Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2008 is turning out well so far for everyone!

I just noticed as I was clicking on the new post button that this is my 150th post!!! Not bad for the first post of the year. I know I could have hit this mark sooner but I seemed to have lost my blogging mojo in the last half of last year. Hopefully though with the ringing in of the new year I'll be posting more often!

So to start things off, I would like to show off a few gifts that were sent/recieved over the Christmas holidays. I participated in one exchange on the Hungarian message board I read and am part of, and sent one gift to a friend in Hungary as well.

This is what my partner sent me, a very cute homemade angel ornament, and a stitched doily. She also sent me some very yummy Hungarian christmas candies/chocolates that are acutally supposed to be hung on the tree, but ours never made it there! Hubby got to them first!

The next couple of pictures are not the greatest quality, I guess I was tired while taking the pictures becuase the focus is somewhat off on them, but these are the best I have and hopefully the two people I sent too will have pity on me and send me a better picture!

This is what I sent my exchange partner (different from who sent to me) on the message board - it is a bourse and scissor fob.

The pattern I used is from Pam Kellog for both bourse and fob. I also made the cording and tassel myself - a first for me! As I mentioned before please excuse the quality of the photos, but you do get the general idea. There were a few other bits and bobs in with the gift but I didn't get a picture of those.

These next pictures are what I sent a very lovely internet friend of mine from Hungary, who I hope to meet up with one day soon. We have been emailing and exchanging for a couple of years now, and I am very happy to call her my friend.

I stitched up a bourse (this one was actually my first one), a needle case (also a first) and a scissor fob that was stitched over one. The designs are by Ellen Maurer-Stroh, and the set does also include a scissor holder but I ran out of time to make that one...

Again please excuse the quality of the pictures! And again there were some extras in the package that I didn't take a picture of.

These are actually some of my first attempts at "finishing" something other than into either ornaments or pillows. I will admit though that DH helped me out with the sewing part for the needle case and the two bourses. But one day I will do it all myself! (I just have to get over my fear of the darn sewing machine! - for some reason it scares the heck right out of me!)