Fabric Addict Swap!

I entered another swap a month or so ago ... but due to the incompetent staff at Croydon Post Depot ... my lovely parcel sat on a shelf unclaimed ... and then (thankfully!) returned to sender. I am so relieved that this is what happened - it would have been so upsetting if the parcel had been pinched by a light-fingered postie.

Here is what I got from the lovely Louisa at Faerie Nuff (and you can see what I sent her by clicking on the link) ...

Handmade make up bag, lavender heart, bunting (more for our nursery corner - fab!), buttons, fat quarters, CK tissues, vintage hankie...

Such lovely generous gifts - thank you so much!

Good Enough To Eat Swap!

Hello!

I'm a bit behind with my blogging!!

I took part in the Good Enough To Eat swap which was organised by Emma and Claire and my partner was the lovely Jackie from Sew Special Bears...here are the wonderful goodies I received on Tuesday .....

Such a thoughtful gift for Baby Plum ....

The smell which greeted me when I opened the parcel was AMAZING! Haven't I been spoilt?

Thank you Jackie!

You can see what I sent Jackie here

Good Enough To Eat!

I haven't done a swap for a while ... and couldn't resist this one which I spotted on Victoria's blog ....

Secret Santa Swap!

Thank you Kelly and Victoria for organising their Secret Santa Swap!

Today Mr Plum went down to the local depot and collected my parcel from Lisa (thank you so much Lisa ... you didn't include the address of your blog, otherwise I would have thanked you personally!).

There is nothing better than brown paper parcels tied up with string .....

Look at these lovely goodies!!!

A lovely cake stand (perfect for showing off my cupcakes!), some yummy chocolate sprinkles to decorate my cupcakes, a kitty photo holder, cosy slippers, a make your own Christmas decoration kit, some satin cats for crafty things and some lovely notelets ....

All the colours of the rainbow swap!

I had a lovely surprise this afternoon! Having been at work from 7.30am-2pm (on a Saturday! Gasp!!), I came home to find that Mr Plum had popped to the local depot to collect a parcel! This was my parcel from the lovely Kelly - my partner in the All The Colours of the Rainbow Swap!

This was a swap with a difference ... we all had to choose our favourite colour - I'm loving grey at the moment, so have received a wonderful parcel full of lovely grey things from Kelly! I have sent her a parcel of pink things in return! Kelly has been very generous, I feel thoroughly spoilt!

This picture is probably not very clear ... but Kelly has sent me an oil burner, candles, 2010 diary, make up bag, nail varnish and eyeshadows, earl grey tea bags, blackboard, fleecy throw, velvety ribbon, gloves, pashmina, table mats, napkins and tissues!! Wonderful!!!

Of course I had some help unwrapping ....

I love swaps!!

Sleepover Swap - the package I sent .... and more knitting!

Over the last few weeks I have been putting together a parcel full of lovely bits n pieces for Nicola from Smilernbp - my partner in the Sleepover Swap. Here is what I sent her (here is a link to Nicola's post .... she liked it!). Now that I have sent the package off and Nicola has received it I can talk about my latest knitting projects!

You may be able to spot some little baby booties and a knitted flower .... I am very proud of those! I have wanted to be able to knit flowers for so long! I have tried to teach myself to crochet - but can't get the hang of it at the moment ... but love knitting flowers! One bootie is slightly larger than the other ... but I really enjoyed knitting these too! Now ... what to knit next ...

Sleepover Swap!

I have mentioned in various previous posts about the Sleepover Swap I have been doing. I was partnered up with Nicola from smilernpb - and I received her box of goodies today!! We decided to swap a bit ahead of the deadline set by Thrifty Mrs as Nicola is due to give birth to a little girl any day now! I really enjoyed putting together my box of bits to send to Nicola and I hope that she likes it too. I will blog about that once she has received it (I have only just popped my parcel in the post!).

Nicola has well and truly spoiled me! I am looking forward to getting rid of Mr Plum so that I can enjoy a lovely girls night in!

I think that Nicola may have been slightly frustrated by my vagueness! I like my blog to be anonymous and don't give too much away about myself .... so how did Nicola know that my favourite cakes are cherry bakewells and that I am ADDICTED to chocolate fingers??? YUM!!! Washed down with a lovely cup of herbal tea ... mmmm

in a lovely rosey mug .....

More goodies!! Bridget Jones DVD (excellent!), smelly candle, cosy socks and some pretty fabric to get crafting with ....

Pamper time! I must remember to put the face packs on my FACE and not eat them! ha ha ha Looking forward to using the lovely Body Shop bits too ....

Isn't this beautiful? My photo just doesn't do it any justice ... it is a lovely handmade cross-stitched mirror.

Thanks Nicola! I hope you enjoy the parcel I have sent to you!!

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

Have you heard of "Kitty, Daisy & Lewis"? They are fab! A friend introduced me to their CD last night and it is now on my ipod! I love their 50's country sound!

Definitely worth a listen.....

I hope everyone is having lovely Sunday evenings ... I am busy ignoring Wimbledon and am sitting in the garden knitting something pretty for the Sleepover Swap (I will post pictures once I have sent it off to my Swap Partner - I don't want to ruin the surprise!!).... I love weekends! Have a listen to Kitty, Daisy and Lewis below ....

More lovely things!

Okay - this will be my final post for today ... I have gone a bit overboard today!

Anyway, some more lovely bits were collected from the depot this afternoon ...

These were my lovely gifts from Tracy, my Heart Swap partner ... I feel thoroughly spoiled - such beautiful things!!  Thank you! x

A slightly late Yummy Recipe Swap for February ...

I'm not the only one whose life has got in the away of making and collecting bits and bobs for swaps ..... I managed to get my batch of "sweetheart" themed goodies off to my swap partner in the USA in time for Valentines Day ... my swap partner was caught up with various things ... but I received my parcel today! I picked it up from the local Post Office (and had to explain that I didn't have any id to prove that I was actually Victoria Plum ... ha ha ha) and then perused my goodies while having breakfast in Ikea!  

I must get on with getting my goodies out to Tracy my swap partner for Mollycupcakes Heart Swap!!

I hope that you are all having lovely Easter Saturdays ... we are decorating our bedroom this weekend ... nothing too drastic, but the walls are currently bright pink, so we have chosen a slightly calmer colour called "satin bow" .... I'll keep you posted on our progress (remember us decorating the kitchen?) 

The wallpaper scraper is calling ..... 

Springtime in London

It's been a while since I last posted ... sorry! 

A big sorry to Sue, the winner of my 100th post giveaway - your prize will be in the post very soon ... and a huge sorry to Tracy .... your heart swap goodies will be on their way to you in the next week, or so!  Hope that's alright - I'm usually much more organised than this, but it has been a rather hectic month or so....

Well, anyway - I'm back and in the garden so will be blogging more regularly (and hope the lovely readers who were leaving me such lovely comments are still reading!).  

Here's a few pictures to bring you up to speed with what's been occurring at Plum House ....

Pretty flowers in the garden ....

Gorgeous blue forget-me-nots

Window boxes ... the herb one is looking a bit sad for itself - hopefully a bit of sunshine will perk it up a bit!

Pink hyrdranga! I love these, my Nana had one in her garden and I always thought it was the most amazing flower - such wonderful colours! I just need to get some of the proper compost for it!

Tomatoes ...

Peppers, aubergine, leeks ...

Marigolds (to put near my tomatoes and keep pests away!) ...

I'm now off to the kitchen to knock up some rock cakes for afternoon tea! Yum!! When we woke up this morning we thought about heading to B&Q and getting paint to decorate the bedroom, but instead have spent the day pottering around listening to Radio 2 ... suddenly it is 3.30pm and having spent an hour or so in the greenhouse attempting to transplant flower seedlings into hanging baskets  ... I can no longer be bothered!

Mr Plum's Nanna sadly passed away at the beginning of March ... here's her wedding picture - doesn't she look glam? She will be sorely missed by all ....

Another Swap!

I really enjoyed taking part in the two swaps I did before Christmas ... so much that I have put my name down for another swap! This one is another Yummy Recipe Swap, and the theme is "Sweethearts".

I need to send

* 1 handmade decorated recipe card
* 1 handmade, sewn, felted, crocheted, or knitted food or handmade or any crafted kitchen item or 1 book , cookbook , fiction, non-fiction [related to theme] [Valentine's Sweethearts]
* 1 ingredient from the recipe
* A note card with your flickr name and name of swap

Better get my thinking cap on!  I'll let you know how it goes!

This will be post 97 ... only 2 more until my 100th post giveaway!!!!!!  Keep reading! x

Swapping!

Today I received two parcels ... one from Arizona and another from Florida! Very exciting! I had been waiting for these parcels ever since I put together my two packages full of home made goodies, recipes and other bits and pieces at the beginning of December.

This was my parcel from the "Yummy Recipe Swap" ....

And here is my parcel from the "Clasheen Christmas Crafty Swap"

So lovely to receive these parcels full of beautifully crafted bits and pieces ... if you haven't taken part in a swap, and fancy doing one ... I would definitely recommend it! It was great fun ... especially putting together the parcels I sent out!  I think I will look for another swap to do in the New Year!

Swapping

Whilst browsing through lots of different crafty type blogs, I have often stumbled across "swaps". These can be homemade goods, recipes, buttons ... the list is endless! I have often been tempted to join in - but more often than not, I have missed the deadline or the swaps are "closed" ... 

Today I have joined two swaps! (This may have been a bit ambitious, but heh? I think I am harking back to my days as an avid penpal!) ....

My first is a "Yummy Recipe Swap" - I need to send

* 1 handmade decorated recipe card
* 1 handmade, sewn, felted, crocheted, or knitted food or handmade or any crafted kitchen item or 1 book , cookbook , fiction, non-fiction [related to theme] [Christmas]
* 1 ingredient from the recipe

My second is a "Christmas Swap" - for this one, I need to send

Either a handmade Christmas ornament or a handmade Christmas gift, a seasonal recipe and a little extra surprise

I'll let you know how I get on!