excitement vs. guilt

i felt a little guilty opening my presents from jasmine when i had not sent her my gifts yet, but guilt was quickly replaced with excitement and i saw each of my gifts....adorable frames and recipe box...

an awesome watch....

or is it a cool bracelet....

it's both!

and the weird thing is i haven't worn a watch for about 5 years and i recently started shopping around for one but hadn't found one i liked....until now :)

Thank you, Thank you, Jasmine!

Becca the Prompt AND Amazing

Once again, I had an awesome swap partner! Becca never disappoints and I could not be more excited about my gifts! I've already received compliments on her work, and I love the way everything fits perfectly in our house. My package was delivered to piano lessons (thanks Victoria), but I waited to open it until later that evening, so I could bask in the moment without lots of little helpers. And don't you know that everything was even wrapped adorably.

I love the wreath!

The chalk rocks are such a fun idea. Becca said she has even used them for place cards. So clever!

I can't wait to sport my new headband. (Don't mind the serious look, I was concentrating on taking my own picture:)

This was my favorite! I love my family as pilgrims. Although, I think we all know who wears the headdress in our house.

I know this is blurry, but I just wanted everyone to see the dimension. Did I say that I loved this yet?

And a grateful tree,with leafs to write our blessings on. Again, so classy and clever!

Doesn't this tray look fabulous on my piano in the living room? So perfect!

Thanks a million Becca! I love, love, love everything you made for me. And if your lucky, you'll get your package before Christmas (oh wait, didn't I tell Jasmine something similar in the last swap?).

Getting there!!!

I am so excited for this swap! I keep coming up with the best ideas! Watch Out Cat! you are going to be thrillled!!!

It doesn't get any later than me!

I'm so glad I'm not the only slacker just now getting around to blogging about my book swap package :) Thank you Katie for all the cuteness. I love all my books.... and my treats, book mark and slippers.....

like many of you ~ I stuffed my mouth full of treats as soon as I opened my box. Needless to say that's why there are only 3 homemade carmel's in the picture. YUMMY! I still smile when I think of them :)

Could I be any later?!?!

So let me start by saying that this package came A LONG TIME AGO and it is all my fault that I haven't posted before this. I'd love to say that it's because I just had a baby and I'm too swamped to have done it any earlier but my new baby is practically perfect in every way and has never been even a moment's trouble so...I repeat, it is ALL MY FAULT! (You can go on maternity leave from life for a month, can't you?)



You guys are all going to be jealous when you see what I got. I first opened the package to see darling wrapping and black ribbon tied around everything. Just impossibly cute. Here are things I discovered in this package.

1. There is in fact something more comfortable than walking around barefoot (which is a surprise to the likes of us California natives) and if you don't believe me, get a pair of these uber fuzzy ballet slipper beauties. UN. BE. LIEVEABLE.

2. Just when you thought Cadbury couldn't get any better, someone puts roasted almonds and raisins in it. Mmmm. Heaven. (you may have noticed that the chocolate bar pictured above has a teensy crumple at the top because I certainly could not be expected to wait until I took the picture of my package's contents to sample it's bounty, now could I?)

3. Lindt Intense Mint. It's intense alright. Intensely chocolatey. Intensely rich. Intensely perfect.

4. Ghiradelli's chocolate peanut butter squares are my new favorite candy. My first time trying them and I'm sold. Reese's who?

5. If you thought you liked Sandra Boynton before because of her cute children's books, wait until you put your hands on Philadelphia Chickens. Oh goodness. Oh mercy. She could have sent the CD to this book and nothing else and I would have loved her to my dying day.

6. Genevieve has some kind of 6th sense to know that I love decadence in any form and that is why The Shell Seekers is SO the book for me. Rosamunde Pilcher's writing is extravagantly emotional, so much so that it almost feels like gluttony to read it...and I love it! It's my first experience with this author and it will not be my last.

7. I heart vintage book marks. The picture doesn't capture them at all but I spread them out all over the floor, taking my time to pick which one I'd mark the pages of my book with and then stacking the others in the order I'll use them for each book I read after. Is it wrong to be motivated to read more because your bookmark is so cute? I think not.

So if you're Genevieve's partner for this Thanksgiving swap, get ready for magic to arrive on your doorstep when that package gets there. I just love mine. I adored it. Thanks Genevieve!

okay ladies, here are your partners...

genevieve - emily
emily - genevieve

catherine - juliet
juliet - catherine

jasmine - jeanne
jeanne - jasmine

crystal - rebecca
rebecca - crystal

josephine - sarah
sarah - josephine

jen - brenda
brenda - jen

catherine - victoria
victoria - catherine

zennie - amy
amy - zennie

as usual, feel free to ask your partners any questions. let the crafting begin!!!

THANKSGIVING SWAP!!!

we are doing a quick turnaround on this one.

october 3rd is when the swap will be closed (you have to rsvp by then)


november 1st is the date your package needs to be sent off.

as before...please invite your friends that would love doing this (but only if they are as fabulous at packages as yourself)

let the fun begin... (aka spending hours on the internet for ideas, getting glue gun burns, staying up 'till 2 am to finish something, your kitchen table a mess for weeks, spending WAY too much at the craft store, changing your mind a million times on what craft to do, and your husband asking again and again what exactly the point of the swap is! i am EXCITED to start!!!)

so leave a comment here if you are in.