Pink Stitches Love Day Swap

I had a blast with this swap. I usually enjoy the swaps I do, but this one was extra fun. My partner, Yvette, is a really fun lady and has a lot of the same interests as me. I hope we keep in touch for a very long time! In our emailing, she told me how she loves bicycles, and red and teal, and she's not a big fan of purple (if you know me in real life, you know that purple is the one color I really don't like)...it's like we were destined to be friends.

While shopping around with Brandi to find some ideas for the swap, we found this really cute bicycle embroidery kit. I snagged it (and later sent my mom back to get another one so I could make it for my aunt who rides her bicycle for many, many miles a year) and decided to make this the first hand embroidery-sewing project that I start and finish in a timely fashion. Boy, am I glad I did! She said that she had been eyeing this very kit and wondered if she would actually do it - I'm so glad I got it for her! It's like destiny. ;)

I also was told that she likes coffee (I also am rather obsessed with coffee - I drink a lot of it, and I get mine at www.kirkjeffery.com - check out his selection, very good coffee, roasted in small batches, and comparable price to the pounds you get in store, but much better quality. Ok, moving on...), so I made her a coffee sleeve using Red Heart Blue Hawaii and Red Heart Cherry Red (I use acrylic yarn on these so they are easily washable and go back to shape quickly). Funny thing is, after I had made this and put it with her other gifts, she sent me a text message saying she wanted a coffee sleeve because she loves these ones that we have in the shop. ;)

I made her a fabric basket using a bicycle burlap I found at JoAnn's and this lovely 'love' print I also found at JoAnn's.

She has two daughters, so I used some of the leftover love fabric and made them little chapstick pouches and put some yummy looking chapstick in there for them. She said she's holding onto them to put in their lunches on Valentine's Day. Ahh! How sweet. :)

She also has pets, like me, so I sent along some treats for her kitties and a toy for her dog. That dog toy is almost too cute to be a dog toy, though! Throw in a few candies, cute tissues, and some heart socks, and there you go!

I really enjoy doing the swaps over at Pink Stitches. She really does a fine job organizing it and setting it all up. I can't wait to see what's next!!

It's also through one of the Pink Stitches swaps that Brandi got paired with Ros from Sew Delicious. We love Ros and have participated in her first swap, a sweet pouch swap! I sure hope that my friendship with Yvette turns into the same kind of friendship that Ros, Brandi, and I have!

You can check out the progress of the Sweet Pouch Swap on Flickr! Both Brandi's and my pouches are there. We're almost ready to send them, just need a few more sweets to put in!