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.