Finally, a day to relax...

After I managed to get caught up on some domestics.

Now I can relax and do some me stuff.

First a Christmassy blog post.

The most important gift wasn't wrapped.

Belle had left me a whisker on the arm of the couch.

I don't really know why, but rather than vacuuming them up or throwing them away I collect them.

I treat each one I find as a gift and thank her for them.

 As far as humans go I was lucky and received some lovely gifts again this year.

Tony found this chap. I didn't name him yet, but he is on patrol on our patio.

What a handsome fellow he is.

Joe brought this wee treasure along, it was hand made by his girlfriend Lee.

 My very own hand built Fairy house. Isn't it cute.

 In the image below, you get a better idea of how small it is.

 It reminds me very much of the old Celtic stone buildings seen around the Isle of Man.

(If you're interested,  look at this blog.)

Another hand made gift I received is this lovely machine mat made for me by my friend Janice.

Each of the pockets was filled with goodies too. (There was chocolate, but it didn't survive until the photo shoot!)

As you can see, I already have a machine mat but that is ok, this beauty will still be used and loved, it fits perfectly over the arm of my sewing chair and the pockets will keep scissors and things very handy.

 My mother in law gifted me this cute wee tin.

 Even though it's currently sat in my sewing room, it's actually full of recipe cards.

I fell in love with this character on the front of the tin.

Of course I didn't just receive hand made goodies, I sent some too.

I was lucky enough to be invited to send something to dear Chookyblue. Sadly she decided not to do the SSCS this year as she just has so many other things going on and it does take a lot of her time to organise and encourage us all.

 One of the secret swappers sent out an email inviting us to repay all that Chooky does for us, by sending her a wee ornament for her tree.

What a great idea!  

I made not only a wee ornament but also a set of coasters using kiwiana fabrics.

 Here they are all bundled up with a button tree ornament.

Blue of course.

 I hope they arrived on time.

Another gift I made was for Janice. A cute little project case all made with more Kiwiana fabrics.

 I had fun trying to decide which fabrics to use, with such small pieces it ended up looking very busy.

I couldn't resist this fun fabric for the back.

I also sent along some of my recently made bunting as I seemed to make far too much.....:-)

Janice assures me it is just the right size for one of her windows.

Here you go, a work in progress shot of some of the button tree ornaments I made.

Well, that's it for now.

I'm off to spend what is left of my me day sat with my cross stitch.

It's far to warm to do anything else.