxxxx

Paying it Forward

Newsflash goodies on offer!!!

During our day of fun Michela mentioned that she was taking part in 'Pay it forward' and needed people to join her in making it happen!


This means that Michela will send a handmade item and a goodie package to the first 3 people who sign up on her page within 365 days of the post.
(bagsy Michela's handicrafts!)


Now you come into it!
I have to 'pay it forward' by sending the first 3 people who sign up on this post a handmade item and a goodie package. All you have to do to get your hands on one is to promise to do the same on your blog, easy!

Sign up below (no excuses about poor crafting skills!, we are all friends here!) and then e mail me your details!

Lots of Love (as always!)

Swappin and Stuff!

Hello all! The last few days have been a bit of a blur I have to say. I don't seem to have had time to turn the computer on let alone post! I know I promised you I would tell about my the items I sent for the Twilight swap, so here goes

I decided to stick with a colour theme of red, white, black and gold (as used on the book covers)
I sent:

A Pretty White Nightdress. Well, a girl's gotta look her best just in case a certain handsome vampire wants to sneak in and watch her sleep! (Denise's Husband was, apparently, very pleased so nearly as good , I'm sure!)


I made this journal. (who, in blogland, doesn't just love a journal?) I wanted this to be personal so added Denise's initials. I also added gems and beads as she had mentioned liking a bit of glitter!


An apple necklace in a black velvet pouch (the red shamrocks are taken from the Cullen family crest)
Denise had mentioned that Alice was one of her fave characters. I made this black ribbon pin to echo the black ribbon crest choker Alice wears around her neck.


A mini scrapbook. I only decorated the covers (inside and out) so that Denise (a fabulous crafter) could have fun filling the inside pages with her own favourite quotes and pictures.

A decorated box with the Cullen family crest. I used dimensional varnish to harden the paper flowers I had added to the lid. I wanted the box to resemble enamel. I lined it with velvet to carry on the theme of opulence.

Some tea towels because I liked them!

I put a few extra bits in that I forgot to photograph, chocolate and some magnet frames and sent the whole lot in a red, black and white box! Phew!

Well, I enjoyed the whole experience so much I have been lucky enough to be included in Denise's next swap.
Not one to let a trifle such as lack of a child impede my fun, I managed to get my 8 year old cousin on board (took about 2 seconds!). We are very excited and on a personal note I am really looking forward to spending time with him choosing and making the items for his partner.

Well that's all for tonight folks, I need, need, need to catch up on the last few days in blogland!
See you tomorrow, promise :)

Lots of Love