Stripes and Spots swap

I received a fantastic swap from Kbarty recently - It was from the Shabby Chic Cafe and the theme was stripes and spots.

Now Kbarty is new to this swapping lark and I know she was nervous about her first swap, but she had absolutely nothing to worry about! - look at this lovely box all tied up with spotty ribbon. I was so happy to open it and find so many lovely crocheted goodies - I have tried to learn to crochet this year and have not managed to get past a chain, and both the dog and the husband are fed up with me swearing and launching wool and hook across the room in frustration!!

As well as all the crochet lovelies I got some scrummy Sarah Smith cloths, and the box itself was a mass of lovely stripes

look how clever this crochet heart is - spots one side

and stripes on the other :-)

This lovely spotty mug has already found a new home with some of my other blue china - it was full of stripey humbugs that lasted all of 10 minutes!

and the bunting was the PERFECT colour match to my china, and has pride of place on the dresser.

Look how well the post holder matches the cooker.....

I am delighted with all of my swap goodies, thank you so much Kbarty, you are very talented.

I sent of my parcel to Little Gem and she has blogged about it here Here are the handmade goddies I sent.

A felt wrist cuff - I am thinking of making a few of these for Folky/Esty, what do you think?

I recieved a lovely blog award from Shabby Raggy Roses, we are partners for the polka dot swap and it has been fun to do a swap to send to Australia.

Now I have recently tagged lots of you, so if you would like this award please consider it yours.

TTFN

MM xx

Ric Rac love...........

Had a great haul of trimmings at the bootsale today.

Vintage Ric Rac, new Ric Rak, jumbo Ric Rak, narrow Ric Rac, and some ribbon, binding and thread thrown in for good luck!........

Reds, whites and yellows

Pinks........

Greens.......

Blues...........

and I paid £20 for the lot :-)

TTFN

MM xx

completed cushion!

Yesterday I finished this applique cushion. The idea came from here

I have combined hand and machine embroidery, and I love the result.

looks great on the bed

Not sure if it looks right on this sofa, but I love the sofa, I got it a couple of month's ago from a antique fair, not a real bargain but i haggled lots for it, and got it delivered!

The covering is all hand stitched - it must have taken months




It will take pride of place in our new bedroom, but for now it is sitting at the end of our bed.

I am off to London tomorrow to visit my dentist and then I am meeting some special people for lunch :-)

TTFN

MM xx

Lucky Lady!

When a parcel arrives with the address label looking like this, you just know it will contain lovely stuff!

It was my giveaway win from the talented Little Gem (who has just got her degree results - 2:1 - fantastic!)Look at all of these packages, all wrapped in CK paper (OH did think I was a bit weired when i very gently removed the tape, so i could save the wrapping)

LG designed and painted these cards and they are for sale in her blog shop. It is perfect timing as it is OH birthday on Monday so I can give him the card and then frame it!

I have been spoilt as LG has added the sweet little painted pot to all of the other giveaway goodies.

The brooch has already found a new home on my CK messenger bag that I love. I think of it as my happy bag as I only use it at weekends. It has some good company on the bag!

Thank you so much LG, I adore everything you have made and sent with love and care. XX

Did you notice the background fabric for the pictures? I popped in to the CK outlet in Bicester on my way home from a meeting on Tuesday and they had these packs of 4 napkins reduced from £15 to £5. The fabric is finer than the fabric she sells now, so I think they must be a very old design.

I had another surprise package arrive yesterday from Mary Poppins and it was bursting at the seams with fantastic fabric. Thank you for your kindness and for thinking of me. xx

Blogging never ceases to amaze me and I have met a whole bunch of fantastic people through it.
So to all my blogging friends, old and new thank you for being there - please enjoy a homegrown strawberry dipped in chocolate!

MM xx

Awards

The lovely Little Gem from Little Gems world has given me 2 awards this week. Gem also has a blog shop, so if you are looking for lots of pretties go check it out Roses and Gingham

What Lovely awards to have, and I get to pass them on to 6 other blogs, but as I tagged 6 other blogs in my last post I am going to give the awards all to one special person.

This HAS to be Angel, who has complained that I did not tag her in my last post!!
go visit her at Shabby Angel but be prepared to laugh a lot!

Love you lots Angel MWAH xxxx

Happy tag

Morning all

I have been tagged by http://refunctionjunktion.blogspot.com/ all the way from Michigan USA.

What does that mean?

It means that I have to list 6 random, insignificant things that make me happy. Here goes (in no particular order)

1 - Having vases of flowers all over the house that I have picked from the garden - really enjoying the sweet williams and sweet peas at the moment - much better than any air freshener!

2 - The dog greeting me when I arrive home - she is always so excited even if I have only popped out for some milk!

3 - My ever growing fabric and button stash - I can spend hours stroking the fabric and playing with the buttons, sorting into colour groups!

4 - My recent collection of china flower posies - now I only started collecting these this year but as you can see I have been lucky getting some bargains in the Charity shops and at the boot sales - I just need a shelf to keep them all safe on now!
5 - Being creative - I have lots of WIP at the moment but never seem to have enough time......

6 - After my darling Stepdaughter announced her engagement we are having lots of fun planning the wedding!

Thanks for the tag Refunction Junktion-- that also made me happy. Be sure to click on her name and check out her blog - she creates some amazing pieces out of junk.
Now, TAG, YOU'RE IT....

Mary Poppins

Little Gem

Lace Hearts

Tillyboo @ 23beechhill

Bloomin' Myrtle

Dolly Dollop

( It is soooooo hard to just pick 6 people, so if you want to play along please consider yourself tagged!)

So, list on your blog 6 things that make you happy, and then tag 6 other blogs and let them know.

TTFN

MM xx

Fantastic Fabric

I had to go to Liverpool this week to attend a conference and took the opportunity to visit a couple of fabric shops. I got a bit carried away and ended up buying masses of fabric as the price was so good, but I have no idea what i am going to make with it!

Some of the designs i just got a metre of, and others I have 12 metres of!

So what would you make with all this fabric????????????

TTFN

MM xx