A gift for Wanda

I usually plan (and try to make) gifts for people well in advance but this year I suddenly realised that Wanda's birthday was just over a week away, which really limited my options - it had to be quick and relatively easy to make. Fortunately, I had been thinking for a while of exploring the many inbuilt stitches on my Husqvarna Diamond (I think there are more than 400) and decided that this might be a good option for a journal cover.

Here's what I came up with (by the way, Wanda likes puppy dogs):

Happy Birthday, Wanda

A very dear friend celebrated her birthday last week and I made a gold lame pyramid as gift-wrapping.


When the cord was untied the sides fell open to reveal a dark blue velvet lining and a cloisonne grand piano. The piano is light blue but didn't photograph well because of all the gold and sparkles on it.


And inside the piano, was a pendant. I can't remember the translation for the Chinese character on the pendant (which I might have photographed back to front) but I think it is supposed to say happiness or longevity or prosperity.

Happy Birthday, Wanda

I made this scarf as a birthday present for my friend, Wanda. She loves these colours and was delighted with her present. However, I had forgotten to photograph it, so I had to borrow it back to take this photo.

I've created a monster

My friend, Wanda, was intrigued by my needle-felting so I showed her how to do it and then asked her to babysit my machine while I travelled around Egypt and had surgery. She had a great time with it and produced these fabulous pieces. She then bought her own machine. It'll be interesting to see what she comes up with next.