Swap Update

Well, I now have one even more excited little girl. What great news to give her when she came out of her exam.

Christie has sent details of her swap partners. Her face when I told her she would be communicating with children from different countries was so wonderful to see.

She will be exchanging letters with :-

2 boys - One from America and one from Australia

2 girls - again one from America and one from Australia

and last (but certainly not least) sisters from America who have joined the swap together.

She has already drafted her letters, she just needs to print them out and get them posted which will hopefully be on Saturday.

I really do hope that this is the start of long lasting pen-pal friendships.

Good luck to all those participating, I'm sure your children are just as excited as Gen is.

Another Swap!!!!

This time I've signed Gen up - Every time the post lady arrives, she asks the same question 'why is there never any letters for me Mum?' .... well now there will be 5 of them for her! woohoo she'll enjoy this one for sure. Although it does mean that she has to write 5 letters too LOL.

If you would like to sign your kids up too, then the link is http://pigeon-pair.blogspot.com/2009/05/kids-mail-swap-2-sign-ups.html

Happy Crafting xxx

Pincushion Summer Swap

I've just signed up for Sandra's (http://www.quiltathome.blogspot.com/) Pincushion Summer Swap .... why not join me in this creative crafting swap .... just click on her link for more information.

Beads, Beads and even more Beads!

First of all are you impressed .... two postings in one day! Maybe a hangover isn't such a bad thing afterall LOL.

I've been saying for a while now that I really must put some photographs of my beaded jewellery both on my website and here on my blog. Well today I've finally managed to get the time to do them! wooohoooo. I've taken pics of all the necklaces I currently have in stock. I have made more but didn't take pics before I sold them. I will be putting more details onto my website with regards to lengths and pricing etc. so if anyone would like to make a purchase, then please let me know and I will point you in the right direction.

Here goes : -


























































I also make charm, they make fantastic accessories for your mobile phone / PDA / MP3 players etc. I also use them on my scissors to avoid any confusion when I go to sewing class - it's so easy to pick up someone else's scissors if they are the same as yours, these beautiful charms avoid all that confusion. The one on my brown scissors has a little bell so it jingles as I cut :-)

Embroidered Blocks Galore!

I know there will be some reading my postings who aren't sure of what a Tripple Irish Chain looks like. The pic above shows a plan that I worked out on my computer using Excel and colouring in the squares - easy peasy. The middle 'chain' should actually be a darker shade of blue, but it printed out the same colour as the 2 chains either side. This centre chain is the one that I'm making with the lighter fabric instead of a darker one.

Here is the first block finished (I've made 4 so far but need to purchase more material before I can make more). I think that the centre pale chain stands out really well against the other fabrics. Although, you won't get to see the 'chains' until I have put quite a few blocks together.

These are a selection of the embroidered squares that I have done to place in the middle of the second blocks. I've used about 4 different designs and stitched them in various colour combinations. I didn't want these to detract from the chains, therefore I have only used 4 colours (lilac, purple, fuschia and green). Unfortunately I did make an error when cutting the blocks. I knew that I needed them to be 10" finished square. So dutifully I cut them all to 10 1/2" to allow 1/4" seam allowance. As I put the first one in the embroidery machine, realisation hit me - I should have cut them slightly larger as the embroidery will pull the material in slightly. Unfortunately, I was right (for a change LOL). The squares are now measuring approx 10 1/4". I think what I'm going to do to rectify the problem is cut them down a little more and add a border around them in one of the other material. Hopefully, when I've finished, it will look as though this was my intention from the beginning!

This last photograph gives a bit of insight as to how the second block will look when it's put together. The squares aren't in the correct order around the sides as I just laid the embroidered square on top of one of the block #1's. But at least it gives an idea of where I'm going with this one.

Baby Gift

As promised, photographs of the baby gift I made for my friend. I embroidered a bib, face cloth and muslin cloth with this Winnie the Pooh design and added the baby's name. I thought that they looked beautiful altogether. The green in the background of the design is cotton material that is stitched on first as an applique. I've used this design quite a few times and never tire of it. When I've done this for girls, I tend to use a pink butterfly material which looks stunning too.

In doing my bit to save the planet, I try not to use unecessary packaging, so thought it would be a nice idea to wrap the gifts in the muslin rather than using wrapping paper. I added a little blue wool to keep it altogether. I then placed them in a small paper carrier bag made from recycled paper. I loved the end result.