Swapping!

Post is boring, noone writes letters anymore or sends stuff (well, noone I know anyway!) so all I ever seem to get is bills and bank statements. In an attempt to make my post more exciting, and also to encourage a bit more self-creativity, I signed up to swap-bot. I've just completed my first swap and am incredibly excited to see what I've been sent. I'm not sure whether my swap package was any good, but I was pleased with it at the end. The swap I joined was a scavenger hunt, so you had to find something to satisfy the following list;

~ Stars ~ Something Blue ~ Your favorite Animal ~ Something Sweet ~ Black & White ~ Something Useful ~ Surprise! (one item per list item -i.e, you couldn't something sweet that was also blue).

So... I made a few things and bought a few things and in my package was...

...a felt star that I made, possibly for use as a pin cushion or as a Christmas tree decoration.



...an original piece of Carrie artwork! (it's blue!)

...some monkey notepaper

...and a bonus monkey finger puppet (made by the wonderful Ian)

...some Cadbury's Dairy Milk


...a cross stitch penguin

...some fabric my swap partner uses to make hair accessories

...and a wind up butterfly that goes inside cards and flies out when you open them (that should be a surprise!).

I posted it all off to my partner today and am now looking for more swaps to sign up to. Hopefully I wont get so obsessed with swapping that I don't make any of the Christmas gift projects I have in mind!

Homemade Challenge

Welcome to my new blog, a place for me to keep my craft based musings and progress pictures. Last Christmas I thought about making all of my presents, but only managed 2 or 3 (all food based, see here). So this year I'm starting early. I've been researching for the last couple of months, and building up my stash. I didn't make many things in school so I'm really starting as a novice, but hopefully in a few years time I'll be making all the presents without even blinking. Stay tuned for progress on my Christmas gifts (some may be kept secret until nearer the time so that people who read the blog don't see their presents!).