Birthdays and gifts

OK, so when did I get old enough to have an 18 year old daughter?
She's only about this big right?

Apparently she's this big. When did that happen? Did I blink?
This is our (semi) local pub,  not nice enough to sit out on the terrace and watch the sea on Sunday though.

It's been a good couple of weeks post-wise. I was lucky enough to win a follower of the month giveaway from Beverley at  Flamingo Toes (if you aren't familiar with Flamingo Toes, I definitely recommend a visit) and here are all my wonderful gifts. A pearl, leather and lace bracelet ( I absolutely love this, it's so me), a pink ribbon rose ring,  gorgeous swarowski crystal earrings in shades of turquoise and white opal, an elegant black ribbon bookmark with dangling keys

and this beautiful appliqued tea towel which is now hanging on my oven door with the family fully aware that it is for decorative purposes only and anyone who even looks as if they are thinking about drying an actual dish with it will be sleeping in the shed!

Finally, here is some vintage French style bunting I made for my friend's birthday.

I cut some flag shapes from red stripe ticking, using pinking shears, and added vintage French typographic images which I got from The Graphics Fairy, using iron on transfer paper (these ones are old adverts for coffee and chocolate, but she has tons of them to choose from). I made some more flags from toning polka dot and fleur de lis patterned fabric, and added some vintage crochet doilies, stitching larger ones to some of  the flags, and placing smaller ones in clusters of three between the flags.

This picture is not so clear, but shows the whole string.
I'm linking this post up to Think Pink Sundays on Flamingo Toes and Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy