Serendipitous

A few weeks ago, myself and Lynsey from Swirly Thoughts organised to do a little international swap, taking some of our favourite biccies and choccies and sending them over the wild blue yonder to the other side of the world.

 

We both got a little delayed at the start, but serendipitously ended up sending our packages on the exact same day.

We then thought that it would be really interesting to see whether Australia Post or the Royal Mail would be quicker in getting our parcels to the other side of the world.

Well as a matter of fact, when I woke up Friday morning, I had an email from Lynsey telling me that her parcel from me had arrived...... and when I opened my front door to leave the house Friday morning, my parcel from her was sitting on the doorstep.

What are the odds?????

Thanks so much Lynsey, I am super chuffed with all my gorgeous goodies (did you notice that the chook card totally matches my doorchook)? I had to totally resist opening everything yesterday until I managed to take photos today.... it was very difficult!

A tea towel bonanza

Somewhere in between moving back to Australia from Japan (while pregnant), and having a beautiful new little bubba, the lovely Melanie from Kimono Re-incarnate has taken the time to send me an amazing package of tea towels.

Melanie's Grandma was cleaning out her linen closet and was going to get rid of them, but now they'll be transformed into new creations instead!

My favourite one is the bright yellow tea towel from Zimbabwe (top right). If you look really closely, you'll see that there's a town on the map named Wankie.... that really tickled my fancy and made me laugh.

Have you also spotted the handmade card with a paper crane.... so cute. I think I need to find a shadow frame for that one so I can add it to my art wall (that is, when I actually get art on the wall, and have an art wall)...... my white walls are ooooooh sooooooo boring.

Saved mail

I was extremely lucky this week to finally receive a long awaited parcel. Maree was cleaning out her linen closet and sent me these lovely tablecloths and doilies three weeks ago.

I thought that they had disappeared forever - swiped by the posties.

This was the third postage issue this month. A couple of weeks ago, I received all of my next door neighbours mail, and then last week I received mail for a completely different address (which was actually a Boulevard, when I live in a Street), so I really didn't hold out much hope for the missing parcel.

I'm so glad that it finally arrived so that I can start daydreaming about all of the crafty projects that I can experiment with!

Thankyou so much Maree.

A vintage treasure

I walked out to the letterbox the other day to check the mail.....

When I opened it I discovered a little box.
I wasn't expecting any parcels.

I've been trying to stick to my new budget, so I was racking my brain, trying to figure out whether I'd been online shopping and just forgotten!

But then I turned the little box over, and discovered to my great suprise and joy, that it was a secret gift from Silly Gilly

It's a buttonhole foot for my Singer 201K that I discovered on the side of the road.

I'll have to try to give it a road test on the weekend.

Thanks Silly Gilly!

In my mailbox

I was lucky enough to recieve two amazing packages in the mail this week!


On Thursday, the postie arrived with this wonderful pile of goodies from Amanda at Krafty Panda - beautiful tea towels and sweet little cat doiley (putting my thinking cap on to work out what do with that one)!

....and then on Friday, another package from Linda at Two Pink Possums. This one has tea towels, lovely fabric, and some new sewing needles (just what I need actually).

Thankyou so much Amanda and Linda - as usual I'm completely blown away by the generousity of all the crafters out there. I've received so many lovely things in the mail - I'd love to know what my postie thinks I do with all my packages!

Have a happy Saturday...

A right Royal parcel

I arrived home lastnight to find a parcel waiting for me on my little doorstep!

Michelle from The Royal Sisters has been crocheting up a storm, making these amazing headbands and matching necklaces.

I've been wearing my headband out and about all day... it even matches my glasses. You'll have to excuse the photos - but these were the best of about thirty. Who knew it could be so difficult to take a photo of ones' own head?

Just don't go for the extreme close up view, or you'll see all my grey hair. Reminds me that I'd better book in for some more foils.

Thankyou so much Michelle for your generousity. If you head on over to The Royal Sisters Etsy shop, there are different colours and different designs.... but all so cute, and an absolute bargain too - Mothers Day pressie anyone?

In my letterbox

Lovely things have arrived in my letterbox this week....


I won this beautiful flannel bunny in Miss Muggins' Easter Giveaway. She doesn't have a proper home just yet, as I'm a little disorganised, so she's currently minding my books in the bookcase.

I've christened her Missy. She looks like a Missy, and I think it suits her to a tee.

I'm planning on making a new home where she can join Jane the Kiwi, Esther Bunny, and Cherry.

I also received a lovely package of teatowels from Selina at Selina's Vintage.........

They're all beautiful, but this one is my favourite. 1974 was the best year! .

Thanks so much Laurel and Selina!

Envelopes Ready

The glue is dry and the artworks are ready to be stuffed into envelopes for the great mail swap.

My nephews and I had great fun after school on Thursday night chopping up bits of paper, hole punching, stamping, and glueing feathers, pom poms, icy pole sticks, and jewels to create beautiful pieces of artwork.

We made a fantastic mess, someone accidentally leaned on a stamp pad and ended up with a red palm, we spilled glue and paper and goodness know what else.... all in the name of fun.

Wouldn't it be fun to be a kid again!

Some well deserved thankyous

I've been a little bit slack lately with showing and telling about all of the lovely things that arrived in the mail lately.

I'm still in that 'grey fuzzy not quite homely' state - which when translated, means that I keep moving furniture around because I haven't worked out the perfect home for every piece just yet.

To facilitate the constant moving of furniture, I completely stopped unpacking boxes (figuring that the less I put away, the less heavy the abovementioned pieces of furniture will be when I move them).

Yesterday, I actually managed to take some photos to play show and tell.

To begin - the lovely Miriam from BubbaChenille sent me some gorgeous teatowels. They've been washed and ironed and ready to be transformed. This is just one of them.

I won a giveaway over on Kat's Creations last week. I have a bit of a beret obsession, and now that it's coming up to colder months, this will be absolutely perfect! Thanks Kat. It's more grey in real life but I don't have the good camera at the moment so everything is being washed out by the flash.

I received some more lovely tea towels in the mail from Jodie at Ric Rac with some sweet little selvedge key rings and a gorgeous card.

I have made myself a new little spot in the craft space for the selvedge collection just for Jodie!

Now onto some craft shopping - I couldn't resist this gorgeous bag from Cass at Snailblazer.

I have two boxes of handbags that are yet to be unpacked but I just had to have this one too!

I'm trying to stick with handmade for birthday pressies this year so I picked up these cute little ribbon streamers from Silly Gilly. These are for a friends daughter who will be turning three in May. I actually want to put them on and run around the garden myself (you'll be happy to know that I resisted the urge).

Late Mail

Well actually, the mail wasn't late... I'm just very late in posting some photos!

I received some lovely packages in the mail last week. First up, a giveaway that I won on Bec's A Deed Without a Name blog - this fab shopping bag which has been made from a recycled pillowcase. There's also a link on my sidebar to the tutorial. I'm eventually going to get around to making enough of these for myself for grocery shopping.

Secondly, I was lucky enough to win one of Kirsty's Deal or No Deal giveaways. This fab ladybug tablecloth and napkin set. It's just sooo cute!

Thanks so much!

All the way from the UK

An amazing parcel landed on my doorstep yesterday, all the way from the UK! It was huge, and jam packed with crafty goodness.

Lynsey from Swirly Thoughts and Cuteable had a stash of lovely touristy tea towels in her cupboard which she most generously offered to send me. It was a bit difficult to fit them all in for a photo but here's a list:

London
Poole Quay
Christchurch NZ
Fleet Air Arm (which I'm assuming is the British Forces)
Blackpool
Corfu
Operations Ovelord Commemorative (British Forces)
Lancashire
Cornwall
Vancouver Canada

.....and the piece de resistance


...this one which was actually designed and printed in Australia! It's been around the world and returned home again.

There were also some beautiful buttons and trims.....

....and this set of bird napkins. I've fallen in love with the blackbird in the orange blossom tree so I'm going to make myself something special with that one.

Thankyou so much Lynsey....keep an eye out for all of these beauties to be transformed into funky aprons! I just wish you could have included a bit of your weather....it's faaaaar toooooo hooooooot today.

Me Too!

I spotted these brooches on TinnieGirl's blog a little while ago, after she spotted them over at Edward and Lily, and then I also had the chance to see them once they'd arrived in the mail.

So of course, how could I resist?

I headed straight over to Sophie's Etsy Shop and ordered my own..... she even made me one with my own custom label (I heart chocolate).

I was very careful not to rush and rip it open before taking photos of the most gorgeous packaging. I love taking the layers off and looking at the little tags and ribbons.

Thankyou Sophie, they're both absolutely gorgeous! Check out Sophie's blog for more of her amazing brooches, collages and artwork.

Love Fridays.....Silly Gilly's Sweet Surprise

It's easy to Love Friday today!

I arrived home from my pulmonary rehab class to find a mystery package in my letterbox with no sender details on the envelope.... hmmm what could it be?

A gorgeous vintage tea towel from the oppy!

Gillian went on a road trip from SA to Ballarat last week for the Trashalou blog meet. Lucky for me, she stopped in at the op shops on the way. Thanks so much Gillian, this one will be absolutely gorgeous as an apron.

If you haven't already entered, then don't forget to head over to the Silly Gilly blog and enter this fantastic mystery giveaway to celebrate Gillians 101th (yep 101th - that's not a typo) post.

....and of course, head over to Tinniegirl to join Love Fridays!

Found....

I was having a quiet day at home yesterday so I thought I'd sort through last weeks mail that was still piled up, and pay some bills.

I'd somehow completely forgotten that amongst the pile of mail was some sweet fabric!

Little Red Riding Hood print from The Retromummy Shop.....
I'm going to make some baby bibs with this one.

Just for me.....some Birch on Fuschia from Lara Cameron.

Hmmmm decisions, decisions on just what I'm going to make. My photo doesn't do justice to the actual colour which is a really deep pink. It's gorgeous!

Frifty Friday

I decided to treat myself to a little op-shopping today. I was extremely restrained because I should actually be de-cluttering my life at the moment, not adding to it!

I found my all time favourite book....Womans Day Handicrafts (1973 version). I know I already have a copy of this, but if you don't already have a copy then keep your eyes peeled for a little bloggy giveaway coming very soon.

I also found another kiddies craft book and a toys to make book to add to the overgrown craft book collection.
I also found a lovely small yellow gingham tablecloth, a floral pillowcase, and a fantastic brown 70's tablecloth that still has the original label stuck to it.

I checked the letterbox when I returned home to find a lovely cheery letter in the letterbox from Jess at Button Beauty. It's just so nice to know that there are so many wonderful, caring people in the world. Thanks so much Jess for cheering up my day today, it means the world to me!

Hoppo Bumpo Mail

A couple of weeks ago I commented on the magazines that Liesl had posted on her blog. I absolutely adore magazines, so I purposely stay well away from any newsagency so that I'm not tempted to buy 10 every time I walk in the door.
I'd never even heard of these ones (yes, I just may be living under a rock), so Liesl so generously offered to send me a few so that I could check them out.

....and look what else was in the package....

Some gorgeous corduroy fabric (my favourite), some absolutely divine chocolate (I'm not sharing...it's all mine) and a sweet little card. All just to cheer me up!

Thankyou so much Liesl, it's just what I needed today....

Now I'm off to sit on the couch, read a lovely magazine, have a cup of tea....and eat some choccy...yum!

On My Desk .......on a Wednesday

On My Desk today are a multitude of works in progress.....I constantly swap between projects before finishing them leading to lots of mess. I have bibs cut out ready to sew, a stack of fabric that needs to be put away, a beautiful package of ric rac and fabric that arrived in the mail yesterday from Stacey, a naked softie for the Toy Society (I have an idea in my head about making a dress for her), and the cowboy jeans that I whipped up for Moo Moo yesterday afternoon (waiting on a final fitment).

I loved the giant ric rac that I used on Staceys Apron, so Stacey very generously offered to pick some up for me next time that she was at her local fabric shop....

It arrived yesterday......and it's gorgeous.

Then as an extra suprise, she also include this fantastic cowboy fabric. I had to stop what I was doing and immediately start on the cowboy jeans. There was supposed to be an appliqued cowboy tee to go with it, but when I popped down to the Bonds outlet, they were closed for stocktake. I'll have to try again today.

Thankyou so much Stacey!

Stacey is having a birthday giveaway at the moment with a fantastic prize from her Etsy or Made It shops.....head on over and enter.

Washing Machine update - repair guy arrived at 3PM - good news, it can be fixed - bad news, cheaper to buy a new one. Moral of the story - no point buying an expensive brand like Maytag because they don't last any longer than the cheap brands.

Incoming and Outgoing Mail

It's been a bit of a crazy mail week this week with lots of little packages zooming in and out of my house......

I'll start with the incomings:

This absolutely gorgeous Sunnyboy Quilted pouch that I bought from Michelle's Etsy Shop Buttontree Lane.....made using Aunty Cookie fabric for the exterior and a vintage sheet for the interior.

....and my pre-ordered copy of Mixtapezine

I don't want to give anything away but I love the cover design and the print format of this issue.....needless to say that I sat straight on the couch and read it from cover to cover to cover to cover. Once you get it, you'll get it. I'm sounding very cryptic!

Hopefully Corrie has received the little parcel that I sent up for the twins (due Monday morning). You'll notice that the fabric squares that were on my desk last Wednesday are now jingly baby blocks....one for a baby girl and one for a baby boy.

Of course, I couldn't resist whipping up a couple of matching bibs...one with pink stitching and snap, and one with blue stitching and snap.

I'll be back later for Love Friday......

Delicious Mail

My postie has been at it again, delivering yummy little suprise packages in my mailbox.....

Have a little lookie at what arrived yesterday from Michelle.....two beautiful fabrics and lotsa buttons! All those colours remind me of summer and ice cream (yum).

Thankyou so much Michelle....I think I'll be making myself a summery twirly girly apron from these.

Don't forget to head over to Leni and Rose for all the good bloggy tips and tricks!

Winning Mail

I just checked the mailbox, and look what I found!

I won this gorgeous Blink Purse from Sam over at Samaprilmay. Check out her blog for gorgeous handmade and vintage items.

Thanks Sam, I love it!