Garden swap,river walk and pink tulip!!

This morning I received a parcel from Scotland ,from Emma, my partner in the Garden Swap.



Emma kindly sent me some gorgeous handknit flowers with button centres, a pretty flower button bracelet, a lovely piece of bright floral pop daisy quilting fabric,a postcard with a lovely scene of Aberdeen, a funky purple cocktail shaker and some recipes for her fave cocktails...as well as a recipe for a decadent sweet. Emma was actually going to make the sweet and send it but I advised Emma that our quarantine customs officers would have probably confiscated it so now I can make it myself..yummy...
I am thrilled with it all..thanks Emma...how did you know that I do not have a cocktail shaker...??? And I have already planned a bag to make, that would feature the knitted flowers sewn onto it .

Emma received the package I sent her a few days ago....here are some photos....








An eco-calico shopping bag with a garden themed stitchery on the front, a purple apron with big appliqued flowers ( Emma LOVES baking and purple is her fave colour ) , a little needle and thread pouch- holds a reel of cotton and some needles in the felt on the inside of the lid ( finished off with flower buttons...oh...and it is purple fabric ! ) plus some cute coffee / hot chocolate stencils to decorate a cappucino or hot chocolate.( forgot to photograph them ) I made a note card and attached flower pot buttons to the front.

I have been lucky enough to win a little giveaway over at Loraine's blog Pink Tulip.Loraine sews some lovely clothes and bags, pop over and have a look....she has inspired me to try making a few skirts...I will post photos if they turn out half wearable ! I can sew quilts but I struggle with adult clothing................


I will leave with a photo from our family stroll/ walk/ bike ride along the river bike path last weekend. It is such a lovely location, very peaceful and restful.....

x PJ X

Mmmm..... coffee and chocolate.....Kitchen Swap !!

My partner Melissa received the little box of goodies for the Kitchen swap I sent her.
Melissa mentioned her kitchen was brown and cream, so when I saw some cute coffee themed fabric in those exact colours , on one of my fabric shop adventures...I knew I had to get it!
Apparently I chose well, Melissa and her husband both have a love of coffee!!
I made a set of coasters and a chalkboard fabric message board with the fabric.




What goes so well with coffee? .. ...chocolate !! ..so I included a Donna Hay Chocolate Recipe book, a spatula to help make some yummy chocolate cakes...and some cute stencils to decorate cappucino or hot chocolates with ...place them over the cup and shake the sprinkles over !!





Thankyou ,Melissa , for being my kitchen swap partner..it has been lots of fun !!

More Unbirthday swap fun!!

Hot on the tail of Miya receiving her swap package from me..I received my package from Miya !!
What a fabulous box of goodies !
A lovely handmade by Miya clutch purse and mini purse..( favourite colours pink and blues) with some yummy lip balm .

A vintage tin full of vintage sewing notions ...including wooden cotton reels...I LOVE old wooden cotton reels !!
oh, and see that little vintage wooden ruler in there, it is from a shop , Kramers' , in Cincinnati, where Miya lives...how cute !!!


AND...drum roll....this totally fabulous vinyl record box - screen printed and made by Miya...


one of the faces is Miya screen printed on it ...see her in the middle here ??
along with other notable dignitaries..hehe...



I had to hide it from my son after he wanted to claim it for himself...told me it was too cool for me and that he should have it ...hummph...I think not !!

As this was an Unbirthday swap..Miya had asked for a little info..one question was..what was the worst birthday you can remember ? ...well.......I wrote....


Worst birthday in my very vague memory was my 11th Birthday. Sitting on the side of Mum and Dad’s bed...Mum passes my present, a paper grocery bag ..( Mum being a trendy eco-reylce person way back then)...which contained one after the other of crochet covered coat hangers !!! What the ? !!
I started to get upset, cried and ran off ( I mean after the seventh ugly nylon crocheted coat hanger, wouldn’t you ?? ).
I eventually gave in to the calls to come back ( was sobbing on my bed in the next room ...thinking what horrible present givers they were and maybe I could trade them for someone else’s parents ! )
They convinced me to dig past the last 3 coat hangers..at the bottom of the bag was a box containing a watch ( some groovy brand that I can’t remember ) and a compilation music tape that had all the chart hits at the time.....Barry Manilow- Copacabana, 5- 7-0-5 , by an artist I can not remember, and Baby it’s You..by Peaches.
I quite liked the pressies ( not the coathangers ) and still have nightmares of giant crochet covered coat hangers taunting me !!

So, in the spirit of this piece of background information I give you the final item in Miya's swap package she sent.............





LOVE it all Miya...thankyou..yes....even the coathangers !!!!!


x PJ x

Unbirthday swap

The gorgeous Miya received her Unbithday swap package from me....and gathering from her comments..I'm pretty sure she liked it !!


I made her a Vampire Softie which I aptly named Vince. He has a green bow tie and buttons- Miya's favourite colour . The bow tie was the culprit I was having so much difficulty with-fabric was thick and the opening was small- it wouldn't turn through easily ! (read previous post )
Continuing on the horror movie theme , I made a set of coasters with horror movie posters and comic book covers..I LOVE printable inkjet fabric !!



or if Vince gets cold he could use one as a quilt ! ( as modelled in the photo..thanks Vince ).



A few pieces of fabric as well. Thanks Miya for organising the swap...let me know when the next one is !!
x PJ x