here is my gorgeous felt merit badge from our kind angel pseudo_pix   sorry for the delay, everybody, work this weekend was fierce...




it's my THIRD blue-haired librarian badge! i think i'm going to attach them to a hoop, or maybe my book bag....so many options   (my ukulele badge has been turned into a zipper pull for my uke case, btw- i'll have to post pictures later!)
even though i remember listing something like 'teaching myself to write in japanese' as one of my achievements, i only really know katakana and hiragana, with maybe about 50-75 kanji. so i can't read what pseudo_pix has embroidered on my badge, to my great shame   maybe she can fill us all in?


that, craftsters, marks the end of this swap for me- i've finally received All my badges! thank you so much to everyone involved  xxxxx round two?  



eta: not sure what that shadow is in the picture- maybe a looming giant robot?

here's my badge from Cindibee- the second that i've been awarded for being a blue-haired librarian 

i love the checkered fabric, it's very rockabilly  and how did you know i have a pair of red cat's eye glasses, Cindibee?!



close-up on those gorgeous embroidered glasses-




i'm so lucky to have received such a stylish badge- i think i'm going to have to take both my library-themed badges into work sometime soon to show them off  thank you, Cindibee! now i'm just waiting on my angel badge 

Here's my loot from Aidenromantic  She crafted or bought something for all of the pokemon I listed  and I love everything!

First up are the matchboxes that Aidenromantic painted- squirtle is purple  and mijimaru (the water starter pokemon in the as-yet-unreleased pokemon black and white games) is painted on black. I Always start with water types 



I think i'm going to fill the matchboxes with nautical-themed whimsies and turn them into shrines  although they make super-cute trinket boxes by themselves...and it seems that they're already home to more than a few little residents 



lickitung! who remembers pokemon stadium on the N64, with the sushi minigame? these guys are the definition of OM NOM NOM  aidenromantic painted the yellow one herself- she says that she spent hours on each figure and it really shows, she's done a beautiful job!



Slakoth! my favourite real-world animal is the two-toed sloth (i'm being taken to the zoo by my wonderful fiancé tomorrow, in fact, and we're both praying for good weather so the sloths come out of their enclosure!) so slakoth was always going to be my favourite pokemon  i think i'm going to give one pink and one original to my fiancé, and keep the other two (everyone go awwww...) if i were allowed to, i'd be using them as wedding cake toppers 



Snubble and Granbull- because i've always wanted a bulldog puppy, but mum and dad said no, and bought me a gameboy instead! where did you find all of these awesome toys, aidenromantic? i might actually be best not to tell me, i already own way too much cute japanese stuff 

a snorlax-sized thank you to my awesome partner, and our organiser! hopefully the package i sent will arrive safely soon....in the meantime, GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL

i received my package from shadowbox midway through last week- sorry it's taken me so long to post pictures,when i'm working 6 day weeks i tend to spend my time off sleeping   

anyway  i got seriously spoiled- i opted to leave out non-crafted extras this time around as the postage was going to be huuuuge  but shadowbox very kindly sent me two huge bags of candy- hersheys, which is like gold over here in the UK, and starburst, which we have, but not in cherry flavour! i also got some pocky, which i'm saving till the next time i watch a miyazaki movie (or at least until my willpower cracks  ) and a lovely forest green photo frame which i'm going to have to find the time to cover in soot sprites!



here is the crafted awesomeness  a painted white totoro pendant, which satisfies my love of huge and unusual jewellry...




and DS case- i absolutely love the vintage-y fabric and lace, and was desperately in need of something new to store my games in!



next up was this pouch (currently storing my train tickets!) in the same luscious green as the photo frame, with a SPARKLY soot sprite! i think i might be the first swapper to get a soot sprite that sparkles 



(you can see it pretty well in the 'group shot', so i've just posted the close-up here so as not to spam the page)

now, prepare to wist, folks...



handpainted totoro shoes (the font is *perfect*, i wish i had shadowbox's skills!)

and TOTORO EARS!!!!!!!!!! 



i'm going to have to get an action shot of these in use sometime soon 

thank you so much, shadowbox! and thanks to our awesome organisational team- this has been a wonderful swap and i cannot wait for another round!

it was kind of hard to photograph the badge i sent to ShesAZombie, but here's my attempt- i made her a badge to celebrate the fact that she can do perfect victory rolls in her hair, a skill i'm VERY jealous of!!



i used a sublime stitching embroidery pattern to make a hand mirror badge. the hair is embroidered with variegated thread that went from a coppery brown to dark red, and the mirror handle is metallic silver thread (man i hate that stuff!)

i hope ShesAZombie liked it, wherever she may be!

Here's the badge that Aneyhall made for me it's actually been a couple of days since i received it, so apologies for keeping y'all waiting!





this badge was awarded to me for being the first librarian in the whole of my county with turquoise coloured hair  Aneyhall included a real guide badge which rightly identifies me as a book lover  thanks, Aneyhall    I'm going to be quite sad after i receive my last two badges, i'm starting to like swaps where i get packages on more than one day   

Here's my awesome badge from Avocadoeldorado, celebrating my new skills on the ukulele!



the badge was sent attached to a card- how sweet is that?



and here is the ukulele itself in all its felt-y gorgeousness  my mum's first response was 'oooh, does it play?'  no, craftsters, sadly it does not. but i love it all the same  thanks, avocadoeldorado- i'm so proud of my first ever merit badge!

here are my pictures at last  apologies once again for the wait!!

here's all the glorious loot together...on my unmade bed 



i'll start with the biggest item for a change, i think  my partner took a gorgeous grey summer blazer and emblazoned it with a sweet embroidered hula girl and palm tree!



i don't want to swamp y'all with photos but couldn't resist including the thumbnails, monkey_girl's work is really amazing!







next up is a black passport holder (how did my partner know i desperately needed one of these?!) with the cutest cherries cross-stitched on in really beautiful colours   



the next items were hard to photograph (as everything is with my useless iphone camera!) but i think you might just be able to make out the ladybird/bugs on the cherry earrings  monkey_girl and i both sent each other cherry earrings *spooky twilight zone music* but the ones i sent were crocheted, and these are metal. i also received a nautical-themed charm bracelet, which has already been worn with the hawaiian blazer on a weekend trip to the park with friends from far away    i'm kind of sad i didn't get an action shot, although i photograph terribly and so usually hide from every camera i see!



crafty extras- nautical buttons (to be added to one of my 50s style dresses when i get the time) and diamanté transfers (no use for these yet, but aren't they fabulous ?!  )



girly extras- face masks and other goodies for pampering, all the way from monkey_girl's home in korea. i cannot wait to try the black sugar mask, but i'm saving it to use after my upcoming 6 day week at work!



and my favourite extras- somewhat comically named 'footwear strings' (that would be shoelaces, korean style  ) and a super cute and awesome macaroon keychain that monkey_girl made- i have got to teach myself how to make fake sweets, this one is already hanging off my pink and ruffle-covered little twin stars make up bag (the one single pink and girly thing i own!)




my partner in this swap really nailed my style  bring on the next round guys, i had a fantastic time crafting!

thank you! however, "practically" is definitely the operative word in this case it's very far from being perfect! i hadn't cross stitched since i was a kid, but i loved the silhouette pattern and figured that i would be fine since it was all one colour, and didn't have any complicated stitches...
aside from seriously underestimating how much time it would take (i stopped counting after about 9 1/2 hours, she's biiiig!)....well, take a look at the back!




i certainly know how to make a mess of things   ! cross stitch is definitely a craft i'm going to try again, though, it's so therapeutic!

I FINALLY SENT!

have a picture of my mini!Godric gatecrashing the family's world cup preparations to celebrate 



he's sitting in the beverage holder