Wreathed in smiles!

I'm smiling because I got the most wonderful surprise in the post last week. Barb sent me this gorgeous stained glass penguin that her husband had made. I believe I may have mentioned once or twice that I love penguins.
The label says that his name is Percy and that he will hang in my window and watch out for Killer Whales. I don't suppose he is likely to spot any, but he's probably quite glad about that.
Thank you Barb, I adore him!
I have sent out two stitched ornaments this week, and received a very beautiful one myself, but as these are exchanges I can't show any pictures yet. Watch this space.
I can show these though. You can blame Pinterest for inspiring my recent flurry of creativity.

I am loving my new bracelet, made from a vintage tape measure I bought from Rag Rescue.  I dangled a little key from the toggle for a steampunk/chatelaine sort of look. It is incredibly hard to use your left hand to take a picture of your right hand! My fingers really aren't freakishly short and stubby, its a perspective thing. Honest.

And here is a Christmas Wreath (Aha! Now you see the clever pun in the post title) made from three packs of cheap baubles from Asda  (and a handful of teeny silver ones from the local florists), a wire coat hanger, and a lot of hot glue.
Not convinced I should have included the two larger glittery silver ones one either side. I think my snowman maybe singing falsetto this year...

A Gift, a challenge, a frog and a Queen

I got the most amazing gift in the post last week. Barb had posted about a book, Jane Austen's Sewing Box:-

I was curious about it, and asked what it was like, and the next thing I know Amazon had delivered me my very own copy as a gift from Barb.
It makes fascinating reading, with loads of history about Regency women and the sort of sewing they would have done, lots of sumptuous photos and some intriguing projects based on sewn items, such as huswifes and letter cases, mentioned in Austen's novels. Thank you so much Barb. I'm thrilled with it.

In other news, yesterday was reveal day for the monthly challenge at Stitch and Stash. This time we did this free design from Les Chroniques de Frimousse. I loosely translated the original French text and finished mine as a weighted bookend.
Look how lovely my Apothecary's Rose is in the background. It has gone mad this year with too many blossoms to count.
The album is here, though there aren't many finishes this month, I think everyone has been too busy enjoying the sunshine.
The sunshine has obviously been too much for one poor little frog in my garden though. Last night we were watching a movie (Die Hard 4 as it happens), and he appeared, hopping across the lounge floor, and hid under the tv before we could catch up with him! Must be a Bruce Willis fan! Anyway today we have a big bowl of water in the middle of the carpet in the hopes of tempting him out....
Finally, check out this picture of my "Queen elect". So grown up looking!

I've been RAKd

Barb (no blog) let me know a few days ago that she had sent me "a little something". Imagine my surprise when the postman called and "a little something" turned out to be this enormous something!

Not only did she send me this beautiful Karen Buell Autumn Sampler kit, but she also included a fabulous hand beaded fob. You need to take my word for it that this is just so much more sparkly and stunning in real life. Barb said it was meant for my scissors, but I'm planning on converting it into a necklace so everyone can see it.

Quite a few ladies from Stitch and Stash have had RAKs from Barb recently, and I am honoured to be one of them. Thankyou so much Barb!