I've still got half an hour left of Sunday -- so this is my Sunday Stash post! I thought in the course of this post I'd also introduce you to some of my favorite flickr groups.

In case you have no idea what this Sunday Stash thing is about -- it's a group on flickr where members post a picture of a tiny bit of their craft stash every Sunday -- and blog about it even. Of course it's a great group to browse if you like drooling over pretty fabrics (like I do).

These pretty American Jane fat quarters I got in a swap on the Craft Room Destash group on flickr. This is a swap group where members post craft stuff they don't want anymore or fabrics they have available for swapping. When you see someone else post something you want, you just ask them to look over your stash and see if there's anything they're interested in swapping for! It's super fantastic. I've taken part in over half a dozen swaps with various members of this group and I've gotten some great fabrics I love in exchange for some great fabrics I probably wouldn't have used otherwise. I've also traded craft books in this group. I have a whole set on flickr of craft things I'm willing to swap out -- in hopes of getting new craft stuff of course

Most of my favorite flickr groups are swap groups, actually. I am doing THREE swaps in August. The first is for the A Little Fabric, A Little Chocolate group. You can see by the photos in the pool that this is a high quality swapping group. Every month we're assigned partners and based on their flickr photos and a little survey, we put together swap packages for each other that consist of three fat quarters and some chocolate and extra goodies. This swap is always my favorite one. I was really sad when I didn't sign up for July because I thought I'd be too busy with a newborn to do fabric shopping (I was right). It's really great to get such a nice surprise in the mail and the fellow crafters I've met through the group have become great flickr friends of mine.

The second swap I'm doing in August is similar to the first. It's for the Fat Quarter Swap with a Twist group. For this group we send themed monthly packages to our swap partners. The packages usually contain a few fat quarters, some kind of handmade item and extra goodies. The August theme is "shades of blue" and we're required to send a blueberry recipe to our partners (along with the fabric and handmade stuff). I've done this swap for awhile now and I highly recommend it. I find the themes can be harder to work with, but I do enjoy the challenge of putting together a nice swap package.

The third swap I'm doing is for a new group I've just joined. The Amigurumi group on flickr is absolutely full of stunning inspiration -- and since I've become mildly obsessed with crochet lately, I spend a lot of time looking at this pool. It's a good way to find designers and bookmark etsy favorites and I've found some nice patterns -- both free and for sale. I think that Amigurumi appeals to me more than making softie toys with fabric right now because I love making toys for Sullivan and it's a different kind of activity for my hands -- and it feels good to take a break from the sewing machine. There is an August swap going on where secret partners send an Amigurumi and extra goodies to each other. This is an international swap too. Looking at some of the swap examples posted it should be a really awesome swap. I'm sort of intimidated, but I just purchased some patterns on etsy to try and I've been practicing my tension and stitches by making toy eggs all week! I'll review the swap better once I've actually taken part in it though!

I absolutely love swapping and I love swapping on flickr because it just seems more personal than swap-bot (in my experience). Of course, be safe and use common sense when giving out personal information on the internet!

I'll post some of my other favorite flickr groups at a later time!

In the meanwhile, I'm doing fine and so is Freyja, Sullivan and Aaron. My mother-in-law is visiting this week, so we are busy busy! But I'm hoping to have some time to post some blogs and get caught up on comments. Four minutes till next week now! Happy Monday everyone!