Wednesday, April 2, 2008

From Finland, With Love

I sniffled and snuffled all the way out to the mailbox today to find a wonderful surprise waiting for me! My sweet friend Anne in Finland sent me a "Happy Easter" package. It took almost a month to get here, so it didn't quite arrive by Easter, but that's okay by me. Look at all the lovely things she sent!

There are vintage buttons, a pincushion, a candle, some wonderful handmade ceramic buttons, a potholder, some chocolate candy, and a couple of adorable ornaments that deserve a close-up!



Aren't those cat face buttons the cutest thing ever??? This is a little Easter Witch:


Anne tells about the witch in her letter:


"When it is Good Friday night all the Easter witches take their brooms, coffeepans, and black cats and fly to the Blue hill to dance around the bonfire. This happens in Scandinavia, of course.


Usually in the Spring, little fairies return to Finland with migrant birds like finches, swallows and nightengales and they dance among all meadow flowers all the summer long."


Ann's English is beautiful, isn't it? Here's one of the little fairies now!


Is that charming, or what? I think if I lived in Finland, I'd like Easter and Spring a whole lot more. I like witches, black cats, coffeepans, and fairies quite a bit more than I like egg-laying rabbits, ham, and silly hats. Witches are waaaay cooler. Just sayin'.


Okay...now for one of the most wonderful things in the package:


This chicken was hand-sewn by one of Anne's students named Anna-Liisa, and she made me this pretty card, too. I love them so much. She worked hard on this (look at all those stitches!), and I am very proud to own it. Well...actually...Anne says that she made it as a cushion for my cat, Mr. Bigglesworth...so I guess I will share.


Thanks so much for this treasure Anna-Liisa. I wish I had two i's in my name like you do! Let's see how Mr. Bigglesworth likes his new cushion:



(Video here)


He loves it, Anna-Liisa! Luckily, I got it back before he loved it too much and put it in his regular sleeping spot for when he's feeling a little less frisky. I don't want him to tear any of those beautiful stitches you made.

Aloha and a belated Easter to my friends in Finland.

Stay tuned...I'm finishing up the binding on my quilt tonight! Quilt pictures are imminent...

18 comments:

Denise (Nour) said...

I'm thinking there must be catnip in that chicken??! How adorable! LOVE the cat face buttons!!!

Hedgehog said...

What a wonderful package! I hope she told you about the Easter witches trick-or-treating, too! Here in Österbotten, they come on Easter Saturday, in other part of Finland, it happens on Palm Sunday. Wonderful buttons!

Tine said...

That is a wonderful surprise! And just when you really needed something to brigthen your day! Perfect timing! The cat-face buttons are beautiful, and so is the little chicken! Lucky lucky you!

Unknown said...

What a great surprise!! Really nice goodies especially the hand sewn chicken! I love the video of your cat loving the cushion...wonderful!

Janet said...

How nice to receive surprises in the mail! Cute things too! I love your kitty video - my kitty was puzzled by the sound of all the birds chirping coming from my computer! Happy Spring sounds!

Felicia said...

Oh, what beautiful treasures :)

dot said...

What a neat package to receive. I like the Easter witch.How interesting to find out what other coutries do.

Sally said...

What a great package! And what a nice lady Anna is. Isn't it cool to hear about customs in other countries? It sounds as though you might be feeling a bit better. Yeah!!!

Rhonda said...

Wow, wonderful package! It's neat to learn the different traditions from Finland. Thanks for sharing. Mr. Bigglesworth is adorable!

susan said...

ah...is there a bit of catnip in that pillow or some finn equivilant? mr. biggles sure seems to like it. yeah...the withch and fairies beat the heck out of our egg laying rabbits and chocolate bunnies, but the peeps.....

Anonymous said...

He, hee, you see, I´ve been reading a lot of fairy tales in my life! I am happy you like the presents! I love mr. B!

Opal said...

Looks like you ended up with the perfect get-well present! I loved the video of Mr. Bigglesworth. What a superstar he is.

Feel better soon!

CONNIE W said...

Such fun, cool goodies!

Salem Stitcher said...

Well, THAT was worth the trip to the mailbox! What great presents! The video of Mr. B is priceless.

ladydi said...

Presents are the same in any language - lots of fun! I love the round folded star small quilt.

Angela said...

Biggles is so cute! Btw, thanks for your comments :)

Mary Anne said...

WOW !! What FUN stuff !!! that definately made it worth the trip out to the mailbox!

....and love the little video of Mr. Bigg ....

Stacy A. said...

That video is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Did she stuff it with kitty cocaine aka catnip? Cause If not I wanna know your secret!
I love the witch Easter thing as well. Scandinavia has the best mythologies. Can't wait to see your quilt. Love Stacy