seasons greetings

(Charles Phoenix and his Redi-Whip filled, volcano-like exploding Christmas Cake)

As this blog prepares to retire for a long winters snooze, I am wishing you a lovely holiday season and much joy in 2016! 

We've hit a new height in holiday procrastination this year - the feather tree has not even made an appearance yet. Indeed, all that has been completed is the most important thing, the wrapping of FIRST CHRISTMAS gifts for my little grand nephew. Oh and the buying of Amaryllis (since I can never manage to remember to buy bulbs in time to grow my own!), they remind me of my mom, who loved them so dearly - a must have for Christmastime.

Knock on wood, thus far we've had a healthy holiday season and been able to go see Charles Phoenix's holiday retro slide show again and go to the Swedish Christmas Fair --- next up is a stage production of A Christmas Carol, can't wait!

I am very much enjoying "blogging without obligation" and radically decreasing my online presence. Having spent many (many!) years in front of a screen, watching my rumpus grow and ankles swell, manically trying to keep up with a gazillion blogs for the latest creative wonderfulness, it is a HUGE relief to let it all go.

No more stressing over posting, or following, or commenting or responding or emailing. Zero obligation + zero guilt = sheer joy! I'm doing it My Way, like Frankie Sinatra.

Happy Hannukuh, Happy winter solstice, Happy Festivus, Happy Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwaanza, etc. everyone!

Take care and be well!

a swap for all seasons no. eleven - what I received from my partner

[sigh] ... so near the end of this fabulous swap now ... This is my eleventh sampler I've received in A Swap For All Seasons.

 

My partner this month was Bev, of Country Frog Creations. Love it so much Bev, so very charming. I adore blue and I love the snow theme and all the little snowflakes and snowmen! 

Thank you so very much Bev, it was a pleasure to meet you and be in your partner.

Happy December and Happy Holidays!

a swap for all seasons no. twelve - what I made for my partner

Number twelve! My last sampler I made for my partner in A Swap For All Seasons. After this post, I'll have my final two that were made for me by my partners for November and December. I'll share them with you when they've arrived. 

(You have no idea how extraordinary this is that I've completed this year long project! I'm the Queen of Unfinished Projects --- certainly when I make something for myself, it never gets finished. I guess making things for someone else and having a deadline is the key --- I am extremely motivated by not wanting to let anyone down or be a flake or be late. Another unheard of milestone for me, I finished my last two ahead of schedule. I am also the Queen of Procrastination and Last Minute Frenzy and I am sooooooo shocked at my on-task speedy self ... I have joked that surely there has been an alien abduction LOL, because I don't recognize this person!)

I made my twelfth sampler for my partner, Pam, of Treasures N Textures. I had thought it would be fun to try to make samplers that fitted the month or season whenever possible. Hence my little snowman guy I made for Pam. One of my favorite holiday songs is "Winter Wonderland" and the lyric "in the meadow we can build a snowman" became my theme for the rest of my project. 

 

It's been a pleasure to meet you Pam and be your final partner in A Swap For All Seasons. I had so much fun making your sampler for you!

 

Dumbstruck over here that another year is coming to a close ...

Happy holiday season everyone!

a swap for all seasons no. eleven - what I made for my partner

 

We've arrived at number eleven now in A Swap For All Seasons. This month my partner was darling Jan, of Jan's Arty Junk. You've probably guessed by now that I'm all about themes LOL. (I got all giddy and had the giggles when I found that I had Acorn scrapbook paper WOOHOO!)

I had so much fun making this autumn themed sampler for you Jan! 

Just one to go now - already made and mailed to my final partner. Sad to see this swap end, such a lovely experience.

Happy stitching and crafting and a very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

a swap for all seasons no. ten - what I received from my partner

Oh gosh, can you believe October has come and gone?!! This year is a-flying by, isn't it! 

On Saturday I received the above mondo fantastico sampler from my partner Debbie, of Kitten Creates. I adore the tradition of Dia de los Muertos and it couldn't be more perfect for me Debbie. Such fun fabric and the embellishment details are so great. Love it to pieces! 

My sampler ... and goodies (so much fun - skelly sockies, candy corn fabric and skelly washi!) ... were wrapped charmingly, it all made me smile so much. Thank you so much for everything Debbie! 

Only two more samplers to make and receive in Linda's wonderful A Swap For All Seasons, it's been  such a lovely creative journey.

a swap for all seasons no. ten - what I made for my partner

Things are getting decidedly spooky over here for A Swap For All Seasons! Since I was (amazingly) running ahead of time for this round, I was excited to get a chance to do a Halloween themed sampler for my partner, Elizabeth, of "Tales From The Pond". 

Hope you enjoy it and it's not making you all shivery shakey, Elizabeth!

Wishing everyone lots of creative fun!

a swap for all seasons no. nine - what I received from my partner

We've finished number nine at A Swap For All Seasons, can you believe it?! I sure can't!

Yesterday I received the sweetest sampler from my partner Elizabeth, at Tales From The Pond. So darling, I love it so much Elizabeth! Thank you bunches, it was a pleasure to meet you and be your partner.

Elizabeth wrapped everything up so charmingly in the colors of Fall, made me smile. (Oh how I wish it were Fall here in Los Angeles - I can't remember when it wasn't hot, it's been hot for so long here.)

Hope you're having lots of fun out there crafting and stitching! 

a swap for all seasons no. nine - what I made for my partner

Number nine sampler completed and received in A Swap For All Seasons, only three more to go now.

Dear Debbie, of Kitten Creates, was my partner to create something for this time around. Debbie loves to sew and quilt and I had found this fun fabric with a notions theme and thought it might be something she would enjoy.

And talk about serendipity and convergence of craft supply hoarding LOL! I found the fun vintage graphic for the card in a 1938 issue of "Home Arts Needlecraft" magazine I picked up several years ago and I found I had a vintage pack of rick rack and made a copy of the magazine graphic and rick rack label to use - both blues matching perfectly, like they were meant to be together. YIPPIE!

It's been a pleasure being your partner Debbie, I had so much fun making you a sampler!

Happy Stitching!

a swap for all seasons no. eight - what I received from my partner

Can't believe we've completed eight rounds of our mini samplers in A Swap For All Seasons now! So much fun and so much delicious creative Happy Mail. 

Yesterday I received my sampler from my lovely partner, Jan, of Jan's Arty Junk. So charming! I love it so much Jan. I adore house images and Jan made it even more special and dear, by adding our address numbers to the wee hoosies. Made me giggle out loud, so very sweet. Thank you so much Jan!

I've begun number nine for my partner, so there'll be more to share hopefully soon.

Wishing you very happy remaining days of summer and a lovely long holiday weekend!

a swap for all seasons no. eight - what I made for my partner

 

Time is surely flying! Can hardly believe we've completed our eighth sampler in A Swap For All Seasons! Two thirds down now, one third remaining.

I made my eighth sampler for Linda, our swap creator and hostess.  I knew Linda enjoys vintage fabrics and images and combined that with a vintage embroidered doily I had in my stash. 

It was such fun to be your partner and make a sampler for you Linda!

Happy stitching everyone!

a swap for all seasons no. seven - what I made for my partner

 

ACK! Terrible photos, I could kick myself. I took these with my iPad and forgot to take some ("slightly") better ones with my camera (I'm monumentally camera challenged). sniffle sniffle. 

My partner in A Swap For All Seasons for July was darling Jan, of Jan's Arty Junk. I always need a theme to get going and July and summer = the beach, to this Southern California native. 

It was such fun to meet you Jan and make a sampler for you!

This swap is such a delight - meeting all these lovely kindred crafty souls and (surviving LOL) the challenge of thinking of something new each month and trying new things. So inspiring.

Wishing you new crafty adventures!

seven of twelve

Seven of twelve, mini fabric samplers now received in A Swap For All Seasons.  Loving this group of creative ladies, inspiring, supportive, kind and this fun swap. It's a real challenge for me every month to come up with an idea but so very rewarding. 

Thank you again Linda, for hosting this swap. Thank you Joyce, Marti, Linda F., Joy, May, Sherry and Patty for my darling "seven of twelve". Excitedly awaiting eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve!

a swap for all seasons no. 7 - what I received from my partner

Yippie! I received my seventh mini sampler in yesterdays mail. WOOHOO! Adorable Patty in Oz, made me a fun and festive and celebratory sampler. Isn't it darling?! Thank you so very much Patty, it was such a pleasure to meet you and be your partner.  I love it and will treasure it.

Thank you again so much Linda for creating and hosting, A Swap For All Seasons. What a wonderful group of kind, creative and inspiring women you've gathered together. I know I will count this as one of my most favorite experiences.

Happy crafty weekend and good gosh, here comes August! How did that happen?! 

happy fourth of july

Wishing you a very Happy 4th of July weekend!

a swap for all seasons no. six - what I made for my partner

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Are you doing something fun this year? We're having our usual stay-cation. I'm busy continuing my decluttering project and organizing my craft room and crafting. 

A Swap For All Seasons has reached it's midway point, six samplers completed and six more to create. Plug your ears if you don't want to hear me repeating myself on how much fun this swap is! SO MUCH FUN! LOL. Thank you again Linda for inviting me to join in and being such a great Hostess.

Dear May, of May's Happy Daze, has received her sampler I made for her. I decided on a sewing theme for May since she loves to sew. I loved hunting for graphics to use - the vintage button card image (and scissor label image too) was a perfect find on The Graphics Fairy, inspiring my color choices for the sampler. 

 

I had a wonderful time being your partner May, such a pleasure to meet you!

Hope this week finds everyone in their happy place, sewing, crafting, thrifting!

i'm a grand-auntie!

WOOHOO! Jumping up and down with happiness over here. My niece had her baby nine days early and as of yesterday afternoon, I'm a GrandAuntie! Yippie yippie!

To add a tiny bit more excitement to the day, he was born on my mom's (my nieces grandma) birthday - she would have been 94 years old yesterday ... AND ... he was also born at exactly the same time as my mom was born 94 years ago!!!  Amazing! I know it sounds mondo silly but I sort of feel my brother and mom were participating in this crazy coincidence from up above ... so very sad that they aren't here to be part of welcoming their grandson and great grandson into the world.

 

Happy Wednesday and Happy Summer to you! 

my first pocket letter pal has received her letter woohoo!

Yay! My first very pocket letter for my pocket letter pal, Jill, finally arrived at its destination WOOHOO! I wasn't sure what to make but then I remembered that Jill loves vintage stuff and pocket letters are about getting Happy Mail in your mailbox, so I combined vintage images about letter writing with crafty supplies. Figuring out 18 pockets turned out to be a bit more of a creative challenge than I expected LOL but it was lots of fun to make! 

Wishing you lots of crafty fun!