Now we are thirty - #2

I don't think anyone ever had such lovely crafty friends. Clockwise from the top left are:

500 cupcakes & muffins from Kathrin - I think she's just hoping that the boyfriend will start bringing the cupcakes that we can't eat into work!
Machine stitched owl from Ellen.
Handmade beaded fuschia earrings from Jenny.
Crocheted brooch on a handknit heart cushion from Mikal.
Pink glass dotty earrings from Helen.
Handmade cards drawn by Kathrin's girls - I feel they have a future in the quirky greetings card market.



After our lengthy conversations about packed lunches on the way back from Woolfest in the summer Felix decided that I needed the ultimate picnic bag. If you read Felix's blog you might have noticed that she tends to play down her sewing skills with typical modesty but this is a beautiful piece of work. The outer fabric is an Amy Butler fabric in a lovely fresh green and the lining is some leaf patterned oil cloth. I'm incredibly impressed with the neatness of the stitching as I've heard that oil cloth can be really tricky to sew. The bag has two handy pockets on the outside and was packed with handy picnic stuff including a one-person vacuum flask (which will be filled only with hot water), two mini tupperware containers, a napkin, a biscuit box, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and a freezer pack in its own little bag. I was absolutely stunned when I opened this and saw all the lovely things that Felix had filled it with.

Thank you so much to all my lovely friends who celebrated my birthday with me on Monday!

Winding up Christmas

I love slightly belated Christmas gifts, they're like a bonus. These, from Lara which I found in the post when I got back home after the holidays, and from Felix when we finally* managed to exchange gifts at Sticks'n'String on Tuesday, have an avian theme running through them.

Firstly from Lara I received these lovely little rubber stationery stamps (featuring an owl, a perching bird, and a squirrel) and two very cute badges (which I'm wearing today). My collection of knitting-related button badges just keeps on growing.



Then from Felix I received a whole goodie bag of pressies



Some lovely British fibre to be spun and knitted up into my British sheep breeds handspun blanket (started, but apparently not really blogged about, at Woolfest last summer).



A fat quarter** of fabric with little cardinals*** printed on it, a felted pin cushion, and a very sweet little owl brooch. I think the pincushion looks either like a bird's egg or a shiny treasure that you'd find in a magpie's nest.

* earlier plans to exchange pressies having been scuppered by swine flu and snow.

** there's just something about the words "fat quarter" isn't there. It sounds like a lovely plump wodge of fabric just waiting to be made into something fabulous.

*** the boyfriend, being Catholic and not really into birding got quite the wrong mental image (mitres rather than birdies) when I described this fabric to him!