totally spoiled with more bookmarks

Lovely Lionel has been dropping a few bills in my letter box recently, but I’ll forgive him because he’s also been bringing me some more surprise mail.

Some bookmarks from Chantal

and some bookmarks from Marie-Thé

with some more from her recent trip to Turkey

and, a lovely bag of lavender, beautifully embroidered with lily of the valley. It’s the tradition, in France, to give bunches of lily of the valley as a symbol of good luck on 1st May and I am lucky enough to have this gorgeous lavender bag that will not wilt and die ^^

I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve these lovely gifts, but thank you Chantal and Marie-Thé ^^.

thank you Avis and Lindashee

Lovely Lionel stopped by the other day with a nice plump package from my patchwork guru, Avis ^^

Avis has been giving me advice on patchwork and walking me through the basics via email . . . and the other day I had a question about batting . . .  Avis said she would send me a few snippets so that I could see and feel for myself to get a better idea of what is available.  I knew a little package would be arriving, but I didn’t realise there were be some extra goodies inside ^^

First of all – a lovely selection of batting samples

Some lovely bookmarks for my collection

AND . . .

some 10″ fabric squares in blues & reds (colours I don’t seem to have in my stash) along with some assorted ribbons

Now I need to put my thinking cap on and decide what to do with these ^^

A thank you also to my daughter, aka Lindashee, who has come home for a few days for a very short visit . . . and who brought me some bookmarks (in triplicate so that I have two spares to exchange)

Easter Monday pell-mell

I hope everyone is having (or has had) a lovely Easter weekend? Weather is still rather cold here, with temps below zero at night but during the day, skies are blue and daffodils are all swaying their yellow heads in the gentle breeze. No Easter egg hunt in the garden lol because the only family we had to stay was eldest son and his girlfriend, Laetitia. It was lovely to catch up, even if their visit was only a short one.

I had been busy with needle and thread making a patchwork bag for Laetitia as it’s her birthday on 8th April but since she was here in person, I gave her her pressie early . . . and she loved it ^^  Here are pics of THE bag.

Laetitia didn’t arrive empty-handed . . . she had been to a crafts show recently, and had thought of me . . . so I now have lots more lovely wooden buttons for future creations, which she presented in a cute velvety pouch decorated with coffee beans and a lovely card

AND . . . Lovely Lionel stopped by the other day with a nice squidgy parcel from Monique la bretonne (a lovely lady who follows my French blog. Monique does a lot of crochet, and asked me a while back if I would like a pair of mittens, and if so, what colour. I said “purple” ^^ So guess what she sent?

They are gorgeous!  And, as you can see, there is an extra bit that unbuttons and then unfolds to cover my fingers entirely.

So a big thank you to Laetitia and Monique!

thank you Titoune and Pierrette

I have more thank yous to post today . . . yes, indeed, more generous friends who have been thinking of me and fuelling my addiction for collections.  First of all, Titoune (who was a faithful follower for the “Tangled Frame” SAL) sent me some bookmarks – one of which comes all the way from Kyoto.

And thank you to Pierrette, a lovely lady at my local patchwork club . . . who gave me a beautiful wooden hand-painted thimble . . . with a Matriochka design lol.  Unfortunately, even with my macro button on my camera, I can’t seem to get a decent photo.

“thank you” cards

After receiving so many lovely gifts from thoughtful friends, I decided that an email to say thank you wasn’t enough ^^  I felt it was only right and proper to do things the old fashioned way and send a REAL card. So have been busy making lots of little cards which should have plopped through people’s letter boxes by the time I publish this article.  Since I had quite a few to make and send, I kept things very simple . . . but also took the opportunity to use some of the wierd and wonderful buttons I had in my stash.

Had great fun chosing which buttons to use, and although very simple, I think my little cards are quite cute ^^ (but then that’s normal, since I made them lol).  Was a great way to use up small pieces of leftover fabric and various threads. No card is identical, and buttons are all different too . . . monsters, cats, russian dolls, flowers, and even a dragon !

thank you biqui

Lovely Lionel must think I’ve won a popularity contest or have been shopping on the internet again ^^ because yesterday he dropped off another parcel. A real surprise for me, because I haven’t got anything on order . . . so rip rip went the paper . . . to discover a gift from biqui. More bookmarks for my collection, but the icing on the cake, a lovely framed cross stitch CAT.  Yay, and he’s gorgeous. The design is so simple, in greys and blacks, by Passion Creative who has really captured the feline pose.

So many thanks to biqui for her workwomanship and for her generosity.

thank you Stéphanie, yvonne and my darling daughter

More post today (than you Lionel) aside from the phone bill . . .  it’s always so much fun to see REAL mail and wonder who is writing.

First enveloppe . . . I recognised the hand-writing, . . . was from my darling daughter, aka Lindashee. Couldn’t guess what she was writing to me about since we usually chat on skype and she texted me on my birthday . . . so ripped that open pretty quick lol to find a belated birthday card. Aahhhhhhhh, now isn’t that thoughtful?

Next I opened a card from Stéphanie . . . who also send me a fun Breton bookmark for my collection

and last, but by no means least . . . a very interesting enveloppe from Yvonne with instructions on how to OPEN it (which I carefully followed) . . . the enveloppe itself is the card -now that’s a pretty cool idea) and inside there were two little “things” that looked like match-stick packets at first lol.

But no, they’re far too pretty to be match sticks . . . so what was inside?

Ohhhh!!!!!! What a brilliant idea!  A little pin holder and a needle holder.  Brilliant!  Such a simple idea but how clever.  I think I’m going to “steal” that idea in the future . . . it really is a nifty idea for a gift.

thank you Michèle and Cathdragon

I’m still being spoiled rotten for my birthday hihi.

More bookmarks for my collection thanks to Michèle

and lots of lovely surprises from Cathdragon . . . an overall photo first

two bookmarks, a “violet” soap and 2 violet sweeties PLUS the most gorgeous box made just for me with a trio of Russian cat-dolls ^^

A couple of zooms to see the box in more detail

more thank yous

I have some more thank yous to show you because of more plump enveloppes from generous blogging friends.

From Joce (who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person) a gorgeous stitched bookmark (for a BIG book lol) and a kit to make my own

from Marie-Thérèse, who travels a great deal for work and for pleasure . . . some bookmarks from very far away

In this first photo, two from Dubai (the modern hotel and the camels), one from Ireland and one from Iceland.  And a whole pile of “publicity” bookmarks from closer to home

From Monique la Bretonne – two more bookmarks from her region

And from quaquie . . . a Christmas themed hand-stitched bookmark and a thimble for my collection from Andorra

So a big thank you ladies.  I received a few other packages this morning but you’ll have to wait until I have had time to take photos and thank the ladies personally by email first.

 

Lovely Lionel never gets bored

Lovely Lionel never gets bored with all the interesting mail he delivers to this house ^^ And recently there has been more mail than usual because I’m a birthday gal  hihi.

Debbierose and her MOTH sent me a parcel from Australia (and Debbie even added a message to Lionel on the packaging, although I’m not sure if he read it lol) with some gorgeous fabrics for patchwork and a really cute bookmark made from genuine Australian leather

Fred, a French forum friend, sent me a gorgeous needle keeper (to make ladies at patchwork club drool with envy when I go along next week)

Lilubelle, another friend from the same forum, sent me some blackwork stitching, a book of Hans Christian Anderson tales, a limited edition postcard, buttons and an additional bookmark

From eldest son and his girlfriend, I received some more bookmarks, 4 thread sorters and a lovely little wall plaque

And, while the following were not birthday gifts, Monique la Bretonne sent me two bookmarks

and Jacky, one of my English students, thought of me while touring in Vietnam and Cambodia and brought me back a hand-made bookmark from Vietnam. The other 2 in photo are front & back of a bookmark I picked up at my local library the other day.