perfect strangers

This year I took part in the Oh Comely magazine Perfect Strangers project. What is that you ask? Well, Oh Comely asks for a small profile of yourself and then they match you with someone else from around the world.  You then receive the profile written by your match and come up with some lovely gifts to send off to them. Thanks to social media, my match managed to find me to let me know how much she loved the parcel I sent her. It was absolutely lovely to know how well received it was and it really does feel wonderful to make a gift for a complete stranger.  We are now no longer strangers though and I hope to keep in touch with my swap partner, Carolyn.  

I was off on holiday from work for a week and my parcel arrived there so I was eager to pick it up this week and very excited to open it. The enticing gold bow on the outside led me to an overwhelming box of gifts. The kindness of my perfect stranger, Carolyn was just so so lovely. All my gifts where packaged with lovely paper and tied with cute bows and little messages. She really understood me from my profile and picked exactly the sorts of things I love.

 A little paper bag contained these wonderful treasures! We both share a love of vintage items and these are just perfect. I found the butterfly brooch to be especially beautiful.  All will be added to my collection.

 

Vanilla and cinnamon are two of my favourite scents so these tea lights are a treat for my nose.  I love the cute little magic slate for drawing too as I'm sure I had one when I was wee.

 

This light bulb is absolutely gorgeous! I've never seen anything quite like it! The flowers inside are incredibly delicate. Beautiful!

 The whole box smelt of this beautifully made soap. It looks so good I wish I could eat it. I'm going to have to look up the company to get some more.

 The most cosy and comfy socks were included and one pair is missing from this photo as I put them on pretty much straight away. The hand warmers will be perfect for my cold bus journeys to work and I've always wanted to take photos with sparklers so that'll be happening soon.

 How kind and lovely is this? I had mentioned my dog Keira in my profile so Carolyn included some doggy treats for her. Such a lovely thought.

 

 To top it all off...CHOCOLATE! These won't last long.  Far too tasty to keep.

 

There is something about this project that I found incredibly special. I would very much recommend taking part in this next year to anyone who hasn't done it before. I'll certainly be taking part again in 2015. Thank you Oh Comely for the opportunity!

The start of a new blog is always difficult but I've been here before and decided it was time to come back. After trying out other blog platforms they just didn't work for me and I feel much more at home here on Blogger.
So a little bit about me. I'm an illustrator from Kirriemuir in Scotland and I spend what time I can drawing. If I'm not drawing then I'm needle felting small creatures and I also like to knit them too. I collect old photographs and also enjoy a bit of photography too. I'm about to get a new camera so I'll hopefully be sharing some snaps on here soon. I much prefer living in the countryside to the city but I have a huge soft spot for Edinburgh and it's my future goal to move there, hopefully in 2015 if a job will arise.
So what's this blog going to be for? Well I'm hoping to share what I'm up to illustration wise, also what I'm reading, buying and any little trips I take. Also things I knit, felt and all the bits and bobs in between.
Why's this blog called floating knees? I have a pair of odd knee caps that like to dislocate which makes me fall over. I pop them back into place but they always just sort of sit there floating on my legs.
So that's a little introduction and I'll be back soon!