Oh, my gosh, I had completely forgotten about the giraffe project! I loved making these so much!
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One tool I made for myself ages ago and still love best for stuffing things is a long wooden chopstick the end of which I narrowed and put a notch at the tip! There was a time when I was stuffing a lot of dragon legs and it was a great tool!!
Purple thang is also very useful! 
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Yay! So nice to see you :). I hope you got the mail I sent a little while ago. I miss you!
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I miss you, too!!! So nice to see you pop up like that!
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I received a really fantastic book from @seeuudee in the recent mini journal swap. One of the pages had the most incredible 3-dimensional embroidered sunflower with all these glorious french knots and detached woven picot petals, just WOW! I mentioned feeling tempted to take the page out to wear somehow and OMG just LOOK what came in the mail for me!
We aren’t even swapping, she just made this for me randomly on a whim!
Holy cats, the sheer talent, exceeding generosity, and kindness of heart. Made me tear up a bit, I gotta say.
I’ll reply but mail but for now, I couldn’t possibly say thank you enough times for your lovely gift. I will treasure it.
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It makes me so happy that you love it 
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Wow! That is gorgeous!
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That is so beautiful! The flower AND the gesture!
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I loved seeing the flower book with all of the different crafting skills you have @seeuudee…and this truly shows off the best of the best…it is gorgeous in form, color, texture…very touching for your to remember @magpie’s comment and do this for her…it is fabulous!
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Beautiful!!!
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I did an amazing extended swap with @PrincessP for TM Patches, and she also included her famous Lettuce Craft badge for me, as well as delightful and unexpected extras!! 
First, because it comes from Australia, I was tickled to see the word “lollies” on the package customs form. 
Then, the package was filled with these lovely wrapped gifts! (I totally cut out the watermelon sticker and am saving it for who-knows-what—it’s so cute!)
The box even had some helpful suggestions for recycling on it. giggles We’ll revisit this, y’all.
Then, upon opening the lovely green mysteries, we have first the wonderful extras and badges she sent!
A kind note (You have gorgeous handwriting, by the way!), the aforementioned lollies (sooo delicious chocolate, and the insane spread that is Vegemite), adorable Japanese pins (I have a collection of pins, and I’m always excited to get special ones!), and two gorgeous badges! I have drooled over a LC badge for a looooong time, so I was gleeful that she chose to gift me one, and then ALSO add the hilarious Netflix one–I’m not sure I’ve “earned” that badge well during the pandemic. 
I will say, I am not a Vegemite person (I tried it when I visited the country in high school, and I just can’t handle the strong yeasty taste, although I still find it fascinating), but I love the cute little individual packages, so now when I talk about it with people, I can offer them a taste!! My husband is next on the list! 
Now, on to the TM Patch packages! Each of them came wrapped with the most adorable Studio Ghibli postcards, which tied in perfectly with my love of Japan and several of the themes she chose to highlight. (I love to tuck cute postcards like these into the insides of my kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors so that every time I open them I see happy things!)
First, kitsune!! I love the joyful oranges and yellows and precious little facial expression on this cute fox spirit. You know he’s planning something impish. 
Soot Sprites!!! Love them so much. They are so happy dancing with their candy (Konpeito, if you ever go to Japan and want to try the tasty-looking sugar candy from Spirited Away. Or, you know, Amazon…)! The mix of machine and hand embroidery on this one is perfect and adds a lovely 3D layer to it.
The beautiful Torii Gate from Miyajima Island, which she’s actually visited (so have I!). The colors are so perfect, and I love that she used star shapes as the quilting for this one.
And finally, Kodama! I love these little guys, and y’all, they GLOW IN THE DARK! 
How awesome is that?! The hand-stitched hill they are arranged on pulls it together so well; it’s easy to imagine the forest floor here. Also, please admire the gorgeous little bug fabric on the back.
Seriously, one of the extra delightful things about all these little guys is how well paired the backing/edging fabrics are with the colors and themes of the fronts. Sooooo amazing. That is a serious skill!
Thank you so much for swapping with me, Lauren! You were my first ever international partner, and I am overjoyed with everything you sent. 
Absolutely delightful from start to finish. 
Also, getting back to those very important box reuse suggestions, here ya go. I feel I chose the most reasonable one.
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Best recycle ever…
Those patches are wonderful and so personalized…I am tickled to see Japanese heritage represented on LC in so many delightful forms…
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What a wonderful package!! Except for the Vegemite. I do not understand the appeal of yeast spread. It’s the American in me.
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That is a fantastic box of goodies. I am one of the group that adores vegemite!
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Fabulous!! Love all the Spirited Away stuff! just excellent all around!!
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I have Australian citizenship and think Vegemite is abomination.
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ha ha I feel the same way about natto and uni with my Japanese heritage–no way!
I wonder if every country has some sort of odd or nasty tasting food that they are famous for…you either love it or hate it! ha ha
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