Halloween swap - what i sent

so here is what i sent to MeridianAriel

Determined to squeeze everything into this box!!!

this is the first thing i made and to be honest i could've/wanted to do more to it but as usual i was working up to and ignoring my deadline!

portable spell set
"spells on the go - for today's busy witch"

i have to be honest here i wanted to keep this
so i'm on the look out for more of these
antique doll heads!
i needle-felted into her brain/neck cavity
>.<
to make a voodoo pin cushion!

: spell set contents :
voodoo headache inducer
6. captive snail on a bed of {needle-felted} moss for all your snail slime needs!

13. seeds of hate {or seeds of doubt}

3. captive spider in her web
{deadly keep secure in jar}

i borrowed a set of fantastic
metal/leather work stamps
to brand the leather labels and box
bang bang
Bang!!!

leather owl on a branch brooch

halloween haberdashery

~sweet treats~
coconut mushrooms
coffee fudge {Meri is a coffee ADDICT}
pontefract cakes
i loved doing this swap
:D

Meri is muttering about organising a Tim Burton/Neil Gaiman themed swap next i am soooooooo up for that!

keep your eyes peeled for more details on Meri's blog here

Halloween swap - received :D

I love Halloween
i especially love Halloween crafting
so me & my friend Meridian Ariel
decided to do a private craft swap
check out her blog here

http://www.meridianariel.blogspot.com/

she makes fantastic primitive monster dolls
i've blogged about how much i love them before here

http://maximumrabbitdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/07/meridian-ariels-primitive-dolls.html

so i was very cheeky and asked for an imp!

*excited*

*happy*

barnabus's story

omg i'm scared now!
he's a button stealing imp!

ooh another parcel
love the button bat card!

lovely halloweeny coloured supplies!

a lovely bracelet of fire opal and black onyx

Barnabus in all his glory!

thank-you so much Apryl
i love every single bit of this swap
xxx

a couple sneaky spoilers of what i made for Apryl :D

Alice in Wonderland craft swap

http://meridianariel.blogspot.com/2009/12/alice-in-wonderland-swap.html

my friend MeridianAriel is hosting an
Alice in Wonderland craft swap
how could anyone resist that?
sign up by 31st December and post out your swap by 22nd February
to coincide with the launch of the Tim Burton movie version {which i'm very excited about!}
so no excuses about being too busy because of Christmas either!

go on, go on, GO ON !!!!
or i'll chop off your heads

My birthday!

half-past-six in the morning
my son is stomping up the stairs shouting
"happy birthday Mummy"
but he brought me this gorgeous painting
so i'll let him off the way too early start!

the painting is of me and the baby i mind in her pink pushchair!
Derek got me a fantastic new camera
which is the newer version of mine in PINK
and a cd and a boxed set of Doctor Who {swoon}

My daughter was more civilised
and brought my gifts
{a huge tea mug and thornton's truffles yummy!}
with a lovely cup of tea at a more reasonable time!

so after a leisurely morning and a visit from a friend bearing flowers
we headed off to Bude for shopping and a pic-nic lunch
hmmm i don't like the look of those clouds

this is my favourite shop in Bude
it is jam-packed full of textiles and jewellery and nick-nacks!

after a few shops the rain started gently
and then the heavens opened!

cornish pasties in the car instead of on the canal bank!
rain or not we had a lovely time
and i got a new dress for a wedding in August
so feel very relieved that is sorted
(obviously i will NEED new shoes too!)
there is a great fabric/haberdashery shop in Bude
but we were running out of time on the parking ticket
so i did a five minute look - i will have to go back soon!

when we got home there was a lovely parcel waiting for me from MeridianAriel
with a gorgeous needle book in the fabric i've been lusting over
a lavender sachet a beautiful card
and some vintage darning thread
all wrapped up in pattern paper and baker's twine.

my Mum joined us for a chinese take out for tea
and my Aunt & Uncle popped round with more gifts of chocolate
and we all ate too many cakes and biscuits!

and to top off a perfect day it was the TORCHWOOD finale
Oh my god - did you watch it?
i loved it but am still feeling a little haunted!

***** OwL sWaP *****

i've been dying to blog about what i made for the owl swap organised by
MeridianAriel @ http://meridianariel.blogspot.com/
but i needed to wait until my swapee had received her parcel , it went to
Karalea @ http://karalea-karalea.blogspot.com/
in the USA
i'm always nervous when the swap is in transit
hoping it doesn't get lost or worse still that the swapee will be disappointed especially after seeing all the other fantastic owls being sent and received http://www.flickr.com/groups/970960@N24/ here
but it got there safely and Karalea said
"I absolutely LOVE it" - phew!!

here is what i sent to Karalea

a felt brooch - a pair of owl eye buttons & a owly greetings card

unfortunately i took my photo's in a bit of a hurry and most of them came out blurry these were the best of the bunch
i'm glad i take so many photo's of each item!

*******
here is another owl brooch which sold on Folksy yesterday


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

i'm really enjoying making these fat owl brooches and so i will be making some more for the shops
do you think the bright coloured ones or the natural coloured ones look best?
I can't decide!

meridian ariel

look what came in the post for me!

my lovely friend meridian ariel sent me this beautiful microwavable lavender scented rice bag & a super cute bookmark both made with gorgeous japanese fabrics

and a sweet handmade matryoshka card


even the jiffy bag it came in was lovely
and decorated with "the button thief" - my favourite of Meri's illustrations

meri has a blog here
http://meridianariel.blogspot.com/
and an etsy shop of the same name
{for some strange reason today i keep losing this post and can't add links?}

**** tHaNk-YoU mEriDiAn you are a star! ****

yeah yeah another felt brooch
i'm sure you're all bored of them now but i sold this one and just wanted to show of the packaging!
Thank-you to Katy who bought it!