A Celebration Post ... A year ago today ...

... Our wedding ...

... It was sunnier and warmer then ...

Thanks for being here.

Love Katie

xxx

Huge swap parcel round up...

As you probably have noticed by now, I love swaps. I love gathering together and making goodies that I think my partners will like, and must also be said that there is nothing  more exciting than receiving a special parcel full of  surprises! Every time it feels like Christmas.

I have been busy lately with lots of lovely swaps and have received lots of beautiful things.

Here goes ...



The God Save the Queen Swap hosted by Lynda at Hookin' With Laalaa

I was partnered with the lovely Heather at The Patchwork Heart.
Heather is extremely talented, she makes such beautiful gifts and goodies, pop over and say Hi if you've not met Heather before, she's well worth a visit!

Here is what I received ...

... All beautifully wrapped in shining red and blue wrap, with ribbons and bows.
Heather's handmade bunting, rag wreath and a pretty flower pin badge.
Some yummy chocs (they didn't even make the picture..oops), a union jack memo pad, pack of bunting/UJ themed cards, UJ napkins (which we used for our jubilee picnic) and Official emblem teatowels!!!

I was utterly spoilt by Heather and am extremely grateful. She put in so much effort. I can't thank her enough.

I sent ....

A handmade (although I confess not by me!) blue and white apron, my handmade notelets and gift tags, a tea party brooch (made by me), a tin of red/white/blue straws, bunting socks, jubilee stamp, UJ notebooks, some sweeties and a UJ card I made.

I really enjoyed this swap and Heather was such a lovely partner.

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Next up was the Pincushion swap hosted by Rach at House of Pinheiro

I was partnered with Jenny at The String Empire

Both Rach and Jenny have really inspiring blogs, go on... say Hello!

Here's what I sent ...

A crocheted strawberry pincushion (by me), colourful pins, a sewn card and a mini sewing set.

Wrapped in pink candy stripes.

And I received the cutest Watermelon pincushion from Jenny and a really lovely letter.

It's funny how we both decided to go for a fruity theme! Great minds think alike!

Thanks Jenny for being a lovely partner for this swap.

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And finally last but not least. I joined the "Free for all" Swap hosted by Beki.

I was partnered with sweet Rae at Felt By Rae.

Rae's is one of my favourite blogs and I have been lucky enough to be partnered with her before in a Afternoon Tea swap.

I thought I would have a good idea of what she liked. I hope I got it right!

I sent...

...

A cupcake recipe book and bun cases, some of my handmade notelets and gift tags, a crocheted lavender heart and handmade knitted brooch, a "mousey" sewing kit, iron on embroidered patches, a wind chime for Rae to decorate, some button earrings and ring I made, a Laura Ashley teddy and some sweeties.

All wrapped with a bit of a pink theme. 

Here is what I received ...

... I had mentioned to Rae that I had a wedding to go to soon and I knew she made awesome fasinators! Now I have one of my own! It's totally gorgeous, with feathers, netting, silver roses with pearls inside. I really love it , my photos don't do it justice, perhaps I'll have to model it for you!

I also received lots of bright, colourful yarn, some handy storage boxes for the craft room, bun cases, magnetic picture frames (what a great idea!), sweet treats, and a  Britian badge and snap cards (for my little monster!) 

How lucky am I?!?!?

Thank you Rae. xx

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Phew that was a biggy!

Be back soon.

P.S I will be closing the Jar Of Love Swap early, so if your interested, join up now before you miss out!

Love Katie xxxx

More "Wedding wears"

 A few more items I made for the wedding. Above is the guest book ...

 Ring pillow, cross stitched with our initials, the date and even little Windmills too!

 The invitations, I kept one as a keepsake

... and finally the sampler I stitched to display at the wedding reception. Done using cross stitch, blackwork and lots of little sparkly beads! Im an awful photographer so you can't seem to see the beads much, but I promise they are there! Katie xx

Wonderful Windmill Cake Topper

I can't take the credit for this one. This was made by my bridesmaid and best friend, Amanda. She made the cake at our wedding, the design was a total suprise. The cake was huge, beautiful and very tasty! We got married in a Windmill and this cake topper is the spitting image! She even constructed the sail so it would spin and placed our names, the date and the name "Cley Windmill" where we were married around the base. Made out of Fimo polymer clay, it will last forever and is a great keepsake. Thanks amanda!

Katie x

Wedding wears

 My husband and I got married last month. I had spent months making bits and pieces for the wedding. Above is one of the two bouquets, fabulous foam roses with pretty pearls and diamantes. This was the first time I came across foam roses... very impressed. As well as the bouquets I made buttons holes for the chaps and corsages for the mummies!

 These favours were crossed stitched front and back. the fronts contained the initials of the receiver and the back  was stitched with our names and the date of the wedding. They toke along time.. but I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

 My dad is amazingly talented, he loves "playing" with wood in his garage and he made these little dishes for us and favours for the male guests at the wedding. He burned in the names and date to make them lovely keep-sakes.

 I ran out of time to stitch more hearts for the children so came up with this idea of little boxes. Each box was stitched with the child's initials ans filled with yummy sweets. They had great fun filling their boxes with confetti and table sprinkles after the reception!

Joe and I spent a couple of evening making the confetti! We punched little shapes out of pretty papers. Alot of effort, but it did look lovely sprinkled over the ground!