Babydusche

A German friend at darling daughter's Steiner school is about to have a baby (and has amazed me with just how spry she still is, two weeks before the birth) and so tomorrow I've been invited to her baby shower. This is a first for me. I did vaguely comprehend the phrase but have never been to anything like it, not that I think this is likely to be typical! I've been asked to bring crystals and a candle. Oh, and I was asked to make a small book so that we could all write something nice and perhaps Kerstin would be able to use it for photographs.



Thanks to my sister for the translation


















Being a complete spoil sport I have baulked at the 'crystal' aspect of things (sorry), but I am taking a delicious lavender aromatherapy candle with me that I purchased in New York aeons ago (still unused, I hasten to add!) but continues to smell divine, plus a beautiful little abalone shell that I found washed up on the beach. It's not a crystal, but hopefully it still sends the same love-the-earth, peace-to-all sort of messages.


















I had fun with the book. I chose a sort of album format with a hinged front and back cover, combined with my favourite Japanese pamphlet binding. Colours were a bit difficult: Kerstin loves handmade paper and so I started with some delicious inclusions and worked outwards, covering it with a wrapping paper I've saved for years. It has a garden all over it and I think it works as a metaphor for new life: things growing, opening doors, beauty and discovery, etc, etc. I've included heavy etching paper with tissue paper overlays for photographs, plus handmade sheets for decoration and some lovely envelopes for bits-and-pieces that I also picked up in New York, at Kate's Paperie (one of my favourite shops!).