St.Valentine's day.... Or not

I don't like  Valentine's day! I can't stand all the "Valentinalia" seen in shops and on the internet these days with only ONE exception: the felt ornaments made by Bossy's Feltwork .
 Who else could have the idea of a Super Hero Valentine Lamb ?

And this Valentine Pup is equally cute!

I love these things even if they are for Valentine's day!
Felt ornaments on sale in their shop are handcrafted by Amy Lum, Mandy Troxel and Kari Van Gelder on Orcas Island...There are  tiny masterpieces, such as this Chicken in a walnut

..Or this colourful composition, Bunny in the grass

Soap bars

Can soap bars be a decoration for your bath? Oh, yes, they can!
These are a few examples of  soaps  I found on Etsy.
Some are so beautiful that it would be a pity to use them and see them disappear!  I'm sure they smell great too, but unfortunately this doesn't show in photos...So I will judge only their decorative function.

This one looks like a Mondrian painting and will look great in a modern bathroom...

 New York Soap   by Kokolele  (USA)

But even a white soap can be interesting:

 Snowflake soap with glitter by Mandala Rain  (USA)


 There is also a perfect copy of a Rubik's cube...

 Rubik's Cube soap by Digitalsoaps  (USA)

But maybe a soap with a Celtic knot would be more suitable if you wish a more classic look

White ginger and amber soap by SymbolicImports   (USA)

Or maybe some flowers...

Lavender and Amber Daisy soap by Soapy Chica  (UK)

These soaps contain real lavender flowers and poppy seeds, for a natural exfoliating effect. They are less decorative than the previous ones, but they have a wonderful colour and guess they are very perfumed

 Handcrafted lavender and blue poppyseed soap by Herbal Myrtle  (UK)
 
A category apart are felted soaps, that consist in  a bar soap inside a felt layer (that remains after the soap has been used) ... I especially love this one with Sherlock Holmes

Sage and lemongrass Sherlock Holmes felted soap by SoFino (USA)

Others are abstract and offer a selection of colours and scents

 Red grapes and pomegranate felted soap by Magda The Sheep  (Italy)

Blog Award

What a beautiful surprise!
Brian Sibley (BRIAN SIBLEY: his blog) awarded Gifts and Dreams a  LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD.

This is a recognition given by bloggers to other bloggers having less than 200 followers... In the hope and wish that their number will grow as word is spread and other people go to see them.
Thank you Brian! I'm really happy that even if this blog has been unexpectedly still for a few months, you decided to assign it this award!

Anyone who receives the award is required to:

1. Thank the person who gave  the award and link back to his or her blog. (done ! :-) )

2. Copy and paste the “Liebster Blog Award” icon into your post. (done! :-) )

3. Pass the award on to 5 of your  favourite  bloggers  with less than 200 followers and let them know you did so.
So now it's my turn to nominate 5 of my favourite blogs with less than 200 followers... It was a difficult choice and I had to leave out many that would have deserved to be included!
Anyway here they are (in random order)...

• Graeme Skinner  
• Il favoloso mondo di carta di Toto'  
• Cinematic catharsis 
• DoodleDoodlers  
• Dust Bunnies Under My Loom

Please give a look at them, they deserve more readers!

It's time!

I'm back after a January spent between toothaches and antibiotics (those who want to know more can give a look at my other blog, Woven Pages ), at last I'm back!
And I'll celebrate it with three of my favourite prints of clocks that can be found on Etsy, just as a reminder that when one is feeling unwell, time never seems to pass...

The clock by Jon Carling on Etsy

  Kill the time by  Tom Palissade (France) on Etsy

 Once Upon O'Clock by Rima Staines (UK) - The Hermitage, on Etsy

New Year!

Gifts and Dreams has returned with a new layout and new ideas for 2012!
Best wishes for a very Happy New Year to everybody... And a link to Pantone site to discover the colour of the Year 2012