gimme your stuff

and you thought my swap posts were over, right ? sorry, but I have to share just one more ...
this wonderful package came from Anjali (the swap queen herself ;) whom I contacted for a trade through gimme your stuff (which in turn I learnt about via mariko)



I sent her a few Portuguese things, and in return this is what I got: japanese candies (Anjali has a 'Japanese Candy Friday' post every week - go check it out, it's so yummy !), a Japanese crafts magazine and a fashion magazine as well, an assortment of cute fabrics, and this fab old kimono which A. has already claimed for himself.



And because I hadn't made my gimme your stuff list yet, here it goes:

My offers:
- Portuguese fabrics and trims
- Portuguese yarn
- European crafts/fashion magazines
- Some portuguese food items (examples: fruit jam (pumpkin, tomato, etc.), traditional tinned sardines or tuna, squid, codfish), fennel candy)
- Tea (leafed or tea bags) and coffee beans
- Other interesting food or drink items (can't remember what exactly, but you get the idea)
- Soap, incense
- Handmade items (just browse my shop to see what I make)

What I'd love to have:
- Foreign candy, chocolate and other interesting food items (for example, unusual spices)
- Fabrics, trims, notions, yarn (I use all that on my crafts)
- Nice smelling incense and soap
- Tea (any kind, we love tea !)
- Japanese or French crafts magazines
- Cookbooks
- And I shouldn't really add this, but any interesting books to add to my already huge TBR are also welcome
- Any cute kawaii items
- Rubber stamps
- Fridge magnets to add to our collection (preferably from your hometown)

 

big swap post .. thank you girls :)

Last month was a huge swap month for me. Beside the regular swap, I also made a lot of personal ones, so while I was away a lot of packages arrived at the house full of awesome things... So this post is to show everything off, and to say a big Thank You to all the girls who sent me these wonderful things .. girls, you're all amazing :)

from Jessica



I sent Jessica some Lili&Lala items and a few Portuguese fabrics, and in return she sent me such gorgeous fabrics and other goodies



from Lisa

I sent Lisa some Portuguese bamboo yarn for her to try out and my first quilted bag (which she enjoyed, so I'm really happy !) and she sent me some sock yarn (love the koigu !) and this lovely tea (the tin ... isn't it cute?)



from Vanessa

as part of the magazine swap, hosted by Adriana. Vanessa is a very talented knitter (just look at this sweater, isn't it amazing ?) and she sent me two great magazines that I can't wait to start browsing.



from Siow Chin

Siow Chin said she'd like to try a few Portuguese chitas, so I offered to send her some ... and in return she sent me another lovely japanese sewing book and this women's sewing magazine (check her blog for photos of this latest one)







something more I brought from Brazil, my personal swap from Glá, this delicious quilted bag, featuring both Sushi and Amélie ;)



and finally, from Vydia, my July color-iffic-swaporama package :) Vydia was an excellent secret pal and she spoiled me rotten. Just look at all the things she sent ...

1. Amélie looking curiously at the wrapped items ...


2. the whole lot


3. delicious food items .. yummy .. especially looking forward to the Goan fish curry !


4. detail of notebook and handmade cards


5. Sushi trying to get to the organic catnip


 

never let me go

I haven't made a book post in a long, long time, but I thought that this one deserved to be mentioned. X. had already recommended it (and happy b-day once more :), but I was bit hesitant because I had read this other book by the same author and can't say I enjoyed it that much. But when I found a copy available at the airport I thought I'd give it a try ... like C., I've been having a really weak year bookwise. Besides this very good fantasy trilogy recommended by T. and Case Histories (by Kate Atkinson), I can't say that I truly enjoyed any other books this year so far. So it was totally unexpected that this would grip me so much. And that final twist, I could clearly see it coming but still it was somewhat of a knockout. So if you have the chance to read it, please do .. it's good, I promise.

And while I'm on the subject of books, did I lend you by any chance my copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ? If I did, please let me know. I've looked for it *everywhere* in the house ...I promised the girls I'd join the read-along but without finding my copy it's going to be difficult (and something tells me that if I don't read it now with so much encouragement I'll never finish it)
 

cherry blossom shirt

finished this last night, just in time for the deadline of the sewalong .. I had planned to sew another top like these, but when I saw this shirt pattern I knew it would be perfect for this cream cherry blossom fabric. It's from the magazine Patrones #245 (june edition).



It's my first shirt ever, so I learnt a lot while sewing it. The collar especially was kind of tricky, and I wasn't ready for machine sewing the button holes so I hand sew them and it took me *forever*.

 

can you tell that I ♥ japanese crafts books?

well, don't we all ? just wish they weren't so expensive and hard to get ... so my trip to S. Paulo definitely was worth it, if only because I could indulge myself in buying these treats. It was such a difficult choice but in the end I picked these three ...

Dolls & Dolls (by Ondori)
ISBN 4-277-55316-8

Features the most adorable dolls by Kyoko Yoneyama. I think this is probably my favourite one ...







ISBN 4-579-11043-9

This sewing book has lovely simple patterns - I had actually ordered it from YesAsia a few months ago, but almost a month later they cancelled my order and said the book wasn't available anymore, so you can imagine how happy I was to have found a copy in S. Paulo.





ISBN 4-529-02086-X

And finally, I couldn't resist this cute embroidery book. I've meaning to start some simple embroidering for a while now, and this book is just the right thing to inspire me to do it.