My Aussie Hoop Swap "Parcel of Awesomeness" Arrived.

On Saturday I posted about the Aussie Hoop Swap and showed you the parcel that I sent to my swap buddy - Kristy Monaghan.  Today it gives me great pleasure to share with you the AMAZING parcel of awesomeness that I received from the super generous Faye Peresipkin @mysewbusylife from New South Wales.

 

Firstly these are the inspiration mosaics that I posted for this swap:

 

Dear Partner, if you decide to make something for my kitchen, could you please use red / white / black / grey or orange tones.  I have 1970's orange benches and white cabinets but I have red & white as the main colour scheme.

Of course I had to add some options for my sewing room.  The secret squirrels reside in the sewing room.  The first picture describes my personality to a T - I might now be mostly housebound, but I haven't lost my spirit of adventure & I love old buttons & the movie "Up".

 

But before I show you what was IN the parcel, these are the teasers that Faye had posted on Instagram:

 

 

 

 

 

When the postie delivered the parcel, Gemma the cat decided to join me as I opened everything:

 

Aren't they beautifully wrapped!   I am just waiting for my Security Inspectpurrrrr to finish her "Cat Scan" before I have purrrmission to open them.

Brown paper packages tied up with string (& a lion sticker), these are a few of my favourite things!

Gemma likes coffee because she knows that when Mummy drinks coffee she gets to sit on Mummy's lap.

Gemma says hello to the Super squirrel hoop whilst I weep tears of joy!

 

This is the entire parcel of awesomeness that I received from Faye who completely spoilt me rotten!!!!  In addition to not one but TWO awesome hoops, Faye also gave me some quilting pins; Tim Tams; Robert Timms coffee bags; a cute wooden pen (I thought it was a kangaroo but it is actually a squirrel); a kitty notebook; and yes they are sitting on a fat quarter of Cotton & Steel "Tokyo Train Ride". 

A close up of the beautiful hoop which is now proudly hanging in my kitchen. 
I absolutely LOVE THIS!!!!!

Faye told me that this handsome fellow was machine embroidered.  I was totally blown away when I saw it as everything about it is pure perfection!  This is now hanging up in my sewing room where my secret sewing squirrels reside.  And yes I honestly did weep when I saw this!

More photographs from this swap can be viewed on Instagram under the hashtag #AussieHoopSwap

My Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug "Parcel of Awesomeness" arrived

Back in February (before my world turned upside down), I posted about the Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug Swap and showed you the parcel that I sent to my swap buddy - Louisa Watts.  Today it gives me great pleasure  to finally share with you the amazing parcel of awesomeness that I received from the super wonderful Karley from Canada @krrley back in February.

 

To refresh your memory - in this swap we were required to create a Woodland themed mug rug for our partner and to include a few extra goodies to the retail value of USD10.00  These were to follow the theme of the swap.

 

Firstly this is the inspiration mosaic that I posted for this swap.  I chose the squirrel as my preferred woodlands animal and advised my partner that although I knew that I would be receiving a mug rug in the swap, instead of using it to sit my tea or coffee on, I would be hanging it up in my sewing room, so they were welcome to make a miniature mini quilt of mug rug dimensions. 

 

 

 

Before I show you what was IN the parcel, these are the teasers that Karley had posted on Instagram.  (Instagram photos reproduced with Karley's permission)

 

 

 

And this is what arrived:

 

This blew me away when I saw it.  Karley's young daughter was given free reign to decorate the parcel with hedgehog stickers.  I managed to save most of them and have stuck them onto one of the display shelves in my sewing room.

 

My parcel of awesomeness!

 

The back of my mug rug/miniature mini quilt.

 

Another photo of my parcel of awesomeness.

 

Owl beads

 

Strawberry Sugar hand & body cream, - it smells divine!!!

 

A maple cream chocolate from Canada & it was yummy!

 

A cute little hand made squirrel plush toy.

 

A foxy gift card.

 

I absolutely love all of the goodies that Karley so kindly sent me, I'm just saddened that it has taken me so long to share it all with you. 

 

Other photographs of this swap can be viewed on Instagram by typing in the hashtag #whimsicalwoodlandmugrug

 

I have since completed and received a number of other swaps which I will endeavour to share with you over the coming weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug Swap

 

I recently participated in the "Whimsical Woodland Mug Rug Swap" which was hosted by So Charming.

 

We were asked to create a mug rug for our swap partner and to include a few extra little goodies.  Unlike other swaps this one had a spending cap of USD10 (approximately AUD12 - AUD15) retail on the extras and all extras had to follow the theme of the swap.  I loved this idea.  I loved that we had a limit to stick to which meant that we had to be creative! 

 

All photos on Instagram were posted with the hashtags #whimsicalwoodlandmugrug  & #jensstitches  There are some amazing photos in this feed so please check them out when you have time to do so. 

 

Our partners are secret so we do not know who is making for us - at least we won't know until our parcel arrives.  And who we make for may not be the same person who is making for us.  Our dispatch deadline was 25 January for international posting, or 2 February for domestic parcels.

 

My swap partner was Louisa Watts @loubeelou76 who lives in Western Australia.  I was told that Louisa likes pink, green, and autumn colours.  Her favourite woodland creatures are: fox, squirrel, hedgehog & owl. 

 

This is Louisa's inspiration mosaic

Louisa's parcel of awesomeness:

  

This is what I sent to Louisa.

 

Louisa's mug rug was 3 owls sitting on a branch, and there is a 4th owl who is about to land on the right hand side.  I also made her a zippered pouch and a key fob.  All of the fabrics used were from my stash.  I only had to purchase the ribbon, a zip and I buy the key fob hardware in bulk.

The back of the mug rug

This year I am printing labels for all my swaps.

I included some stickers

A lovely hedgehog card made by my friend Libby at Willow Fox Designs.

 

I didn't know if Louisa was a tea or coffee drinker so I included both.

I also included some washi tape and a rogue charm square that I found lurking in my fabric stash.

I used the left over ribbon from the key fob & the zipper bag to wrap part of her present.

 

Louisa's gifts were wrapped in woodland themed wrapping paper.

This has been one of my favourite swaps so far this year.  I really liked the idea of having a spending cap because it forced us to be creative.  Instead of just buying "stuff" to fluff up the parcel, how could we best invest our money and make something wonderful for our partner.  It's amazing what you can make with ribbon, zips and fabric!

I love stalking my partners - purely to find out enough about them to personalise their gifts, and of course to check if and when the parcels arrive.  It gave me so much pleasure to read Louisa's comments when she received her parcel:

At the time of writing this post I am yet to receive my own Whimsical Woodlands Mug Rug parcel but when I do I will write a separate post about it.  I have no idea who my partner is but there are so many gorgeous creations posted on Instagram under this swap's hashtags!

Meet The Crafty Squirrel - Ballarat

 

The second stop on our Ballarat itinerary was to The Crafty Squirrel - I even brought my little green secret squirrel along for the visit!

  

My little green secret squirrel was very excited to visit this store!

 

 

The Crafty Squirrel is the little corner shop and studio of designer/maker Morgan Wills.  As well as her own work you will find a wonderful mix of unique and eclectic gifts, craft kits and items, homewares, vintage fabrics, and haberdashery which has been collected from around the world.  There is also an amazing amount of squirrel themed items for sale in the store. (Julie you will LOVE this shop!!!!!)

 

Owner - Morgan Wills

I am so grateful that Morgan gave me permission to take photographs as there are so many treasures in this shop.  If I'd had more money on me I could've and would've gone mental but I was very good and stuck to my strict budget.  She does have an online store though....

 

 

 

 

The Crafty Squirrel

Cnr Errard & Urquhart Streets

Ballarat Central, Victoria, Australia

 

Opening Hours:

Thursday & Friday: 10am - 5pm

Saturday: 10am - 4pm

 

http://www.thecraftysquirrel.com.au/

 

My stash from The Crafty Squirrel - I purchased many squirrel items, a Dandelyne brooch kit, and a gorgeous metal vintage needle box.

 

My little green squirrel is happy that he now has a girlfriend - yes I now have a Secret Squirrel AND a Crafty Squirrel!  I should have a very productive household from now on LOL ;0)