Valentine's Day ... A Day Late!!

Yes, yesterday was the one day a year that no one would blink if they saw a chubby cherub with wings, draped in a toga, running down the street with a bow and arrow! :0) I have to confess that we're not big on celebrating St Valentine's Day in the Meares' Madhouse ... it's not that long after Christmas, not too far in front of my birthday ... and also hits around the time we get the Council rates notice ... OUCH! The budget is NOT happy at this time of year!

 So ... we usually do something smaller ... I might cook a special meal, we might buy each other a packet of our fave lollies ... or we might both forget completely that it IS Valentine's Day! Tee! Hee! Hee! This year, I thought I'd like a little giftie, though, so I followed my blogging buddy Toni when she signed up for a Valentine's Day Swap with Sandy from Cookies and Cream. My partner, Sabine, was quick off the mark - after her SSCS parcel took over six weeks to arrive at its destination, she thought she'd better post early ... and her gift to me has been sitting on my desk ... taunting me with it's pretty red paper for weeks! :0) You all KNOW I'm not good at waiting for surprises, whether I'm giving them or getting them!! But ... I was a GOOD girl (stop giggling Lynda!!!) and I saved my gifts for yesterday. I had a bit of help ...

Annie-Rose Bear held on to the gifties for me to take a photo! :0) And when I finally got to undo that pretty red paper, inside I found ...

A set of six pretty appliqued coasters for the next time I have the gals over for a cuppa! :0) (And do you like how I laid them out for the photo in a heart shape?! Yes ... my Mother thinks I have far too much free time too! Tee! Hee! Hee!) A packet of cute red craft hearts and a sweet ceramic heart that looks like it's been hand-painted. THANK YOU, SABINE!!! I love my Valentine's Day gifties and feel very spoilt!! Thanks to Sandy for organising the swap, too.

And  my gift to Sabine ...

A little project bag made from a piece of fabric I've been waiting to make just the right thing from, with a heart pocket on the front ... perfect for popping embroidery scissors into; a matching tea wallet, a sweet ceramic heart button with roses on it, a cute ballerina bear notepad and a matching pink mini-sharpie pen. Hope you enjoy your gifties, too, Sabine! :0)

Now, when I joined the Valentine's Day swap, I really thought that might be the only giftie I'd get, but I was pleasantly wrong! :0) My Beloved Geek Boy came home yesterday with a sweet bunch of red roses and a mini pack of one of my fave chocolates ...

AAAAAWWWWWW!! Isn't he a SWEETIE!! :0) I think I'll keep him! The red scarf thingy was pulled up around the flowers, so I tied it around the vase to 'Valentine' it up. :0) GB apologised cos the roses only came from a supermarket ... I told him they were flowers, they were pretty and he thought of me ... they were just right! :0) And frankly, some of the prices being charged for roses this year, using the recent flooding and storms as a reason, were a bit rich for our blood!! If I spend $75 I want FABRIC to show for it! Tee! Hee! Hee! (that was one of the price tags seen for a bunch of 6 red roses! EEK!!!)

I also received one more surprise yesterday ... though it isn't REALLY for me! :0) You see, the lovely Sarah of Patchworks Plus has once again donated some yummy sewing related items to the OPAM prize pool!! THANK YOU SARAH!

An Art To Heart pattern book, a Clare's Place quilt pattern, one of Bronwen Hayes' latest cute purse patterns, complete with the purse snap; and a couple of Sultry charm packs. AND ... she's also sent some goodies to Peg to send out! WOW! You gals are spoilt! :0) So you can see that it will be a good idea to stay up to date with your finishes list so you have more chances at the end of the month to win some prizes! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OH! That reminds me ... GB has done the first update of the number of finishes for OPAM that appear on the new button. SOOOOOO ... if the Edit:writing on your OPAM button is now GREEN ... Well done! You've added your button properly!! Did you notice that the number had changed??? We'll see who's observant! :0) If the writing on your OPAM button is still RED ... you've just copied the image, rather than used the link. If you'd like to add it as the link so the total number of finishes listed keeps updating as we go along, check back over the email you received from me or Peg when you signed up ... it has the instructions and if you still can't make that work ... email me and I'll send some pictures for you to follow ... I'm a bit of a visual gal, so I can understand pictures much better than words! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And now ... I'm off to enjoy a quick cup of tea before I think about cooking dinner. Hmmmm ... I have some Valentine's Day chocolates to enjoy, too! :0) Hope your St Valentine's Day was a good one, whether you celebrated it or not! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

EDIT: With the OPAM button, the NUMBERS should now be green rather than red ... the words will always stay red. Sorry for any confusion there!! BH! KRIS