A special swap

A little while ago when I first signed up to the Cloth Paper Scissors UK network of lovely people, I had contact with someone called Frances.  She and I emailed one another several times and she warmly welcomed me as a newbie and I felt I had already made a friend.  CPS UK produce a newsletter every couple of months and I did a little piece siting some things I was happy to swap with someone.  You've guessed it!  I had a Danny Gregory book which was a duplicate in my library of crafts books and Frances was keen to swap it so we did a little exchange.  My little parcel went off with the Danny Gregory book inside and a little junk journal I had made especially for Frances (I didn't take a photo of this one unfortunately.  Then on Friday I had a wonderful surprise because the postman brought these wonderful things:

This book is amazing with so many exciting projects to do with many requiring only household items

A little sample of momigami paper - (kneaded paper using oil)

And a special sample of what Frances loves to create - this lovely pendant has a piece of lavender in it!!

A closer look!

and it was beautifully wrapped and inside this amazing paper bag!!

How lucky am I!!!!  Frances doesn't have a blog (yet!) and I have yet to meet her at one of our CPS UK events but I feel we know one another a little already.  There is something about the hearts of artists and crafters that seems to connect at a deeper level!!  Thank you Frances so much.

Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

It has been really busy here at Tea and Toast as we have been away for a week in Devon (which was lovely despite the rain!) and then lots of comings and goings of daughters here, there and everywhere!  More of that another time but before any more time passes I want to show you my lovely stitched postcard that arrived some weeks ago now from Germany!

On a painted background of blue, purple and white there is red stitching in diamonds and then lovely felt hearts all stitched carefully around and onto the card.  What a treat to get this in the post!  This came from the lovely TJ who was in Germany but is heading back to the US after 9 years out there.  She can be found at www.studiomailbox.com so do take a look as there is some lovely artwork on there.  Thank you so much TJ!

Swaps - how I love them!

I joined another swap over at Lawendula and this time it was a paperback swap where we had to send a paperback of our choice to someone else.  My swap partner was Sue in Australia and I realised that I had never, in all my years of trotting to the post office and back, sent anything to anyone in Australia!!  We could choose to send other things if we liked but that was not obligatory. Well just look at the parcel I received from Sue!  It was SO exciting.

There were so many lovely things inside the parcel, all beautifully wrapped

and there was a delightful letter telling me all about the paperback she had sent.

napkins, gorgeous paper samples, emphemera and a beautiful 'junk journal' that Sue had made herself which it seems I failed to capture in any of these photos which I can hardly believe now.  It will have its own showing tomorrow, I promise.  Thank you Sue so much.

I didn't manage to take any photos of the parcel I sent (just haven't got it quite together yet!!) but I sent a paperback "Miss Pettigrew lives for a day" and a collage canvas I made especially for Sue.  The whole thing was just great fun.

Swapsies

I've joined a couple of swaps this month.  I used to love swaps at school as a girl and remember vividly the days I would take my 'treasures' (usually marbles, gemstones and other tiny trinkets) in and with a few friends together we would swap from our collections.  Well, these swaps are slightly different but with a general theme of sharing love and creativity - both dear to my heart.   The first is called 'Gift of Jewels' which is an idea to spread love around the world one card at a time.  I first saw this on Tracy's blog and liked the look of it so decided to join in.  Above you will see the card I am sending to someone who doesn't know me, or know it will be coming from me.  There were no rules, except to feel free to make a card as creatively as you might wish.

The second is a postcard swap from Create and Live Happy which has required making 10 postcards which will be sent all over the world.  I've had a lot of fun with this and below you can see some of my creations - all different in some way or other and today or tomorrow will be off in the post.

and for some there are little pockets of inspiration on the back...

and of course this does mean that I shall be receiving 10 creative postcards too!!  Thank you Selah and Hanna for organising these fun swaps.