Sweet Tweet Swap

It has been a great experience doing Ele's Sweet Tweet Swap! The theme was birds and springtime, and I had a beautiful piece of vintage Chinese embroidery that I wanted to combine with European lace and linen. Having found out a bit about Ele's home and her favourite colours, I realised that these colours would go in her new dining room, so I decided to put my pieces together on a frame, for a fairly formal effect.I added in some springtime sugared violets from Toulouse, too! The lace is needlepoint lace (made with a needle, or possibly a shuttle, not bobbins). I bought it from France, but it could be from a number of European countries. I like the contrasting texture against the French linen.You have to look fairly closely at the embroidery to see why it was appropriate for the swap. There are at least five flying creatures here!

I THINK this is a crane, which symbolises long life and is legendary in China for being the prince of feathered creatures. However, the legs are not quite like the other crane embroideries I've seen, so it might just be another bird with different symbolism.The sweet bees are a symbol of hard work and industry for the Chinese, just as they are in the west!The butterfly is a symbol of a young man in love. Ahhh!And I'm pretty certain that this is a bat (but correct me if I'm wrong). Bats have a great symbolic meaning for the Chinese, because their name ('fu') sounds the same as the word for happiness.Therefore, Ele's piece of embroidery carries messages of happiness, love, industry and long life! Now on to the AMAZING package she sent me:

What a treat to open it up and find so many charming birds inside!This little notebook is in front of the computer right now, ready for notes.

Oops - the chocolates did melt, I'm afraid, but the taste didn't change and they were MUCH appreciated!The paper on this charming box is vintage music and newspaper cuttings from a dance. There's a lot to look at!And inside, stock for a wonderful Easter display next year! I can't wait!What's in here?An adorable nest necklace, in my colours!This card is up near my computer too.What a charming vase - I know what I can do with this!And I was wondering about buying a little china bird, just the other day! But that one wasn't embellished...So here are some of Ele's lovely gifts, as they have made their way around our home.I made this pile of boxes a week before Ele's parcel arrived, and knew they were just missing one more for the top...

The pretty lamp base is still in need of updating, but meanwhile it looks fantastic with one of Ele's tags!And here are beauties from two different bloggers - the heart from Sharon's Pay It Forward, and another lovely tag from Ele. They could have been made to go together, couldn't they?I have two of these little white cabinets, so it's a good thing there were two tags and two hearts!What a beautiful parcel to receive! I did experience what Ele and I have described as Swap Anxiety. Do you ever get that - wondering how the other person could possibly want what you're making, and opening their parcel feeling that yours was so much less generous? Apparantly this is normal at first and then goes away. Ele has been so sweet and helpful to me, and to the others doing the swap too, I think, so if you ever feel worried about swapping, don't panic! It's wonderful to be able to make and share special things around the world.