Giving and Receiving.....

"Be merry all, be merry all,

With holly dress the festive hall;

Prepare the song, the feast, the ball,

To welcome merry Christmas."

W. R. Spencer - They Joys of Christmas

Today I am enjoying a sick day. Well, let me rephrase that, I don't enjoy being sick but I choose to find joy in my day despite my circumstances. I watched a favorite decorating show and a movie during which I was able to create a scarf on my small hand loom. I just have to add the fringe and this gift will be complete with just one more to go......
I have enjoyed cuddling with my little sidekick, Sophie. She is our little dog and when you feel bad she is extremely sensitive and sticks by your side like glue. On such a cold day I welcome her warmth and care.....I have enjoyed sitting in my living room on such a gloomy day with all my Christmas lights glowing, sipping hot tea, and being warmed by a cozy fire. I enjoyed my husband coming home for lunch to check on me, so sweet! And now I am enjoying some blog time. So, I guess I am enjoying my sick day!

I received another bit of joy over the weekend as I received a sweet tag that I won over at Creative Chaos.....

I also received swap goodies from Kris over at Blissful Elements. I was wowed by her generosity, here is what she sent.....

This beautiful embroidered linen tea towel which looks great in my kitchen.....
This set of sweet little snowmen with their "warm winter wishes" message.....
This awesome two sided soldered necklace, a cute little Christmas bird and Santa......

This yummy glittery cupcake ornament......
Kris made these the two vintage style ornaments below with some of her wonderful vintage graphics.....Everything came packaged in one of her vintage sewing machine drawers.....
AND she gave me that great Christmas Banner at the top of my blog! I am so overwhelmed by her generosity and adore it all. Thank you, Kris, for this wonderful swap!

Here is what I sent her.....

I made this stocking from some pink and white silk. The cuff is the end of an embroidered dresser scarf. The bow is made from the same silk and embellished with some old lace and a button. The "K" is a ninety nine cent ornament from Target and the dangling embellishment with velvet bow is an ornament I picked up for half price at a local hobby store. A stocking must come filled with goodies, hers held an aromatic soy votive candle in the toe, a package each of gourmet cocoa, tea, and coffee, with a tiny decorative spoon to stir them. It also included a gourmet piece of chocolate and some bath salts, and a current issue of Country Living magazine, all of which were given with the thought of squeezing in a little relaxation time during the busy holiday season.

This little tree is a Charlotte Lyons inspired creation made from cotton batting and embellished with vintage buttons, sequins, pearls, glitter, and a tiny golden angel on top.
The gift bags and tags were embellished with little snowmen made from cotton batting, felt mittens on silver tinsel arms, crochet hats and scarves, sequins, glitter, jingle bells, and iridescent stars. Their faces are painted and cheeks shaded with pink chalk.

I also tucked in a snowman ornament made from cotton batting and scarf that I made on a small round hand loom.

I have been filling my time this past week or so doing some crafting of gifts. I wanted to send out a little joy so I made this little gift for Cindy over at Cindy is Crafty..... Cindy sent me one of her wonderful creations so I sent her a thank you gift in return. The mittens are made from an old sweater and embellished with painted berries, glittered leaves, and red velvet ribbon. I was inspired to make these by Dawn's tutorial over at The Feathered Nest. The little tin is a coffee tin that I decorated with cotton batting, fabric scraps, buttons, and some embroidery. I left the interior unlined so it could be used to tuck little homemade sweet treat inside.

I finished my Christmas cards and got them in the mail at the end of last week.....

I bought the cards in a small pack 8 for $1.00 and altered them by using some card stock, wrapping paper, brads, glittered tags, ribbon, silver ink pad, and snowflake stamp. They were very fast and easy.

I also put together a little surprise gift for someone out there in blog land. It will wing its way to its recipient as soon as I can get it to the post office. It, like Lillie Belle,

the paper doll I made for Pinkie D ,comes with a little story.

Here it is....( Mrs. Twitter, pictured below, is made from an old sweater, vintage lace, and muslin. She is embellised with a tiny button on her lacy little wing.)Mrs. Twitter was so excited, today was moving day. She had summered in the thick bramble behind Quill Cottage and was ready for a change of scenery. She sighed as she thought of her skillfully woven nest among the honeysuckle vine where she had had the sweet scent of fresh flowers wafting around her all summer. It was time to move on and her new location sounded heavenly. She would be relocating to ____?____.

Some of her friends decided to give her a going away party and since it was being held at the end of the summer season they decided to call it a Harvest Party. The invitations were sent out and the date was set for Friday, September 1, 1882.
Mrs. Twitter was very touched by this but also sent her into quite a flutter as most women are when thinking about what to wear to a party. This was a bit different because she would be the special guest of honor. So she sent off to the milliners for some supplies to liven up her chapeau for the occasion. This was a gift left to her by little Autumn earlier in the Season. She ordered a bit of lace, some frilly yarns, a silk rosette flower, and a half nutshell full of buttons which arrived all wrapped up in pretty green tulle and tied with a rich chocolate brown twine.

She set about using her weaving skills to create a confection quite unlike anything ever seen in the Bramble community. She had decided that when she left the Bramble she was going to travel lightly and only take her new chapeau and handbag that little Autumn had left her, and of course her comfy nest. Having dispersed with all her other possessions all that was left was to say goodbye to her friends. The Harvest party was a great success and Mrs. Twitter was showered with gifts. She was presented with a set of decorative letters and a bouquet of white flowers tied together with a bit of yarn. She intended to dry and save them as a keepsake. Squirrel Nutkin was the first to step up and offered her two little velvet acorns to use as pillows in her nest and he added a real one should she need a snack along her long journey to ___?___.

Next, came her three best friends, Jenny Jay, Millie Mourning Dove, and Ruby Woodpecker. They each gave a quill so that she would have plenty for writing letters back to them and each would remind her of them, as if she would forget. Old Crow brought her a shiny metal object and told her it could be used as a fancy headboard for her nest, that it would indeed be quite beautiful. Mrs. Twitter was especially touched as Old Crow could be a cranky old fellow and one never knew if he truly liked you or not. The butterflies and moths used pollen and mud to stamp two lovely wall hangings to remind her of the plant life surrounding her former home and they each dipped their wings and imprinted them also, with many signing well wishes around the border.

Although little Autumn could not attend, she left a tiny framed photo of herself to be remembered by and the two little Nuthatch twins brought her some leaves of bronze, copper, and gold. She thought she might make these into sconces for her new home. Last, but not least, Katie Cardinal gave her a twig with some lovely moss and leaves from the tree that had sheltered her home. Mrs. Twitter was so touched that she had a very hard time saying goodbye to such sweet and special friends. They all helped her carry her gifts home and she suddenly realized that she had made no arrangements to have things shipped as she had planned to travel lightly with only what she could carry. She was sad at the thought of having to leave behind her precious gifts but there was no need to worry for the paper wasps which lived under the eve of Quill Cottage had been busy at work creating for her a wonderful paper box in which she and all her goods could ride comfortably to ___?___. The hens from across the road even brought her a burlap carpet, which had been cut from one of their feed sacks, to cushion the bottom of the box. The paper wasps had also woven her a cunning little blanket with a feather design upon it in case she got cold.

She thanked them all as they proceeded to help her arrange her goods for travel. Goodbyes were said and a few tears shed as she was sent on her way. Mrs. Twitter knew she would never forget those she left behind but looked forward to new adventures at ___?___.

And lastly I am contemplating what to give away in my next post, which will be my 50Th! Anyone who commented on the What I Love About My Holiday Home Post is automatically signed up and I will add those who sign up on the 50Th post to the list.

I pray your joy may be as full as mine is this day.

Blessings,

Miss Sandy