Surprise Presents

Almost any of my close friends and family can attest to how much I love presents. Surprise presents especially and handmade gifts like the photo of the above painting, made for us by our lovely twelve-year old god-daughter, are even higher on my favorites list. If if you didn't already guess, our god-daughter is amazing. Not only is she sweet, beautiful, fun, and adventurous but she is also brilliant and artistic. 

She and her parents visited us in Stockholm last weekend and they came bearing gifts: A fun and elegant candleholder that glows orange when lit, a photo frame made from a bicycle chain, the above painted portrait of “our family,” and a baking cookbook that looks absolutely divine. I can’t wait to sink my measuring cups into it, or perhaps more aptly, my kitchen scale, as our friend informed us that in England baking requires a scale. All ingredients are measured in weight. 

The wrapping paper used for the presents was lovely as well. Natural brown paper covered with bicycles in black ink. Someone knows that we love bicycles. Of course I saved some of the paper for a yet unknown future craft project. Rest assured that you will be witness to both a future craft project featuring this adorable bicycle paper, as well as something tasty created from this beautiful cookbook. 

Maybe elderflower poppy seed cake? 

Or perhaps a batch of homemade crumpets? (Oh my goodness! I LOVE crumpets!)

Stay tuned to see what it will be….

*Photo of orange candleholder above by Johanna Winter.

Day 313: We Can Craft That

What could make me happier than some authentic Mexican food and a tasty frozen margarita with salt from Matt's Rancho Martinez in Dallas, or another week of vacation to sleep and recover from my jet lag? Craft night, that's what.Tonight is our debut meeting and I am really excited to have a few hours set aside solely for my craft projects and hanging with the gals. No distractions of running to move laundry from the washer to the dryer, or kitty getting in the middle of things, just uninterrupted focus on my projects, with maybe a little giggling on the side and catching up while sipping wine.

I'd promise to show you photos later but unfortunately most if not all of my projects are going to be gifts for various people so I can't reveal what they are right now. Photos however will be taken for a future showing. Hopefully they all turn out how I plan. Sometimes projects are better than planned and other times well, it's best to just pretend they didn't happen, right?

I really love making things and be creative. I've been this way since I was a kid. Maybe it was my mother's influence but I think even without that I would have drifted toward the artsy realm. But as luck would have it, I had a crafty, artsy mom and I loved it. At different times throughout my adult life thus far we have enjoyed working on various projects together. It is a special bond that we have and I treasure it, though it's been a while since we've worked on a project together.

So how did this crafting group get started? It is actually an extension of my book club. There is another woman who also loves to craft and she always talks about her projects and the things she wants to make. She and I have talked about doing our crafts together before and one day we just started talking about it at book club and several other women chimed in that they too wanted to be involved. And "We Can Craft That" was born. Being with other women who are like-minded will be fun and inspiring. One woman said that she plans to fix her clothes and another said that she is going to get started on making bunting. I can't wait to see what everyone else has up their sleeve. At least I can report on their projects later on... so stay tuned!

Photo update:

Greta with her handmade necklaces made from vintage ties, wooden beads, and a little sewing magic!

I will definitely be making one of these! Beautiful work Greta!