Winter Exchange Gift - Thanks Rita!!

I want to send out a big thank you to Rita, who was my gift maker in our Winter Exchange. Rita's gift arrived from Portugal this week, and included an adorable penguin ornament for my tree and lots of other treats for me. So many that I had to take three pictures to capture them all. (And I realized just now, that I left out a snowman pencil that was included in the package as well. Oops!)

First up, the penguin ornament that Rita stitched for me and a Christmas card she made herself. I didn't have any Margaret Sherry penguins yet, so this one will be a welcome addition to the family of Margaret Sherry critters that decorate our tree this year. Rita also mentioned she's new to scrapbooking and this was one of her first solo attempts at making a card. It's lovely Rita! Thank you!

Here are just a few of the goodies Rita included; some stickers, festive fabric squares, her handmade card and miniature clothes pins with snowflakes and Santa.

And my third picture; some Christmas ribbons, a few more Christmas notions, a pin of the flag from her homeland, and three beautiful bookmarks showing off different parts of Portugal. Absolutely beautiful. When I saw these I immediately added Portugal to my list of places to visit someday!

Once again, I just wanted to say thank you to Rita. I really appreciate all the time and hard work you put into this gift for me. It was certainly a wonderful surprise. I'm an avid reader, so your bookmarks will be used often, and I'm already making plans for many of the crafting notions you've included. Wishing you all the best for the holiday season and a very merry Christmas!!!

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season, full of stitching and fun!
Sincerely,