My Secret Santa is not a secret any more...

That secret present I had here is now open and I can tell everyone who my secret santa was. It was May Britt from Abyquilt . She made a lovely bag with a Christmas stichery of snowmen on it and included a Tilda stitchery design which I love and will probably start working on very soon. Here's the snowmen who have come from Norway to cool me down - don't you love their noses? I do!

And here's a better view of the decorations May Britt sent - they are on the tree and looking very festive.

Thank you so much May Britt - I love everything.

And thank you to Chookyblue who organized everything so beautifully again.

More Advent swap...

Well, all my advent presents are opened and I have to say that I had a lot of fun and surprises. There was lots of pretty things like fabrics, ribbons and lace. And special things for me like tea bags, bath items and a beautiful needlecase.( That's the heart shaped item at the bottom left. ) There were some waffle weave hand towels too. The final present was these lovely cushion covers. I had just the right sized cushions to put them on and so they decorated my couch for Christmas.

And see this little angel from one of the days - her smile matches the one I had from this swap. Thank you Marina - it was a wonderful package and so much fun to open.

Ornaments....

In the Secret Santa Christmas Swap run by Chookyblue we had to include an ornament, which was to be opened when the parcel arrived. The good news is that my parcel for Shiree finally arrived and this is the ornament I chose to make for her. I thought this little koala was just too cute and couldn't resist making him. And here's the back.......

I used to do lots of cross stitch and counted embroidery but somehow in the last few years I got more involved with fabric. So it was nice to go back to one of my early crafty loves.

And this is the ornament I made for Maria over in Western Australia in the ornament swap run by Robyn. This is the first time I have combined stitchery and felt and I really enjoyed making it up. Maria made the lovely angel I showed in a previous post for this swap.

And some good news is that Marina has received her advent parcel and hopefully is enjoying all the goodies. My next post will show you some more of the lovely things I have been opening every day. Thank you Marina.

So now it is just the countdown to Christmas. Have I finished shopping for everyone ? - no, but I've still got two days, haven't I? That should be plenty of time....... I hope.

Secret Santa Christmas Swap.

My Secret Santa Christmas Swap has arrived safely here too. This secret Santa wants to stay a secret until Christmas Day when I open my gift. The only clue is that this Santa is from Norway. You can see the special Norwegian ornaments which were included. We haven't quite finished decorating our tree yet but there will be a place for these sweeties there.

Thank you Secret Santa from Norway - this is to let you know that everything has arrived here safely.

And thank you to Chookyblue for running this swap.

Handmade Christmas Ornament Swap.

My partner for this swap was Maria in Western Australia. Look at this cute little angel she sent me with a beautiful Christmas card.

She is so tiny - I don't know how you turn seams so small. Isn't she sweet?

I won't show a photo of the ornament I sent Maria until she lets me know that it has arrived. I hope that she likes it as much as I like my little angel.

Advent swap!

I signed up for an advent swap with Fiona of Mothers Cupboard and my partner is Marina in Italy. My parcel arrived in a huge red Christmas bag. Lots of smaller parcels were inside...

and here are the first weeks gifts - lots of smelly girly things and fabrics and lace. Thank you Marina.

Here is a photo of some of the packages I sent Marina. The sad part of this story though is that she has written to me to say that they haven't arrived yet. This is really dissapointing as she hasn't had anything to open. I am hoping that they will still turn up. I have asked at the post office and they say that I probably should have registered the parcel - but they didn't tell me that at the time I posted it.

I am in the process of putting together another parcel becuase I don't want Marina to miss out but I doubt I can get it there before Christmas. And you can be sure that I will register it as well.

I am so sorry Marina - let's hope that it still arrives.

Very Quick Christmas Fabric, Button & Trim Swap 2009!

A very quick swap was run by Jenny and Vicki. We had to send two fat quarters, some ribbon and some buttons or trim. My partner was Silke in Germany. I was so excited to receive my first card like this that when I photographed it I didn't do a very good job of getting both fat quarters in. And here's what I sent.

It was a simple swap and east to do. Thanks, Silke - I love everything but the card is extra special. And thanks Jenny and Vicki.