Blog buddies are the BEST!

As I mentioned before, Julie from Country Girl at Heart and I have done another swap.

Again, I was thrilled with what she sent to me!

I just LOOOOOOVE this star wall quilt!

I just stood back and admired this beauty for a while......

She, with her generous heart, also stitched up this sweet little pillow for me.....just in time for Spring!

Receiving this yesterday really made me smile.

My mail man is happy that I will stop stalking him now! ;)

            THANKS JULIE! You're the best!

I can't wait for our next swap!

*I am always up for a swap so if anyone is interested, just let me know~

A swap teaser......

I can't show you the whole surprise,

but Julie over at Country Girl at Heart and I have entered into another swap.

I love swapping with Julie....she is so talented and generous!

I hope she likes what I sent to her. It should arrive today or tomorrow. :)

Well, I have been busy sorting and organizing these past few days. I rarely get the "bug" to do that, so I suppose I need to go with it when I do. I spent the majority of Friday and Saturday working on my craft closet and my preschool closet. It feels so good to get rid of things and be all sorted out again.

 Next, I will be working on a couple bedrooms.

More specifically, the half empty bedrooms that Mark and Makenzie recently vacated.

(sad face)

I will be selling anything of value at a yard sale....

That'll teach 'em to leave their mother!

I love to swap!

I seriously love swapping.

I have some really great and talented blog friends.

Julie, from Country Girl at Heart is one of them, and she does some fabulous work!

We have done several swaps and every time we do, I am never, ever disappointed!

We decided to do a Halloween wall hanging swap and this is what she sent to me!

I am one lucky gal!

 It's a good thing I did the swap with her because it sort of forced me to get out my other Halloween decorations.

With the weather here still being SO hot, it almost seemed like sacrilege getting it all put up!

(It has still been 100* or more this last week!!)

As is always the case with Julie, she adds a little something extra in her package.

This time she sent this little heart hanging.

So sweet.

It is hanging on the knob of my step back cupboard.

Thanks, Julie! I can't wait for our Christmas swap!

Maybe someday, we will be able to exchange our swap in person.

Phew!

A few weeks before we left for our little vacation, I had been doing a lot of sewing. I had to finish up the things that I was making for Tisha at Loafer Mountain Primitives. I was really struggling with some of the things I was making and it took much longer than I wanted it to. Remember, she sent me ALL that fabric?? Well, I felt like I had to do a good job here since she was so generous with me.

Here is one of things that I made for her.

My SIL, Michelle sent me a picture and pattern of a cute rag bag she had made.

 I decided to make one and send it to Tisha.

These little bags are so fun and easy. Thanks, Michelle for the pattern!

I didn't take a picture of the other things I made for her so if you want to have a little looky, click here.

Have a great day!

happy mail!

I really like going out to the mailbox and pulling out something other than bills.

 Especially when I get something from a swap partner!

This is what Julie sent to me!!

Isn't it just so patriotically wonderful??

I think so!

Thank you Julie! You"re the best!

What have you been up to?

I don't know about you but I will tell you what I've been up to.

Sweating.

That's right. Profuse, full body sweats.

I know.....I know.....That's disgusting and you really didn't need to nor want to read about it, but I am all about sharing, people.

All.about.sharing.

I would also like to share a little sneak peek of a swap that I did with Julie from Country Girl at Heart.

She is so fun to swap with! If you ever get a chance to swap with her it will be well worth your time! :)

We did a patriotic swap this time.....here's just a little snippet of something I made her.

I hope you like it Julie....it should be arriving any day!

I have also sewn together a quilt top made of the layer cake that I won from Nicole over at Our Cozy nest. I haven't finished it up yet because I am working on my end of my swap with Tisha at Loafer Mountain Primitives.....fun fun fun!!

Thank goodness sewing machines don't sweat because I am certainly giving mine a workout.

(HEY. Better it than me......)

I love my blog friends.

I was recently talking to my blog friend, Tisha, from Loafer Mountain Primitives. She was telling me about all the fabric she had that was given to her by her mother-in-law.

And then she asked me IF I WANTED SOME OF IT.

Can you even stand it?

It was music to my fabric hoarding ears, people!!

Well, I couldn't, in good conscience, just take the fabric so I offered to make her something in return.

A swap, if you will.

Imagine my elation when her box arrived! It was so stuffed full of fabric! And huge pieces! Some of them....like this train print....are like 6 yards!!!

(pardon me for a moment while I sing, "I'm in Heaven" for just a sec!)

And if that wasn't enough, She tucked in ALL sorts of little goodies that just warmed my heart.

See the wall hanging in the above picture. Ya. All hand quilted.

There was also this framed stitching and this little basket.

Take a look at what I found inside....

hang on--I'm clutching my chest.....

Oh, the primness of it all. I loooooove it!

I wish you could smell the potpurrie that is inside this little bag. It is just plain old citrus deliciousness.

I have big plans for that rusty star, too. Just you wait....you will be seeing it in an upcoming post very soon!

Thank you, thank you, Tisha. Your extremely generous gift has not gone unappreciated! I hope you like what I am sending you but I submit that I got the better end of the deal!! ;)

I love swaps!!

A while ago Julie and I decided to do another swap. I Looooove her work and I was more that agreeable ao anything she wanted to do. This time we decided on a spring themed swap.

Well, yesterday, I received her swap goodness.

When I unwrapped the tissue around her gift, this pillow fell out.

We had decided to do a wall hanging, but, true to form, Julie added a little something extra!

Then I unfolded this beauty!

Isn't it wonderful?!

I just love it all Julie.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

The postman brings some Christmas Cheer!

I recently joined a Christmas swap with Mary at Gettysburg Homestead. My original swap partner decided not to participate and Mary graciously agreed to be my partner, even though she already had a swap partner. I was secretly so excited because Mary makes some pretty fantastic stuff! :) As a part of the swap we had to find a Good Will bargain, re-do it, and sent it to our partner. I think this is what Mary found, buy I am not sure because it looks brand new! I have already used this wooden bowl. It is so cute!!!

We also had to send a yard of fabric to our partner and they had to make something out of it. I sent a yard of Christmas homespun. You won't believe what she made with it......

First, there was this runner. Fabulous. She painted these trees. Did I say fabulous yet?

This is a little ornament that we put on our tree. How sweet of Mary to include Craig in the swap! We were also to include a gift that we chose for our partner. This is a SUPER YUMMY smelling candle complete with a vintage label.....mmmmmm! Next, I found a homespun dishtowel (you all know my fondness for dishtowels!! ha ha!) wrapped in a bit of the homespun with a couple of candy cane ornaments tucked in..... And when I reached in and pulled THIS out, I was so happy!

Isn't it sweet?? A little Christmas dress made out of the homespun. It's completed by the muslin apron with the stitched holly berries..... Thank you again, Mary. Your creativity continues to amaze me. All of this has found a place in our home already. I love it!!!!

I hope you will like all the goodies I sent your way!

We also received a surprise package from Mark. If you will all remember, he is serving a church mission in Uganda. I found it in the mailbox as I left to go pick up Ragan at school. As much as I wanted to open it right then and there, I waited until we were all together. It was a long wait, too, because I had a church meeting that night and Makenzie had to work late so we actually didn't open it until about 9PM. OOOOooooo! It was so exciting. He sent a little coin purse with money inside of it. There were some Chiclets (seriously, do they sell that gum in EVERY country??). On one side of the package it was labeled in English and on the other, it was in an African language. (Not sure which one....apparently there are several) He sent some paintings that we will most definitely frame for him. Can you see Ragan smelling it? She was trying to see if she could smell Mark.....LOL. She couldn't, by the way. He sent the girls some beads, a bracelet and some necklaces. I just love all the Christmas mail. I hope there are things being dropped off at your house, too!

Swap Goodness

I have been the very lucky recipient of two very wonderful and talented blogging friends. Julie from Country Girl at Heart sent me this fabulous Wall hanging. We had discussed our need for Spring and decided to do a spring swap. All this color is just what I needed. There is only so much brown a girl can take here in the desert! I just love it, Julie. And the little saying is just perfect. Thank you so very much! Next, I want to show you what Kimberly at My Brown Bag Studio sent to me. I loved this wall hanging that she made a while back and asked her if she wanted to do a swap. I didn't necessarily mean to imply that I wanted her to send me THAT wall hanging, but that's what she did. She sent be the original (bless her heart!). I can't wait to find just the right spot to hang it in my house! Thank you, Thank you! I DO love it! I have been disgustingly tardy in sending my end of the bargain. It was not the completing of the projects, just the sending them this time. I included some extra goodies in hopes that you will forgive me of my lateness! I hope you like yours as much as I do mine.....:) And finally, this is a picture of Mark with one of the people he is teaching. I was able to "chat" with Mark for just a few minutes this morning on facebook. It was so nice. I am happy to report that he is doing very well (despite a nasty sunburn....he said the sunscreen just sweats off them because of the humidity).

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

This is going to be a little teaser of a post...:):):) I am doing a couple of swaps with a couple of very talented and sweet blogging friends. We are doing wall hangings so that's what I have been working on. They have alphabets.... prim dates.... and saltbox houses..... But, whose is whose???? Oh, I do love a good surprise! Happy Wednesday, everyone. Be sure to stop by Leslie's to see who else is working on some fun things!

Successful swap.....

I believe I have heard from all of my swappers. I think all have been mailed out by now. (If you don't receive an ornament within the next week, PLEASE contact me and I will try to sort it out. Also, if you don't see your ornament pictured here or on the previous post, let me know!) Here are some more pictures for your enjoyment.....

I am so pleased with the way this swap turned out. This was so much fun, I think I might try to put together another one!

Thank you to all who participated!

Ornament Swap Deadline

Tomorrow is the day! All ornaments should be on their way to their new homes by tomorrow. For your viewing pleasure, I have a few pictures to show you...... (These are some of the finished ornaments.)

Very impressive work, ladies!

Thank you for participating in this swap! It was great fun!! :)

Please keep those pictures coming and don't forget to let me know when you have mailed your ornament.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, please contact me. We don't want anyone to miss out on receiving their ornament.