Pretty, pretty, pretty... and a 'No Frills Swap'

Ooh, settling back down to earth here in soggy, grey Haute Garonne. It's been a lovely Christmas and New Year, thanks to great times with family and really special links with bloggers, too! I'm listening to the CD of music from 'The Long Way Down' which Ben bought me for Christmas - African music makes it feel a bit less grey here. But I'm ready for some colour too... The pretty, pretty picture above represents two parcels which were waiting for me when I got home. The ribbon is part of Michela's wonderful Christmas gift, and the fabric behind is on the back of Sarah's cushion...

...too wonderful, isn't it? So glad I got the second one (she kept the first one for herself, very understandably). Thanks so much to you two lovely blogging friends.

Just a few more peeps at the wonders within Michela's parcel. But where is my photo of the Limoges box? I don't know where it's gone, but don't worry, I'll take more.

Another immense pleasure that January has brought is the unveiling of Niki's Nostalgia at the Stone House Calendar. It's really the only new thing I've bought myself, except for a refill for my diary, and both of those do have to come new, don't they? And Niki's photos are beautifully handcrafted, of course.Our calendars used to be somewhat hidden away in the kitchen, but I'm not prepared to do that with this year's edition! Instead I've hung it below the stairs, where it can be seen clearly in the 'hallway' part of our living space. On the tray below it I've decided to do a little monthly display which reflects the colours and themes of Niki's photo - this month silver, and next month I'm looking forward to lots of red for Valentine's Day!And now to this idea for a 'No Frills' Swap. Firstly the subject: it's a magazine swap. I know that lots of us doing the Challenge of the Utmost Kind are hankering for new magazines, and in my opinion a 'new to you' magazine for the right time of year is just as good. So the idea is to swap craft/vintage/lifestyle magazines, from the ones we already have in our collections! You don't have to be doing the Challenge to join in, of course.If you like the idea, check out these basic rules, and please sign up by commenting on this post:

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Rules

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Check that you have at least one magazine of the craft/vintage/lifestyle genre for February or March that you are prepared to swap. Don't go out and buy a new one!

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Sign up here, letting me know if you want a magazine in English or if you are prepared to just enjoy the pictures in a 'foreign-language' mag. Let me know if the mag you have is in English or another language. Mine are in French so it's fine to join in with non-English ones...

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Closing date for entries will be Thursday January 21st. Please email your address to me as soon as you enter.

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I will sort out swap partners and let you know your partner by Thursday January 28th. Get to know them a bit and check to see that you won't be posting something they already have a copy of!

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Pack up your magazine and post it to your swap partner with a little note or pretty card, to arrive around February 12th. This is the No Frills part! No extras, no hard work, no feeling guilty because your partner sent you something extra that you didn't think to send them. No Frills. Easy Swap.

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Obviously, please do advertise the swap by putting my logo and a link to this post onto your sidebar or in a post. The more the merrier!

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Floss

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PS Hope you like my 'no frills' logo. It's either wonderful in its simplicity or really bad. You decide.

THE SWAP IS NOW CLOSED, AND I AM BUSY SORTING OUT PARTNERS...