Now that my swap partner has received my parcel I can reveal all. Meridian Ariel organised this swap to coincide with the release of Tim Burton’s re-imagining of the Alice in Wonderland tale. Loving all things Burton-esque I decided to take part. My partner Katie is an extremely talented knitter, so I was very excited to be matched up with her. I was also pretty nervous because, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not particularly gifted when it comes to crafting. While googling Alice in Wonderland craft ideas I stumbled upon some amazing Japanese material which I knew I had to have. The idea of making a pencil case was inspired by that and the fact that Katie is a teacher. The fabulous Vonnie was an absolute star in helping this idea become a reality, and I couldn’t have done it without her. I also found some heart themed tea lights to represent the Queen of Hearts and a lovely Cheshire Cat notebook.
Please excuse the dirty wall in the photo - small children and all that.
Anyway, in return I received this:
I must admit, I was secretly hoping that I’d receive some knitted socks and am absolutely over the moon with them. Katie also sent some chocolate which a certain someone devoured before I could take pictures. I want to say a huge thank you to both Katie and Apryl for making this swap so enjoyable.
A while ago I signed up for Eileen’s Christmas Bauble Swap. The task was to make a bauble for your partner’s Christmas tree using things you already had in your craft supplies. I was partnered with Annie. I set about sewing something using felt and beads. Here’s what I came up with (excuse my rubbish camera phone picture):
I was pretty impressed with it, especially since I haven’t sewn anything in ages. I also sent Annie some sparkly felt and some buttons from my stash. In return I got this amazing package:
I love the knitted Santa, which now adorns my Christmas tree. Thank you very much to Annie for her lovely bauble and thank you to Eileen for organising the swap.
So, after a period of absence (and obvious depression due to lack of computer) I’m back with a shiny new laptop. I have been keeping up to date and reading your blogs using my ipod touch over the past few weeks but I hadn’t managed to update my own blog.
The past month has been pretty manic in terms of work and uni. I seem to have a lot going on and as well as working Monday to Friday, I’ve been at uni classes on a Saturday. I’m glad to see the back of that routine. This has meant that craftwise I have achieved very little. I baked for Dev’s school fair (chocolate cupcakes and caramel shortcake) and managed to make some masks for the kids Halloween.
I’ve just posted off my parcel for the lovely Eileen’s Christmas Bauble Swap. I shall post details once the swap has been completed. I’ve also signed up for an Alice in Wonderland themed swap in the New Year over at Meridian Ariel’s blog. I’m looking forward to this one and hoping that I can come up with something amazing for my partner, whoever that may be.
Right now I have reports to write and a daughter to get to bed so I shall leave you with this photo of said little girl, trying out her new look (Skater style).
During the summer I signed up to do Meridian Ariel’s 80’s Fantasy Movie Swap. I was partnered with the lovely Becca. Here’s where the panic starts. I’m a pretty good baker, and I write (poems, short stories and an endless stream of academic papers) but when it comes to anything else vaguely artistic or creative I tend to strike out. So, I chose a Labyrinth theme for Becca’s parcel and came up with the following:
The resin keyring is layered with purple glitter and some metallic heart shapes and reads ‘Jareth’ in honour of the awesomeness of David Bowie’s character. The brooch has assorted metallic shapes and an egg timer, which sort of represents the time Sarah has to reach the castle at the centre of the Labyrinth.
The mask was inspired by the ball scene towards the end of the film. I also sent some caramel shortcake, pick and mix sweets, wadding and various assorted beads.
In return I received this:
To say I was overwhelmed and utterly delighted with my Kiki’s Delivery Service themed parcel would be an understatement. Look how utterly gorgeous Jiji is:
In fact, I appear to be having a little difficulty convincing a certain young lady that it does not belong to her.
And the rest of my goodies:
A huge thank you to Becca for all my goodies and to Apryl for organising the swap. I honestly can’t wait for the next one.
I wanted to write a quick blog about this before I dash off on holiday for a week, so…
A couple of weeks ago I signed up to do a swap on Vonnie’s blog. The swap was to send a box of home-baked goodies, a recipe card and an additional gift. This was the first swap I had taken part in so was a bit nervous about getting it right (and trusting in Royal Mail to deliver it). I was to bake for Debbs. I figured my chocolate cake with gooey icing wouldn’t travel particularly well so I perused Nigella and Rachel Allan looking for inspiration. I charted a couple of my ‘experiments’ earlier and in the end went with one new-ish recipe and one tried and tested favourite.
In the large box is some Jamaica Ginger cake with lemon icing and in the smaller box, Devin’s favourite, Caramel Shortcake. For my recipe cards I took a couple of coloured cards, drew cupcakes on them and applied glitter. My additional item was bottles of orange blossom water and rose water. I often use them in flavouring icing and love them.
Yesterday I received my package from the lovely Livi.
I received a multitude of tupperware boxes filled with these huge Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter frosting. Yum.
I also received these amazing mermaid and seahorse brooches, which Brodie is very taken with (so I’ve hidden them from her). All in all I’d definitely say that my first swap has been a positive experience and I can’t wait for the next one.
