Days 12 and 13

Day 12 was my gift. I was busy over the winter months crocheting these starry snowflake ornaments. I used a vintage pattern, vintage thread from my stash and a 1.75 mm hook! The pattern is really easy (if a little fiddly) so I made tons for Christmas presents and for myself. I made them in four colours:

white

pink

fawn

blue

While everyone was opening my gift, I got to open the special #13 gift. It was from Penelope Harris, and just look at what she has created: a sweet little needle book.

It's made of the most beautiful soft woolly felt and has space for all the essential needles and pins.

And even room for a hank of threads (I'm always making little piles of offcut thread, so perhaps if I have a place to store them I'll actually use them up now?)

Thanks so much Penelope!

And that's it for the 12 Days of Christmas swap this year. Thanks to all who were involved, it was a wonderful event once again.

Days 10 and 11

On Day 10, Jeanette Janson made this beautiful necklace from an antique clock key. Another gorgeous piece of arty jewellery - I've been so lucky this year! Thanks Jeanette!

On Day 11 I received this whimsical little collaged canvas from Lisa Ryder. It's tiny - not much bigger than a matchbox! I love the gorgeous deep red and the quirky expression on the woman's face. Thanks Lisa!

Day 9

Today is Day 9, and I received this beautiful art doll from Jennifer Conway. The top half of the doll is paper, and the skirt is a lovely linen fabric which has been stuffed and weighted so she stands on her own. Look at the lovely crochet lace her skirt is adorned with, and the beautiful jewel at her waist! I took her out this afternoon for a stroll among the marigolds.

If you go to Jennifer's blog, you can see the rest of her army of lacy women. They are all stunning, it must have been hard sending them all away. Thanks so much Jennifer!

Days 7 and 8

Day 7's gift is this gorgeous tile set from Maria Lamb. On one side is this beautiful painting, but if you flip the tiles, it is a noughts and crosses game. I love things that are pretty and practical as well - thanks so much Maria!

On Day 8 I received this neat knitted banner from Liz Smith. I'm happy because I wanted to make a festive triangle banner myself, but ran out of time, so this is just what I needed... I've put it on the mantelpiece for now, but will probably shift it to the kitchen/dining area for Christmas dinner.

Here's the rest of the mantelpiece. I did make the snowflake garland. You can never have too many garlands! The green Christmas tree in the centre is by the talented Cushla at Pilgram.

Days 4, 5 and 6

I've gotten behind in showing you the 12 Days of Christmas gifts! I'll have to make it up to you with a few bumper posts. (If you are impatient with me, go check out the 12 Days blog - it's always updated on time!)

Here is Day 4 from Tara Finlay. It's a sweet tiny art charm made of snippets of fabric and a piece of book text. Thank you Tara - it will be perfect to hang in my studio!

This is Day 5 from Lelainia Lloyd. A gorgeous fabric pouch and a cellphone charm - Lelainia pointed out that you could use it as a zipper pull too. I love how the pouch has a clip on it - it will be great for holding the small things that always get lost at the bottom of your handbag. Thanks Lelainia!

Day 6 from Misti Ko is this gorgeous set of prayer flags. You hang them up outside, and as they disintegrate in the weather they release the good thoughts they have been imbued with: hope, love, peace, joy and freedom. I think this is such a unique gift, also they look great fluttering in my cherry tree! Thanks Misti!

Day 3

Look at this sweet ornament by Barbara Atwell! He is perched on a vintage wooden block. I just love him - he is the perfect companion to these guys from last year. Santa is always watching, you know...

Thanks so much for the whimsy Barbara!

Day 2

On Day 2 I received this gorgeous metal pendant from Kathy Strittmater. Kathy makes the most amazing jewellery, I am lucky enough to own several of her fabulous pieces now. I love the textured copper background on this piece. Thank you so much Kathy - I certainly am inspired...

Day 1

The first gift to be opened in the 12 Days of Christmas exchange comes from Amy Huff. Amy made this gorgeous soldered pendant featuring a lovely vintage photo- the buttons of her dress are embellished with glitter. In the background you can see the box it came in, which was also embellished with a moo card of the same image - nice touch! Thanks Amy for this sparkling beauty!

Christmas ornaments

As well as the 12 Days of Christmas swap, this year I participated again in the Kiwi Christmas Ornament swap organised by Louise at Twenty Cent Mixture. These are some of the ornaments I made.

Do you want to guess what they're made from?

Would you believe me if I said toothpicks and paper clay?

It's true. I still have one more to make for myself - I want to use it as a tree topper. So I might take photos for a tutorial. In the meantime, take a look at this:

Cute, no? I received this from Cushla at Pilgram. She's posted a pattern here so you can make one too.

Twelve Twelves

This year I'm again participating in the 12 Days of Chistmas swap. It's the fourth year the swap has been running so I managed to be a little bit more organised this year and started making my gifts in August! Then I put them aside for a while until suddenly the mailing deadline was upon me and they still had to be wrapped and photographed. A frantic weekend was spent doing that and I mailed them out. Now I'm just sitting back as the other gifts come in.

My gift will be opened on Day 12... that's Christmas Eve! So you will have to wait till then to find out what's inside. Until then, check out the 12 Days blog. From December 1st Lelainia will be posting photos of each wrapped gift, and from December 13th she'll be posting each gift as it's unwrapped. You can also find links to the participants' blogs and websites. You can also see photos of the previous years' gifties at my Flickr set.

Days 12 and 13

The last gift I got to open is from Debra Cooper. It's a sweet stuffed birdie with a gorgeous beaded tassel. I love the bright colours Debra has used on this piece. How sweet will this look hanging from a christmas tree - I really must sort one out for next year!

I love the sparkly beads and the crochet strands in the tassel! Thank you so much Debra!

And, now that everyone in the exchange has opened theirs, I can share the secret Day 13 gift! It's from Lelainia Lloyd, our lovely hostess and organiser.

Lelainia put together this great pack of ephemera, a cd of funky christmas tunes, a recipe for christmas nibbles and a beautiful ornament!

Look at the way that glitter sparkles :) Thanks Lelainia for such a thoughtful gift, and for organising such a fantastic swap - it's a highlight of my christmas every year!

That's it from me for the next few days - I'm off to spend christmas with family. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, full of joy, good food and good company!

xxx

Day 11

Today's gift is a sweet little stuffed birdie from Liz Smith. Each side is made from a different patterned fabric. In the bottom photo my birdie is looking a bit unsteady... or perhaps he has eaten too much christmas pudding?! Thanks Liz for this lovely ornament!

Only one more gift left... don't forget to stop by tomorrow and see what it is!

Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap

One Christmas swap is never enough, so this year I also took part in an ornament swap run by Louise of Twenty Cent Mixture. This one was for crafty kiwis only, and while it's always fun getting international mail, it was nice to keep it all in the neighbourhood (so to speak) for this swap.

From left to right I received: wise man by Mariana Reinoso, heart ornament by Norma McDonald, stocking embroidery by Pauline Smythe, owl by Shelley Gardner, and angel ornament by Lucy Rust. I recommend checking out these ladies' blogs!

And now for a bit of a sad confession: all these lovely ornaments, and I don't even have a christmas tree! Our flat is just too small and already overflowing to squeeze one in. I had plans this year to decorate the mantelpiece, but somehow that never happened. I've spent most of my spare time working on handmade presents which meant little things like housework and decorating got put to one side! I do however have photos of some of the things I've been working on but will wait till after The Day to share those.

Day 10

This trio of cuties is from Barbara Atwell. They are made from vintage photos printed onto paper, then stitched and stuffed. So cute!

I love the glitter on this girl's hat! Thanks Barbara!

Day 9

Today's gift is from Lisa Ryder. Lisa sent some amazing art pieces, including a collaged canvas (background) in beautiful muted hues...

And a fabulous set of ATCs! I spent ages looking at these yesterday, before coming down with a bad headache (NOT brought on by presents!) which is why I'm late posting.

Thanks for all this arty goodness Lisa, I'm thrilled to have it all in my collection!

Day 8

Here is yet another beautiful gift. This one (well two actually) is from Fiona Mortimore. The ornament is made of printed linen fabric with lovely hand-stitched embellishments. I love the fabric - brilliant red contrasting with natural linen, just beautiful! Fiona also sent a bookmark which I am using already - it's nice and big so should stay in my book, rather than falling out as scraps of paper tend to do! Thank you very much Fiona!

Day 7

I'm a bit late posting Day 7 because we went out for the end of year work do last night. It was a fun night and I had some really good penne with lamb, fetta and smoked tomatoes... yum! But without further ado, take a look here:

This little pouch is from Dawn Supina and it's made from an altered tie!


Inside were these laminated cards: Permission to Play, Permission to Make Mistakes and Artist of the Year. They all have encouraging words on them and will be just perfect to have around for those times when I want to give up because a project is going badly! Thank you Dawn for this lovely thoughtful gift.

Day 6

Today was my day - number six! I sent everyone a crochet cuff bracelet. They were made in different colours according to people's favourite colours. (As you can see, a lot of people like red and aqua!)

I wasn't left out, however. I got to open the lucky #13 gift from Lelainia Lloyd, which each person in the swap opens on the day everyone else is opening their gift. I have to keep the contents a secret until everyone else has opened theirs though... but trust me when I say it's a wonderful thoughtful present. Thanks Lelainia!

Day 5

Here we have a lovely collaged wallet from Arlene Travnik. The top layer is a sheer white organza and there are beads and buttons and charms all trapped within pockets under the fabric. Perfect for a distraction while waiting in line at the checkout! (I have been playing with it all afternoon anyway!) Thanks Arlene!