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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Swaptastic!

The last of summer's bounty
I have been busy recently as I took part in several craft exchanges:


First off, there was the Four Seasons Exchange organised by Nalina. Nalina focuses on celebrations that are important in the Waldorf/Steiner tradition. Hence the first swap was focused on Easter (Spring). There will be three more - 2. St. John's day (Summer), 3. Michaelmas (Autumn/Fall) and 4. Christmas (Winter).

Easter derives its name from pre-Christian goddess symbols of rebirth, fertility and spring. The renewal of (wo)man's being is celebrated with that of the earth. Ancient symbols of the hare and egg are both known as signs of the return of life after winter's sleep.

St. John's Day - June 24 - Midsummer Day: Ancient peoples, watching the sun reach its high point at this time, lit bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops. It is a time when the cosmos brings the spiritual to man - a time when the spiritual, which animates and weaves through everything in nature, is revealed.

Michaelmas - September 29: St. Michael is known as the conqueror of the dragon, the heavenly hero with his starry sword (cosmic iron) who gives strength to people.
Christmas - An ancient festival; celebrated when the sun sends the least power to the earth, as a festival which awakens in the human being an inkling of the very wellsprings of existence, of an eternal reality. It is a time when the soul withdraws into the innermost depths to experience within itself the inner spiritual light.



We sent these to our swap partner:
Tweet Tweet
Easter Bunnies meet the Bluebirds of Happiness
The birds were inspired by We bloom here - she rules when it comes to all things peg doll. The rabbits I made up, out me 'ead like. I think they turned out pretty good meself.


And we received these back:
Beautiful Window Star
Autumn apples, cutey pie little gnome, wooden eggs, crocheted autumn leaves.


I love that my partner created autumnal themed things along with the Easter stuff. My nature table looks so pretty now.

I also took part in my first Bits of Goodness Easter Exchange:


This group does regular craft swaps with lots of different interesting themes and they run them about every two weeks or so. A great group if you really enjoy swapping things regularly. (And I do!).


We sent in little Nature Children inspired by Twig & Toadstool:


A fairy ring of little ladies
*Yawn* Just five more minutes Mother Earth. Please?
All right. All right. I'm up!
And we received these gorgeous goodies in return:

A little bendy doll with Easter Egg, a patchwork rabbit, a little needle felted Easter scene (see below), a little 'Bunny Crossing' sign & a wooden matching game. 

It's a mother duck and her four baby duckies!
Oh yes - I certainly hope so.

 Lily immediately demanded we play the matching game. She is extremely good at this game and absolutely wipes the floor with me whenever we play it together. She plays it with butterflies - matching parts of it to the whole (very hard!) and with her cute little Tinkerbell Fairy game (a birthday present). Let me admit right now that I do not try to 'let' her win. There is absolutely no need - she has the memory of an elephant, that kid.


Then there is Katie's Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange for Autumn, which has been so much fun. Take a look at the flickr site if you want to see the wonderful things people make. 


I took part in the Summer exchange last season and it was just fantastic. This is a great swap for those of us living in the southern hemisphere, but people from all over the world join in. Contact Katie here southernseasonalexchange@gmail.com if you want to join in the fun. I'm guessing the next one will be Winter. I can't wait, it's my favourite season next to Autumn.


We sent these:


Hoot 1 & Hoot 2
Teensy ickle pumpkins
I tawt I taw a puddy tat a cweepin' up on me...
The whole enchilada (minus one fat knitted feline)
You can find the pattern for the knitted pumpkins here and the pattern for the cat here. I warn you though, they are very addictive to make!

Our lovely swap partner Emma Jaine (aged 8) is understandably a little behind on getting our swap to us, (they were among those who experienced those frightening tornadoes in the US - thankfully she and her family weren't hurt but their neighbourhood was), but I am told they should be posted next week. So stay tuned for piccies of our goodies received later on.


So now I am working on another swap for the Bits of Goodness group. The theme is Gnomes, Toadstools and Hedgehogs! Plus they have just announced a Summer themed swap too!

And am definitely signing up for We Bloom Here's new swap which will be announced shortly. Check out her website tomorrow for all the details.

I'm also doing another Craft Hope project with the girls - its called 'Orphan Outreach'. Read all about their new project here and please do join up if you can. It makes such a big difference.

And as if that isn't enough crafting - I'm knitting up a storm too. I will leave you with the words 'sheepy pants' because it's a cool name for what I have on the needles right now!

Phew! Stay tuned for some nourishy goodness coming your way soon.

Nighty Night.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sheepy pants?? Oh I can't wait to see them!! :-) Love all your amazing creations - especially the hoots. Autumn is my fave season, followed by Winter, too. We're having a very cold Spring here this year, so many mornings it feels like Autumn (even if it smells like Spring) - so I'm having my fill of the cozy seasons this year! Happy weekend to you all.

Nicola said...

What sweet craftiness! Very creative!
I just linked here from your comment at Bending Birches. I have a Finn (Finnian) too. :) All the Finns I know of (besides mine) belong to bloggers I don't know in person!
Warmly, Nicola

Antoinette said...

I'm so impressed! Those knitted toys are very cleverly executed! I knitted a little hare/rabbit over Easter, (pattern from that Steiner book All Year Round), but I swear it looks more like the Were rabbit from Wallace and Gromit fame. Your little pumpkins and puddy-tat actually look like they are supposed to! Yay!

This is such a lovely thing to do. Can't wait to see your nature table!

Oh and I have macadamia nuts for you. Your bloke probably has a better chance of cracking them open than I do, so you and yours may as well enjoy!
xx

kelly said...

hello
have just recently come across your blog - beautiful, and honest, and so nice to know you are a fellow southern 'hemisphere-ian' (& well actually, a fellow victorian). I was wondering if you could tell me where you source your wooden 'people' forms from? my supply is all gone and my only source is from america. thank you, keep up the beautiful blogging. kelly

The Awakened Heart said...

Hi Kelly,
Thanks:0)

The wooden people I get are from Etsy (so still from America) but they are really very cheap. The link is here http://www.etsy.com/shop/gemmielou to her shop. Other than that, I buy them when I need them from Epoche in Kallista (Dandenong Ranges) or Winterwood Toys both shops have websites but are a bit more expensive.
Hope this helps.

laura (warmthandlight) said...

What a crafty explosion! It's a great idea to spread and receive creative goodies handmade with love.

kelly said...

thank you - much appreciated

I've joined the "We Bloom Here" swap after reading about it on your blog - looking forward to it.

Kelly