Grateful, Thankful & Blessed...

Brynwood Needleworks - Five Boxes of Stitchy Goodness

 

Not long ago, one of my online friends offered to gift me with linens to use for my current (and ongoing) embroideries. I told her I would be so grateful, and that I would definitely create something special for her in appreciation.

The mail carrier stopped at the farmhouse yesterday and handed me a box from that friend. I said "thank you" and turned for the house, when she stopped me and said there was more. Turns out there were five boxes total. I was stunned.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - A Box Full of Perle Cotton

 

I took the boxes up to my studio and opened them one by one. In addition to multiple boxes of beautiful linen, organza and silk fabrics, I opened this box to find it overflowing with perle cottons. So many balls of threads! Truthfully, I started to cry.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - A Box of Gorgeous Threads

Then I opened this box to find more beautiful threads, and yards and yards of vintage laces. Packed in the bottom of one of the boxes were a stack of needlework books, too. Have I ever told you how much I love needlework books? Oh, yes! 

One especially meaningful gift was tucked in with the rest. She has a friend who carves crosses from granite. I'll share that another day, because it's just that special.

 

I immediately sent a message to my friend to let her know that I'd received her generous gifts. Words can't convey just how much was included in the boxes, nor how I reacted when I saw the bounty she'd sent. I was a puddle of emotion.

I'm looking forward to creating something wonderful for her to express my everlasting gratitude. I've promised to respect her privacy as she'd like to remain anonymous, but God knows just how kind and generous she's been. I'll never be able to adequately express my thanks, but I'll do my best in the coming days and months. I'm truly grateful, thankful and blessed.

 

A Start and A Finish...

 I rode my first two (grueling) miles on my new bicycle yesterday.

It felt good and I'm not hurting, so that's a good thing.

When I got back into the studio, I managed to make 

a special order for an Etsy client, too!

 She contacted me about creating a Kindle case for her

using a Palmer bird and vintage laces.

 I put some of the same crocheted lace on the back, too.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

At the end of the day, I felt really accomplished.

A "start" and a "finish"!

Now, to just keep my momentum...

They're In The Mail...

I signed up for the Button Floozies Ornament Swap this year, and had so much fun making the ornies to mail to my three swap partners.

I decided that a Nutcracker theme might be fun, so I sorted through my machine embroidery designs and chose this one. I decided to embroider them onto canvas. Three Nutcrackers in a row...

My sister, Diana recently sent me a surprise care package. She found some gorgeous, vintage, crocheted doilies and wanted to share them with me. There were two that I knew would work perfectly for this project.

They were 3" in diameter, so I cut them in half and used each half to embellish the bottom of my nutcrackers. I sewed my parts together and then started hand sewing my vintage buttons along the bottom. The little blue ones were from my contemporary stock, but the rest are old.

I made one more, but that one is a little different from these. I'm going to send it back to Diana to thank her for all the goodies she gave me.

They're all on their way to new homes today. My swap work is done here. I'll be starting my Christmas projects now, and I promise to show you what I'm working on in the coming days and weeks.

This week is going to be full of family and celebrations, so I want to remind you early that next Monday is Memory Lane Monday. As you spend time reminiscing about holidays past, perhaps you'll write about one to share with us?

Just write the post on your blog and then link back to my Memory Lane Monday post. I'll be writing mine on Sunday evening so that you'll be able to link in plenty of time. The link will be active for one week, so if Sunday or Monday is too hectic for you, you can add your story at any time prior to the end of the week. I'm looking forward to sharing mine and hope you'll join me for another stroll down Memory Lane.