Thank you Miss Lisa

Lisa you are amazeing you read my blog and got me perfectly.

I am glad I did not see your sneak peek because I would have gotten it right away and I loved being suprised!

I can tell you read my blog and learned who I was every thing you sent has charteristics of who I am.

Merry Christmas and thank you.

Valentines Swap Idea

Okay ladies, I have an idea for a swap that I need to run by you.

What do you think about all of us making an apron using the same fat quarter in some fashion?  Or, if not an apron, some other household item like a table runner, mug rug or ??   I would purchase the fabric, measure, cut, and mail off the fat quarters to participants.  Then, YOU would have two weeks (or so) to make your item and send it off.  Sound good?

What would the design be?  Well, remember this swap?

The designer of that spectacular cupcake image I used several years ago, Patricia Shea, also designs fabrics at Spoonflower.com.  She has cupcake images plus other cool designs. Patricia is working on a new fabric design for us to include in our possible selections, so I can put up a poll soon.  Here are some of her current fabrics/graphics I like:

One thing, though, is that website's fat quarter prices are MUCH higher than per-yard pricing ($11 for FQ vs $18 per yd). In order to be more affordable, I would have everyone would sign up with me via PayPal for their fat quarter plus some toward shipping from Spoonflower to Oregon and then to your house. I would place a bulk order, measure, cut, and mail off the fabric to participants.  Then, YOU would have two weeks (or so) to make your item and send it off.

Sound fun?

Or do you think this would be a better sew-along instead of a swap?  We would still use the same fabric but you'd keep your creation instead of sending it away.

Leave me your comments and suggestions!

Swanky Place Aprons Giveaway

Hey swappers -- just wanted to let you know that I'm hosting a quick apron giveaway over at Apronista.  Easy entries!!

My Secret Santa was.....................

Sharon Stanley sent me the best package with a nice read for Christmas, a racy red holiday apron, Naughty or Nice pillow, apron pattern, recipe cards, snow flake ornament and a table runner with my winter theme on it. Thank you Sharon for the wonderful package and the table runner will be adorning my holiday table.

I saw " IT "the momment we turned on to our street!!

I took my neighbor karen out to lunch for her Birthday today, and when we got back, there was a package on my front porch!! Yeah!!! It is my Secret Santa Swap Package from my Secret Santa...Cynthia Matzat!! Her back went out on her last week, so let's all send her well wishes to feel better!!!





Now we are all expecting aprons right?!!, especially when the suggestion is put out there by Shawnee, telling us to choose a Christmas word, and make or buy gifts to match the letters, like A would be perfect for Apron!!!!!!!  Well let me tell you, A can also be for Assorted Coffees to warm you on the inside...( I go nowhere without my coffee!)

 A, can also be for A "Berry" pretty ornament for my tree!! ( Something I need New every year!!)

Cynthia sent me some very warm Christmas Socks!! Oh so warm!!  A Novel to get me in the Christmas Spirit!! By Debbie Macomber,  "1225 Christmas Tree Lane" I plan to sit down tonight and READ!!
 And last but not least... T for a Terrific Tote, handmade, very creative and something I will treasure for a very long time!!

Thank-you ever so much my friend!

I wish you and your family, all the best the Season has to offer!!

Thank you Shawnee for Hosting yet another terrific swap!

Looking forward to the next one!!

Dear Secret Santa...

I'm so sorry if you have been checking the blog and your email for a post and a proper thank you... Shawnee emailed me today to ask if I received my package and I realized I never checked the mail last week!!! I hate having to have a post office box, but we dont have rural mail delivery in our area. I promise that I will go straight to the post office when I get off duty in the morning. Given the season, my box is probably overflowing.

AS PROMISED ....

As I promised yesterday, I've downloaded the photo's of my swap goodies ...

Chrissy chose the word SNOWY ...
S - Snowman Apron
N - Necklace
O - Ornaments
W - Warm yarn. Ooohhh - that yarn knits up into the most pretty frilly scarfs - Love it :-0
Y - Yummy Cupcake Supplies

Very spoilt, that was me!!!
Thank you again Chrissy - it was the perfect package.

So, my day was kind of HoHum as Mondays usually are and it wound up with faxing a ton of information out on a legal matter and filing a police report for my hacked credit card which I had already done over the phone, but had to go in an hand write a report.

When we got home I had a package waiting for me that I didn't recognize the name on...
My first thought was it was a quilt someone was looking to have finished for charity, then when I opened it, look at all the little packages that were discovered inside

There were wonderful old fashioned hard candies, Biscotti from Starbucks, a matching cup and saucer (will be perfect for my tea at my desk or sewing center, an adorable ornament, Kahlua flavored coffee, a pattern for really neat bags, a triple cookie cutter, the most adorable and decorated apron and an adorable Santa spatula for my kitchen!

All of this from Donna Payne in Vacaville, CA.  Oh thank you, thank you, Merci, Gracias...it was wonderful and thank you to Shawnee for picking me a great swap partner!

SNOWY ......

That's the word my sweet swap partner Chrissy chose :-)
I received the most lovely package today, filled with wonderful goodies. I have taken some pictures, and will download them, and share them with y'all tomorrow. As she didn't give me her email address,  I just wanted to let her know, that I have received my package, and that  I LOVED it !!!

Thank you Chrissy for bringing a big, warm smile to my VERY chilly (yes, we got a dusting of snow last night ) Texas day :-)

SANTA ....

This was the word I chose .....
It's been 3 weeks now, and my trusty delivery confirmation slip, says that my partner has received her swap package, so I thought I'd share with you what I sent her :-)

S - Christmas Socks
A - Advent Calendar (I filled each little box, with crafty bits and bobs)
N - Christmas Napkins and Christmas Nail Files
T - Tasty Assorted Sachets of Hot Chocolate and some Christmas Tissues
A - Assorted Rolls of Ribbon and an Apron that I made.
Her ornaments were the letters I made that spelled out SANTA, and I included a craft magazine for some reading fun.
Here is a closer peek at the Advent Calendar I made her ...

I made it using 24 matchboxes, that are glued together in sets of 3 and decorated. The idea isn't mine - I found a picture of one a lady had made on the internet, and worked out how to put it together from there.

Thank you Shawnee for hosting another fun swap !!!
Wishing y'all a very Merry, Bright and Blessed Christmas.

My Apron Is On It's Way To You Secret Swap Partner!

So this time around I had some bad luck as I previously posted.  My swap package basically got stolen on the way to the post office.  Well I wanted to let you all know that my 2nd package is on it's way to my secret swap partner.  

So I finally figured out what I wanted to do the second time around and whipped up another cute apron if I do say so myself!  I went back to the store and purchased some more appropriate gifts and then did the whole boxing and wrapping everything up again.  This time I went straight to the post office without making any stops and got it mailed off again.

So sorry swap partner!  I really didn't forget you I just got a little bit off track and had to start over again.  The post office assures me that you will receive your gift no later than Saturday.  So happy swapping.

Crystal's Loot

Howdy from McKinney Texas!

Now that Crystal has received her package, I can tell you a little more about it. 

I did two words because I had more stuff I wanted to send and needed more letters.  My two words were SANTA and HOPE. I did alot of green items because that is Crystal's favorite color plus I kinda tend to be green (as in environmentally conscious).

Here's what I sent:

S is for Sprinkles (foil kind)
A is for Apron (made it reversible so she can use year round)
N is for Notecards (green & white polkadot)
T is for the tin full of teas (red raspberry & mint green)
A is for awesome green smelling candle

H is for HUGE clothespin
O is for the o shaped wreath ornament
P is for Personalized Zipper Pouch with name embroidered
E is for envelope assortment 6 of 11 different colors and sizes because she makes cards

Something to read-- Simple Abundance - a Daybook of Comfort & Joy... read a couple pages a day for the next year 2013 and also a book of Green projects to do with kids...

I forgot to take pictures of everything together before I sent it but I do have pictures of the handmade items....

Here is the zipper pouch. 

 I used green fabric on the outside and Christmas on the inside, hopefully when she looks inside she will remember this Christmas Swap...

Here is the apron, I had never made one before.  I made it reversible so she could use it year round.  Aprons are hard to photograph when you don't have a model but you get the idea of what it looked like here...

I really enjoyed making and collecting everything.  I am so glad Crystal liked it. I look forward to swapping again!

~~~Martha from McKinney, Texas

Crystal is an Amazing Secret Santa Swap Partner

Crystal gets an award for being one of my best partners ever!  She spent so much time hunting out my preferences and then incorporating them into a super special package.

First, the element of surprise

She sent me handmade cards with little notes explaining each gift.  And they were all wrapped - love that!

Here's the whole package

She hit on my love of RED, of all things Mary Engelbreit, of handcrafted gifts, my love of reading; she even stalked my Etsy favorites!!!

Check out this apron -- Ruffles, Red, AND Mary Engelbreit -- who could ask for more?!?

THANK YOU, Crystal, for being a terrific partner!!

-Shawnee

Thank you Grace

Kimberly shared this:

I did receive my Santa Package from Grace Brown. I LOVE everything. Let button up and take a ride on the tour. Receive a Button it up book. Choc cover cherries, Earl Gray Tea with a travel mug. yeah buddy! A Fresh baked cookie candle, Bead and button garland for my tree. Snowflake earrings. Santa cross stitch ornament to make (after Christmas. There is a Beautiful braided hot mat. Also, whoooo hooo, an Apron with pink and red roses and holly berries are on the fabric. I will try to get pic up. Be patient with me I am slowly learning how to blog. Having some issues, but I am learning. THANK YOU for EVERYTHING> Thank you for having me in this WONDERFUL SWAP.

My Beautiful Swap Package Came From Heidi

My beautiful swap package arrived at my house yesterday!  What fun I had opening all my lovely gifts.  I of course was so excited that I didn't take any pictures of my beautiful box of goodies before I tore into it.  I was so excited that I basically tore the box apart to get to all my wonderful gifts!

My swap partner, Heidi Rourke, took the time to find out a little about me and my likes.  She did a wonderful job on everything!  I couldn't have asked for anything different as it was all so nice.  She knew my favorite color is purple and I like ruffles so she made me a beautiful multi-ruffled apron of all different shades of purple prints.  She asked Shawnee to find out if I liked half or full aprons and I love full bib aprons so that is what she made me.

My gift was titled "Merry Quiltmas" as I am an advid quilter.  There was a beautiful purple striped mug included in the package.  She also picked out 2 different boxes of tea for me as I love all and everything about tea.  One was a yummy Meyer Lemon and the other was a delicious Blueberry tea.  There was also some Starbucks coffee.  She included a quilting magazine for me also.  Of course I sat down with my new cup and had a cuppa tea and leisurely read the quilt magazine.  Of course there was multiple patterns of quilts that I wouldn't mind making someday soon.  There was a delicious chocolate/caramel candybar too that I enjoyed.  She also crocheted me a couple of dish cloths in a beautiful purple color.  Then she paper pieced a really cool ornament for me.  She did it all in pink and whites and it is a teacup!  I go by the name Tealovinglady and she knew that I really really LOVE tea!

Great job Heidi!  I love everything you included in my package.  As soon as I can find my cord I will upload some pictures to this post so that everyone can see the wonderful things you sent me.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and some very Happy Holidays!

Thank you Tammy!

I haven't had a chance to take a picture of my wonderful package yet. My 3 yo helped unwrap it and asked if she could hang the cutest little reindeer ornament on the tree. It's the only ornament hanging right now LOL

If you scroll down, Tammy posted a picture of her daughter wearing the awesome apron she sent. I totally ♥♥♥♥ it! She also sent some awesome grinchy fabric that I might just turn into something special very soon. My "part time" seasonal job is currently full time ...so not a lot of time for me to do fun things. But I really want to turn the fat quarters she sent in to a purse or something!

thank you soooo very much!

Merry Christmas to me!

I disclaim all liability for your envy over this package!

Do I smell?

'Cause I'm spoiled!

Rotten, I tell ya!

The picture above is just a smattering of the wonderfully personalized package of goodies sent to me by the lovely Martha, who happens to be a neighbor of the Texas sort - she's only an hour-and-a-half away! What's really neat is that my dad and my older sister live in her town as well. Do you see that green pouch with my name embroidered on it? And see that red up there in the corner? That's the embroidered pocket of my reversible apron!

And the gorgeous wreath ornament! And the tin! And the sprinkles! And the...! And the...! And the...!

I mean, the list goes on and on. The box was stuffed to the brim with an assortment of fabulous!

I may need to seek help for my overuse of italics and exclamation points, but my package was Just! That! Awesome! - in short: Thank you, Martha - I love it!

-very gratefully yours,
Crystal

I was so excited when I walked into my office to find a package, I knew exactly what it was.  My Secret Santa Package had finally arrived.  When I opened it this is what I found.  NOTE: when I say "we" i am talking about Cynthia, she is our office secretary she has as much fun watching me put together my package and seeing me receive my package.

There was a card laying on top, but I decided to read it last (well that was a mistake because the directions was inside and we, Cynthia & I,  just had to figure it out) .  We started pulling each individual package out and noticed they were all attached.  Each package also had a letter(thankful there was a small # on each too).

This is what it looked like when we pulled it out and put it together.  My letter was SNOWFALL.

so after unwrapping each item and placing them back in order this is what we had.

S - Scissors; N - rubber gloves with the letter M because N follows M; O - ornament (that will look so good on my tree); W- a crochet tea towel that's used when washing & drying dishes; F - Christmas fabric; A-Apron; L - Christmas socks to help keep legs warm; L - Hot Chocolate to warm your lips on a cold day;

Ok - i'm not sure if this is exactly what my swap partner had intended each letter to be but that's just what we came up with.

This is me wearing the cute snowman apron that my partner made.

oh i'm going to enjoy this one.  

Thank you Jeanie for the thoughtful package you put together.  I will remember you every year when I wear my apron or put my snowflake ornaments on my Christmas tree.

oh yes, Cynthia is already looking forward to next years swap!

Here is the package I put together for my partner:

• A silver tin of Peppermint tea
• Some Godiva Chocolates...even some white chocolate tucked in there
• A Button Box with buttons
• Mugrugs for all seasons...spring/summer/fall/winter

• Sitting on top of an apron
• A book of which I have hidden the title (I do want some surprises)
• Snowmen ornaments in glittery silver and blue

Here is the apron. I tired to put things in the pockets so they could be seen much better than my earlier pictures.

What I Made For My Partner

I sent my package off on Saturday and thought I would give a little peek.

This is my daughter, Courtney wearing the apron I made. It's hard to tell from the picture but the fabric has snowmen all over it. Courtney actually picked out the fabric and I think it turned out super cute. I hope my partner likes her package and has a very MERRY Christmas!

Got my Secret Santa pkg............

Just wanted to post a thank you to Sharon for the wonderful pkg. Got it Friday but have worked 37 hrs in the past 4 days will post pics and a proper thank you.

Santa got me some owls!

My Secret Santa package came today!  Look at all the cuteness...

SNOW was the word and this is how it was spelled out:

S is for sew cute sewing case
N is for apron and pattern
O is for owls
W is for Wishing you a Merry Christmas

Here is everything on my handy dandy chair.  The pattern is for apron ornaments...clever.  The sewing case is on the left.  There are also goodies like hot cocoa, candy and notepads

close up of the awesome owl fabric

close up of the cute toadstool oven mitt

 

Thank you Kim!

I'm so sorry...

Dear Secret Swapper,

I am so sorry!  Your package is going to be late.  I had it all together, sewed, shopped, wrapped and addressed.  The box was in the back seat of my car and we were on our way to the post office.  I ran into the store with my grandson to get a pack of gum and a candy bar and I guess we were in such a hurry that although I pushed the automatic door locks the back door didn't shut all the way.  You guessed it ... package gone..........I hope whoever took it really needed an holiday apron and all the trimmings.

I will try to get another apron made and goodies together for you as soon as I possibly can.  Hopefully it will be in the mail either Tuesday afternoon or first thing Wednesday morning as I have to go to the fabric store in the morning to see if I can find the same fabric or something that I like just as well.  If I didn't have two doctor appointments tomorrow I could get it done before then.

I'm so sorry but I promise it will be worth it!

Peeks from Teresa

Look at what Teresa has sent off to her Secret Santa Swap partner -- SO festive!!

No Angel Just Patience Needed Here

Oh my, I feel so badly right now as our house has been hit with a week of unbelieveable events that even I in my darkest hours couldn't predict...

#1- We discovered mold in our girls closet and their wood floor in there is soaked and getting worse and no one can find out why.
#2- In looking for the cause of the mold and dampness, a contractor friend discovered our attic is damp, moldy and the sheeting is soaked through....4 year old roof needs replacing and insurance said to bad, so sad and contractor says we will give you vents but not taking care of mold.  :(
#3- I went to check my bank account on Friday and discovered my bank card had not only been hacked but it appears the perps actually forged a card and used it once in California and once in Kansas...so my card is cancelled, police reports have been made, fraud forms filled out and I am left without my credit card...
#4- My granddaughter came down with a fever last night of 103
#5- My grandson went on my computer and without permission decided to download a game and gave me a virus.....

So my dear swap partner, I have your package all neatly set aside with its luscious goodies, wonderful book, apron, etc.  I just cannot mail it out at this time, however Shawnee knows I have NEVER skipped  out on a swap and won't on this one....

The way things are going, you might wind up with a real Christmas gift....

You know how it goes, it can't get any?????????????????....I am not going there because I am trusting this was a freak week and next week it is going to be much better!  Now you see why I wished my dog had eaten the chocolates!