Dooleybobber #8 and surprises

Here is my latest Dooleybobber. To my eye it took on a slight river at the base of a mountain aspect, so I added the fish bead and the shell. Otherwise, pretty abstract. There is a smashed bottle cap under the flower. I love those little felted bobbles in the upper right space.

I cut up a little bit of lace and beaded it down in this corner.

Close up of the felted bobbles. I bought them on Etsy at Alchemy Fiber Arts.

close up of the fish bead and tiny Opihi shell. A bit of avocado netting in there, nearly catching the fish. The whole piece measures about 6" x 4.5".

On another subject, I have received some very cool things in the mail from blogging friends this past week.  First was this ATC I got from Susan.  I love it!  My favorite colors.  Susan does such wonderful work, always interesting.

Here is the one I sent to her in trade

Notice how similar they turned out even though we didn't set any theme for these.  Thanks Susan!!

Next is another ATC I got in trade from Lorna. 

I love the Angelina fibers she included on this lovely piece.  Again, my favorite colors.

Below is the the one I sent to her.  Thanks Lorna!  She likes trading ATC's, maybe she will trade with you.

Then I received a gift in total surprise from Gabie  

She read my comment on her blog about how much I liked her beaded spider so she sent it to me!  Isn't it cool?  I love it.  She also sent this postcard and on the back she wrote "I hope that this spider will find a nice place in your home.  It's trained and has a nice behavior."  It has a jump ring on it so I can attach it to a chain to wear if I want to.  I think it is the sweetest spider I have ever seen!  Thanks so much Gabie!  It indeed has found a nice home here with me.

Last but not least, I won a give away from Nicole. 

This Skelly girl cabochon!  Isn't she fabulous!  I will have to add her to some beaded project.  If you look on Nicole's blog today you will see what she has done with one of these cabs.  Nicole is a fabulous beader and is very generous with her knowledge and has give aways frequently.  She also sent me a little card that shows how to know what sizes beads are.  I had complained to her that I have trouble when ordering beads online figuring out what size they will be when they come in millimeters.  This card is business card size and has a little chart that will help me a lot, next time I am looking at beads on line.  Thanks, Nicole!

Well that is it for today.  It is back to some rain here so I am inside, listening to The Tallest Man On Earth.  You can check him out on NPR's All Songs Considered, they have a downloadable concert.  He's a great singer songwriter, just him and his guitar.  I had never heard of him before but I am very much enjoying his songs.  But now it is time for A Prairie Home Companion.

Be well.