More Birthday Pressies, a OWOH win & a siggy block

This past week, we had Marion (affectionately now known as Mazzie or Maz) and Grant (affectionately also known as Mr Handsome) come to stay with us for a few days....they arrived on my Birthday....what better gift could this spoilt brat ask for? I couldn't, but I did, however, receive some lovely goodies that they bought with them, which you can see as you scroll through this post.

Here's a group pic of the latest group of pressies I got, coz don't forget, I still have my birthday money fabric from the girls in the C-R-A-F-T group (link in my sidebar, you might need to scroll down a wee bit to find it though!) which is making it's way to me from USA as I type...hopefully it arrives this week sometime, so that I can show you all....I got HEAPS!

How cool is the owl mirror frame? The owls' front can only be seen if you look into the mirror. I've never seen anything like this, and Tarryn managed to find it somewhere in South Australia for me.....I'm astounded by how she managed to find it in sleep ol' South Australia! Thanks heaps Taz xxx

A close up of the set of three Hooties I got from James (a friend I've met through Maz and Grant).

Crystals (Amethyst which is my birthstone, rose quartz and a piece of clear quartz) from one of Maz's friends (and now mine), Karen, who's family is in Christchurch, N.Z. but thankfully are all safe and accounted for after the horrific earthquake they suffered on my Birthday.

Below is a close up of the matching fabrics....oilcloth and normal, that my friend Sandy (no blog yet, but I'll get her started on one soon) sent for me to see what I could come up with using it....kind of a birthday challenge present so to speak!

So yes, you could say I'm a spoilt brat, but you love me...you know you do...and if I tell you often enough that you do, you might even start to believe me...lol

You may remember just recently, I participated in Lisa Swifka's OWOH blog hop, well not only did I host one of the 'stopovers', I even went and visited about 100 or so of the other participating blogs....I even managed to win 3 of the door prizes....one I gifted to someone else (she knows who she is!), one is still on it's way to me, and the other, I got on Friday.

As you can see, I did take some pics of it, but if you'd like to see more, pop on over to Renata's blog and you can see it being modelled....woo hoo, she got her hubby to be her model for the camera.
This is the front of the bag.....gorgeous fabric and a cute bag to showcase it hey?

This is the back of the bag, or I guess it could be the front, but I think of it as the back, so that's what it'll be!
And lastly, I got a siggy block from Cat in N.Z. How cool are these things? I have no idea why I haven't seen any of these before or why I only have one, but if you are in Australia or New Zealand, Cat and I would be keen to do a Siggy Block swap.....seens as though her collection so far, is predominantly from the United States and she'd love to get some from here (my homeland) or New Zealand (her homeland) and now that I know how to make them, I wouldn't mind being part of an Anzac Siggy block swap too.

If you need instructions, I'm sure you could beg Cat for them...I did, and along with my siggy block from her, I got the instructions on how to make them....not that it's rocket science or anything, but I do like to know the 'proper' way of making something, before I butcher it and make it my own way...hee hee hee

Just so you know though, we haven't 'officially' started up the Anzac Siggy Block swap yet, we're still just throwing the idea backwards and forwards over the ditch right now! If you think you'd be interested in joining in on it, please email me or email Cat and let us know.

3 Parcels I got today & a Purlbee froggy & Happy Birthday me!

A couple of years ago, well 43 to be precise, I was born into this crazy crafty world....one day I'll try and grow up, but until then, I'm afraid you'll just have to tolerate this dag and her warped sense of humour. I was born at 2.20 a.m. on February 22nd, 1968.

Today, well actually yesterday now, (due to the fact that our internet is soooooooo slow, I started uploading this post and all the pics on 21st February, but it's now 22nd February!) after being an info session/meeting for the Housing Co-op we are a part of (well almost, we've submitted our applications to become members, and are currently on 'probation'..lol) we came home to find Barry, our postal parcel man, had left not one, not two, but three parcels at the front door (between the two doors, so unless someone walked up there, you wouldn't know they were there!) and guess what? They were all for me.....YAY, I do love to get parcels!

I opened them in no specific order, and was in too much of a rush of excitement to do my usual slowly slowly photograph of each stage of the parcel unwrapping, sorry. First cab off the rank, was my Generosity Project gift from Marilyn.



Above are pics of the fantastic notebook, selvedge cover for it, and a PURPLE pen, which you can't really see as I quickly put it into it's holder once I unwrapped it! Didn't Marilyn do a lovely job of it? Thanks heaps Marilyn.

Whilst on the subject of the Generosity Project, I still have 2 spots left to fill on mine, and only 3 months to find people to fill them......please click Here, if you'd like to read about it, and perhaps sign up for it.

I got a freezer bag full of embroidery threads from my friend Mardi after I spoke with her on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned that I now have my Mums' embroidery machine....but no embroidery threads were with it :o( Knowing it was my birthday soon, she sent me a little 'care package' of embroidery threads.

Would you just take a look at this variety of great colours....especially seens as though she even put some purple ones in just for me! She mentioned that she didn't have alot of purples to share, but having said that, she still shared some of what she had....awwww wasn't that sweet of her?

A close up of the netting stuff Mardi also sent...you put it over the reels of thread to stop them from unravelling and getting knotted up.

Thanks heaps Mardi xxx

Recently, I signed up for a Mug Rug Swap, hosted by Quilting Gallery dot com, and here's a pic of everything I received from my swap partner, Barbara, from Nyack, NY, all wrapped up...there were mug rugs, buttons, stickers, an owl cosmetic mirror holder kit, felt owl stickies & fabric...I don't think I forgot anything.....ooops if I did!

Front of the hooty mug rug.

Back of the hooty mug rug.


Front of the purple crazy patchwork mug rug.

Back of the purple mug rug.

Regular readers of my blog will know, I have issues with getting good pics...one day I'll work it all out, but until then, pics like the one above, will have to do.....in it you should be able to see the 'hooty hoard' I received along with my 2 mug rugs....bear in mind, the mug rugs were the only required items, the rest was a massive bonus on my behalf.


A close up of the "Hooty" fabric that Barbara sent me, as 'extras' in the Mug Rug Swap. How cute is that???? I love the one on the right, as I don't have any of it in my wee hooty stash of fabrics, but the middle one and the one on the left....I have not seen before and I just love it.....might have to have a look around and see if I can find more of it, and if I can find it in any other colours, AND if there were any other fabrics in the collection.....AND then, and it's a really big AND, sell my kidneys, the dog and the cat and get me enough to make a huge quilt! Don't want much do I? lol

Thank you to Barbara for sending me such sweet goodies, and also to Michelle from QuiltingGallery.com for organising the swap.

I'm not quite sure how long ago it was that I originally came across Purlbee's 'Purl Frog' tutorial, but just recently, a friend from Khristina's Yahoo group, C-R-A-F-T (link in my sidebar), bought it back to my attention! I decided it was time for me to make one, as I've just found out my niece loves frogs (hopefully she doesn't read my blog, as it's meant to be a surprise for her!) Anyhoo, I made her one, and when a friend came and stayed for a couple of days last week, she fell in love with Kaylenes' frog, so I made Sue her own one...hence the one pictured above, which was made from a vintage sheet I had near to me at the time! This pattern is VERY quick and easy to make....takes less than half an hour!

Hooty's new owner is.........

As much as I hate to part with Hooty, I must be strong and watch as she flies away to a new home. I just went to Random.org and the following is a screenshot (cropped) of the number it selected/generated.
Congratulations to Aviya Glass, whose comment I've copied and pasted below.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit as many blogs as I'd have like to this year, but check out this post on Lisa's blog, which has some REALLY REALLY exciting news in it.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and I hope to see you all here again soon. I'm participating in another blog hop very very soon....so please be sure to come visit me, and read about it in the next couple of weeks.

Also, Lisa & Cat are hosting another swap...an Easter softie swap this time....click on the link for it over on my sidebar, or either of their names at the start of this paragraph.

OWOH - One World, One Heart giveaway Official posting

Thank you to everyone who left a comment on this post, but I have now closed off the comments, and am about to go and draw the winner....well Mr Random.Org is! Stay tuned to find out who the new owner of Hooty is. Hugs Naomi

Hi, thanks for visiting my blog as part of OWOH. I'm Naomi and I live in a small country town, on the Murray River in Berri, Sth Australia. I've enjoyed hopping from blog to blog in OWOH the last 2 years, but have decided this year to fully participate....especially as it's the final one :o(

As far as craft wise, I've always enjoyed knitting and crochet, then about 8 years ago, I took up beading and when I realised that everyone else was doing that, I kind of lost interest....I've now been sewing for the last 3 years, and I love to make bags, wallets, raggedy style dolls, quilts, patchwork, tablerunners, etc etc I also really, really enjoy making softies, with my favourite type being Owls...HOOT HOOT.

Which leads me onto my door prize.

To be eligible to win the little Hooty pictured above, all you have to do is please leave a comment for me below, and make sure that I have someway of contacting you...if you don't have a blog, you can still enter...this door prize/giveaway is open to EVERYONE, no matter where you live.

On February 17th, 2011 I will use the auto number generator at Random.org to select a winner, at which point I will contact you via email to get your mailing details, and will post the winning name on a new post on my blog.

Thanks for coming and visiting my blog, and I look forward to getting to know a few more 'net buddies'. Once you've left a comment for me, don't forget to click on the OWOH pic at the top of this post to head back to the 'list' of all the participating blogs and find the next one to visit. Good luck with entering my door prize.

Mini Mystery Challenge I found

Recently I joined up a craft forum, called OurCraftForum, which you can join too, by either clicking on the button in my sidebar, or just above where it says the forums' name. When I was perusing the forum, I noticed there was a thread called "Mini Mystery Challenge". Had to read about that one....didn't I? lol I thought it sounded fun, and I followed the instructions and selected a colour....purple, well derr! and mailed off a S.S.A.E to the person doing it. Olivia didn't know if I'd want dark or light purple, so she sent me the stuff to do either.....I couldn't let the extra fabric go to waste now, could I, so I made up both of them.

Here's the darker purple one.....and I made this one first....blind so to speak....isn't it a great idea? It's a pinwheel for when you don't need your whole pincushion, but you need to take pins out the house with you.

After making the darker one, and as I'd been sent two sets of squares to make the Pinwheel with....I made up the lighter coloured one, but this time, I added a key fob thingy and attached a pair of scissors to it....do you see the wee scissor button that I've attached as a charm?

I can definately see me making more of these as gifts. Thanks to Olivia for a fun mini challenge, and a fantastic idea.

I had originally posted these when I'd completed them, but had totally overlooked the fact, in my defence I was excited about them and wanted to show them off to anyone reading my blog, that the reveal date was today....15th February 2011....so here I sit excitingly awaiting any comments about my pinwheels.

Tilda Heart Valentines Secret Swap

A short while ago, I signed up for the Secret Tilda Heart Swap and my partner is/was......muah-hahaha you're gonna have to wait for that, coz my swap gifties are still making their way to their new owner! But today, the parcel man, Barry is his name for those who might want to know! rang on my doorbell and handed me the parcel below...WOOT WOOT.

Picture me....on second thoughts, don't picture me doing it, but I was doing a happy dance today WHY? I hear you ask....that's because my swap gift arrived, all the way from Norway.....I know we were supposed to guess who our swap partner was, but being that it came from O/S, the name and address has to be written on the outside....so I kind of cheated by looking at the list of participants here. (Also, whilst you're there, check out the "Olivia Quilt" that Cat made for Tsunami, it's a real HOOT!....note to self, find out why said child has been named Tsunami!)


OMG, she's killing me....it's like the ad for the Sara Lee pastries (if you've seen them, you'll know what I'm talking about...which makes a nice change hey? lol) Layer, 'pon layer, 'pon layer...hee hee hee....inside the brown paper, was a taped up white box! Please excuse my fat arm...but I was hiding her address on the inner box....forgot I could blank it all out in Picasa...DERRR!


Boy, was the tension building in the kitchen at this stage or what? Then I saw that I had bubble wrap to play with....no Naomi, put the bubble wrap down and find the goodies, people are waiting to see what you got....TUT TUT pfft, ok then.....which leads me to the next picture.

And inside the bubble wrap, was this gorgeous Tilda Tin.

Is the suspense killing you, like it was me, when I was opening it? I mean, first was the brown paper around the box, then I had to contend with the tape on the box inside the wrapping, and then bubble wrap (pop pop pop!) then there was the delightful Tilda Tin inside....worth the wait though.

I got an owly pattern...for a tablerunner, it's in Norwegian, but she assured me I'd be able to 'wing it'.....lol Oh I'm such a hoot, joking like that hey? I also got some chocolate brown with pink dots on it...Tilda ribbon, and some pretty pink and white Tilda fabric, a Tilda Tin, some real yummy choccies and of course, my Tilda hanging heart. Just perfect, each and every item. Thanks heaps to Berit, who you can peruse her blog here.

Wasn't I spoiled with all the Tilda branded stuff? OMG I didn't know you could buy all those different things, I just thought it was patterns and fabric!

Here's hoping my partner likes her goodies when they arrive....wonder if she's worked out who it's all from yet....lol

Now, just a wee headz up.....I've heard a whisper, ok it wasn't a whisper, it was an email....telling me that there just might be a Tilda Easter swap in the pipeline, so head on over to Cat's blog and stalk her! Go on, do it, I DARE YOU!