2011 Reading Challenge

Sorry to bore any of you with my reading posts but :-
Last year I joined the Goodreads 2011 reading challenge and set my goal at 50 books for the year.... the same amount I set as a personal challenge for 2010. I'm pleased to say that I not only reached my goal but exceeded it by 17 books!

This is what I read for the year:
1) Tomorrow 6: The Night is for Hunting by John Marsden
2) Tomorrow 7: The other Side of Dawn by John Marsden
3) Marked (House of Night 1) by P.C.Cast
4) Betrayed (House of Night 2) by P.C.Cast
5) Chosen (House of Night 3) by P.C.Cast
6) Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods 1) by Melissa De la Cruz
7) Untamed (House of Night 4) by P.C.Cast
8) Hunted (House of Night 5) by P.C.Cast
9) Tempted (House of Night 6) by P.C.Cast
10) Burned (House of Night 7) by P.C.Cast
11) Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush 1) by Becca Fitzpatrick
12) Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
13) Undead and Unwed (Undead and Unwed 1) by Mary Janice Davidson
14) Undead and Unemployed (Undead and Unwed 2) by Mary Janice Davidson
15) Undead and Unappreciated (Undead and Unwed 3) by Mary Janice Davidson
16) Undead and Unreturnable (Undead and Unwed 4) by Mary Janice Davidson
17) Undead and Unpopular (Undead and Unwed 5) by Mary Janice Davidson
18) I am Number 4 by Pittacus Lore
19) Crescendo (Hush, Hush 2) by Becca Fitzpatrick
20) The Wee Free Men (Discworld 30) by Terry Pratchett
21) Awakened (House of Night 8) by P.C.Cast
22) City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments 4) by Cassandra Clare
23) The Devils Kiss (Billy Sangreal 1) by Sarwat Chadda
24) Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld 4) by Kelley Armstrong
25) Haunted (Women of the Otherworld 5) by Kelley Armstrong
26) Broken (Women of the Otherworld 6) by Kelley Armstrong
27) No Human's Involved (Women of the Otherworld 7) by Kelley Armstrong
28) Personal Demon (Women of the Otherworld 8) by Kelley Armstrong
29) Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld 9) by Kelley Armstrong
30) Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld 10) by Kelley Armstrong
31) Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld 11) by Kelley Armstrong
32) The Scent of Shadows (First Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson
33) The Taste of Night (Second Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson
34) The Touch of Twilight (Third Sign of the Zodiac) Vicki Pettersson
35) Gone (Gone 1) by Michael Grant
36) Hunger (Gone 2) by Michael Grant
37) Lies (Gone 3) by Michael Grant
38) Plague (Gone 4) by Michael Grant
39) While I Live (Ellie Chronicles 1) by John Marsden
40) Incurable (Ellie Chronicles 2) by John Marsden
41) Circle of Flight (Ellie Chronicles 3) by John Marsden
42) City of Souls (Fourth Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson
43) Strange Angels (Strange Angels 1) by Lili St.Crow
44) Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
45) Betrayals (Strange Angels 2) by Lili St.Crow
46) Jealousy (Strange Angels 3) by Lili St.Crow
47) Defiance (Strange Angels 4) by Lili St.Crow
48) Stray (Shifters 1) by Rachel Vincent
49) Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
50) Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles 1) by Kami Garcia
51) Divergent (Divergent 1) by Veronica Roth
52) Blood Rights (House of Camarre' 1) by Kristen Painter
53) Cheat the Grave (Fifth Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson
54) The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
55) Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynne Barnes
56) Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress 1) by Jeaniene Frost
57) One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress 2) by Jeaniene Frost
58) At Grave's End (Night Huntress 3) by Jeaniene Frost
59) Flesh and Blood (House of Camarre' 2) by Kristen Painter
60) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
61) Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress 4) by Jeaniene Frost
62) This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress 5) by Jeaniene Frost
63) One Grave at a Time (Night Huntress 6) by Jeaniene Frost
64) Reckoning (Strange Angels 5) by Lili St.Crow
65) First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World 1) by Jeaniene Frost
66) Angelic by Kelley Armstrong
67) Counterfeit Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Once again there is a lot of superantural fiction in the list thanks to my sisters influence which I mentioned in last years post here.  I'm still really enjoying what I read although I might try to throw a few classics into the mix for this year..... maybe :) 

Also, if you'd like to see how I've rated any of the above books you can check them out in my Goodreads. You can also read a bit about the story and checkout other peoples reviews which is where I get a lot of my recommendations.

Lastly, if you've read something that you think I might like.... please share! :)

Until next time.....

FIS Swap

Now I can show you the things that I sent to my Friends In Stitching Christmas swap partner Jane of Sweet Cinnamon Stitches ..... the main present that she opened on Christmas day is one of my all-time favourite patterns by Janelle Wind - A Frilly Dilly Bag.  Jane tells me this has been on her to-do list for some time.... I guess she can cross that one off now! :)

This is the inside of the bag showing one of my labels..... I had these made up quite some time ago now but usually forget to put them on the things I make.... glad I remembered this time!

And these are the other little pressies I sent that were opened each day on

the five days leading up to Chrissy:

This was such a fun swap to put together!

Until next time....

SSCS 2011

So now that Christmas is over....I can show you the swap pressie I sent off to Kristi as part of Chookyblue's annual Secret Santa Christmas Swap for 2011.

I always have trouble deciding on what to send my partners but thought you can't go wrong with something Christmassy for a Christmas Swap......I settled on a wallhanging!

I can't seem to put my hands on the pattern at the moment to tell you the designer but I will dig it out if anyone would like to know.

Until next time....

Swap Parcels opened

It was very exciting to have a couple of special parcels to open on Christmas morning, both from swaps that I've participated in:

The first is from Tess of Raggedy Station who is also part of the Friends in Stitching online group. We each had to send five small parcels to be opened on the days leading up to Christmas and one main handmade pressie.

These are the five smaller items: Sewing pins, cute Christmas buttons, notecards, Joy Patch Pattern, Note pad holder and scented drawer sachet... there was also chocolate which didn't last very long at all!

The main pressie was this gorgeous sewing bag and matching needlecase....it's just so lovely!

Tess must have lots of patience to make all those sweet little yo-yo flowers with pretty button centre's. The handles are just lovely too and feel really sturdy so I can see this bag getting lots of use!

Thankyou so much Tess.... everything you sent is just lovely!

The second parcel I received came all the way from Sherry of Books, Hooks, Sticks Etc in the USA and was for Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap that I have done for three years now. Sherry really spoilt me with lots of goodies:

So many things: North American national parks calendar, Quilting magazine, diary, candle, Capitol Building jigsaw puzzle, notepads and sticky notes.... and then there were the handmade things!

Lovely quilted table mat, wallet, needle case.... and the main pressie:

A beautiful table runner. The rustic colours will look lovely on my recycled timber dining table!

Thankyou so much Sherry... they'll all be put to good use!

And thanks to Chooky for organising another great swap.

Until next time.....

Swap Parcel Received

We've been away for a few days..... and look what was waiting for me when we got home last night:

All these lovely goodies are from my Friends in Stitching group Secret Santa Christmas swap partner... ???

It's an advent swap so we had to send 5 smaller parcels and one main parcel to open on Christmas day....you can see they're all numbered so I know which one to open first.

I opened the first one today but I'll wait and show you them all together once I've opened them!

Until next time.......

Year 6 Farwell dress

Remember that beautiful bright satin fabric I showed you back here?

Miss 12 chose the fabric and New Look Pattern no.6933 herself and I set to work....hoping that I could manage to pull it off since I'd never worked with anything quite like it before (I think Miss 12 was nervous too). I managed to finish it off last weekend in time for Miss 12's year 6 farewell on Thursday night....... what do you think?

Miss 12 was thrilled and it was definitely the brightest dress there! :)

Taylor Swift Love Story hair completed the look..... compliments of this Youtube tutorial Miss 12 had me watch (much easier than it looks):

Next step....High School!

Until next time......

SSCS 2011

I was very excited to receive my Secret Santa Christmas Swap parcel yesterday.....all the way from Sherry in the USA.

Just look at all these parcels...... Sherry has spoilt me rotten!

Boy, I think I'm going to have to get the kids to hide them so I'm not tempted to open them all before Christmas!

Although, I did get to open one straight away..... this cute little ornament, isn't it sweet?

Thanks so much Sherry and to Chooky for doing an amazing job or organising it all once again!

Oh.... and I managed to get my last swap parcel posted off today too! This one is for the Friends in Stitching online group that I'm part of. We had to send one main pressie and five smaller ones to be opened in the days leading up to Christmas..... I wonder who they're heading to, Hmmm??

Until Next time....