Advent Swap has arrived...a Win...Stitchers Angel has arrived...and 2 very special little people!!!

Hello to all my lovely Friends out there in Blogland...

The weather here on the Coast has been absolutely beautiful this week...warm sunny days with a few beach walks thrown in...I reckon it's time to hit that water soon!!!

To start the week off I recieved a parcel from my Partner Carol...

this parcel is part of the Advent Swap hosted by Fiona in conjunction with Jo ...

My goodies are all in here...numbered from 1-24...one gift a day to be opened up till 25th December...and I am being very good and just staring at this box...and not opening it...

And Hubby is amazed it is still sitting there unopened!!!

(I think he's secretly on guard!!!)
Thank you so much Carol...I am eagerly awaiting to delve into these gifts come December!!!

And Carol ...your Advent gifts are on their way to you in this bag!!!
Thank you so much to Fiona and Jo for organizing this Advent Swap...what fun it has been!!!

Then the next day...I received another package...with none other than our own Russel Crowe on the stamps!!!
This one a giveaway win over at Miss Nance's !!!

All wrapped up in this fat quarter with a scrapbooked card...

were these 'vintage' d'oyleys!!!

Thank you so much Gail for hosting this fun giveaway!!!
Gail and I hope to meet each other one day as she lives not too far away from me!!!

But wait...there's more!!!
2 days later another parcel...this one from my Stitchers Angel...Sigrid, all the way from Germany!!!

My Angel gifts all wrapped...and ready to be opened...

all in reversible paper too...I haven't seen that before!!!

A little Advent Calendar card along with a postcard!!!

And inside...a journal cover with a rose stitchery on the front...

a little bag...some lotion...and the biggest surprise...A Harry Potter calendar for 2010!!!
Oh Sigrid...how excited was I to see all this!!!

Plus a lovely little zippered case...rose fabric and threads!!!
The theme for this Swap was roses...how beautiful is that!!!
Sigrid has a wonderful Harry Potter quilt on her blog...if you get a chance and you are a Harry Potter fan hop on over and take a look...you won't be disappointed!!!
Oh Sigrid...these are the first swap gifts I have received...
they are just so gorgeous...you have lovely small stitches!!!

I am well and truly blown away by your generosity...and your thoughtfulness and will always treasure my first Stitcher's Angel Swap gifts!!!
Thank you so very very much dear Stitchers Angel Sigrid...Danke Schon (hope that's right)!!!
And a huge thank you to Helen (Mother Angel) for organizing this swap so Stitchers all over the world could take part in this!!!

Last weekend we looked after these 2 precious little Cherubs...

while their Mum put on these very pretty pink shoes and went off to a Wedding!!!

What a very special week it has been!!!

And to finish off as we head off into the weekend...

Giving whether it be time, labour, affection,

advice, gifts, or whatever, is one of life's greatest pleasures.

~Rebecca Russell, b. 1905...American Writer~

Stitcher's Angel Gifts have been sent...and Received!!!

This year I participated in the Stitcher's Angel project run by Helen

I was quite nervous about this my first swap...after deliberating should I...or shouldn't I...due to my course and the role of caring...I finally decided Just Do It!!!

These are the gifties all wrapped up...

little drawstring bag...needlecase...and a pincushion...
with a couple of fat quarters and some floss!!!

These have safely arrived in their new home at Marian's

If you get a chance hop on over to Marian's...

she handweaves on a loom using traditional weaving techniques using hand dyed Australian yarn with specialty yarns eg. silk, mohair, lycra, fine copper wire amongst other yarns.

I have thoroughly enjoyed making these items for you Marian...

and Thank You Helen for bringing Stitcher's the world all over together!!!


Helen at the moment is having a giveaway of these 2 patterns...

the one above is Tagged and Bagged...

and this one is Belle of the Ball!!!

Have a lovely week Friends...and it's so good to see the warm weather back with us again...

I can see plenty of Salty Blue Days ahead!!!

Halloween...and some Blood Sucking Brownies...and Stitchers Angel all set to go!!!

Oh WOW!!! How excited am I...I have won a Blog Banner...a very special Halloween one...

from Annabelle !!!

Annabelle had a little competition on her Blog to win this Banner...answer a few questions...as simple as that!!!

If you get a chance hop on over to visit Annabelle...a wonderful Digital Artist...with a bit of poetry added...exploring the world of Edgar Allan Poe and the likes...and Vampires!!!

A wonderful Blog to visit!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH DEAR ANNABELLE...I love my new Banner...and so look forward to next Halloween!!!

For now I think I'll keep it up for a little while to admire it!!!

Meanwhile...on Halloween...seems so long ago now...I put our 2 Owls together with a slice of Blood Sucking Brownie!!!

Couldn't let the evening go by without Harry's appearance...Thank you Vicki!!!

'Snapped' coming down the stairs with not 1 but 2 Wands LOL and our very special Harry Potter Sorting Hat...all the way from California...from Vicki
Vicki has a very special bit'oearth on the Coast over there...and wow, you should check out her pumpkins...and have a guess as to the weight of one...it sure is a whopper!!!

JoJo's hat for the evening!!!

We had 2 lots of trick-or-treaters...the first was a pair of little boys with a shopping bag full of treats...and here is the 2nd lot...2 young Mums with their little brood digging in to the treats!!!

With the trick-or-treaters!!!

Chocolate Bars and lollies!!!

'Blood Sucking Brownie'...

very delicious and this recipe will be used all year round here...Summer and Winter!!!
Served with raspberries and strawberry topping...topped with ice cream...would do just as well with cream...or both...any Season!!!

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens...latest issue and made by Fast Ed...

With me back at classes the weeks are flying by but I have finally managed to parcel my goodies off to my Stitchers Angel partner...these should arrive any day now!!!

Stitchers Angel is run by Helen annually...whereby Stitchers put their name in to get a Secret Partner...followed by free Stitchery patterns...pick 3 and away you go!!!

You stitch for somebody...and you get 3 projects back from a Secret Angel!!!

A great idea Helen...and Thank You for enabling Stitchers the world over to come together!!!

If you celebrated Halloween/All Hallowe's Eve/Samhain this year...I hope you had a 'spooky' great time with lots of treats!!!

Have a great week everyone...Dzintra