Super Swaps ....

I've taken part in two bloggy swaps this year so far.
I want to share with you the gorgeous gifts I've been lucky enough to receive
& the lovely people who sent the to me !
So here we go !

First up was the Sweet Pouch Swap organised by the lovely Ros at Sew Delicious.
You might remember my offering here !

My swapper was the Sweetest!
Her name is Jacqueline and she hangs out over at 'From Out Of The Chaos'
and she sent me a fab package full of goodies & a beautiful purple quilted pouch !
I just LOVE her colour combinations & fabric choices !

Yes! I'd obviously scoffed all the yummy sweets by the time I took the photo ! (I had some help !)
Besides the sweets, a key fob, a funky pen & note-lets part of her gift to me was some lovely scraps from her stash.

My daughter Lorna put one to good use in an invitation illustration for a 'Mother & Daughter Afternoon Tea' event, fundraising money for Marymount hospice, Cork.
This is what she did with it !

Next up was the Covert Robin organised by the talented Rachael over at Imagine Gnats
I was lucky enough to receive another great parcel from the very artistic Tabitha over at Klucking Bear 
(check out her illustrations ! They are AMAZING !)

I was blown away by this stunning piece she made just for me !

She looked at my pinterest page & saw I had pinned some bunting & she bunting-ed up an 'S' for Siubhan !

In the pack too was also a great magazine called Apronology full of ideas for fab aprons!
One in particular really caught my eye. I'm going to have to make this 'junkin' apron' for Lorna for when she starts her career as an Artist !

All of the above will soon be finding a home in my NEW workroom!!
My husband & son are currently 'doing - up' the spare room (insulating the roof at the minute) .
I'm looking forward to moving into a new brighter, bigger space soon.
Have a sneak peek at the work in progress .....

Hope you have a lovely weekend !
Thanks for visiting & do come back soon !

Love Siubhán x x x

I've been Bad .......

Since stepping into 2013 I've been many things ..

Some good....

I've been newly self-employed = SUPER exciting new job,so many things to learn and lots & lots to do!

Some bad....

I've been a bad mom = mediating squabbles through gritted teeth, throwing my eyes up to heaven at the 'Im bored!' mantra when I should be enthusing them to get up & go ! ...I feel I haven't had enough time to do fun things with my kids, does it ever get easier (I guess I know that answer to that one!)

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I've been a (sort-of) bad wife = making time for each other is never easy and now that I'm working from home there's a whole new balance to find, I don't think I'm doing a very good job at it :(

I've been a bad friend = Many of my good friends have troubles and need my help or at least my ear why cant I find time to give THEM more time?

I've been a bad maker = I've flitted from one project to the next, every project I take up makes me think of all the others I have 'in train'. I feel like I've achieved nothing and that (horror of horrors)  making is becoming a chore.

I've been a BAD Blogger :( = Ive stopped posting - I've stopped even planning to post

I've been so busy over these past months .....
and I'm feeling overwhelmed.
It would be easy to blame it all on my new circumstances at work
but I love this job and in order to make my life worth living then I need to stop, reassess and start to pay more attention around here!

I've been beating myself up in so many areas and its doing my spirit no good.

on Thursday last I had a meeting in Ballymaloe in East Cork about their fabbie Litfest Event and when the meeting was over I did what I NEVER do - I took 20 minutes out,

and went for a walk on Ballycotton beach.....

alone ....

& I came to some decisions ..

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After a bit of soul searching I came to the decision that my main problem was not all the work I have on 

but me ! ME! I'm the problem!

I'm such a perfectionist and if I'm going to stay sane then I'm going to have to stop beating myself up -

Maybe I'm not the best mom, wife, friend or maker, 

but I'm doing the best that I can do AT THIS TIME !

I haven't posted on the blog for so long is that I want everything to be perfect...

perfect photos, perfect craft,  perfect spelling ! 

I'm officially giving myself a break !

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So to that end I hope to be posting more often from now on 

and I'm looking forward to getting back in touch with my bloggy friends! 

I've missed you guys!!!

Lots of love
Siubhan x x x