Christmas Ornament Swap - Part 2

So you've seen the lovely goodies I got in the Christmas Ornament Swap (I love getting handmade things), now you get to see what I made.


Some knitting elves.

A crocheted snowflake.
Almost everything made it without mishap...except for one parcel which got returned to me with a third of the envelop missing...it's very lucky the ornaments were intact so they got resent and arrived safely.

Christmas Ornament Swap

I took part in the Christmas Ornament Swap Round 2 on craftster and got some lovely ornaments.

I got some very clever puzzle ornaments from kittyvegas

A gorgeous beaded ornament and a cute little Christmas cracker from Harvey

A lovely tree and teeny little snowman from kibbi

And a beautiful quilted bird from gingerquilts

To avoid overloading the post with pictures (which I've probably already done) I'll put the stuff I sent in another post.

Scatterday

Happy Scatterday! Today's letter is J and we have our three categories:

Restaurant: a sneaky phone camera shot here (bet you can tell) of a Japanese...possibly restaurant. It was in a food court. I should lose points for the photo and the very loose interpretation of the category!

Pointy things: it's some jagged glass! I didn't break glass specifically for scatterday, but I did have to clean it up. We've just got a new outdoor table and we put our old one on the front lawn hoping someone would take it. Rather than doing that some (we're assuming school kids as it was between lunchtime and 5pm and we're near a high school) people turned it over and dropped a large rock on it. Shards of glass are really hard to get off the ground, particularly when there is grass on it...and it's raining (cue the violins). The only good thing that's come out of it is that I got a scatterday photo!

Sport: It's some joggers...although I suspect these ones have never been jogged in. Still it's the thought that counts. I wonder if these joggers have dreams of an afterlife where they spend their days pounding the pavement, or maybe they are lazy too!

TAST Week 20: Butterfly Chain Stitch

Week 20 in the TAST chellenge was Butterfly Chain Stitch, and we have another in the series of 'Pressed Samples'


I've also got my invitation to Ravelry and I can see why people find it addictive! I've put all my projects in, and now I'm working on loading my stash. I think I've already got two or three projects in a queue (although that doesn't mean they'll get made), and that's before my new books arrive! If anyone else has got their invite (because I can't remember who has) my user name is starberrii, feel free to add me as a friend.

Rounder Roomy Bag

I've been wanting to make a cute little patchwork bag for a little while, and this was a bit of a practice run.

The tutorial was from here, although now that I've made it, it's not quite the shape I had in mind for my patchwork bag, although I do like this one, so I'll probably keep an eye out for another pattern (and then do a trial run of that). Other than the outer fabric (which was $1 a meter) I had all the materials at home.

I also had a go at putting a zipper pocket inside the bag, which worked really well (Yay!).

TAST Week 19: Basque Stitch

Week 19 in the TAST Challenge was Basque Stitch, although I threw in a bit of stem stitch as well.

I'm really pleased with the end result on this one, it ended up very close to what I was hoping to do!

Scatterday

Once again it's Scatterday and today's letter is P and the categories are...*drum roll*

Red: we have some red pins on a non-red pincushion (a lovely gift from MissMeshell). It was a bit of a pain to pull all my non-red pins out of the pincushion, and I've discovered that I've lost two...which honestly is surprisingly few.

Sweet Things: a pineapple that is either growing out of the table, or has had it's bottom cut off. Poor pineapple! This is going to sound quite bad, but I much prefer tinned pineapple to fresh pineapple (it's too pineappley)

Metal: some pots and pans (one is a pressure cooker, but that still starts with P!).

Bloggy Competition Winners

The winners of the Bloggy Competition are Librarylass and Sharre and your bookmarks will be heading your way soon (by the way Sharre, what bookmark did you want?).

Is it being mean if I let you know what books I've picked once they arrive?

Fabric

Linda from Chloe's Place was selling some fabric, so I took the opportunity to make a purchase.

I got them incredibly quickly, and Linda did a fantastic job of picking pieces with minimal guidance from me (basically I gave her some colours).

Aren't they lovely? And packed so neatly as well.

TAST Week 18: Woven and Whipped Wheel

Week 18 in the TAST challenge was Woven and/or Whipped Wheel and I can see why people like this stitch. I'd never really done it before but it was lots of fun. I can see myself using it more in embroidery now.

Scatterday

It's Scatterday again and I'm back to my routine and managing to post on time today. The letter for today is F and the categories are:

Cold things: I went simple, with our fridge which doesn't really have any exciting stories about it.

Elements: Fire! This is a photograph of my cousin doing Poi, or fire twirling on a beach in Vietnam. She's amazingly talented at it and it would have been nicer if my camera had got a better shot, but you get the general idea.

Signs: Probably inappropriate, this is another Vietnam photo, you can probably see why I took it. We actually went to Vietnam about four years ago so I had to scan these photos in. It was a wonderful trip and I'd love to go there again.

Books, books and more books

On the weekend the Australian Bookcrossing Convention was in Melbourne, and it was lots of fun. I've been pretty lucky because last year it was in Adelaide and this year in Melbourne, next year it's in Brisbane so I may use it as an excuse for a holiday (the only problem with that is getting the books home again)!

Anyway, as well as being an opportunity to pass along books (and free up space for new ones) it's a great place to pick up new books, like these...


...there are actually another two books which didn't make it into the photo because they're being read by me and my mum. I think I may be busy for some time...

This large number of books is by no means an excuse to not buy craft books, I have however decided to get the Crochet Me book, so I might wait until next week to finish the competition and order books. Yay, more books! (I think I may have a problem)

Scatterday (only a little bit late!)

I had a pretty busy weekend with the Australian Bookcrossing Convention on in Melbourne (I'll post a picture of all the books I picked up soon) so that's why I've been slack with Scatterday and other blog posting.

Anyway, this weeks letter is C.

First we have hobbies and I went with crafts, so there's a picture of my computer, on my favourite site on the internet, craftster, where I waste spend lots of time.

Then we have pizza toppings. I did go to Max Brenner's on the weekend, where they have chocolate pizza, but no one on my table ordered it, so we'll have to go with cheese, on top of some left over home made pizza I found in the fridge.

Finally we have furniture, and a couch. It's all scuffed up because when my sister was little she'd climb all over it in her t-bars/mary janes/those sandle things with the buckles. Once she drew on it as well.

TAST Week 17: Running Stitch

Week 17 in the TAST challenge was Running Stitch

This was simple, but quite fun (and easy in front of the tv!). It's also a prize in my blog competition (see down the page). Don't worry if your answers aren't particularly helpful, you can still enter!

Masqerade

I had a masquerade engagement party to go to the other day and wanted to make my own mask (although I didn't have a huge amount of time!). After combining a mask base with a fake flower, a glue gun and a bit of embroidery this is what I got...


I was really happy with it and I got loads of compliments, which is always nice! There were a few other hand made mask's there, but most were bought.

Bloggy Competition

Recently we've had someone away from work for a bit, so I've been working extra hours which has left me a bit tired and grumpy. Anyway, I've decided that because of that I deserve some craft booky goodness...and that's where you guys come in.

I've come up with a bit of a list of books I'd like to get (but unfortunately I can't get them all) so I'm looking for feedback on where best to spend my money. Either let me know which books are fantastic (or which one's you've heard are fantastic), which one's overlap a bit (and so I should only pick one), or any other books that you think I should add to my list. I'm aiming to get a bit of a range of crafts.

1. Books I'm almost definately going to get:

Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol
I've heard really great things about this one.

2. Books I'd love to get:

Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty
They're very cute...but I've got an excess of soft toys at the moment. Although great gifts.

Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori
Again, lovely and cute.

Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet Revolution by Kim Werker
Ok, so it's not actually out yet. That shouldn't stop comments should it?

A Crochet Stitch Dictionary
I didn't actually find anything specific, so suggestions of good ones would be really appreciated. I'd probably like something with a nice range, clear directions, inspiring pictures.

3. Books I'm not quite sure of (but that still look lovely):

Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects by Lotta Jansdotter
I'm just not sure how many sewing books I should buy right now because I don't sew as often as I'd like to.

Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To (Spiral-bound) by Jenny Hart
I've got a few embroidery books and there are great resources on the internet for different stitches, so this would mainly be for patterns, although I've heard they're not as unique as the individual Sublime Stitching Patterns.

Plush-o-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp
Because now I'm on my third toy book. But still cute!

Best comments* will win a bookmark so leave a comment, along with your preferred bookmark and I'll probably draw it (and order books) next week, so you've got a little while to think about it.

*Best comment may be based on most useful, most funny or simply picked randomly.