I bought one of Sally's beautiful pin + boards - ooh, it is great!

When she opened her shoppe, I stopped by as a browser.  I saw this and quickly became a purchaser!  You know I am a sucker for green and, well, this is the perfect green.  It's the same color as my kitchen and I adore those yellow birds peeking out of the trees.   Sally is one talented lady so I knew I was buying something special.  Her attention to detail is amazing - it is extremely well constructed.  And she threw some extra goodies in the box as well.

Aren't these stickers cute?

Now that I have shown you all my gift to myself, time to get sewing.  I have many gifts to make!

...but a lot of swapping!  Let me tell you, I love good mail!

The box from my mellow + yellow swap partner, Amy, has been here unopened for over a week.  I finally got my swap package off to her on Tuesday.  Once that was done, I ripped open the box and found this:

Isn't it great?  My very own ice cream bowl and spoon!  I know two little girls that would love to get their mitts on this, but, no way.  This one is for me.  The color is a wonderful turquoise topped off by a lime green daisy.  My two favorite colors together again.  Thanks Amy!  It's wonderful.  And thank you, Marta, for organizing this swap.

I am sure tomorrow's mail will be of the ho hum, ordinary variety.  Too bad - I like the extraordinary kind much better.

...for Kirsty's vintage button swap package to get here from Australia.  Only 7 days!  That amazes me.

What also amazed me is the supreme goodness in the package.  Take a look:

Can you believe all that yummy stuff?  And the colors...greens and aquas...swoon!

I love this sweet pincushion with the layered yo-yo's.  It is sitting on a beautiful tiffany blue tray cloth.

See this vintage green ric rac (eek!) and a moo card, too?  I am so lucky!

Saving the best for last.....the buttons!  If pressed, I would have to say the big green flower is my favorite.  Or maybe the green one that is on the envelope.  Or maybe the white oval-y one.  OK, I can't pick.  They are all so fabulous!

Thank you Kirsty from the bottom of my heart!  Your package made my day!

I don't have much today.  I am making progress on the Clementine Shawlette and the first of Jane's socks.  That's about all the crafting I have done.  I took a trip to the fabric store and bought nothing.  Spent some time browsing the yarn store and bought nothing.  Mailorder arrived.  So did my necklace from Mood Swing.  It is wonderful.  Really, really wonderful.  Looking forward to a family dinner and some sewing tomorrow.

All in all, not bad for a hump day.

Look what arrived in the mail for me!  My very own bolt of Heather Bailey's Freshcut.  Twelve glorious yards.  I am going to use it for curtains and some pillows in my guest room.  The scraps will go into a quilt, I hope.  Some combination of this and this.  At least, that is what I have in my mind.  And it'll have to stay in my mind while I finish up some other projects.  That's okay.  I am pretty happy just looking at it and imagining all the possibilities.

What are you dreaming about making?

Have you visited Sulu-Design lately?  If not, you should. Susan makes beautiful jewelry that she sells in her etsy store.  She has an ongoing series of Original Intent posts where she shows a photograph that she took and then the earrings that were inspired by it.  Not only is the jewelry stunning, her photographs are spectacular.  My favorite Original Intent post can be seen here.  I like everything about the inspiration photo, but I especially liked the earrings.  What's a girl to do?  You got it - I bought them.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the padded envelope and found not one, but two wrapped packages.

Here's what was inside:

The earrings I ordered are on the left and my little gift is on the right.  I adore them!  Thank you Susan!  You shouldn't have (but I am really glad you did!)

P.S.  In case you are wondering, the ankle is a bit better.  I was able to walk today, but am still taking it easy.

I hurt my neck - too much intense knitting is my guess.  Things are at a bit of a standstill over here so I thought I would take the time to thank a couple of wonderful blogging pals for some mail candy I have received in the last couple of weeks.  Follow the links to see.

Stephanie of A Little Deer is an incredibly talented gal.  She sent me this amazing painting.  There are houses.  On a hill.  I love it!  Thank you Stephanie!

This Vintage Chica, Eren, sent me a cool vintage coverlet that I had admired.  I don't know what I am going to do with it yet, but I will make something with it.  She also sent me some very cool vintage napkins (sorry no pics) and a great book   It was extremely generous of her - thanks Eren!

In exchange for the lovely buckets Meg made for me, I sent her some handmade goodies:

a patchwork belt

and a knitted bag.

I am going to try to take it easy and resist the urge to finish the socks in the hopes that my neck/shoulder will heal.  Have a great weekend and don't forget to "spring forward" on Sunday.

Way back in the beginning of February, the artsy-crafty babe herself sent me this adorable patchwork pouch.

As the weather has been getting nicer, this pouch is seeing lots of use.  It is perfect for a bit of cash, drivers license, lipstick and keys - and it fits in my coat pocket!   Perfect for springtime walks.  Thanks Beki!   I love it!

And along the same heart-shaped lines, here is my Tie One On apron for January/February.

When I made Jane's apron, I promised Kate that I would make her one too, so this is for her.  It's a mini-version of the Adorn Tea Party apron (full size pattern here).  Honestly, I am not too happy with it.  I find it a bit, um, boring.  I would have liked to use some other print on the waist/sash and neck ties, but when a five year-old wants all pink, she gets all pink.  So there, an all pink apron with a conversation heart pocket.  Cupcake...appropriate for the kitchen and a term of endearment for my littlest valentine.

And speaking of cupcakes - check these out.  I want one now.