The other day a close friend of mine came running up to me all frazzled. I tried calming her down but it was impossible. Finally I decided that I would serve her a cup of my mother’s favourite oolong tea, believing in its true essence of soothing nerves. She grabbed the small cup from me and gulped it down, almost instantaneously she spluttered out its contents on me. By this time I wasn’t sure who was more shocked; she or me. I stared at her hardly able to smile while she stared back at me with the obvious look of wanting to skin me alive. But she was fast in recovering while I was still gapping at her. She fired a series of advice that I should be more careful in serving drinks before she sputtered out a very absurd statement.
“Elaine, you are so good with your hands.”
I stared at her, frowning. Her presence for the last ten minutes had done nothing but caused havoc to my emotional stability and now this … Sensing that her words were confusing me, she rephrased that she needed a present for a birthday tomorrow. Well, the supermarket is full of gifts that one can buy today, I offered my suggestion. She shook her head wildly. No, she wanted something that was handmade. It would be more personal. Now, it was my turn to feel desperate. What was I suppose to do? Asking for something last minute was not really good. My mood for one might repel, for instance now and thus it would be most difficult for me to settle down to create that personal gift not to mention if my stock was enough to put a gift together. I might not have them. I mentally checked my supply and wasn’t too happy with the remaining stock. Shall I turned her away and be guilty of not helping a friend; after all she had been so unreasonable.
However I found myself asking her for details and at each supply of detail, the noose round my neck became tighter. But I had to ask; like whom she was giving the present to (hoping fervently that it would be an elaborate one so that I could give an excuse that I didn’t have the necessary stuff) and the age of the person and most importantly how ‘intense’ did she want her present to be. What I meant was, how deeply connected was she with that person (a very close friend would entail a more detailed and elaborate gift) and the purposeful use of the gift; for decoration or for a use to store something. She was befuddled.
Yes, there is the whole load of things one needs to know in the event of giving a gift. So with this purpose in mind, I have decided to put together a book to help gift givers to create something beautiful, with a personal touch that comes from the heart and one that can be done at leisure or when the creative mood flows.
Every item that you see here is my own. I certainly hope you will enjoy this book and find it a useful guide in creating your own gifts. It will be one beautiful past time with the bonus of your friends admiring your handiwork.
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