Back in Paris, and online :)

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a happy, festive week. We certainly did!

I am back in Paris after a week at my parents' and taking care of Robin, who has changed amazingly already! He turned six weeks last Wednesday and is so precious.

Here he is next to his pile of gifts
(you can see his little slipper on top of the pile!)

Isn't he cute in those little trousers! He smiles a lot already.
I have lots of pictures to share - of Robin, of gifties I sent and received... Hopefully I'll manage to post a little of it daily, or almost!

Today I just wanted to share the wonderful gifts that dearest Sylvie stitched for me...

Sylvie stitched the exact same design on the pochette and the keyring,
only it is stitched over two on the case, and over one on the keyring!

Did you see all those beads along the edges - I'm utterly amazed at how many hours, and how much care Sylvie must have spent on them.

Even Little Miss Cutie got a present:


Not to mention the other lovely goodies that were included for both Seb and I!

What a wonderful treat!
Thank you so much, Sylvie.


~*~

My younger sister has had to work at her hospital yesterday AND today (till 8.30 pm), which is why I wanted to come back to Paris before the réveillon - I didn't want her to be on her own on New Year's Eve, and wanted enough time to plan and shop for this evening's dinner! I look forward to cooking for tonight :)

Friends, I'll be back soon!
In the meanwhile, may you all have a joyous change of the year!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Dear all,

I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning to spend a week at my parents'... I have decided to leave my laptop in Paris. I need the break. I shan't be completely on holidays though as I'll have to grade about 115 exams and turn in my grades by early January; but I'll try to relax and spend as much quality time as is possible with my family and of course little Robin! Keeping offline should help.

I'll be thinking of you all,though -
I'll have a special thought for each of my online friends at Christmas.
I'll be back on Dec. 30.

Thank you Karen, Carol, Barbara, Becky, Nicki, Anne-Marie and Isabelle C. for your wonderful cards!
They have found a special place next to our tree.

Everyone take care and have wonderful end-of-year celebrations!

A Christmas Checklist

Hello friends!
This is just a checklist I wanted to write down... Feel free to skip the post if you're not interested! :)
I'm only writing it on my English blog, as my family will never read it here (especially not in English )

Done those last 2-3 weeks:

• Sewn up Hélène's (little sis) gift
• Made Catherine's (older sis) gift
• Loom-knit Mom's gift
• Hand-stitched Robin's gift
• Machine-embroidered BIL's gift
• Bought gifts for my Dad, brother and Seb
  
• Fixed my terribly botched job on Seb's gift (yay for creative errors! I like it better than the initial plan)
• Sent cards overseas (hope everyone got them)
  
• Sent most cards within France
• Put together and sent a birthday parcel to a dear friend
• Sent a Christmas package to my best friend, Sylvie
• Sent a thank you/Christmas package to Shashi (she sent me a big box that I put under the Christmas tree!)
  
• Sent a wedding gift to Laure and Brice (they are getting married on the 23rd)
  
• Sent a Christmas package to my AAS partner
• Sent a surprise to a French lady who's been most unlucky in exchanges this year, and who's been very kind to me
• Sent 2 RAKs to New Zealand
• sewn up kitty ornies and added them to some of my cards (none to my faraway friends though as I made them after I had sent the overseas cards!)
• Cuddled Violette a lot, as Seb has been away for work since Sunday morning (coming back late tonight!).
• Pondered on my many blessings at the end of this year.
  

Still have to:

• Send two cards within France
• Design and sew a velvet case for Seb's new pen (grphics) tablet
• Try and make a Christmas ornament for Seb
  
• Pack for a week in Northern France (and include a few stitching and sewing projects!)
• Relax and try not to be too sad at sending mere cards to my dear friends, instead of all the gifts I'd planned
  
• Rejoice in the season and count my blessings (ain't that a never-ending task!).

~*~

Hoping this finds you all serene and joyfully anticipating the upcoming festivities!

Too spoiled...

Hi friends!
I hope this finds you well, and enjoying the Advent season!

Look what sweet Becky sent me in her final Adopt a Stitcher package of the year...

Each and every one of those gifts is so thoughtful and gorgeous... Becky even thought of little Robin - how sweet! I love absolutely everything... I can't even tell you which gift I prefer! THANK YOU, dear Becky!!

Becky has been a wonderful, loving AAS giver all year long... Despite the rotten year she's been having. I feel so blessed by all the love and care she put in each package this year... Becky, you're a most precious friend. I pray that 2007 be a much happier year for you - you so deserve it!!

Funny thing is, I just started a pretty kit Becky sent me last February... a Pine Mountain design called "Long January"... I remarked to Seb how handy it was to have a cute design all kitted up when one wanted to chill out with a quick project - and the very next morning, I was given a new one from Becky: a Zipper kit by Bent Creek! I love that one too :) and once those two are stitched up, I shall for the first time be able to start decorating our flat for Winter.

That is not all I received last week - I've been truly spoiled...

Karen sent me this fabric card, which Seb and I adore:

Anne-Marie in Normandy stitched an adorable towel for Robin's first Christmas...

and my sweet Leabanese friend Hala, sent me a bunch of fabrics...

one of which is obviously for Robin!

Talking of Robin... He turned a month old on Friday.

Here he is at one month, "practicing his gymnastics" as my sister phrased it.

Hope you're all having a beautiful Sunday!

Kitty Ornies

Hi everyone!
I hope this finds you all well and not too stressed out by the Christmas preparations... enjoying the Christmas spirit!

I had fun playing with a Christmas kitty fabric last Sunday...

| View Show | Create Your Own

This is pretty addictive - it's like making a batch of biscuits.
I made another 6 yesterday evening. No two alike. One is for Seb, another is for my little sister... I might keep one for me... But where will the rest go??

I finally feel like the gifts for my family are under control. Except for Seb's gift. I totally messed it up. I'm pretty clueless as to what to make him now.

I mailed out my first Christmas cards today... Those that go overseas!
Hope everyone is having a nice week!

ETA: I just received the sweetest kitty fob from Carol!

Isn't it just perfect!
There's even a little kitty charm at the back...
Sorry the picture's not so good... It's night here.
It's much prettier in real life!

I'd been marvelling at Carol's incredible gift stitching rate lately... little could I expect she would include my name on her list - my birthday is nowhere near now! Thank you Carol, for the sweetest RAK! You made my week. :)

Back to normal

Hello friends,

Thank you for your good thoughts. Everything is OK now. I had a health scare last Thursday and Friday, but the doctors assured me it couldn't become malignant. All I have now is a pretty sore b**b - but that should soon fade into memory. A definite advantage to living in Paris is certainly to be able to get medical appointments at a few hours' notice! I went to the GP in the early morning and was treated by a specialist in the afternoon, right after my classes. It didn't even affect my weekend plans at my parents' in Lille.

Anyhow, that kind of experience sure puts things into perspective.
Thanks everyone for your positive thoughts - they did comfort me a lot.

~*~

I was so happy to see Robin again this weekend (and the rest of my family too, of course!). He has grown 4 centimetres (1.5 inches) in 2 weeks! He's incredibly alert, too (well, not on this picture but I'm still waiting for pictures from my parents' and siblings' cameras - then you'll see what I mean)

I was so happy to hold him again.

Being from the North of France, our holiday traditions are influenced by our neighbours in Northern Europe. Christmas is the big day to us, but we do celebrate Sainte Catherine (for the girls) and Saint Nicolas (for the boys). No age limit to that :) It is our way to enter into the Christmas spirit. The idea is to give a small, cute giftie to each sibling.
I got lovely cute gifties (tea, soap, a bracelet incredibly like the one in the wonderful set Jenna made for her sister - and I was so drooling over it! Jenna, do you talk to my sisters behind my back or what? ).

Robin got lots of cute gifties.

Apart from Robin's bath wrap, only one of my gifties was handmade: a brooch for Catherine, my older sister. She needs some to close her nursing tops. I know she was wishing for a coloured one, to go with her black tops.

That one was a test to see if she likes that style; but since she really seemed happy with that one, I'll be making her more for Christmas (but shush!). This one was made from a kit, and a lot of fun. It uses felt, beads, sequins, and ribbons.

~*~

I didn't go online at all this weekend - I needed a break, you know? I'll catch up on blogs and emails this week (so don't worry if I don't comment/reply straightaway, friends - it doesn't mean you're not in my thoughts!).

Wishing you all a lovely week!

Kitty stitching

Sorry I didn't post those pictures yesterday evening as promised - the evening didn't exactly go according to plan. But here they are at last. Those designs are from Marie-Thérèse Saint-Aubin's newest book, Chats au point de croix - I absolutely adore the book and if I could, I'd stitch all the designs in there.

So here's a brown cat strolling on a cream fabric

(thread: Gentle Art Walnut)

And here's a cream cat grooming herself on a brown fabric.

(Gentle Art thread: Apricot Blush)

And here's the cat of the house, sporting her winter coat:

Violette is getting fluffier every day, and looking more and more like the blinkie kitty on top of this article.

~*~

Please keep me in your thoughts and/or prayers today... I don't want to have you concerned or anything, but I could sure use a few positive vibes.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!