Yesterday was my grammar exam at uni and it was more like a war than a test. There was past participle punches, split infinitive inciters and dependent clause karate chops. I'd been stewing about this one for many weeks now.

So it was a lovely surprise to find this package on my doorstep yesterday morning - it's from the lovely Alli_Lucy who has definitely kindled a love in me for the reclaimed sweater!





( Firstly, apologies for the bad photo. My camera and I aren't on speaking terms anymore because it just wouldn't cooperate with me. Also apologies for me not modelling it personally - my face still looks like I took on half a drunken nightclub )

This is the item I requested for our swap (we asked for one thing each and included two surprises) and let me tell you... it was really hard to wait! But I'm glad I did because this little cardy is perfect! I wear a lot of blues and I'm nearly always in jeans so this is perfect to toss on in the kind of weather we have right now where it's warm, cold, warm, cold and I can pair it with a tee to look casual, or with a nice lacey top if I'm going out. I wore it to my exam and I got a lot of compliments! And between you and me... I think it was a good luck charm too.

I'm not sure which detail I love most... the blue lace, the doily pin, the velvet ribbon or the satin ribbon just inside the front like a little blue secret.





( A better photo colour-wise, cardy, albeit blurry. Maggie thinks it's so cute she passed clean out! )



Surprise gift number one:




A two cheeses framed embroidery! I literally squealed when I pulled this out! Her stitches are so tiny and perfect, it's lke painting with thread. Framing an embroidered scene like a painting has been a project I've had to keep shifting further back and back on my to-do list, so I'm happy now that I have one of my own!



Surprise gift number two:




Gorgeous handmade tea-towels. These suit my kitchen perfectly but they're far too nice to actually wipe my hands on! So I'll be using them on didplay, making my other tea-towels all jealous.


Thank you Alli for such a wonderful hoard of presents! And such good timing too!

I've done a few swaps lately where I've carved my swap partner's logo or banner image into a stamp for them.

I think they'd be good for letterheads, invoices, on the back of hand-made cards or thank you notes, or on bag linings (or as quilt labels!)

They're very fiddly to do - text is not so fun to carve! - but I like how they came out!




This one is about 5" long and 2" tall of her etsy banner, with two little wee stamps just because!

( here is a shot of some sticker dots I made with the wee bee stamp:) )








And this one is about 3"x3" of a friend's etsy logo with text around - designed so it could be printed as a quilt label.



I'm always looking for feedback, so tell me what you think! (please )

~Holly
Two Cheese Please

G'day there!

I'm brand new to craftster but I'm a very established stamp-carving addict!

Just recently I carved this little set of fruit stamps for a personal swap over on www.swap-bot.com (I'm also a self-confessed swap addict!), and I thought I'd share because they just came out so well! I'm so happy! I might have to make a set for myself, too

A group shot of all the guys (and two girls!):

Peter Pear
Lenny Lemon-Lime
Otis Orange / Annika Apple
Susan Strawberry
Tony Tomato

First you stamp the solid colour, then the character on top.

The great thing about this set is that depending on what colour ink you use, you could stamp an orange, or perhaps a juicy red apple. Or do you prefer shiny green apples? I'm torn because I love granny smith, but I also love fuji and other sweet crisp red apples!

*   *   *

This is Lenny Lemon!

Well, I didn't have a yellow stamp pad so I guess really he's Lenny Lime.

*   *   *

This is Peter Pear!

( And you can see Lenny Lemon peeking around in the background! He's a bit of a busy-body! )

Stamped with the same base as Susan Strawberry, tipped upside down because poor Peter is bottom-heavy.

*   *   *

Please meet Otis Orange!

Stamped with the same face as Annika apple, with a different base colour.

( And there's Lenny Lemon peeking about again! )

*   *   *

This is Susan Strawberry!

Stamped with the same base as Peter Pear, tipped upside down because Susan has a slinky slender waist but a big head ( but don't tell her that! )

*   *   *

Tony Tomato, enchanté!

Stamped with the same base as both Annika Apple and Otis Orange - what a versitile trio!

*   *   *

And lastly, here's Annika apple!

Stamped with the same face as Otis Orange, with a different base colour. I didn't get a photo of her with her base stamp but I'm sure you get the idea by now!

*   *   *

Phew!

Take a bow guys..

( Okay, so I think I had a little too much fun making and playing with these guys but all-in-all I think they turned out pretty cute! )

Incidentally this is also my very first Craftster post so I really hope I'm doing the right thing!

I made these guys recently, my first real foray into charm making, and although it's slow-going for me right now I had a lot of fun!





I bravely (foolishly?) titled this shot August's Charms because I had the idea that I could bring out a whole new set of charms each month, like a series.

Not sure if I'll actually be able to or not, but it's a good challenge!

From top-left to bottom-right:

* Two apples, one with a worm.

* Maxwell the Penguin

* Yoshi eggs (navy blue, green, red, aqua, yellow, magenta)

* The apple again. Two Cheese Please apples are the apples hamsters prefer.

* Yoshi eggs again.

* Donuts (chocolate swirl, white iced with sprinkles, and... pink-dot flavour, which may or may not be a legitimate flavour)



And I yesterday finished a commission for a pair of puffins, which until I seriously googled some photos only had a passing understanding of just how cute these birds are! I wish we had them down here..







*wark wark wark!*

(That's totally the noise that puffins make. I don't care if it's not, because that's the noise I was making them make when I was playing with them before I mailed them off!)


Okay so I hope I posted this okay and followed all the rules, and I hope everyone likes my first charms!