It’s so cool, that everything arriving so fast!
@Annchen the monster is adorable.
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I’m so glad you liked it. You had some great wishlist items for me to work with!
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Did you check out the Tea for Two swap? Maybe it’s something you are interested in.
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What a fun way to start a journal for someone!
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Love the watercolour strawberries
Are they grannies jumping in puddles on one of the cards? Looks so fun 
And the tiny monster is adorable 
I did see it but I don’t think it’s for me.
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That belt bag is so neat @Edel ! It gives fantasy vibes! 
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Haha, yes they are
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The postman delivered an amazing package from @Sleepless-Ghost today. I absolutely love everything.
First out this really fun flamingo fabric, I do have a weakness for flamingos and this is a lovely sturdy fabric that I think I’ll use for a bag. Notice the delicious chocolate in this picture.
Then this amazing hoopla, cornflowers and wheat-summer in Estonia. The stitching is really good and this will be a great addition to my collection.
And look at this! A tatted book mark and coaster. I love tatting, and have never had any tatted items before. There’s a little corner of my kitchen where I sit and drink tea, this is going to live there. And many books for the bookmark.
One really neat thing is that instead of bubble wrap, she used this sheeps wool wrap.
Thank you so much @Sleepless-Ghost I love everything!
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I’m so glad to hear you liked everything. I had such a wonderful time making it for you. And I’m especially happy I could give you something you didn’t already have.
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@Sleepless-Ghost that hoopla is beyond beautiful and the bookmark and coaster look so delicate
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I received from @Renstar yesterday and managed to get some photos in the 15 minutes of sun in between the rain.
This beauty is the regional item, from the annual Bristol Balloon Fiesta. I’m planning the perfect place to display it, but for now you get a wet garden as background.
I did not expect to receive a hot air balloon but I’m here for it!
Here are the rest of the swap package (minus some candy and tea that seem to have wandered away). A set of four crocheted coasters and a set of cards with envelopes. The colour was a really nice choice! Plus a matching post card and the gift bag it all came in.
All the cards. I love how they are all different, but still clearly related. Thank you!
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Haha - I was struggling on the regional until one sleepless night, so I had to get up and write it down so my MAW (middle-aged-woman) brain didn’t forget it!
The coasters are based on a link on your pinterest, I’m glad you like the colour, I really questioned myself whether it was right!!! Oh the swap anxiety!!
The balloon is based on this:
And, you like cats 
I posted a separate post for this crazy project! Paper Mache Hot Air Balloon for swap
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That balloon is so cool! Both the original and your craft.
My package from @Immaculata is sitting at a pick up station. I will collect it after work tomorrow.
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Awww a kitty balloon So cute!
The cards have a really calming feel to them. Really nice to look at 
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What a fantastic gallery!! Everything’s wonderful and made with so much care 
Fantastic nib earrings @Edel! very cool!
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Yay! I received an amazing package from @Immaculata today!
First some coasters from my Pinterest board together with matching glass covers and straws.
I can’t decide which one is my favorite but the watermelon is very high on the list.
I bet these covers will get a lot of use when my daughter has friends over.
Next some potholders from amazing fabrics
They are so pretty I’m probably going to use them as mugrugs instead.
For summer in the Netherlands she send a cute little orange pouch with typical motives, a soda can sleeve in the colors of her region and two patches.
And a wonderful assortment of Dutch treats:
The stroopwafels are halfway gone as they are everyone’s favorite. I’m especially happy about the licorice because that I don’t need to share.
The coolest chocolate bar with a Dutch cityscape
Thank you so much for bringing a lot of color on my table!
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I was constantly changing which coaster was my favourite, too! As soon as I saw them on your pinterest, I knew I was going to make them.
They’ve been on my to-make list for so long I’d even set aside the yarn for it, except I ran out of lime at some point. It was a lot of fun to come up with all these different fruits. I checked beforehand with @Silky_Bee how many people there are in her family so each person had their own set. I struggled a bit with the “small” - “medium” thing regarding the coasters. They take up some time, but barely any active thinking (each one takes about a Netflix episode to finish completely) so it didn’t feel like a proper medium. That’s why I added some potholders.
The turqoise and yellow potholders are made from scraps! I have a twirly summer skirt in that pineapple print. Then I saw that darker fruit fabric at the fabric shop and I just loved it so much that I bought it and made an ovendish-sized potholder too. You can certainly use them as mug rugs if that’s what you prefer, but they can be washed at the normal temperature for cotton, and there’s insulbrite on the inside to protect from the heat.
Orange fever really is the summer thing here in the NL. I was walking around my part of the city late last night to cool down (I guess we’re all in the same heatwave here in Europe?) and so many houses are already covered in orange from top to bottom. Supermarkets are selling all sorts of orange food - orange custard, orange frosting, orange liquor, orange snacks, every supermarket has their own orange coloured promo stuff. Some years ago my most boring family members painted their house orange! Of course every other year there’s football, but we also go crazy for the Olympics and if there’s no other sports event we’ll go crazy over cycling. We just crave orange fever here. The lightbulb patch is technically not a summer thing, but I just really love that tradition. During carnaval, we collect patches here from our hometown, our favourite bars, even police officers give out patches to party people that behave well, and we sew them on our carnaval outfits. This is a carnaval patch from my city. Orange fever is basically carnaval but in summer. It’s an accepted form of madness.
@Silky_Bee requested PG so I didn’t include any references to New Kids, except for the can holder in the colours of my province of Brabant 
It contains foil to keep the can cold while you’re holding it.
I’ve been told that New Kids is trending again in the younger generation in Germany, but they were first famous 15 years ago. It’s an absurd comedy that takes place in a village close to my hometown (cycling distance) and it’s absurd, it’s very rude, but it’s also so extremely realistic. It’s like stepping into my childhood, except for the zombies. Yes, we speak like that and I literally have family members resembling almost every New Kid. Scooter and 90s gabber house and 90s tracksuits and Nike Air Max are eternally in fashion here. The German-spoken version of New Kids was at least as popular as the original version so I’m just going to include it here as an important culture reference for the uninitiated 
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I also received from @grabacoffee and she also sent the most amazing swap package!
Look how pretty it was wrapped:
I started opening from small to big:
Summer in Hungary is represented by flowers. These are felt flowers on wire stems, and I’ve displayed them in a little inherited vase / bottle. It’s not really a good size for a real flower but these felt flowers are perfect.
These flower ornaments are also felt!
I was stunned by these two! This is vintage Hungarian embroidery from @grabacoffee 's family, at least 70 years old! I can’t believe how generous you are to share these with me. You were right, I do absolutely love them. They will get a very nice spot in the chair or on the bed in my craft room (which is also my home office and the guest room). I actually learned about Hungarian embroidery in needlework class at school. I vividly remember the needlework teacher explaining that Hungarian embroidery often had floral themes, and that they pick colours that we think don’t look good together, and even back then I was thinking “what’s wrong with all of you? the colours are fantastic!”. I have vague future plans to paint the door in my room or the area around the door with floral motifs like that, but I still need to learn to paint better.
One of the things I listed was “for my garden” so for that item @grabacoffee also made two things!
This is the main craft. She wasn’t sure if I liked the colours so it’s not varnished so I have the option to re-paint it. I think the colours are perfect for this sign! You didn’t know this but Mr. Imma has been talking about an outdoor BBQ / kitchen area made from scrap wood we have lying around. This would be a great addition to it!
She also made these plant markers, these are also so nice! Over the years I’ve grown or at least tried to grow most of them.
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s even more!
Bookmarks! She wasn’t sure if I’m a reader, but I am, so these will come in very handy!
And some stamps she wanted to share with me, those will also come in very handy as I’m trying to expand my card-making skills.
Thank you so much @grabacoffee !
Here’s a bonus picture of the bookcase in my room.
ETA: the colours in my pictures are a bit off, because I’m keeping all the curtains closed because of the heat.
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What a beautiful swap gallery. All the creations are lovingly made and joyful to behold!
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That’s an amazing package you sent, @grabacoffee! And how cool is it that it fits @Immaculata’s home and garden so perfectly?
In my old neighborhood we had an obviously Dutch family that always decorated their house like crazy. I didn’t know that that’s something a lot of people do.
When I sent your package my man asked if it was right, that I didn’t include anything orange
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