March's ornament!

I have been eagerly awaiting this theme.........

What little critter was used by the Red Queen....in the utmost of BAD ways? Or delighted children in Beatrix Potter's stories?
And what little critter can roll into a wee little ball and stick out cute little prickles to ward off naughty creatures that might otherwise make a meal of them?

Why...the hedgehog of course!

March's ornament: Hedgehog

March's challenge: also make yourself a hedgehog pincushion!
There are a TON of tutorials and patterns all over the web for hedgehog pincushions.

March's activity: check out The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy winkle and read it to a child....or reread it yourself...just for fun!

hey all, giveaway on my blog!

Just wanted to let you all know that CSN is sponsoring a 45.oo gift certificate giveaway on my blog.....http://melindasfabricfancies.blogspot.com


I would love for you to come enter! Just thought I would pass it on to my favorite group of swappers.......Melinda

home for a gnome....

Only a handful of us decided to swap in February.....Missy and I were partners!

The month's theme was 'gnome homes' here is what I came up with...
a wee gnome home pin cushion.....yep, gotta make me one of those!


and the gnome home. I experimented with a few and I liked this one the best.


here are the rest of the goodies...I shipped it in this cute Christmas box...perfect size to ship the mug... everything fit perfectly.
I sent a little white bird (I think I remember Missy saying she collects them...) some moon flower seeds, some cocoa and bath salts...and m&ms.


and look what she sent me in return!

A gnome home, a mug rug, an extra gnome ornament. I couldn't get a good photo of it but it is awesome! Then she made me a sweet gnome home door to put somewhere special....and chocolate....gotta love that!


This brought tears to my eyes...I don't quilt, no patience...so this mug rug is extra special to me...


And the perfect gnome home...I varnished it so it would last for years to come. The back is just as beautiful. I will cherish this.....


Missy, thank you so much! I love everything!

Thank you Gin!

Look at this beautiful tree ornament that Gin sent to me as part of the January YOE swap. The picture doesn't show the glitter on the tree so you can't see how pretty it is!

Gin also included these wonderful winter goodies for me and this . . .

beautiful snowy tree table runner!

Gin was so good to us. She sent this Littlest Pet Shop game book for my daughter's birthday. Nature Girl was so thrilled to see her name on part of the package. It turn's out to be perfect timing to as we'll be traveling this weekend and will need lots of activities to keep her entertained. She's looking forward to learning to play checkers. Thank you so much Gin! I think the other passengers on the plane will thank you too!!!

From my 1st quarter partner (dressed in winter swap ornament)

My partner Courtney sent me a lovely battenburg curtain, which I am right now reconfiguring for my craft studio, and vintage postcards, tags, and tis really swell crochet silver snowflake ornament.  She said it was her first try at crocheting like this, and I think she did a super job.  Thanks so much to Courtney, I will use it all.

Snow, snow lovely ....

Thank you .... thank you .... thank you Sherry for my swap package I recieved today - I love it all:-)

Sherry sent me such lovely goodies - crocheted snowflakes, which I'm in awe of. They are so delicate. She also sent me some darling elf clothes .... oh my goodness, the little elf shoes have had me oohhing and aahhing, they are just adorable. That was not all, some pom pom trim and scrapbook papers were also included. She also made me a bunting of little dresses - that treasure will be hung up permanently in my sewing/craft room just as soon as I can get back to climbing those stairs!!!

Sherry, I mailed your package this morning. I'm sorry I was a little late, but I took a silly tumble a couple of days ago, that has left me in a knee brace for 10 days, and unable to drive (or climb the stairs to my craft room:-(. I got my hubby to drive me to the post office this morning, so it is on its way:-)
Val I'm sorry I was late on this mailing date.

I will post pictures of my precious package in the next few days.

Thank you so much again Sherry:-)

Swap item revealed "Dressed for Winter"

If you are Shawnee Halligan and have not yet received your package from me, please do not continue reading this if you want to be surprised! I do hope, though, the package arrived as it was due to arrive on the 19th according to the USPS's delivery confirmation receipt.

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This is what I made with the items I showed you on my previous post here!

Allow me to introduce you to Snowball Princess Thumbelina:

She's one of a kind free style (no pattern) crocheted original by me - hollow inside, so you can use her as a tree top ornament on a small tree. She stands about 5" tall and her dress is crocheted with glitter yarn, embellished with faux pearl beads and eyelash yarn and she sports a satin ribbon around her 5" waist.

I loved making her as it really inspired my creativity!

Thank you, Valerie, for hosting such a lovely themed Swap. I enjoyed being able to play along!

swaps revealed

Melinda joined the Dressed for Winter swap after deadline so I was her partner too......can't let a good friend craft on the sidelines, right?

Here is what I sent her.... a snowflake fairy ornament

a crocheted scarf in a color that will look amazing on her...

and some other 'stuff'....another ornament, a book she MUST READ RIGHT NOW (while soaking in bath salts and drinking hot cocoa...oh, and eating m&ms! )
She can have the tea later...right now, she needs chocolate!


and look at what she sent me, love it! A beautiful winter dress ornament...

a vintage necklace with a mysterious past...

some gift tags and buttons.....the mushroom is on my tree though...too cute to use as a tag!




See?

Thank you Melinda! I hope you love what I gave you as much as I love what you gave me!

One Happy Swapper

I am the Happy Swapper of the day!

I tore into my package from Jill T. last nite.

I got personally made note cards and tags from her, summer fun beach book mark, 2 spools of trim, 3 crafted ornaments, and a spider, and fixings to make a birthday cake for myself.

Its a great package. She figured me out perfectly. The red bird ornament is gorgeous, and so are the others.

Thank you Jill.

Here's a hint

Here's a hint most of this will be use for my swap. I really hope she likes what I've done. I should be done with everything next week and off it'll go. I had to make extra homes cause my daughter fell in love. That's the life of a crafter.

Holly

whew!!!! awesomeness!!!

I really got the most generous package ever from Michele today.. and it was perfectly timed b/c I got it on Valentines day.. this is for the 1st quarter swap... I couldn't believe how much stuff she packed in here.. but packed she certainly did.. it was all mind blowing and I am so thankful for such a great package!  Here it is, you can see for yourself:

Thanks Michele for making my day!!

My Dressed for Winter enchanted Preview

After long deliberation with me and myself, I have finally finished the enchanted ornament for our "Dressed For Winter" Swap. I will mail the package sometime this week.

Here is the preview and if you can guess from this what it is, you are not only a genius, but a mind reader!

I am a crocheter and I used sparkling white yarn and specialty yarns, silk roses, faux pearl beads, white satin ribbon (not pictured) and little blue translucent beads (for the eyes) - and that's the only clue I'm going to reveal, but my neighbor loves it and wants one ;-)

Have a wonderful day everyone and happy crafting!

The Package

I just received my box from Valerie! I love everything it's perfect!

There's a bunch of super-cute owl stuff, fabric, a bookmark, and the ornament. She also included Wicked Prey by John Sanford, which looks like a really good book. There was also some flower seeds, a cute little toadstool, green tea, and chocolate turtles. (my favorite kind of turtles)




Close up of the ornament



The book and bookmark



Thank you Valerie!

Remember this ornie I was giving away?



By using a secret method to determine who won the snowflake ornament (secret as being in 'pick a number between...")


the winner of the cute little snowflake ornie is........

drum roll please........


JILL !!!!!

Congratulations Jill.....I'll mail your snowflake out next week!

gnome gift tags

I was looking for gnomie ideas for this month's theme and ran across these cute gnome gift tags from allendesigns.typepad.com :





HERE is the link....go check out Michele's blog.....it is AWESOME! (or as Barney Stinson would say LEGENDARY!

gnomies, toadstools and cocoa, OH MY!

I received my winter swap ornie package from Kendall today!

Here is a look see altogether....Mr. Gnomie, a cute toadstool card, some fun earrings, a precious toadstool scene (which is begging to be turned into another ornie) and some peanut butter hot cocoa....which sounds delicious!



Mr. Gnomie, up close and on my YOE tree already!




a close up of the earrings....I think she made the toadstool ones with shrinky dinks.....total cuteness, they will be worn tomorrow!



Thank you Kendall! Your package is en route...can't wait for you to get it!

Beautiful Snowy Package...

Cristal sent me such a wonderful package. It had some many wonderful items in it I just keep on a smiling while I was opening it. She sent me the cutest little handmade bear and 2 snowflake ornaments. I don't know if they are knitted because I just can't do anything with those big old  needles but the are gorgeous!! She sent a bag FILLED with homemade sachets that double as eye smoothe'rs :) and the most beautiful snow flake scarf I have seen. I wore the scarf to work today and I was the most popular teacher in the school. Everyone asked where I had got it and who had made it. It is so soft and beautiful I never did take it off and wore it the entire day.

YOE: February's craftalong theme!

*Dressed for Winter swap participants don't freak out....the swap is still going on, I just need to get February's theme up for everyone crafting along with YOE.

Gnomes are so enchanting.....grumpy happy little workers in pointy hats and shoes....with beards so thick you can't see their faces at all!

They go home to their cute little snow covered gnome homes and sit in front of the fire with a mug of warm grog.

makes me think of this postcard again...which made me think of our theme for this month....




February's theme: a "gnome home" ornament for your YOE tree.

Challenge: Use a different medium that you usually do. Try something different!

Activity: go to see the Gnomeo and Juliet movie. You can always blame it on me :-)




For inspiration, try places like flickr, etsy and google......I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Have fun and don't forget to post your creations...