The (almost) year long swap :-)

So about a year ago a good blogging friend of mine - Lier from Ikat Bag - asked me if I would like to join into a swap that she planned to do with a friend of hers living in Japan.
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Btw, if you do not know Ikat Bag - which I highly doubt, but just in case - go on over NOW!
You can finish reading my stuff later anytime ... you HAVE to check out her blog. Seriously! You do not know what you are missing!
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If I would like to?

Are you freaking kidding me!?

I was totally thrilled!

So the three of us decided to do a swap and started planning. As we are all moms we said that we would take it slow .... But the last deadline, after postponing it a couple times ;-)  - was the beginning of October. So in October two beautiful packages arrived at my house - one from the US and one from Japan! Curious what was in there?

I would have shown you guys earlier but did not want to post anything before my packages had arrived as well. The one to Japan arrived rather quickly. But German post outdid itself once again - am not a huge fan of German post - and the one going to the US took more than FOUR weeks! I was so scared that it might have gotten lost!!!!! 
When I finally got an email saying that my package had arrived I was almost happier than when I had received mine. :-) 
Well, almost. ;-)

First the package from Japan.

It came from Christine - her blog is called Origami Mommy.

There was fabric. I love fabric! :-) Yes, you knew that already. There was a lovely quilted fabric with chili print. Am loving the print. I have no idea what to make out of quilted fabric - but I will come up with something. That print is just too cute!
Then there were some precut cotton fabrics. My favourite was the apple print. Sorry, you can not see the rest as the rest is UNDER the apple print fabric. I realized that when editing the photos ... And this cute shiny fabric! Oh, and those cute tiny crocheted flowers! They are just adorable!

This cute craft kit for kids. I think my daughter is gonna love it.

Some japanese masking tape. Again - I only realized that you can not see the pattern on the tape when editing the photos. But let me tell you - it is lovely! :-) And you will get to see it once I have take the time to actually do some projects with it.
Also some fun pencils and a beautiful japanese brush. These I will give to my daughter as well.
Some fun sticky tape thingies that I will keep for myself. I love using these in craft or cooking books to mark the pages of the projects that I would like to try. I have never come across such cute ones with pictures on them.

This awesome craft book. I am LOVING it! I have looked through it already many many times. There are so many projects in it. Many sewing projects with patterns. Really cute ones for kids. But also ones for women and for home stuff. But there are also other neat projects. Can not wait to try some.
(Am kinda hoping that it will not be too hard to figure out japanese patterns ...)

So this was the first package. It was awesome wasn't it?

Thanks so much again - Christine!!!

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Now for the second package which came from Lier in the US.

So what was in there?

Adorable sewing ribbon (the two black ones). 

I love ribbon!

Fun toys!
This is something I have never seen before and did not even know it existed. It is a paste that you put on a small straw and then you blow and you end up having a ... balloon!
Crazy stuff!
I have not yet tried it. Will also be a present for my daughter.

Some fun stickers.

This cute strawberry.
Strawberries are my favourite fruit!!! I love it.
And it opens up to be a bag! I try to always have it with me so in case I need an extra bag I have one. And it is so much cuter than just stuffing an extra bag in your handbag.
Also in our house it doubles as a baby toy as little man totally adores it and plays with it when he gets fuzzy in his buggy while we are outside for a walk.

Another fun thing that I have never seen before.
It is out of paper and has a hole.
And look what happens if you blow into the hole ...

Totally cute!!!!
I am so loving this. There were two in the package which I hung above what kinda is my work space in our living room.

(Where I never ever work but rather kinda dump all projects that I am working on ... but that is a whole different matter I guess.)

I love the way they hang in the air. It kinda looks as if they float ...
I loved them so much that I thought it would be really neat if one could hang a bunch under the ceiling ... kinda like a mobile.
 I was thining maybe one could craft some?
I am not sure. I have not found any tutorials yet. If you guys know of any please send them my way!

But imagine my surprise when during the last couple days I was flipping through a new toy catalogue that I had ordered and found EXACTLY the same paper balls! And for a really affordable price! I am going to order a whole bunch!!!! :-)

I am wondering whether it would be safe to put them over a chain of lights?
Does anyone know?

But if someone has a tutorial - I would still like to make some. The ones you can order all have the same color combination.
And as fun as this is - how amazing would these look if they would be a kinda dark transparent red?
Or white with some writing on it ...?
Oh, many many ideas flowing in my head ... must stop thinking about paper balls!
 
Btw, our mobile-fanatic little man of course loved them, too. 
He loves EVERYthing that hangs in the air and moves if you blow at it. 
I had to rescue the paper balls from his hands as he really wanted to cuddle them once he got his hands on them.

Some batik fabric.
I am not sure what to make out of it. At the moment I am just kinda looking at it and enjoying the fact that this has traveled all over the world to me! :-)

More cute ribbon. Loving the sweet little flowers.

Yes, I know you can not see what the ribbon looks like.
But the photo looks kinda funny!

So, now you can see.
I love the tiny cute top stitching.
I really should start making something where I actually use some of the ribbon I have collected.
I have not that much really ... but still.
I am loving it so much that I never use it!
Is that crazy?

These are white fabric roses. They are still in their packaging - that is why the photo looks a bit odd. They are very beautiful and I plan to make something for little bear with them.

A giant seam ripper!
YEAH!
It is not that I like seam ripping alot ... but I still have to do it quite often so this is going to make it alot easier.
And now each time I have to rip a seam apart I will have to think of a friend living on the other side of the earth ... that will make it a bit more pleasant! ;-)

I included a photo together with my regular seam ripper that came with my sewing machine. The new one really is a lot bigger.

Mod Podge!

We do not have Mod Podge here in Germany and everytime I read about it I was wondering what it is about it. Also lately I have seen other brands of glue around here that to me seemed similar to Mod Podge. But as I did not know Mod Podge I could not compare. Now I can! ;-)

And I will let you know! :-)

Oh, and it is not just ANY Mod Podge. It is GLITTER! Oh, little bear - who I should probably rename for the time being into little pink princess - will be THRILLED!

There also were some really fun (and funny) pens and erasers in the package. I am sorry to not have a photo ... as soon as I unpacked the package I took them and hid them so little bear would not find them. Well, turned out I hid them quite well. When I took all the photos I could not find them. :-(

Meanwhile I have found them again - *sigh* - and even given one of the pens to little bear as a treat cause she had to play alone so much while little man was sick. But I did not take any more photos ... I hope you will forgive me.

And there also were two Family Fun magazines in there. These were scattered in our apartment while I took photos as I like to keep something to read everywhere right now as I have to run after little man all the time. I used to carry something to read or to do with me ... but got tired of doing that. Now there is basically something to read or do in every room and where ever I am I can do something while watching little man ...


Thank you so much again, Lier!!!

Who knew how much fun can fit into a package? ;-)

This was really awesome! Apart from the I-spy-Swap I had never done a swap before.

I loved it!

If postage would not be such a bitch

(sorry for my language, but it really is)

I would be doing this all the time!
:-)