FORESTY CUTENESS

A box of magical enchantment arrived at my house today - My goodies arrived from my super sweet swap partner Ramie!!!


I LOVE them..........an absolute bundle of cuteness.


All packed into the enchanted tree tin was a perfect little bundle of prickles - a knitted hedgehog!!! (Until a couple of months ago, I was the proud mom of a real live one..) To keep him company were 2 little owlets all snuggled into their little owly hammocks...so cute.


I have big plans for the friendship tea, chocolates and pine candle..........I'm thinking bubble bath with some Christmas music playing in the background....


It all came securely packed with some bright, shiny red tinsel...........love it!!!

Just look at those faces!!!

Thank you so much Ramie - i love it all.

Val thanks so much for organizing this swap - i can't wait for The Year Of Enchantment!!!

Elfin Goodness!

What a sweet box!

Got it Friday, a little box full of tiny trinkets - including some really cool vintage coasters! (I think that was my favorite thing, besides the chocolate of course...)

Thanks Jenny!

The BEST package!

I received my package for the ornament swap yesterday. It's from Kim in Utah. She sent me a lovely note on a vintage Christmas card (I didn't get a picture of that) and the most lovely presents! My favorite is this woolen birdie sitting on her nest.

Isn't this little birdie by her house so sweet? That's right, I got not just one....two ornaments!

Tucked into the package was this delicious candy...promptly scarfed up by my teenage children.

Here's a picture of my tree in my kitchen/dining area all done up in reds & aquas. Can you find my little birdies?

Thank you ever so much Kim at Green Honey Hive for the wonderful ornaments and Christmas cheer!
Hugs to everyone, Leslie

Join me for...a Year of Enchantment

Greetings!

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

I know we still have a few swap packages out but am eager to announce "A Year of Enchantment."

Yes, that's right.....

An entire YEAR of being artsy, craftsy, swappy and otherwise beautifully entwined in the wonderful world of an Enchanted Forest!

Take a walk with me as we re-open our eyes to the wonder all around us.
Take a moment & create something beautiful FOR. YOUR. SELF.
Take your children on outings inspired by the theme....maybe to feed the birds or to drop a toy along the way...throughout the year.
Take yourself to the bookstore or library and wander the stacks looking for the perfect craft book to learn something new.

And just think....if you choose to play along, you will end up with a minimum of 12 ornaments for your Christmas Tree! That alone is worth the effort!
Don't forget.....you are part of this.....you can post what you did with the theme, tutorials, recipes, crafts to inspire the rest of us!

I'll be creating some things for giveaways but anyone who is interested in helping out and donating something just let me know!

I'll announce the first month's theme soon!

So for now, grab a badge and spread the word!
Tell your artsy/craftsy friends to stop by and join us!

What AwtemNymf got :O) . . .

I got my package from my Secret Partner Beth from Words & Whimsies and what a spoiled lil' fae I am! :O)
Lookie:

Wowzers! Enchanting ephemera and whatnots! I love it!
A set of green shamrocks that I think I'll make a Vintage St. Patty's Banner out of. A set of green and white laced paper doilies. An "Erin Go Bragh" banner! Perfect for St. Patty's decorating! And I love anything celtic and Irish! I've some of the blood :O)
Also glittered snowflake ornament, a mini composition book with altered tags "SW" my initials. Perfect for jotting down ideas when I hit those "lightbulb moments". This will come in hand! 2 cute Faerie Wands! I can always use faerie wands- I'm a busy lil' fae! Notepad & post-it's, a gorgeous altered bird with glitter on the papered wings and 'tail'. So sweet. A couple of party blowers- (caute). I got a bag of Candy Corn (nom nom nom) and Autumn Mix (lurrve those pumpkins). Inside the Halloween oriental box is a bag of Pumpkin seeds and a hand-pump-toy jumping spider *lol*. also a bag of yummy pistachios- a great snack while on the comp. A beautiful purple bottle with some glass german glitter inside. Looks like it's magical! The tag on the bottle says "Fairy Dust for... wishes ... dreams... fun!



A close up of the bottle. I absolutely love this! Stunning!



Close up of my enchanted ornament hidden in the bag. . . what's in there? Hmmm



A sweet vintage elf holding a candy cane on a pincushion. He's standing on a bed of faux grass, with glittered acorns at its feet, with olive velvet rick rack, a small snowflake sprinkled here and there! I love this! She must have known my favorite enchanted colors are purple and green!



a Close up of the sweet elf. Look at that happy face!
Beth really outdid herself. I love my ornament. I have nothing like this and I just adore this!
Then I visited her blog to properly Thank her and wooooaaahhh- what ephemera & vintage & kitschy overload of greatness. She's lucky! She's got beautiful altered pin cushions available at her Etsy shop and she has all kinds of dime store cuteness! I've always wondered how and where people score these things!

Beth- Thank you so much for my Enchanted package. I love my ornament you made me and all the goodies that came with it! I will cherish this and the fairy dust bottle - is special. This will be placed among my "enchanting" keepsakes that I have together!


Be Enchanted

Enchantment Sent and Received!

Here's a little peek at what I sent...hopefully you won't figure out who it is to!

And here is some of what I received!!! YAY! Gin's cute little hedgehogs were for me!!!! The ornament hangers are exquisite! The fuzzy socks are sooo perfect! The Ferrero chocolates are some of my favorites (stay away kids! Those are MINE! hee hee!) She also sent a whole pile of fun Christmas activities for my kids - but they were so excited and immediately took them all away. Thank You Gin!!

And Thank YOU Val, for hosting such an "Enchanting" Swap!!

Fairy Sweet

Here's your sneak peek!!!

Just kidding!

HERE'S your sneak peek!

I'm glad I'm not the only one that's running a little behind in getting to the post office ;-)

Sent and Received!

Here is a little sneak peek at what I sent, fun (if I do say so myself) vintage crepe and paper star ornament And German glass glitter star, plus some other goodies...All packed into a cute hand cut and glittered elf box!

I got these cute Flying Pig printed ornaments! Thank you Niki!!

she likes it!!

she likes it, she really likes it!! yay!
here's what she had to say.
so glad you liked your package beth! ;)

Look What I Got!

I opened my mailbox today and found a box! I was so excited! This was my first swap and Jaime was awfully good to me! She made two beautiful ornaments. One is a snowflake embroidered on a pretty chocolate brown background. It reminds me of the tatted snowflakes my aunt used to make.

The other ornament is cross-stitched! (I used to love doing cross stitch but my failing eyesight has nixed that craft!) This one has God putting a star on the top of a tree. Isn't this perfect for Christmas?

Along with the ornaments, Jaime included chocolate mints, a snowman Pez dispenser, and several packages of Pez. My youngest son confiscated the Pez items and disappeared. As for the chocolate mints, I have hidden them in a place no one in my family would ever think about looking! Thank you, Jaime!

Ornie Sneak Peak

Here;s the sneak peak at my swap ornament. My Mom always made things from felt with beads and sparklies so I knew immediately that I would do something like that. I've recently become enamored with needle felting so I tried my hand at that too. I sure hope my receiver likes this! I packed some other goodies in too.

Now, I have to confess that I am just today (Tuesday) sending this out. I apologize! I finished the ornie late Saturday afternoon and intended to hit the post office first thing yesterday morning. Life interrupted, in the form of my teenage daughter's appendix. It was removed from her around midnight on Sunday night and we spent all day yesterday at the hospital. She's well on the road to recovery now though.

Merry Christmas everyone and a big thank you to Val for hosting this swap and putting it together!
Love, Leslie

All Mine....

I love my package.

It's enchanting and even a little bit magical.

Look at this beauty.

The tail feathers are glass beads.

And his wings are glittered.

How cute and  how clever.

I also got some Christmas tins with delicious  homemade candies.

And a stack of Christmas fabric fat quarters.

AND, my package came so Christmasy.

This is what I saw when I opened the box.

Thank you Kerry, 

it's on its way!!

i got my package in the mail today....just in the nick of time! one thing i do know about my partner is that she loves vintage, a fact that i really wanted to cater to. alas, i stalled and stalled due to this fact and searched for just the right thing to bring that touch to my ornament. in the end, i went with what i know best and have my fingers crossed that she will love it despite it's *simpleness*. ;)

sneak peeks for ya!

truthfully, i really love the final product. this is the first time that i have made something for a swap and not made one for myself and i found it a bit hard to let him go!

the day before i shipped out i was making these beeswax ornaments. they are so fun and they smell divine! i included one to go with the little gnome and chocolates (oops! did i let that slip?!)

here's hoping you love your package, whoever you may be!! ;)

Fabulousness Received!

Thank you Melinda for all these wonderful goodies which arrived at my door yesterday.

Such pretty packaging :->

Isn't this fab!  I especially love the little tree made from fabric selvedges.  Stinkin' cute!  I got Three! ornies, some wax melts and Ghirardelli chocolates, yum!

Gee I hope she likes vintage!

Well nothing like waiting till the last minute! (I once red jane eyre in 2 days for a book report, somebody out there knows what I'm talkin' about!) Had the ornament done Wednesday but ya know! So here's what I put together, I hope she likes it!

Did ya hear me?

Truly, did ya hear me SQUEALING when I opened my package?

Even the wrapping is precious...with heart confetti no less!



You'd squeal too...look at the gnome home and the cardinal AND THE HEDGEHOG!
Oh!
My!
Gosh!!!!!!

look at that FACE...who could resist that face. I have GOTTA get me a real one some day....


and Shamrocks (I know them as oxalis and have SEVERAL in my yard, how did she know I LOVE them so...?she MUST have been sneaking around my blog!)


then a little bag of bubbles and shiny things for the 'wee' folks to keep them happy! Now I MUST make a fairy house to keep them warm...hmmm...maybe that would be a fun 'make along'???

Thank you SO much Sandy!!!

Straight From The Rockies...

Okay here it is... a peek at what's on it's way to someone!

From fabulous


I spy with my little eye...



A box to fill...



These are best right out of the freezer. Just saying.



A little stitching here and there... they were small so you get two!

A hand-stitched snowflake and a Gentle Giant in the forest, adding a little something to his Christmas tree...

Enchanting!

Oh, and this guy insisted he be sent along. Just to keep things safe and secure. Hope you don't mind...

I mailed one and I got one!!!!!

A swap package that is...First of all, my lovely package was from Val, our lovely hostess.....I just love my "twirly bird"!!! Love the pink and blue and he is already on my front door...I love the hot cocoa and the peeps and my lucky ladybug that I am trying not to eat too!!! Thank you so much!



I also got my swap partners package in the mail...here it is all bagged up.....val, your mushroom is in the mail too...Thanks again!