...And In Return

I always forget that after I send off swap goodies that happy mail is quickly to follow.  Both of my recent swap partners had me 100% pegged with the pretty things they made for me.  Want to see?

In the Irish Pin Cushion I was unknowingly matched up with Fiona of Besty Grey Crafts. Fiona makes the most beautiful things and you get to see lots of it in real time following her on IG (@betsygreycrafts).  We have not yet met in real life, but I am hoping our paths cross this weekend at the Knitting and Stitching Show.  Fiona sent over the most gorgeous cathedral windows pin cushion with the little tiniest yo-yos at each point. 

How on earth did she press these windows and still keep each of her fingertips?  I'll never know.  I adore the fabrics she choose. I love, too, that with the thickness of the windows it gives great resistance when poking it with a pin. It's beautiful, Fiona.  Thank you.

In the Stamp It Up swap, the super Nathalie made a massive zipper pouch for me.  Its a size I don't have and it's 100% perfect for travelling as it fits all kinds of goodies.  She carved an amazing flower and stamped it once on the front and once on the back, then framed the stamp with log-cabin type piecing.  The blues she choose are so beautifully rich.  

Inside it is lined with white and pink fabric, that's further stamped with little FSQ sheep, making this pouch so super and personal. I love that there are little black FSQ sheep, too!  That's so cool.  Nathalie, thank you.  It's amazing.

Swaps are such a wonderful way of getting to know new folks or pushing ourselves a bit further.  A great big thumbs up to both of my partners as well as to the organizing mamas, Nicky, Helen and Sarah.  Thank you all for making these swaps so much  fun.

Stamp It Up Zippy Pouch

Life has been filled with travel, family, health issues/healing, etc lately and blogging has fallen behind.  You know the story.  But I have missed you all so very much that I'd really like to re-join our happy community as best I can.  I love the giggles and inspiration we all share so I am only thrilled to bring that back into this cold, wet, dark part of Ireland.  

Let's start with an oldie, but a goodie shall we?  Back in Sept the lovely Nicky ran a super swap called Stamp It Up!  We were each to carve eraser stamps and make some small creation for our swap partner based on their inspirational mosaic.  So I gathered together my erasers, brand new ink pads and got down to business.  

I then embroidered little eyes and legs on my new friends.  I loved doing that.  At the end I felt like I knew each of the little ladies personally.

My partner, now revealed as Anneliese, had wanted a coffee cozy to keep her fingers from getting burned when holding a takeaway coffee.  I read through a few tutorials and choose one to try.  Although the tutorial was relatively straight forward and logical, the measurements listed were COMPLETELY incorrect, so my miserable cozy ended up looking like this.

See how the top and bottom (Summersville) border is cut off and one birdie is missing her feet? Awful.  So I unpicked everything and made a few new birds to create a zippy pouch using Kat's go-to pattern that is 100% wonderful from start to finish.

I used Essex linen on the top and back, then Kate Spain's Good Fortune on the bottom and as the lining.  I liked that I was sending a bit of Good Fortune to Anneliese and her home.

My little stamped pouch has now safely arrived at its new home and is already in use.  I hope you like it, Anneliese!  I really enjoyed making it for you.

Stamp It Up Swap

Apparently I am in a swapping mood lately.  I have also signed up for Nicky and Helen's Stamp It Up swap.  If you want to join in too, head on over to the flickr site and sign up ASAP.  It's getting quite full already!

While at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in London this past July, I took a class by Tasha on creating your own eraser stamps.  It was great fun and could easily be something that becomes part of my happy, crafty life.  I love how you can easily personalize a project or create a card for a special occasion with very little effort.  In the class I started off with some tracing paper, an eraser, a craft knife, a pencil and a little inspiration.

And I tried my best to create a little fluffy sheep stamp.  I initially thought I'd make it easy on myself and make him a black sheep.  That way I didn't have to carve out his middle.

Once I tested him, though, I clearly wanted a little white sheep.  Sadly my knife slipped and I sheered him a little too close, destroying the stamp all together.  With little time left in the class I carved a little puppy paw instead.

With a little practice, though, I think I can handle a swap.  It's a great excuse to sharpen my skills (and my scalpel) and give it another try!  Again, in secret swap style we had to make an inspirational mosaic. 

 I apparently am digging birds (or animals in general) and flowers.  I was also imagining a little sewing machine and pin cushion would be pretty cute.  No matter what comes of this swap its still going to be great fun giving it my best try. I can't wait to see what my partner is into.  How exciting!