Gifts For Friends

It has always been my belief that giving a gift is an art. It gives pleasure to the receiver and it gives a greater pleasure to me as a giver. And I feel blessed to have many friends that I can give to. I make a lot of my gifts myself. For the reason that I can not always afford to buy gifts. Another reason is that I am very choosy with my gifts. I don't like to receive trashy stuff so I don't like giving trashy stuff either. My blogger friend Serena who I have been writing to for a while now is expecting her second child and Sophia her first, is expecting her little brother so I thought they both need a little treat before the busy time ahead of them.

I made this journal for Serena knowing that she is very fond of journal writing. The quilted cover is free motion machine ebroidery with a single rose on it. In the center of it are three silver rose charms with a few hand embroidered leaves.

I free motioned Serena's initial on the back cover. It is a very personnel journal for you Serena. I have left a lot of room inside the journal so Serena can save keepsakes in it. The tie and the edging is the easy part of the journal. I get braid, yarn and cord together and zigzag by machine. Once I have enough length I hold the finished cord against the edge of the journal cover and zigzag it to the journal's edge. This was the first time I tried this and it worked out really well.

Serena's daughter Sophia turned two last month so this is her birthday present that she can learn about her new baby brother. I re-purposed this Little Golden book by making it into a journal. I cut the book apart and inserted blank pages and the original pages together. I then bound it using Coptic stitch technique. Serena told me she received the parcel today so I am not spoiling her surprise by blogging it here.