Forest Quilties: Margaux Lashbrook, Scotland

From Margaux Lashbrook who lives in Scotland, we have 5 really delightfully stitched forest quilties, thank you! It will be difficult to choose one for myself, that's for sure . . . .
Margaux enclosed a note that said, "The backing is a homage to the Tartan rugs so much a fixture of my childhood, and regular trips to the countryside."

I have never been to the Scottish countryside, but have seen photos of how beautiful it is from my friend who lives there, Frieda Oxenham. Frieda, in fact, introduced Margaux to my creative swaps blog and this is Margaux's 6th creative swap! See all of Margaux's fabulous artwork for creative swaps HERE.

Margaux also asked me how my dad is doing -- better, thank you. He is off chemo for the rest of the week and will start the pills at a lower dosage next week. Steven & I go to visit my parents in just 2 and 1/2 weeks -Dec 22 through 27th. I aim to have ALL of the FOREST QUILTIES swapped and in the mail by December 15 and will keep you posted here!

Star Ornament Swap! Margaux Lashbrook - UK

The beautiful glass stars you see here are made by Margaux Lashbrook. They arrived safely in CT (and on time) all the way from Edinburgh, Scotland. It has just taken me some time to upload these last few packages.

I love these stars! Thank you, Margaux, you knew I would love them & so you made an extra one for me too : ))) -so very kind of you.

Margaux even sewed these wonderful little felt pouches to keep them cozy and safe. Awesome!

Shades of Sunshine Quilties: Margaux Lashbrook ~ Scotland, UK

Beautiful, bright, and satiny shades of sunshine have arrived from Margaux Lashbrook in Edinburgh, Scotland. There are 4 of these for the swap, and 1 for me. Thank you, Margaux! I love the strips of gold/bronze paint, the hand embroidery, stitching & fabrics.

mmmm!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Margaux Lashbrook ~ Scotland, UK

From Margaux Lashbrook in Scotland we have a travel-log Itty Bitty, one of my favorites.

Margaux shares her story of what summer means to her by writing on the back of each Itty Bitty and then also enclosing a typed version to make sure we can read it-thank you!!

She tells us about traveling to the south coast of England and hopping on a ferry to France! Great wine, mineral water, coffee . . . ooh la la! She has maps on the front of her collage, various French stamps, and even French ribbons. I am sure I missed something there is so much to look at!

Thank you, Margaux!

Click on any photo for more detail, as always!

Grimm fairytale 5x5 Collage swap: Margaux Lashbrook

Margaux Lashbrook from Scotland, UK has sent in 4 collages for our swap, plus two extra - wow!
Margaux told me she loves the Brother's Grimm tales, but found herself getting rather cynical while creating her collages! Below is the back of one . . .

Margaux wrote me an email to explain her motivation while creating her swap pieces: "It started with the first one, having neatly drawn and cut out a silver slipper to add to the Cinders picture, I thought of the high heels so beloved in my youth and which I have recently rediscovered the joy of wearing! So I had to make some high heeled fluffy totally impractical creation instead, which led to the thought of Manolo Blahnik. (Note -this is a fancy shoe designer for those like me who are not in-the-know) Having created one slightly silly collage it seemed appropriate to continue the theme, and since Cinderella is all about 'being rescued by your prince', a concept I am not in favour of, preferring to advocate independence and freedom to live your life, the cynicism naturally won out. Having said that I do love romance! So, to answer the obvious questions, the answer is yes, I am separated, and I do absolutely detest ironing......... All the collages that are coming in look fantastic. It must be such fun for you to see these arrive."

YES! This really is one of the best parts of hosting swaps for me, Margaux is right. I love seeing what everyone comes up with when given a theme and I really enjoyed seeing Margaux's take on this theme. If you click on the pictures you may be able to read the funny things Margaux added . . . .

"Oh dear, too late! Don't let him stifle your creativity."

"He found his true bride. Run my dear! He just wants you to do his ironing!"

"At your feet? Keep him there!"

Thanks very much, Margaux, for joining us : )

The images Margaux used come from these collage sheets on this page at Alpha Stamps -Midnight #1, The Ball #2 and The Happily Ever After.

Altered by Design ATC swap: Margaux Lashbrook

Hooray! For the first time in about 10 days . . . there was swap mail in my mailbox!! Featured in this post are Margaux Lashbrook's very beautiful ATCs for the Altered by Design swap, with a theme of Angels*fairies*and Divas!

Margaux hails from Edinburgh, Scotland. There, she took a class with my friend Frieda Oxenham (in Scotland) and that's how she found me. Frieda is in this swap too and talked about it in her class -how wonderful. I really like Margaux's ATCs. They are made from fabric and I especially like the ribbon wrapped around and the real flower added, as you see to the left. Click on any scan for more detail!

They are all a little different from each other and that's really nice.









Thank you for partiicpating, Margaux! You have done a lovely job and I so appreciate the extra ATCs you made for me and for Carol Murphy, the sponsor of the swap : )