Tag Archives: advent swap

Dec30

Christmas catch up

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Sorry it has taken me so long to post about my Christmas day present from Emma, but as I spent Christmas away in a cottage in the Forrest of Dean, I’m only just catching up after getting back on Wednesday. Emma gave me the most beautiful handmade cushion cover, with a intricate hand drawn pattern on the front

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It is going to take pride of place in my sewing room :) Thanks to Emma for all her hard work in making and putting together my advent parcels. I have enjoyed the swap so much and have already signed up for 2 smaller swaps through popular crafts

I thought I would share with you some of my favourite presents that I got for Christmas. I got some fantastic books, which I have already read from cover to cover!

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Nic gave me the Alice in Wonderland book. It has some fab projects in it and I am going to use it as inspiration for my vintage themed 30th birthday party next year!

I also got the most beautiful purse and an owl sewing kit from my hubby

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The purse is made from a pattern fabric and has bits of tape measure ribbon and buttons on it, I absolutely love it!

If all these things weren’t nice enough I also treated myself to a vintage tea set from J’adore Vintage

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I can’t believe where 2011 has gone! I have had the most fantastic year, starting off with getting married in May, expanding my sewing skills and also starting some ventures with Maeri with The Make and Do Studio. I have also had so much fun going along to the clandestine cake club and have made a fantastic friend in Nic. Most all after starting my blog in August I have met some fantastic people and want to thank you all for sticking with me and giving me encouraging comments. If 2012 is as good as 2011 then I will be a very lucky lady! I am going to post about my new years resolutions and plans for 2012 over the weekend, have any of you made resolutions for the new year? Check out Nics 2011 achievements, I might do 30 things I want to achieve next year :)

Sarah x

Dec21

On the 21st day of Christmas…

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…my advent partner gave to me…

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The most beautiful handmade fabric covered notebook – so pretty! Will be nice to use for all my sewing ideas :)

Please pop over to Emma’s blog to see my presents to her so far. It’s getting closer to Christmas and very excited about opening my Christmas day present from Em :)

Sarah x

Dec2

Reasons to be Cheerful

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This week I thought I would join in Penny’s Reasons to be cheerful. As a few of you may know my week hasn’t been all that great as I have been struck down by Labrynthitis – a hideous infection of the inner ear that results in dizziness :( as a result I have been off work all week, as I get the dizziness as soon as I do anything. It’s been torture as I am not one to just sit and watch TV! I therefore felt there I should share my reasons to be cheerful, as I have had a great week all things considered!

As most of you know I held my CRAFTfest stall last weekend. It was such a great experience and so easy to do with no hassle of carting stuff to and from a fair! So my first reason to be cheerful is that I sold 5 items from my stall! Admittedly 3 of those were to friends however 2 other people bought a scarf and a vintage bookmark. I was so chuffed that people really liked my things enough to buy them! so heres my first item ready to be posted

My next reason is that I received my advent swap parcel on Tuesday and couldn’t wait to open all my presents! Emma has put a lot of thought and effort into making the presents, even down to doing some potato stamping on the brown wrapping paper of my Christmas Day present. She has numbered each present for advent, therefore less decisions for me to make in the morning as to what to open!

Despite my dizziness I went to Vicky Sowerby’s Frock swap last night. Me and Nic had planned to go for sometime, and as Vicky was raising money for a very worthwhile cancer charity, it was nice to support something so very close to her heart. The idea of the swap was that you took up to 5 items and then picked from all the other clothes that people had brought to take home 5 new items. Nic drove us to Oldham, as I didn’t think my head would cope with the driving, and after an adventurous journey taking in many road works and sights of Oldham we gave in our swaps and browsed some of the stalls that were set up. I couldn’t resist buying this cute owl purse and fabric pack from Woodchip Boutique.

I am so pleased with the things I brought home, especially as you had to have pointy elbows to get into the rails at first!

My next reason is that me and my husband are taking a day trip on the train to York tomorrow to see the christmas markets. The trip was planned ages ago and I am a little worried it will make my dizziness worse, but wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit the markets, plus a few fabric and button shops along the way! Since its my birthday next week, I’m hoping to find a few things to treat myself to. I will let you know what I buy!

My last reason to be cheerful is that I have had the very fortunate opportunity to be involved in some filming of the Make and Do studio for the BBC! They are doing a short video to be put online as they are trying to promote the usefulness of learning online and through the internet. I am very nervous about it all but very excited and grateful that Maeri has let me be a part of it. I will be a student in a mock-up workshop, my most biggest dilemma is…what to wear?!

So there we have it, I think I might have gone over the limit of numbers of reasons to be cheerful! However despite a horrible start to the week with my dizziness, there is always a bright side to everything. My week has also shown that sometimes you may not be feeling all that great, but there are people who are worse off than yourself and if you look hard enough there’s always a bright side to everything. Please go check out Penny’s blog and see how everyone has been getting on with their reasons to be cheerful.

Sarah x