sneak peek...

I've been working on a few gifts for people, and since they haven't been mailed yet, I can't post the full picture, but here's a taste of what's been keeping me busy...

More to come...

obsessed!

In my blog wanderings I've stumbled across many a post about Japanese Craft Books. I want one, or twenty, if you must know the truth. They have beautiful pictures, and although they are written completly in Japanese, it seems as if the illustrations are enough... enough to produce something lovely. So, here's the book I'm hunting for at the moment...


... and when I say hunting, I really mean it. I have emailed every Japanese bookstore I can find on the Internet asking them if they have it, or could get it. It's out of print, that's the problem. The other problem is that I did find it one place, but it's in Japan and for whatever reason they won't ship it to the US. Man! Why must it be so complicated? And so... I continue to hunt.

we love our teachers!!!

Last week was teacher appreciation week at school, so we sent a little something to each of the kids teachers. Cute little zippered bags.






And of course we had to put something yummy inside... chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, and snickerdoodles with toffee chips and chocolate chips, mmm!





The finished product. Didn't they turn out cute!






We do love our teachers!

BTRS swap

This post should probably have come before the one of me receiving my bag from the swap, but oh well. Here's the bag that I sent to my swap partner...




She commented on her blog that the colors and especially the stripes in the pleats reminded her of Good n' Plenty candy - I hadn't thought of that, but she's right! There's the pocket.



I used Timetex in the bottom for good support, but used the flannel for the inner support like the patter suggested. To make it again, I would use canvas or flusible fleece, something a little more stiff, to provide more shape to the bag - it's such a large one. it was a fun pattern to make though. Can't wait for our next swap!

gloria!

I got a package today...

Don't you just love getting mail, especially when in the package form?! Lets see, who is this from?

This is the part where I totally started freaking out, jumping up and down, screaming like a banshee.

Before even opening the box I knew what was inside. You see, I frequently read her blog, and a few days ago she had posted pictures of the bag she had finished for the BTRSswap. I knew that whoever got that bag was so lucky, but also realized with all the ladies that entered the swap, my chances were slim to none for getting THAT bag... but a girl can dream! Anyway, seeing this return address label, I knew that I had won, and won big! But enough rambling, I'll let you see for yourself...

Isn't this exciting!

And there she is, in all glory... which is fitting by the way since her name is Gloria. Be sure to notice the cute key fob attached to the key ring. It's all so lovely!

As part of the swap we were supposed to send one of our favorite summertime desert recipes. So she sent me a recipe for Cheesecake Supreme, with a note that this is the absolute best recipe for cheesecake that she's ever had. Can't wait to try it. I'll post the recipe after I've given it a whirl. So, this recipe couldn't be more perfect either, I LOVE cheesecake!!!

Thanks for all of this Kris... you're my new best friend!