Ornament Exchange Goodies

I mentioned last month that I was participating in an ornament exchange hosted by Sarah of Small Fox. Well, yesterday was the day that some very lovely ornaments arrived in the mail for me. The husband and I are going to be down in California for a couple of days, visiting some family and friends, so I thought I'd share pictures of the lovely ornaments I received for you to enjoy while I'm gone. I've decided that participating in the exchange was a blast, I'll definitely do it again. It was fun to make ornaments and to have the anticipation of receiving ornaments handmade by other ladies all over the country. The best part was that I made my owl ornaments out of materials I already had, so my only cost was postage and time, not bad!

Christmas Swap Owls

I mentioned not too long ago that I am participating in an ornament swap that is being sponsored by Sarah of the blog Small Fox. The thing that drew me into this particular swap was Sarah's pictures of the ornaments she's made for swaps in the past. I loved her style. I also love the idea of receiving ornaments that other's have handmade. Even though this can be a busy time of year, I decided that making ornaments would put me in the mood for other present making. I am trying to have a more "handmade" type of Christmas this year...it turns out that is easier to say than to do. So my contributions to the swap are done now. Clearly from the 7 pictures in this post, I had fun doing a little owl photo shoot even though it was cold outside. So now my little ornaments are all ready to send in the mail. I did make a few extras, 8 extras to be precise. I kept 3 for myself and the other 5 are now at Bungalow Bay where hopefully they will find owners to love them and take them home so they can be a part of an annual Christmas tree just as mine will be. It will be fun to share with you the ornaments I receive in the swap...already there is a flickr group going for swap participants to share photos of their creations, I've just uploaded my pictures. I will be peaking at it every now and again in the next few weeks to see what other people are making, now you can too.

I have a very warm feeling when I think that a year ago I was in a place where I was aching to be a more actively creative person. I had lots of ideas, but I was not acting on them. In the past 11-12 months I have really allowed my creative side to come out. It was a bit intimidating to think of sharing what I was doing on this blog, but it has also been a great source of accountability and inspiration. I think the thing I'm probably the most proud of has been taking the time and effort to learn to sew. I have a long way to go, I'm no where near the seamstress that my Oma was, but I do feel "closer" to her when I sit down at my sewing machine. I wish I could have shared that with her when she was alive, but I think she knows that and is happy for me anyway.

Well, Happy Sunday to you, I hope your weekend was restful and that the week ahead has started well!