French chic

A rather unusual gift I got this Christmas was from my Breton friend - a leather tassel.  Now, I must admit that I didn't really know what to do with it, but a note from my friend said that they were all the rage in France when worn on a chain.  I wasn't convinced until I saw said friend's mother (and maker of said tassel) wearing one herself - and now I'm a convert.  I also got two leather bracelets from her as a bonus.

My friend's mum is a hugely talented crafter and over the years I've had quite a few beautiful gifts from her.  She painted pebbles for her daughter's wedding as 'place cards' and personalised each one!

One year she made angels out of wooden clothes pegs to decorate the Christmas tree - I'm sure it looked stunning.  And amongst the other lovely gifts she's given me I've had Liberty print hankies and fabric shoe-horns (unfortunately the mice in our flat loved the stuffing, so they have now been thrown out!).  Aren't I lucky to have such a generous crafting friend?  Merci pour tous!

Sampler design

I thought it was about time that I gave you an update on the sampler designing I mentioned in my earlier post.  Not that there is an awful lot to report.  It has been slow, to say the least.
I'm reasonably happy with the design.  It was a bit of a fiddle copying out all the various bits I'd found to create a comprehensive (I hope) whole.  I'm really looking forward to getting our new computer so that I can start using design software for this stage.  But adapting the design of 'big brother's sampler' was quite a good way to start, I think.
The next step was choosing colours.  Now, this is when I think the design software would have been REALLY useful.  Unfortunately, I don't have silks for all the colours I've chosen so far, so it is a little difficult to tell whether or not they'll all work together yet.  At the moment, what I have looks a bit 'bitty', but once I get the 'main colours', hopefully it will all start to look a bit more like a design (rather than a a bad jigsaw!).
Sorry - no photos this time.  I'll try to include one in the next update - once I have all the silks etc - so that you can see how I'm getting on.