29.9.07

Boxes and swap

Sometimes I am the recipient of such thoughtful kindnesses it takes my breath away. I am not sure what I've done to deserve this, as I am a grumpy so and so at the best of times...so thank you to my sweet friend Francie, who sent me the most amazing box of bits and bobs, all of it beautifully packed and smelling gorgeous, as it should do, from the gracious lady who runs the Scented Cottage shop. Aromatic vintage seed packets, bubblegum and bubbles, and best of all, art supplies - I get through pencils like wildfire, until they are tiny stumps. And such a useful holder which is now one of the few things allowed on my precious workspace. Some tubes of yellows and greens, which form the main part of my palette, including aureolin yellow, which I have never used, but is my new favourite colour.




I am somewhat embarrassed about this next, as it is my end of a vintage book swap held by Jenny at the Polka Dot Pixie blog - that is to say, my partner, Jen (another) of the Jennifer Yellow Hat blog sent me my bit and I have not yet done my bookmark to accompany the books I have for her. I hate excuses, but I have been all week working on artwork revisions for a couple of jobs. It is on my list of things to do before I go completely grey. So if she is reading this, I am sorry, and I am on it. And thank you so much for the lovely books - Moshi the Jackal, which is wonderfully illustrated and a blast from my past, the Ladybird book of Heath and Woodland birds.




Coming in last but certainly not least, this Tardis-like box from Captain Rupert, with a little help from Joanna of Higgledy Piggledy blog. Who would have thought that so small a box could hold so many delights? Just when I thought I'd emptied it of - lucky cat fortune cards, Jo's beautifully seed packets, a sachet of Charbonnel and Walker hot chocolate, mulled wine spice bundles, one of Jo's cards, AND a lovely Jo-illustrated recipe for plum cake - I found one of her rosehip hearts nestling at the bottom, in a bed of red tissue. Thank you so much to both of you, but especially to Captain Rupert, for his kind thoughts.




(All pictures go bigger if clicked on, Blogger has squished them a bit).

12 comments:

Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio said...

Ahh, but you are such a sweet grumpy girl ! ... and I love the stories you share each one is a treat to me.

(( ))

Anonymous said...

What a lovely thing to receive such sweet, thoughtful gifts. But, honestly, every time I stop by your blog, I look through your fabulous artwork and I so appreciate your talent.

Caroline B said...

What a lot of treasure - must have felt like Christmas!

tlchang said...

Great packages! Lucky girl.

I quite like aureolin, colorwise, but the one I have on my palette is quite staining. The way I tend to work necessitates the option to scrub (a LOT), and staining colors make me *crazy*...

Let me know how yours works for you.

Joanna said...

I have not been let near the computor much latly as I have been all muddy and I like eating the wires. We are very pleased you liked your little parcel and the heart is drying ok, i was a bit dispointed not being able to have a chew on anything before we put the package in the post. Captain Rupert

Anonymous said...

Enjoy all your goodies, you deserve them.

Anonymous said...

What a bountiful collection - it all looks heavenly. I'll be interested to see what the aureolin yellow looks like!

Enjoy!

weirdbunny said...

Well you've certainly received some happy post ! We've got that Ladybird book too. They just don't make them like they used to do they ~ love JUlia x

Blossomcottage said...

What lovely things to have the seeds are so beuatiful. I love you blog pages so nice to look at I can almost smell the pencils and paper. Which leads me on Tomato Ketchup and fox/deer/possum poo works a treat no idea why but I would be lost without it, also like it on chips.
Blossom

Merisi said...

This brightens my day, seeing how kind and thoughtful and generous human beings can be. Thank you for sharing! :-)

I spy Faber pencils! :-)
(I once met one of the Faber-Castell counts, through work. I was so tempted to tell him how much I love his pencils. *laugh* All my notebooks are written with pencils no. 2.).

Chris.P said...

I'm not surprised you receive such gifts. You are much admired.

lettuce said...

lovely swapsies!

nice to have time to catch up here. I used to use that sponge-bread recipe - i'm a bit lazy these days and use a bread machine. :o(