A very late Simply Neutrals Tuesday post

Simply Neutrals Tuesday No. 19 already, my goodness, how time flies. And I am a week late to the party, lol, but better late than never, right?

I received a package from Suzy ages ago, as she wanted to make sure I got it before going off to France again, and it was agony seeing it every day and not opening it, but I was determined not to touch it until my actual birthday. Darling Dorthe also sent me a package a while ago, and again, it was so very hard not to open it before the day.

Suzy and I had agreed that I would open her gift while we skyped, oh my word, that was so much fun! I am glad I couldn't really see me, tehehehe, I must have pulled such funny faces. It was as if Suzy was sitting with me in room, watching me opening her gift. And because I couldn't skype with Dorthe, I opened her gift together with Suzy as well! Brilliant, it made it a real special occasion.

As Suzys gift was the first to arrive, I'll show you hers first. She had told me I would never guess what it was, she had only ever made this one, and she was right, I wouldn't have guessed in a million years, lol.

This is the beautiful hanger, a gorgeous gift in its own right -

And this is the OOAK, the only one ever made, gift :-) -

Can you tell yet what it is? Look very closely...........

YES! It is the most beautiful crochet hook holder, I am so thrilled to bits with it. I love crocheting, so this will be by my side, and used, quite often. Thank you, my dear dear Suzy xxx.

Dear Dorthe's gift was such an amazing surprise as well. First of all, she had made this stunning card, which is so typically Dorthe, nature inspired, with a beautiful bird and found objects. Nobody does 'Nature' better than Dorthe -

And then I unrolled this wonderful piece of, well, don't quite know what it is, matted fibre ( awesome wrapping ), and found these inside, OMG -

 

Aren't these the most exquisite medallions you have ever seen? The back of them is as pretty as the front, so beautifully finished. I want to attach them to a garland to hang in my craftavan in France while I am there, and I know they will look stunning. Dorthe, you are such a loyal, loving friend, thank you so very much. xxx

My beautiful friend Alexandra sent me a gorgeous birthday card. She always remembers my birthday, and I am the worst friend, I usually forget hers, and she always forgives me. One year I will get it right, Alexandra :-). My camera ran out of juice while I was taking photos, and by the time it was charged up again, the light wasn't good enough any longer. I will take photos in the morning and show you in a separate post, you will love the card! I love her style and I adore the colours she chose for the card, and......... ah well, you will have to wait until tomorrow.

Thank you for visiting, toodlepip xxx

From Denmark with love

You know that when something from Denmark lands on your door step, it is bound to be something gorgeous, made with love by our oh so talented friend Dorthe. This is what arrived a little while ago, no words needed -

THANK YOU, my dear dear friend!

Tomorrow, I must show you a very splendid gift received from another much loved bloggy friend....

Until then, toodlepip xxx

Rainbows and Gifties

Over at the Our Beautiful World blog, the word prompt this week is RAINBOW. They are magical things, and I don't know anybody who doesn't ooh and aah over a beautiful rainbow.

I took these rainbow pictures at our cottage in France, when the rainbow spanned the whole of the valley below us -

If you look very carefully, you can see a faint second rainbow above the main one.

These photos make me homesick, I can't wait to get back to France and our little cottage ( which you can just see in the last photo ).

And now, confession time. I am sooooo bad at remembering dates. Birthday dates to be precise. I have them written down in my Bloggy address book, but of course I forget to check it regularly. Now, my darling friend Dorthe knows this and puts up with it, and instead of sending birthday presents, we send gifts when, well, when gift sending pops into our minds. On Saturday, I received the most wonderful 'non-birthday giftie' from Dorthe. I could hug that beautiful woman forever, she is such a wonderful person. Here are my gorgeous gifts from her -

Always so prettily wrapped -

Beautiful skeleton leaves -

Stunning collage -

Another little package held all these fabulous pieces of ephemera -

Yet another package held this oh so pretty tag -

And the last package, oh my goodness, it was wrapped in the loveliest paper and was decorated with these dainty and delicate dried little flowers. Amazing that they survived the journey totally intact -

They now live permanently in my beautiful nest from Vicki -

Inside the package, this exquisite heart -

Everything so very beautiful, sigh.

Big big hugs to this amazing lady, wonderful friend and constant inspiration.

After showing you all these beautiful things again, all I want to do is fondle all the amazing creations I have received from friends over the years. They are all around me, so even while I get on with the tedious task of listing stuff on Etsy now, I can see them and smile at them, so all is well with my Sunday evening.

I wish you all a great week. Toodlepip xxx

Keeping the postman busy

Oh, I do love it when my bloggy friends keep our postman busy. Look what he brought me yesterday afternoon, a package from Denmark, and that could only mean one thing........ it was a package from my friend Dorthe, yay! The first thing I saw when I opened the package was this -

Beautifully packaged blingy embellishments. The bag was tied up with roses, a religious medal and the letters of my name. How sweet is that?!?

Dorthe's packaging is always beautiful, so beautiful that I didn't really want to disturb anything -

Inside the package was...........

 this exquisite angel!

The details are superb, from the lovely bead embroidery -

and her wonderful halo/crown -

to her dainty wings -

Next to her in the package was a sweet little heart -

And finally, there was this stunning Christmas card -

So lovingly and beautifully made. I can't help feeling Christmassy when I am surrounded by so much Christmas cheer from my friends. Hugs and kisses to you, Dorthe!

Toodlepip xxx