Swap pics

Claire May 8th, 2008

Sorry for the bloggy break guys – wasn’t intentional at all and some of you may have noticed I was lurking around commenting. I have had a sinus infection for a week, thankfully starting to clear up now (just to move into a bout of hay fever….) and felt so lousy all I could do was repetitive tasks I didn’t need to think about and respond, which is why commenting was great – I didn’t need to think of something original of my own! I have been spending every waking minute it seems in like forever getting things ready for the craft fairs I am going to – first one is 16th and 17th May in West Bridgford, Nottingham (if anyone is in that neck of the woods, please pop in and say “Hi”) as and when my brain will let me do anything. Which hasn’t been often – I intend to take some nice pics of the bits I have finished this weekend. I never seem to take nice pics really, shameful when I look back at them. I used to have better results with a standard (non digital) camera for some reason. But I will get better – oh yes!
Anyway, I thought I would show you some pictures of the swaps I took part in. The lunch bag I have already blogged about, and this is what I sent Laura, my swap partner. She said that she liked moss green and rust colours together, and a had this lovely vintage pillowcase to use, and bought some (kinda moss-y) green apple printed oilcloth to use as the outer. I also made a matching place mat and included a vintage napkin and some chocolate for her. Hope that she likes it. I made it to fit a box in the bottom, as I frequently take leftovers in, or a salad for lunch. For some reason Blogger changes the format of the picture so it won’t go the right way round… Aaargh!
My second, vintage swap partner was Amy. She’s got a lovely blog - go and have a visit (which reminds me , I really need to update my sidebars…) and was soooo easy to find things to swap with her. Too many things in fact and I had to pare my ideas down into something reasonable! Amy sent me a lovely shoulder bag and matching purse (which if you read this I have had loads of compliments on and am using for work today), tons of vintage fabrics all tied up with lace and trim and packets of buttons tied with trim. As you can see from the pictures I have some serious booty there and have folded them all up (I have, honestly!) so I can mull over what I am going to make with them. I made Amy (this is me, going “off on one” now) an apron with a vintage design of a poodle (Amy decorates cakes, so I thought about baking, tea and cakes, that sort of thing) although this isn’t the most practical apron ever, although I am very pleased with how it turned out. I also made a teacup pincushion for her out of some vintage china (like me, Amy doesn’t drink tea) and some vintage napkins for when she eats cake. I am really pleased with how they turned out, and my first swaps were great. The only downside to the whole experience is wasting hours, or what feels like hours in the post office in town for rude staff to mess you around. To stop me going off on a rant, here’s a picture I took yesterday in Hyde park - I escaped there after my meeting – it was so nice and warm, we have been really lucky with the weather we have had, so I treated myself to a small ice cream and enjoyed the sun for half an hour before fighting my way back on the tube to St Pancras to catch my train back(which for me means being able to sit for a couple of hours and embroider…. Not bad eh?) xx

• pinky and boo , swaps and giveaways , work
• Comments(1)