In fact it was two gifts (yep, I opened them both) the first this pretty canvas bag from the Donna Wilson (who I've long been a fan of) for John Lewis range which unusually has pockets inside!
I love the print and it will be useful for hiding things away when I'm mid-project and need to be slightly less spread out all over the living room floor! Unfortunately I don't think the collection is available anymore, but it did prompt a rather long scouring of Donna Wilson's blog and online shop...so many pretty things I can't afford!
The other gift was a first for me, (because a bag is evidently not a first!) a graphic novel! It's called El Deafo and is an autobiographical novel by Cece Bell, an author/illustrator from Virginia who has written and illustrated several children's books.
This one is focused around Bell's experience of growing up with a hearing impairment, and it is both hilariously funny and deeply moving the follow Cece through her school years, as she learns to lip read, has a lot of mis-heard mis-haps, makes several (often highly irritating) friends but also feels alone and alienated, and refuses to learn sign language! I really enjoyed reading a book written in this style, it's really brilliantly written and the use of speech bubbles and captions to indicate Cece mis-heard conversations really hits home....
Isn't it so much more meaningful (and lets be honest fun!) in this graphic format? I really loved it and have promised to lend it to everyone I know! I also can't wait to read more of Cece Bell's books soon, I've got my eye on this one next, or maybe the Sock Monkey series!
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