One Thousand Posts!

I said a week or so ago that I was close to my 1000th post on this blog, and suddenly, here we are!  I don't know why I'm celebrating this blog in particular; I started my linens blog months before this one, and I'm already up to over 1500 posts on that.  Not to mention all my other blogs which have been set up for various purposes such as one-off events.  I'm not counting!  It is simply because I happened to notice the numbers on the Blog dashboard and thought it might be a fun thing to have a giveaway like so many other bloggers do for their own 'bloggyversaries'....hope there are no grammarians reading this to take issue with that word.
I do have another reason for this historic 1000th post.  I want to show you what I received for Christmas from one of my many crafty friends.  Val is a Paper Person.  She does all kinds of interesting stuff with paper - origami, making miniature books, book binding, and anything else you can think of.  I have a box labelled "Val's Creations" with all the gorgeous items she has given me since we became friends.  I used to have them scattered around the house on display, but they started to get dusty, and I didn't want them to become damaged, so I have stored them in this box for safe keeping.  But not forgotten!
I won't need to put this year's Xmas gift in the box though because it is already in a dust proof container!  Well, not dustproof, but easily cleaned without risk of damage.  It is an ordinary jam jar filled with extraordinary surprises.  The label attached is jam jar sized.

 With a very unusual title..."Bookberry Preserves Bottled Christmas 2012"

And inside, a collection of the cutest miniature books and origami puzzles you could ever see - all hand made by Val!

How lucky am I to have such a talented and fun loving friend?!