Last night I had the pleasure of meeting 12 crafty ladies, organised by the lovely Nichola & Justine (over at Nikkishell and 62 Cherry) at Amitie – a truly magnificent fabric store. All were Melbourne bloggers, (most with a craft focus) and it was very inspiring to be surrounded by such talented and charming company. We all made gifts to trade on the night, and every time I received a new package which were all so beautifully and carefully crafted I felt so blessed and unworthy in some strange way.
It was, to be honest a bit nerve-wracking to meet them all in such a brightly-lit room, around such a big table. There was absolutely nowhere to hide, so I warmed myself up by purchasing a small stash of some superb fabric (more on that another day). I’m sure I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. 
After a bit of small-talk, and general nervousness, Nichola suggested we all start the swap – and one by one we passed things around and gave a brief intro. So nice to put faces to blogs, and get to know people a little better. Strange to meet people in the flesh who you feel you know through their blogs. You learn so much, and you know so little really. ….
Here’s why I was so lucky, and who we all were:
This little cutie from Tatania
This lovely scarf – plus a pattern to make a gorgeous softie from Jhoanna
A fabulously cosy hot water bottle+cover from Dana
A book in a hand-felted, and beautifully stitched cover from Joanne
Hand-printed (gotta love a gocco) cards from Kirsten
The softest angora mittens and a card from Leslie
A fab needle-case and card from Justine who couldn’t come – oh we missed you!
And this! from Nichola
These hand-cut and printed cards and a truly gorgeous little fella from Rosie & Melly
Plus an amazing journal and badges from Susannah
And this soft notebook in an (Armani!) embroidered cover from Tina
My contribution to all of this was some quilted pincusions, made of linen offcuts from canvases. I wasn’t so much trying to be thrifty as find something unusual that was functional and said a little about what I do. The pins were made of shrinky dinks and were done by hand. The shape of the pincusions werre supposed to be like little mountains, which always remind me of winter – having grown up under the shadow of Mount Wellington in Hobart.
Such a fun night! I’d love to repeat it – with a bit less nerves next time. Funny people arn’t we.
Hi Michelle, it was nice to meet you last night, thankyou so much for my pincushion – I love it!
shrinkydinkies i want to make some!! i love my pincushion and I love that it represents a mountain from tassie. Hey if I was there I would have been the most nervous of all (truly)
maybe we can meet at the next one!
it was so great to meet you last night – you were one of the people that I was a little star-struck with
I guess I have been reading your blog for a little while now and do feel like I know so much yet really know so little… next time I will try to relax a bit more and just chat.
thank-you so much for my pin cushion, i love that it is made with the material that you paint on and I absolutely adore the shrinky dinks – i had a look at their website yesterday, am so gonna get me some of those!
Sounds like you had a great time! I’m sure you weren’t the only one nervous:) It’s funny when nerves pop up when least expected – like when you and I first met for instance! haha The gifts you received are fantastic – I particularly like the scarf and the needle case – very talented crafty people! You’ll all have to do that again:)
It was wonderful to meet you Michelle – I was actually hoping to get a chance to chat with you a little more . . . I love your work. Thanks so much for the gorgeous pincushion and cute pins – I don’t really have a pincushion (just a piece of foam I stick pins into
), so I’m delighted to have such a sweet, sweet one now on my desk 
Funny that we were all so nervous isnt it? I did have a lovely time but would have loved longer to really get into some conversations. Thank you for your beautiful gift! We still havent done a post as we have had a crazy weekend.
i’ll ditto the fact that i wish i’d had a bit more time to chat with you! next time…
and how cool that the pincushions are based on the shape of a mountain! i love mine even more now : )
It sounds like BlogMeet 2 was as fun as the first one (which I was lucky enough to attend). Glad you all had a great time.
Hi Michelle! It was so fabulous to meet you on Friday – I had such a fabulous time and hope that we can catch up again one day!! Thanks so much for your delightful gift – it is so beautiful and the pins are just the cutest. THANKS!! =)