Santa Speaks French!

JOYEUX NOEL!

That's what my Secret Santa will probably be saying this Christmas season ... cos my Secret Santa is FRENCH! :0)

My SSCS parcel arrived on my front verandah this week with Christmas greetings from the lovely Florence. Now you KNOW how excited I get about parcels!! Well ... I got SO excited that I forgot to take a photo of BOTH SSCS parcels before unwrapping the ornament ... OOPS! :0) I really am a big kid at heart! Tee! Hee! Hee! So ... when I opened the ornament parcel from Florence, I found ...

... stars and snowmen stitched around an appliqué heart! How COOL! Oops! Get it ... cool ... SNOWmen ... never mind! :0) I just LOVE this sweet Christmas heart ... Florence has done such lovely neat stitching and the variegated thread colours match the red highlights in my lounge room ... where it is now happily hanging to bring Christmas cheer. Hmmm ... in fact ... since it's not overly Christmassy ... I might just leave it on display all year round to add a splash of red ... and perhaps to remind me to keep Christmas in my heart all year round. :0) Thank you Florence!!

The other part of my parcel looked a bit like this ...

... actually ... it looked EXACTLY like this! :0) OOOHH!! Lots of little gifties all tied together to tempt me before Christmas Day!!! I might have to get someone to hide this pile of presents away so I'm not tempted to join the "Naughty" list! :0) 

I only join one swap a year these days ... too much else on my plate and I don't want to let people down by missing deadlines! ... and the reason I chose the SSCS as my yearly swap is because it is the best-run swap I've ever been part of. Thank you, Chookyblue, for your hard work in coordinating and organising this fun swap every year. I know you're super busy, too, so it is even more special that you keep finding the time to bring some Christmas swap cheer to blogland! :0) Big thanks, too, to Googygirl for very ably assisting Chooky this year. Organising swaps and challenges is a lot of work ... just ask my Sweet OPAM Partner-In-Crime, Sweet Peg!! :0) ... so a big thank you goes to you both for this year's SSCS organisation. Hope Santa brings you both lots of goodies this year ... no matter what language YOUR Santa might speak! :0)

Okey doke ... I'm off to be like Santa when he's ... "Making a list and checkin' it twice!" My pre-Christmas "To Do" list just keeps on growing to the point where it can't just be a mental list any more ... gotta write it down so I don't forget things! :0) Speaking of Christmas lists ... my blogging buddy Kerryanne over at Shabby Art Boutique is hosting her "Simply Christmas" again this year ... and she is one super-list-writer! :0) If you're keen to get organised for a handmade, home-baked, simplified Christmas, make sure you head on over to visit Kerryanne to see what Christmas tips, tricks, goodies and projects she has for you.

Also on the list theme ... OPAM gals ... HAVE YOU UPDATED YOUR SIDEBAR LISTS????? Yep ... the end of the month is upon us again and Sweet Peg and I will be checking our emails for your updated tally and bloghopping around in the next couple of days, so please update your sidebar list and send a quick email to Sweet Peg or me to let us know how busy you've been in your sewing room for November.

Hope you're all having a wonderful start to your weekend and that you're managing to cross a few things off the ol' "To Do" list. I'm not even going to THINK about the countdown to Christmas and how few days I have left to get organised ... EEK!!! :0) Til next time ...

BIG CHRISTMASSY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS