"time for tea swap"

here is what i sent to my swap partner Kat

a tiny pincuchion - recycled from a dolls teacup
decoupaged with old dress pattern paper
and a phrase cut from a Shakespeare play!

"hello"

one of my beloved PG Tips monkeys
altered into a "princess"
complete with tea-ara
{ssshh that's Dp's joke but i'm passing it off as my own!}

mad hatter's tea party brooch

close up of the little pin cushion
i did secure it a bit better before i sent it
but forgot to take more photos
also if Kat is in the mood for vodoo she could use
the whole monkey as a pin cushion!

and lastly here is the card i made to go with the package

********

this was a very recycled kind of swap project
i bought nothing new to make my items with
and happily used my stash of thrifted and vintage trims & books
even the tea cup and tiny spoon were toys my daughter has outgrown

*******

there is a flickr group with all the other participents swap goods too
for some bizarre reason i can't seem to add links on my blog anymore???
if you go into my flickr you will find the group though!

*******

a big thank-you to Blottedcopybook for organising this swap xxx

time for tea swap

i got my package from Kat today
and what i fantastic package it was too
jam packed with lovely stuff

my son kindly modelling my fancy new apron
please ignore the chocolate smears on his face
he insisted on helping me test the jaffa-cakes!

a tea-bag wallet

and a really cute wrist purse

i really loved everthing Kat sent me
& even though i am a PG Tips girl at heart
i've already had a cup of fruity tea 'cause it smelt SOOOOO yummy in the wallet!
and i can confirm it was indeed yummy!

*******

here's a little teaser of what i sent Kat
she's not received her parcel yet
as soon as she has i will post photo's!

***hApPy m0TheR's DaY***

hope all you mothers have a lovely day tomorrow!!!
i'm praying for Thornton's chocolate truffles & handmade mother's day cards

*******
here is the card i made for my Mum
i cut an illustration out of a thrifted copy of
"Alice in Wonderland"
then watercolour tinted selected parts
glued it onto some mountboard and then decoupaged
a layer of vintage dressmaking pattern paper on top
wrapping around the edges as i went
next i cut out happy mother's day from old books and lightly inked them
then added them to the decoupaged piece and 3D glazed them.

once it was all dry i used a pattern marker to make the holes for my stitches
then went over them all with a needle and sewed a border.

then i cut a card blank and attached the piece with large foam pads.

it makes me happy to spend a few hours making my lovely Mum a card for Mother's day.

*******

now is it mothers day or mother's day or mothers' day???
no doubt my Mum will have the answer!

"Color swap" for Juanita Tortilla.

here's what i sent to Juanita
this was for the color swap organised by Jessica @ kidsnapping
Juanita chose her colour combination as lilac and grey
this had me a bit stumped TBH,
i knew i'd be able o sort out a nice assortment of buttons
but what else could i make?
***

after cutting out loads of different shades of purple,black and grey felt
and then layering it all up and re-arranging it many times
i chucked it into the debris on my {so called} work table
and dug out my precious bag of leather scraps
i think i've had these for well over 10 yrs so it's really time to start using them up!

so i made this little guy - he will be my last owl for awhile.

here are the buttons i put together
the purple flower in the middle is a real favourite,
i love this design, i think they are from the 40's
and the little dark purple beauty at the bottom
is a dorset button made by
BIGBLUEBED
who has etsy and folksy shops.

i also sent a fluffy cat card and some cat stickers
and some very yummy sweeties and chocolate
i know they are yummy cause i ate some **blush**
and now i am addicted!

Paper Girl Productions

Look i got featured on
Paper Girl Productions
super cute blog!

http://papergirlproductions.blogspot.com/2009/03/friday-13th-cute.html

flickr group here
http://www.flickr.com/groups/883175@N21/
jam packed full of cuteness!

crafter...oo's comic relief shop

well it's red nose day
don't forget to check out the crafter...oo comic relief shop and make a difference
loads of different crafters have donated their items to the shop so there is lots to choose from
I gave in to temptation yesterday and bought these amazing polymer clay buttons from Gill @
HollingdaleDesigns.folksy.com

http://www.folksy.com/shops/CrafterooShop

we've made over £450 and it would
be so great to go over £500
go on go on go on!!!!

*****color swap*****

i joined up for Jessica's {kid's napping,i'm scrappin'} color swap
&
my swap parcel arrived today!
my partner in the swap was the lovely Juanita Tortilla
she sent it out soooo fast
{i hang my head in shame as mine is neither sent *blush* nor finished}
i've got to send it out on friday - eekk!
i seem to have lost my mojo this week but today i cracked on and got crafting,
spurred on by the arrival of this lovely parcel

look at all my lovely red & turquoise coloured things!

a pretty beaded dingly-dangly

a very cute and bang on trend vintage bow embellished beaded necklace
resting on a crocheted basket

a super "sproingy" crochet cupcake with seed bead sprinkles

Mmmm . . . . . . . swiss chocolate and gummy pigs!
even the candy is colour co-ordinated and had little notes and ribbons attached!

buttons - yeah!

thank-you so much Juanita - you are a great swap partner!

{i've been eating gummy piggies all evening - somebody stop me i feel sick!!
but to be fair i can't start the chocolate till i've eaten up all the piggies!!!
oink - oink - oink}

***

"buckle porn"

it's been a long time since i posted some button porn
but you are in for a real treat today!
strictly speaking it is buckle porn
but there are a few buttons thrown in to the mix too
enjoy!

so i found someone selling a load of fantastic mother-of-pearl buckles
i had no idea how big these were going to be and they had been listed
as buttons so i thought they maybe teeny but they are a good size. . . .

i love the cards these are on
they are so pretty and the buckles
are really shiny and vibrant and also in two sizes
i shall feel bad removing these from their packaging but i will need to sell some of these!

pretty and shiny mmmm.....

really cute little buckles

love the texture

some buttons for you die hard button fans!!

can brown be pretty?
oh yes it can if it is mother-of-pearl!

tawny

gorgeousness

pearly lips!

a big pile of beautiful

irridescent - shiny- beauty

oh my just look at these FANTASTIC 20's/30's childrens novelty buttons
there is a mix of glass and plastic
owls - terriers - pelicans - swallows
i actually bought these for the swallows thinking they would be the same as the bakelite ones that i used on the button christmas tree - they weren't but they are really sweet anyway!

*******
hope you enjoyed your vintage haberdashery porn fix!!
stayed tuned for more!!

some more button brooches

i'm still making these felt brooches!

another russian doll button with a felt rossette

and a layered one with the most adorable deer button!

i think i may need some more of incywincy's fabulous fabric covered buttons!