The Letter, the Cushion and the Guitar Tuner!

Our post box is set in the wall next to our gate (French homeowners are big on gates and privacy) and we sometimes forget to check it until quite late in the day. This happened

to us the other evening, with the result that I brought in two rather chilly but most exciting items: one a letter from California, the other a parcel from England.The beautiful card contained a letter from Janie, my partner in Denise's Letter Writing Swap! Janie has a wonderful blog, called Panini Girl, about her life in California and her love for Italy, but it seemed very different, and particularly special, to recieve a handwritten letter from her.
What a good idea this letter swap is! Do click on Janie's link, as she currently has the most amazing picture of an Italian apple tart, and information about the recipe book...

The parcel could have been one of two - I am doing Lululiz's rainbow swap, and thought it might have been my blue parcel, but instead, it was a remarkably speedy parcel from Serenata, with a gift she wanted to give me, plus a great thrifty item she wanted to pass on as part of the Utmost Challenge... ...plus a few more wonderful things, as it turned out!

Pretty card! This cushion cover is the gift that Serenata so kindly made for me. I'd seen

the similar one she made for her son's birthday, and made a passing comment that it would look great on my sofa and the rest is history! I am so grateful, Serenata. There will be plenty more photos at the end of this post so that readers can judge if I was right!Well, another passing comment to Serenata was that I was going to be 'challenged' to find a thrifty electronic guitar tuner, as requested for Son 1's new guitar lessons. She emailed back quickly to tell me that she had an unwanted one in the back of a cupboard, and could she send it along with the cushion cover? What a kind and thoughtful gift, and how appropriate to the spirit of the challenge to make or reuse rather than buy new...Son 1 was delighted with the tuner, and got his guitar just right within the next 20 minutes. It's going to make him a more independent player, which makes a real difference. He was also heartily amused by Serenata's card for him - just his sense of humour!While I show you thrifty things to do with the new guitar lessons, I just thought I'd show you the new strap on my old guitar case - guitar and case date from when I was only a little older than Son 1, and I was blowed if I was going to buy a new (second hand) case when I could stitch a new carrying strap onto the old one! It's a good thing that Son 1 is very behind the idea of this challenge, as the result is hardly cool... 'Cool' is not a word he admires, fortunately...

Cool blue is certainly the theme of this wonderfully generous bag Seranata also made for me, though! I wish I'd thought to take a photo of the wonderful fabric on the back, too. Maybe for another post...

Serenata is selling these bags through a local shop and I think they are going to be snapped up! I am so absolutely thrilled to own one. It will join Sharon's Clover Cottage bag on my Vide Greniers outings from now on.And then there was more blue! There is a super little vintage button in the middle of this lovely brooch - at the moment I've got it pinned to my bag! Oh, so lovely.Now, more details of the cushion. This is why Seranata can sell things she's made - attention to detail and skill with a sewing machine. I am not kidding when I tell you that my cushions are either stitched up by hand or held together with brooches etc. Lovely buttons... envy-causing button holes...This is why I felt it would go so well - do you think it tones in? A nasty draught howls down the back of our necks when we sit on the sofa in winter, so we've taken to putting a draught-excluding cloth on the stair bannisters at the back of the seating area. It works. This year's cloth is the lovely, almost CK-esque print I found at Veti Relais last month. A great match for Serenata's fabric, surely?When I put the cover onto a cushion and placed it on the sofa, it made the 'end of weekend' sofa look truly shabby in comparison, and not at all chic. I set to, tidying it all up so that it could match my snazzy new cushion.And here is the result! I'm happy.So thank you so much, Serenata, for finding and making so creatively and so generously. It was absolutely lovely, and even somewhat overwhelming, to open such a fantastic series of parcels. The blogging community is a truly vibrant and inspirational place to be!