A Magazine Swap & lots of Naughtiness!

A Magazine Swap?

This is the second time I have taken part in Floss's Magazine Swap. This time I was paired with the lovely Jill of Love to Craft and funnily enough neither of us could count, sending two magazines each AND a little treat. I forgot to photograph what I sent Jill, but here is the delightful selection she sent me:

Thank you Jill, I will enjoy reading through these and the Christmas one is well timed as I have my Christmas thinking cap on at the moment.

The yummy cupcakes I made for DS2 yesterday. Yes there are some left!

Now it all started with the need for a pattern to make a skirt with the material I bought myself at the Travelling Fabric Show...

....and ended in a spending spree!

I haven't driven further than to my physiotherapists house for sometime now due to the pain in my arm and shoulder, but today I decided to bite the bullet and go despite the pain...I wanted to get a pattern or two and also a larger cutting mat, as mine is really for scrapbooking and not fabric patchwork cutting.

As you can see I got somewhat carried away. Yes I even came home with some sock wool and a pattern to knit a pair of socks!

That led to me visiting the three Hospice shops nearby the fabric shop...

so much for me 'cutting down my CS spending'.


A little Royal Doulton china posy

Some books (these were free!)

A crochet and embroidered cushion (this was also free)

A blue willow bowl

I love this isn't it cute?

Pretty little jug.

A little teapot.

Oh and a rather large item...

I've been looking for one of these for years...since I started collecting dolls. Now I haven't bought any dolls for gosh it must be about five years now, (except the bride doll) so yes, i have been looking a long time.

They are either too big, too damaged, too expensive, or just quite not right.

This one was perfect! The right size and the right price.

Yes a china cabinet.

Of course now I've got it home, I am thinking china and ornaments in it instead of dolls!

Well I think that just about sums up my naughtiness for the day. Not going to go out anymore, it is too dangerous! Instead I am going to knuckle down and get cracking with all my sewing, knitting and crocheting projects.

Oh and my 400th prizewinners...only two more things to finish and then the gifts will be in the post to you all!

P.S. DS2 has just come home from school and said 'oh that's nice'. So the china cabinet has his approval...now got to hope that DH likes it (or doesn't notice it!)

Oh My Word!

Autumn is a time for conkers, coloured leaves and the beginnings of a chill in the air. It is also the time for my youngest son's birthday. How did he get to be 14?! They grow up far too quickly, so for all those with littlies, remember this for it is true, they really do grow up fast and the time just disappears, it seems only yesterday my boys were toddlers but now no more. They are both taller and bigger than me, seems strange that my 'little' boys now look down upon me.

Happy Birthday my darling boy!

Now what to wear for today, why my new brooch from Lisa of course! Isn't it just perfect?

Well considering we started the day off (rather early I might add) with DS2 opening his presents, I didn't expect to be opening something myself later this afternoon when the postman finally delivered our mail.

Lovely postcard.

Beautifully wrapped...

A package full of treats from Vintage Vicki - I had been lucky enough to come runner-up in her blog's 1st Birthday Draw - oh lucky me! A gorgeous little gingerbread house, some seeds for next spring, chocolate and rock. What more could a girl want for? Thank you Vicki for your generosity. My son thought the little house was 'well cute', but he's not having it, it is all mine!

This blogging world really is full of lots of wonderful, kind hearted, talented and thoughtful people and I feel very privileged to have become part of this community. I have made friends with some lovely ladies from all over the world and feel very fortunate to have done so. The last couple of days have left me feeling quite emotional by the lovely gifts I have received. Thank you ladies, all of you for letting me get to know you and share in your worlds.

Another swap I took part in recently was the Colour Swap hosted by Lydia's Treasures. I was really lucky to be partnered with the lovely Eli from Italy. Oh how lucky was I! I have really enjoyed getting to know this talented lady and to have a little peek into her life. Now I have to confess to finding her colour choice a little hard not really having given much thought to the colours maroon/rust before. She summed them up nicely on her blog post today - the colours of Autumn! If only I had thought of that, I probably wouldn't have found it so difficult. Isn't it strange how we can sometimes get very hooked up in our own preferred colours and not always give others a thought. Thank you Eli for opening my eyes more.

Would you like to see what I made and sent her?

Now of course the item on the left is certainly not maroon, or rust, or the colours of Autumn! However, it was a gift for her little boy, so hopefully I got away with it. A hot water bottle and cover to keep him warm in winter.

• C = Curly Crochet Scarf
• O = Owl
• L = Lavender Heart
• O = Oven mitts, fan shaped
• U = Unusual Purse
• R = Redoute's Roses Book

I also included a couple of brooches, only one shown in picture above, the other you can see in Eli's blog post.

Yesterday Eli's gifts to me arrived. Yes I was certainly a very lucky and spoiled girl yesterday, with both Lisa's lovely Swap Gift parcel and Eli's.

My goodness, a lovely big box...

Look how cleverly wrapped these gifts are!

Eli certainly got to know me well through my blog and I think she managed to cover just about everything about me with her gifts, my love of nature, birds and butterflies and of course the colour blue.

Just look at her beautiful artwork! I am in awe and this will be a very special photo album for my photos indeed. I think I will use this for the best of my photos that I take for the duration of my OU Photography Course over the next 3 months.

Thank you Eli for your gorgeous swap package.

Of course you do realise ladies that with the amount of chocolate I have received over the last two days and the fact that I couldn't do up ANOTHER pair of jeans today means that I really am seriously going to have to go on a diet of some kind, or at least try and exercise a lot more!

Mr Postie delivered!

Yeah my parcel from Lisa arrived this afternoon!

How exciting I had some to unwrap while partaking in my afternoon tea!

Oooh, lots of pink and white bagged goodies especially for me.

Lots of loverlies, a pretty blue felt and crochet flower brooch, (I'm going to wear this tomorrow) a bookmark, a vintage towel hemmed with blue bobbles ;-) a lovely vintage music book, some cupcake holders...these will be put to good use tomorrow, some chocolate and some heart sweeties.

Thank you very much Lisa!

A Shabby Vintage Swap?

This was a fun swap to take part in, although I'm not really sure I fully fulfilled the criteria!

For Tilly Rose's Shabby Vintage Swap I was paired with Lisa of Bobo Bun.

The criteria was for this to be a stress free and fun swap:

Here are the five items to include in your little swap parcel...

*A little something that's vintage or vintage style
...piece of fabric, haberdashery, china, linens etc
(It really doesn't have to be big and expensive)
A vintage (?) glass jug and a doily originally belonging to my grandmother. (Forgot to photograph)

*A little something with a shabby chic style (the possibilities are endless!!)
A little something to drink hang your clothes, and line your drawer.

*Something brimming with loveliness...

I'll leave one that to all your wonderful imaginations!
A pretty tea cup set and handmade patchwork tea cosy.

*A little something that's full of colour and scrummy gorgeousness
A lavender heart very bright and cheerful with a New Zealand Koru pattern.

*Lastly....a sweet little surprise for your swap partner

Hmm...wonder if I filled this one...I included a couple of gifts for her children, a musical mascot and a pretty little handbag. Plus a little flower brooch for Lisa.

For littlest bun, the musician in the family...a 'musical' mascot.

Filled with home grown lavender.

I placed the buttons differently on each side to add a bit of interest.

A little surprise 'Oopsie' the Octopus Sewing Companion (pattern first seen on Mistea Crafts.)

I enjoyed putting this swap together a lot, especially trying out new patterns and ideas.

Hope you enjoy them Lisa!

Mr Postie has decided he wants my package from Lisa for himself! Will show and tell when it arrives :-)

Few words

A quiet day of contemplation...and some photos I took this afternoon when coming home from the physiotherapist.

The Utmost Challenge One Year on, and the amazing coincidence of chance!

A year ago I, like many others, undertook Tif's Challenge of the Utmost Kind.

So I, The Balancing Kiwi, (aka Serenata, aka Lorraine) for 365 days from 1st October 2009 have challenged myself to avoid buying new items for our home and my wardrobe or to give away as gifts. Instead I will

Make things,
Buy secondhand
Buy Handcrafted goods

So how have I done? Not too badly on a whole, although that is not totally surprising as I very rarely ever bought anything brand new anyway. If anything I think I have probably bought too much secondhand...

The clothing I have bought has been a useful addition to my wardrobe - Some pretty summer skirts and dresses, which I enjoyed wearing this summer. I now also have a full 'new' wardrobe for Autumn/Winter, including a couple of lovely winter coats.

Some of the CS finds I have used as gifts, or have been put to practical use in the home for example, casserole dishes.

I went a bit crazy the other week with the buying of fabric, but it will be used to make more clothing for myself.

I have been lucky enough to find a couple pairs of 'new' footwear from CS, which is great as they have been a fraction of the price I would have to pay for brand new.

I have succumbed to the allure a couple of times of magazines, but these have been crafting ones, which I have already put to good use for making gifts.

I have enjoyed making the many gifts for family and friends for birthdays and Christmas. Hopefully the gifts were equally well received!

Funnily enough most of the exceptions that I wrote about here i.e. the house renovations we haven't achieved/done yet anyway!

Any other slip ups? Not sure, I'm sure there have been some, and I know that it can be very easy to get carried away in the CS, and this is something I am going to be more thoughtful about this year.

Did I need the gorgeous lovely sewing machines I have found during the past year? Well an honest answer would be no, not at all, although several I have put to regular use, so I'm guessing they could be justified to a point. However, aesthetically they are very pleasing and are an interesting link to the past history of sewing, machinery and life in general. The craftsmanship is to be admired. I wonder how many of 'todays' sewing machines will be around in 100+ years time in fully working order?

I'm sure I made more 'slip ups' that I've probably inadvertently blogged about over the last year, but hey none of us is perfect!

Yesterday was a lovely day and I was very inspired to do a spot of tidying...not too much mind you, one has to pace themselves you know...a kind of 'end of the month/summer' feel to the air.

Rearranging the flowers...now that is better they are 'straight'!

I changed the display on top of 'Muriel'. A few more conkers have been added since...

My desk needed attention in order to start my OU Course properly today so I had a good sort through all the papers, scraps of fabric, cotton (you get the idea) that were littering it. Or should I say smothering the desk? Anyway much to my shame I found a piece of paper with 12 names on it, that hadn't been cut up and placed in my 400th Giveaway Draw the other day. Oh the disgrace and guilt I felt that those 12 names had been missed out. There was nothing else for it, but to do a 'mini-draw' with those 12 names that had been left behind...

I cut them out and folded them up

Placed them all in my ceramic Delft bowl.

Put the lid on and did a little 'shake it all about'

Enlisted the aid of DS2 this time to draw a name out...

Congratulations Lululiz!

Now it only seems fair that I award a 'first' prize to Liz, so I better get busy!

Now I have to wonder at the mysteries of chance as Liz wrote this comment yesterday... I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to me.

Lululiz has left a new comment on your post "Sewing, Winners and Blog Awards":

Oh darn, it wasn't me, sob sob. But congratulations to the very lucky winners.
You named your cacti??? Oh boy.