Christmas Catchup!!

Well ... after several days of being a bit of a slug and being disconnected from blogland (was still getting emails on my phone so not TOTALLY cut off!!) I thought I'd better stir myself to post some pics to show you just how darn SPOILT I've been this Christmas and thank the lovely friends who've blessed me with gorgeous gifties! :0) It would take forever and a day to provide a commentary for everything and Chookyblue might doze off in her plum pudding (Tee! Hee! Hee!) so I'll just show you the pretties with SHORT explanations ... I promise! :0)

Firstly, I'll show you how Chookyblue herself has been spoiling me ...

This is the rest of the Advent gifties Chooky sent me ... sorry ... didn't take note of which day was which ... they all sort of blurred together for me anyways! Tee! Hee! Hee! I love the wall hanger at the back there - great saying! Love the quilt labels from Anni Downs' designs, the faerie scissors are super sweet, the little bear stitchery is cute, Chooky's cards are GORGEOUS ... oh ... who am I kidding ... I love ALL OF IT!!!!! :0) And on Christmas Eve, before we hit the road to come to Mum and Dad's place, I unwrapped this ...

Isn't this GORGEOUS!!!! Chooky said that as soon as she saw this pattern, she knew it was "ME" to a "T" (or 'TEA' as the case may be!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) I just love it! And Miss Lavender Lil is happy to share a cuppa with her new friends in my sewing room! :0) THANK YOU CHOOKYBLUE!!! I love ALL my gifties! And thanks to Fee for hosting this fun advent swap! :0)

Next on the list is my SSCS ornament and gifties ... I have been a bit slack with posting these - Sorry Trash!! No I'm not being mean and calling my swap partner names!! ... Trash was my swap partner all the way from the UK ... in the middle of renovating a whole kitchen! EEK! She deserves a medal! :0) This was my sweet ornament ...

This sweet hanging got a little banged up in transit, but I just LOVE it! four sweet gingerbread people wishing me happy Christmas all painted by Trash! :0) Then in my Christmas Even un-wrap-a-thon, I was delighted to find these pretties ...

A sweet painted box that will be perfect to protect some breakable Christmas pretties, a fabulous, all-natural, Christmas tree shaped soap (Love pretty soaps!!) and the most FABULOUS green knitted scarf!! Perfect for keeping this hot-weather-chick warm during Toowoomba's notorious winters! THANK YOU TRASH!! I love my gifties! They sure brought a Christmas smile to my face! :0) And a big thank you to the "Hostess with the Mostest" the fabulous Chookyblue! No one organises like Chooky! In fact ... I suspect that if you wanted to invade a small country, she could crack her whip and get it organised in a jiffy! Tee! Hee! Hee!

I've also received some lovely gifties from some of my blogging buddies ...

These pretties were from the Gorgeous Kerryanne ... the notepad must mean me ... "Unorganised Perfectionist" Tee! Hee! Hee! Love the sweet angel orni and the Bear Hugs bookmark. Thanks Kerryanne! Who knows ... the notebook might help me actually GET organised ... maybe! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Do you see that sweet Tweetie sitting on top of my shabby chic birdcage? This was my giftie from the Lovely Lilly Linda ... who gifted me with the birdcage when we had our playdate at Mt Tambourine earlier this year. Thanks Linda!! I love it! :0)

These little pretties smell DIVINE and were a gift from Toni over at the Red Boot Quilt Company. My sewing room smells GORGEOUS at the moment! Tee! Hee! Hee! Thanks Toni!

These cute coasters were a surprise giftie from the lovely Satu ... who is one of our OPAM gals and my SSCS swap partner from last year. Do you see those teddies lurking in the centre of these coasters?! :0) Thank you so much, Satu! These are too cute! :0)

And this was another lovely surprise giftie to arrive on my doorstep ... bet my Postie is glad I'm away for a few days so he can have a rest! Tee! Hee! Hee! This GORGEOUS little teacup teddy was gifted to me by Miss Kitty herself over at The Chocolate Cat. Thanks Lise ... it is so sweet and matches the wall hanging Chookyblue made for me! :0)

Now ... part of what kept me so busy before Christmas was making some gifties for friends and family. I forgot to take photos of everything, but have a few that I remembered to snap before they were posted off ...

A dotty version of my lingerie bag design ... love this colour ... same colour as my sewing room walls! :0)

This is what became of that lovely purple/plum toned French fabric I showed you a sneaky peeky of a while ago. It was a bit tricky to match the purple tones, but I'm really chuffed with the result. :0)

Yet another version of my lingerie bag design ... I had so much fun playing with different variegated threads and matching them up with pretty fabrics to suit the person they were going to! :0) As I said, there were a few more gifties made, but I forgot to take pics - OOPS! :0)

So ... that's enough for one catch up session ... hope you've hung in there, Chookyblue!! :0) I'll try to pop back in the next day or so to share some party pics from my festive festivities.

OOOH! Before I sign off ... OPAM gals ... you've got just a few days left to record your December finishes on your sidebar lists and email Sweet Peg or me with your final tally for the month. It has been so much fun to see the Christmassy projects appearing on OPAMers' blogs ... you sure have been a productive  bunch! Tee! Hee! Hee! And for those of you who have started to ask the question ... YES!! Sweet Peg and I will once again be co-hosting OPAM in 2012!!! YAY!! Sign up won't be til towards the END of January, so you'll have to stay tuned to Sweet Peg's and my blogs so you don't miss out. I'll see if I can't find a countdown gadgety thing to pop on my sidebar for you to keep an eye on. Hmmm ... will work on that! :0)

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that you're able to enjoy some quiet, relaxing time-out for a little bit longer. Will try to pop back before that countdown into 2012 to share some more pics, but for now, I'm off to keep a date with my pillow. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!!

CHEERS!
KRIS