Busy Week - Part 1

I can't believe we're halfway through February already - where does the time go? Actually though, I've been saying for weeks now that I wish spring would hurry up and come, I'm so sick of the cold now; so there's me wishing the year away. And at the beginning of last week I noticed that my snowdrops were just starting to flower, so spring is really just around the corner.

I don't mind February too much though - celebrating my birthday and Valentine's Day help to make the long, cold, dark days of winter a lot more bearable! And last week I had such a lovely, busy time, making and socialising and selling and celebrating that I've got lots to show you, but I don't want to bore you with a tonne of photos and blurb in one post - so I'm going to do two (wow, aren't you lucky?!)

The Folksy Christmas Decoration Swap went so well that Noddlebubble was inundated with excited responses when she raised the idea of a Heart Swap for Valentine's Day this year. The idea was to make a heart in whatever medium you worked in, which was to be posted to the recepient in time for V-day (guaranteeing that we'd all get something to open on the day, even if our partners forgot!)

This is the stripy knitted heart that I made for Mary of Quite Contrary Crafts, with lots of detail added in the embroidery, beads and charms. It's hard making things for someone you don't really know, but hopefully she liked it.

And this is what I received from Beth of Handmade by Bethany and Bethany Allen - not one, but two pretty hearts! A simple but very stylish wire heart to hang from a chest of drawers maybe?

And a funky felt and button brooch which will look fab on a jacket, I think. Thanks so much Beth, I love them! And thanks to the amazing Lisa of Noodlebubble for organising this immense swap!

Bliss Knits had a stall at the monthly Grainger Market Arts and Craft Fair on Saturday so I spent a lot of my evenings last week making last minute Valentine-inspired items. But I also managed to find the time to make these sweet booties for a colleague who went on maternity leave on Friday. Michelle loved them, and hopefully baby will find them nice and comfy too.

Part 2 next time...

Secret Santa and Decoration Swap

Way back in June noodleBubble started a thread on Folksy to see if anyone was interested in doing a Christmas Decoration Swap, and loads of us said, 'Oooh, yes please - we love Christmas!'. And so a few weeks ago I started to think of ideas, and this is what I came up with.

A recent discussion on Folksy was about the colours that we decorate our homes at Christmas time and my receipient, Midsummer Stitches, mentioned that she (and her daughters) loved pink; so a pink decoration was born! I thought that pink and black would look quite nice together, and added some hand embroidery, shiny beads and sequins, and finished it off with a snowflake charm. I think it looks quite pretty, and the sequins will really sparkle in the glow from the tree fairy lights. Julia (aka Midsummer Stitches) thought it was 'lovely' too.

In October Cosmic Eden raised the idea of a Secret Santa and, again, lots of lovely Folksy people were interested. The idea was to send a handmade gift that had either been made by yourself, or had been bought from a fellow Folksy seller. I made these stripy fingerless mitts for Chiyo, with added buttons for a bit more interest.

Becky (aka Chiyo) was a litle bit naughty and opened her present from 'Secret Santa' early! You can read her blog here. The cold weather has certainly arrived in the last few days so at least she's been able to make use of them straight away. Becky sent me a lovely email saying that she thought the mitts were 'gorgeous' and that she'd had lots of nice comments as she wore them over the weekend. I was a bit worried about sending them because hubby said 'Aston Villa' straight away when I showed them to him - I just thought that the colours looked nice together! Luckily (and quite spookily) Becky's boyfriend IS a big Villa fan so he loves the mitts too!

And this is the Decoration Swap that I received in the post from Midsummer Stitches this week. A beautifully packaged little fairy.

There's so much detail - from her clothes to the gift she's bearing. Isn't she sweet? I think she'll look very pretty hanging on the Christmas tree (going up on Friday - can't wait!!).

Like Becky/Chiyo, I couldn't wait to open my Secret Santa gift either, and I was really pleased that I had. This gorgeous yarn from Kirsty at Wharfedale Woolworks will knit up beautifully into a scarf that will go perfectly with my new teal winter coat.

Folksy is a friendly community of like-minded people who love crafts and really value the skill and creativity that goes into handmade items. I've really enjoyed taking part in these two events and would jump at the chance of doing so again. It's lovely to receive original handmade items in the post from special people - but it's even nicer to know that they love what you made them!