Handmade Gifts and a Crocheted Creature

In my last post I said that I'd received some lovely, hand~made presents for Christmas. I've finally taken some photographs of them all and here they are.

I'll start off with pictures of a little colourful vase:


and a sweet terracotta dove:




These were both made by the mother of one of the little boys I worked with last year. Aren't they exquisite?

I'm very fond of the dove ... the little boy and I share a love of living things and we used to talk about the birds that came to visit our gardens. I told him about the fledgling doves that used to wait for their mother on the fence outside my kitchen window:




He chose the pottery dove especially for me.
(The thought so many children, and parents, put into the gifts that they give me, handmade or not, is really touching.)

I also received a crystal wreath from a colleague I work closely with:

The Christmas before last, she gave me this beaded angel:

It's really tiny ~ only half the height of my little finger. I love the delicacy of both the angel and the wreath.

Last, in my array of hand~made gifted goodness, is a button cuff that my dear friend Robbo bought for me:

It sits really comfortably on my wrist and I've been wearing it a lot.
I wish I knew the stories behind all of those buttons!

...and finally,
here's a picture of some crochet I've been working on,
my very first amigurumi:

Can you tell it's the beginnings of a cat?!
The pattern, and an image of a complete kitty, can be found in Mutts, over at etsy.
It's fiddly but fun to make. It crochets up quickly too; hopefully I'll have photographs of a finished feline to show the next time I post.

Have a wonderful week!