By The Sea Exchange

Michelle pulled out a blinder for the By The Sea Exchange I received recently. She'd obviously been looking at my blog and spotted some of my likes and dislikes and I think she judged them very well indeed!

 

The design is a pretty new one by Country Cottage Needleworks and I think Michelle has done a super job, making it vibrant but not spoiling the balance of the design - the evenness of the stitching is amazing, too!

The mini pillow is backed in a jewel bright turquoise fabric, and Michelle was kind enough to include more of the same in the package:

She also included a fabulous star pendant. I've had to hide it from my mother, she was coveting it ...

It was a fabulous parcel to receive, thank you so much Michelle! The pillow is now gracefully decorating my bathroom and I can admire it multiple times a day!

Oh - and did you know the 'she' in this rhyme is based on a real person, called Mary Anning? She was an amazing fossil hunter, but because of her humble background and gender didn't get the recognition she deserved for a long time although she was honoured in her time. Apparently, the new Tracy Chevalier novel features her..
 

It's quite an appropriate gift in another way too - I've been out of circulation because I've been working on a new show based on Nursery Rhymes and Fairytales. We had a 'work in progress' showing at a local festival at the weekend, and now we're into revising and refining the concept for an even bigger Arts Festival in October. I was performing at the weekend, which is a *very* rare occurrence and I'm hoping just to be Stage Managing next month - keep the public wanting more, daaaaahlings ... Photos do exist but I think I'll stick to showing you my needlework...