My boot runneth over ...

... and so does my lounge room now, as my freight is home (well actually, four boxes are still in the boot of my car - I could only face bringing 5 of them up 3 floors today - the rest can wait)! My car is still living so far ... the RACV man jump-started my car yesterday, and the run to the Post Office charged the battery up enough to keep it going ... if it was dead again this morning I had to get a new battery, but luckily it's managed to last the distance and I got to the airport without any problems. The freight guys all had a good laugh at my car, and even made a special trip out of the building to see it ... hmmm. You see, my car is parked underneath a tree that has possums in it - and they must have had a field day while I was away, inviting all the possums in the neighbourhood over to play ... you see my car is now covered in possum poo and heaven knows what else haha. The motorway trip managed to dislodge a lot of it, but it still looks a disgrace - it will have to wait until I can get to a valet ... I think in this case it'll definitely be worth the expense to have someone else wash it haha. Now, on to stitchy stuff ...

My poor postman had a bit of a workout yesterday when I went to the Post Office - he had to carry my parcels out with both arms ... and it totally filled one of my shopping bags. There were a few items that I was expecting, but there were also some surprises in there - all I can say is "WOW!!" I won't overpower today's post with oodles of piccies, but I'll post a couple, with more to follow later. Here's the list of goodies that came:

• Options in Hardanger Group Correspondence Course (through CyberStitchers branch of the EGA)
• Melanie's Exchange from Jenna
• Biscornu Exchange from Melissa and Danielle
• Goodie parcel from Nancy
• Goodie parcel from Cathy
• Monthly Mystery Bits from SB&B
• Parcels from SB&B
• Eventide needleroll chart from Ebay win
• Threads from Village Mountain Stitchery sale
• Finishing kits from Jackie du Plessis (Strawberries So Faire and Quaker needleroll)

The piccies I'll share today are of my exchanges that I received from the SBEBB - then tomorrow I'll post the piccies of my goodies from Nancy and Cathy.

The first one is my Melanie's Exchange from Jenna ... it's a freebie design by Martina Weber of Chatelaine fame, and it's absolutely exquisite - the finishing and stitching is amazing, and I totally adore it! It's currently sitting on a 'plate stand' I'd had sitting around just waiting for something to go in it ... and it's sitting by my blue vase with sunflowers, right opposite where I sit and stitch, so I can see it every night :) And along with the exchange piece I also got spoilt rotten with a couple of pieces of fabbie (what a scrummy blue!), some makeup and nail clippers (also in yummy blue - you know me very well, Jenna! haha), and a lovely card, as well as the exchange leftovers ... I just love everything!


Blogger is giving me the "proverbials", because it won't upload the piccies, so I've had to resort to Photobucket, and can't work out how to add links to the photos for the main photos - if you want to see the larger piccie of the photos click on the links ... photo 1 here, and photo 2 here.

The next photos are of my Biscornu Exchange - unfortunately my exchange partner wasn't able to stitch something for me so Melissa and Danielle came to the rescue and kindly sent some exchange pieces. Melissa stitched a beautiful biscornu - isn't it adorable? I just love the design used, and the buttons are the most perfect finishing touch - you did a great job, Melissa - thanks so much for stitching a biscornu for me, that was really sweet :) And Danielle sent me a parcel of goodies too - full of amazing little treats! There is the new chart by Just Nan called Mermaid Heart, along with the embellishments and charm for it (and it's going to be a great companion piece to Beach Roses, that I just received from SB&B!) - that would have been plenty all on its own, but there is also a packet of needles, some Needle Necessities flosses, and some gorgeous little stationery pads (I adore stationery!) ... I just love everything in there. Thanks also to you, Danielle, for putting a little goodie parcel together on top of your own exchange commitments - it was very sweet of you, and the thought is much appreciated :)



And again, the photo links are following - photo 1 here, photo 2 here, and photo 3 here.

Both the exchanges were great fun - and it definitely won't be the last time I participate ... in fact, I'm about to commit myself to the Redwork one on the SBEBB, and waiting for the Hardanger one (hopefully much later haha), plus I'm already signed up for the Needleroll exchange on Renee's Robin's Nest BB.

Talking of Hardanger ... one of the other parcels I received is for a hardanger correspondence course (Options in Hardanger - click on the link for the piccie) by Dale Sokolow - but first I want to complete the Beginner's Hardanger (and click again) class by Marion Scoular. I signed up for the Beginner's one just before I moved to Melbourne, but my less-than-perfect living conditions when I got here meant no stitching done for almost 8 months, so it got put to one side ... I had the opportunity to take one class for reduced costs through CyberStitchers branch of the EGA this year, so I chose the Options in Hardanger class - I won't have time to stitch it for evaluation, but it will be something to pick up in the future and stitch, and will hopefully be a good resource.

OK, I suppose I've waffled on enough for now, so I'll just quickly answer a couple of questions that have been asked in the comments recently, then I'll post again tomorrow with an update of the postal goodies :)

For Margaret and Andie - funnily enough, I nearly got to the South Island ... I had staff tickets for Mum and I to fly down to then drive to Nelson to see my best friend, but we ran out of time to fit it in - maybe on the next trip over I'll have to make it a compulsory stop :)

For Carin - the Pacific Pohutukawa chart is by Jen's Jems (Jennifer Griffin), a New Zealand designer. You can buy her designs from Nancy's Embroidery Shop in Wellington :) They don't have a great deal on display on their website, but you could always email them to see what designs they have in stock. Hope that helps :)

For moomoo - unfortunately the design for the biscornu is one that I put together myself. The blackwork part is from an Indigo Rose online freebie that is still on the Caron Collection website - the mosaic border I just made up myself - and the beaded border is from an old Stitcher's World magazine. I can help you with the thread colour, though - it's an Anchor variegated thread, number 1349 ... just love those colours! Sorry I can't be more help with that one.

One quick last comment ... I ate myself silly with a big plate of feijoas every couple of days at home, but now I have my own version here so I don't have to miss them too much - I bought a bottle of Feijoa Vodka in duty free teehee ... it really really smells like the real thing, and is divine with 'lemon, lime & bitters' ... yummo - doesn't go too well with stitching though ;P

Back to work tomorrow - civilised hours, though ... 8am starts for 3 days - then 4 days of 5am starts yuk! ;P