Parcels, bats, owls & things

Good evening

Well what an excellent day in blogging terms - 2 visits from the Postman!!

The first knock was quite early - not long after the boys had gone to school. I thought it might be one of them returning having forgotten something! It wasn't - instead MrPostie stood there with a parcel for me  - a quick look and I could tell by the pumpkin picture on the front that this was going to be my Pumpkin Patch Swap (organised by Crafty Helen) - I was partners with Ness from Hapi-ness. Here is what she sent me;

 

Lots of lovely things - we'd agreed a mix of autumn & Halloween -   candles which we've agreed here smell of caramel (so very scrummy), a pumpkin soap (which the boys are eyeing up), a jar of Halloween sweeties (hidden from the boys), an apple paperweight, a necklace and a gorgeous leaf brooch. Can you see the card? well its hand-drawn and gorgeous. Thank you Ness very much :) I know you've received my parcel and I'll let you blog about that - mainly because I didn't get a very good picture of the contents :(

A couple of hours later, there was another knock on the door - different postie with another parcel for me. This bemuses MrVV - he still struggles with the concept of swaps & giveaways within the blogging community.

This parcel was a giveaway win from LissyLou ;

A beautifully decorated jar which was full to the brim with pretty bits & bobs;

It was a real treasure trove - stickers, ribbons, tags, buttons, threads and much more. I love this idea and think its something I could adapt for pressies for friends & family in the future. Thank you LissyLou very much :)

As its now mid-October I think it is safe to start mentioning the C word event at the end of the year. As a crafter who likes to include handmade in her celebrations, I need to start early so there is not that nasty rush come mid-December. I've been fiddling with felt again and adapting a crochet pattern from Lucy's Attic24 blog (I still can't crochet more than a chain) I made;

A little felt robin - please note the crochet chain legs ;)

At the weekend when I was out with my siblings, we did our not-so-secret-santa draw and I now know which sibling I am buying for this year. Was especially pleased as its a sister I am very close too. I know that at the moment she has a love of owls and all things owlish - so I've started to make her a cushion;

It still needs all the bonded on pieces over stitching and I've found some perfect 'old mans cardi' leather buttons that look great as eyes - hoping to get it finished over the weekend and I'll show you the finished result.

Lastly for tonight - I've seen this mentioned a couple of times on other blogs and I gave in today whilst shopping - there's an excellent freebie in this months Easy Living magazine - an Emma Bridgewater tea towel - there's a choice of 2 colours - I opted for the reddy pink one;

Oh I can hear fireworks outside - guess someone nearby has a birthday - off to look.

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx