Wonderful Chrimbo!

Justin and I had our first just the 2 of us Christmas. This was due to the fact that he had to go into work at 9pm and do the night shift at the hospital. So it was an interesting day - he slept in and then had to take another nap later so that he was able to be somewhat alert for work. Anyhoo, we had our Christmas slap bang in the middle of the day. I made a nice roast chicken and all the usual trimmings that one generally has with Turkey (except the Brussel sprouts).

I got some lovely presentsI finally got my Blue Morpho Butterfly necklace from neile's shop. I had wanted to buy it for my birthday but never could get round to spending the money on myself - Justin bought it for me. My luggage broke this summer and I had to sew it shut just to make it back home, Aunt Julie bought me a lovely Purple set of luggage. I got an overlocker from Justin's parents ( I actually got it at Thanksgiving but it was a Christmas gift.) Finally I got this lovely Pom-Pom scarf rom my Secret Santa. I got some other lovely gifts too!

My Mum and Dad left me a lovely parcel with lots of gorgeous items inside including these lovely pieces from Eden Pottery. I love the pottery and it is one of my favourite places to go when I am home, the owners are lovely and let my dad paint his own pieces and fire them for him, I have some great plates and bowls that he has made there. Of course we are great customers and regularly buy items in their annual "seconds "sale as well as eating the enormous cinnamon scones that they sell in the cafe. You can buy pieces from the website and I highly recommend them, my favourite current pattern is Cottage Garden after the sadly discontinued Sweet Pea series. A good friend of the family commissioned 2 sweet pea mugs for me a few years ago - a great gift.


It was a different Christmas but a good one!

Polka Dot Christmasy Swap

I went out for lunch with the hubby today and when I got home I found a delightful Christmas package on the door step. It was my polka dot gift for the Christmas Polka Dot Swap from my swap partner Bec Lewis of Little Brown Dog blog.

The rules for the swap were

• At least three small items - these can be absolutely anything you want! But...
• One item must be something handmade and Christmasy (i.e. a Christmas apron, decoration, stocking, etc) and must include some polka dot fabric
• You must make the decoration including the colours your swap partner requests (this is because I know some of you will be like me, and have theme colours for Christmas)

I am delighted at what I have received. Firstly and polka dotty was my stocking. It is perfect! this is our first Christmas just the 2 of us so I was planning on making a stocking us both. Now I just have to make one for Justin. The bell on the toe is also great bells are somewhat of a Christmas theme for me. nicely wrapped in the stocking was a little birdy ornament which is now hanging on the tree. Thirdly all rolled up was a lovely cushion cover made from and Irish linen tea towel, perfect for me really - I love Irish Linen and the cushion is just so quirky!

Thank you so much Bec! I love all my items. I hope yours arrive soon!

I decided to experiment with Photovisi on this post. A way to make collages - anyone know of any other free programs - I am envious of those beautifully collaged posts which succesful bloggers put together.

Better Late than never...

I finally got around to updating my Etsy Shop today.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade AshleyAmandaDesigns.etsy.com

Hopefully I haven't totally missed the boat and maybe I will get at least one holiday sale! Anyway - check it out and spread the news!