Blogger friend gifts and giveaway

(giveaway details at the end of the post) 

Recently I did a trade with Lorna and this is what she sent me in return for the small art quilt I sent her.  Even the package was cool!

Look at this gorgeous bag she made for me!

Here is the back side."Gems may be precious, Friends are Priceless"

Inside the bag were these things.  A card with her work printed on it, a heart pin and a lacy fiber art pin.  Thanks Lorna!  I love it all and have been keeping my art journaling pens in the zipper bag.  Love these colors!

A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway over at Maddy's blog, Santa and the Mrs.   She sent me this hoppy cuddle of bunnies that she made with her own hand painted fabric.  Aren't they sweet?  I have them on my table right in front of me where they can keep their eyes on me as I compute.   Thanks Maddy!

Over the past couple of years since I have been blogging I have received all these lovely hearts from blogging friends.  I call this my wall of love.

Here is another gorgeous gift I received from my good friend Anne who blogs at El Milagro Studio.  She knit this for me using silk sari yarn.  I was blown away when I opened the package and saw this beautiful item in it.  I've been wearing it a lot and just can't get over the beautiful colors and the design and the fringe.  Oh man!  Thank you once again Anne!!  You are definitely one of my priceless friends!

My friend Lynn at Cranial Purge sent me this spoon.  I had told her about the spoon theory and it made so much sense to her, she wanted to thank me for the link and sent me this spoon.  Now she is on an art journey of making spoon related art.  Thank you Lynn, it means a lot to me that you shared this piece of your inspired work.

This little needlefelted/hand stitched fiber art piece arrived from my friend Martha.  I love those dangly bits!  So fresh and fun, I have it on the wall before me where it helps cheer me on a gloomy rainy day such as today.

Martha also sent this little zipper felt bag.  I've got some bead work inside it to carry around.  Sweet bag, thanks Martha!

I have found my fellow bloggers to be the most generous people around.  I try to return the giving, and in this spirit I want to tell you all about a giveaway that just started on the group blog I am involved in.  Fox On the Run is the name of the blog.  click on the link to get there.  We are giving away 5 weeks worth of stuff.  I hope you will pop on over and take a look and sign up for the giveaways.  No strings attached, just leave a comment and good luck.  Maybe you will consider paying it forward one day.  Until next time,

Be well.

Gratitude

"GRATITUDE"
17"X13"
This is my most recent finished piece.  Mostly finished anyway, I haven't yet figured out how I might hang it, might have to put it in a frame.  I was just playing around with various bits and pieces.

I first cut out some pieces of card board 1 1/2 inches square and was going to make Inchies.  Then I was reading in my favorite book, Mixed Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor, and started playing with some of the suggestions she has.  I ended up with the nine squares with the flowers in them.  I was also playing around with some tiny tags that I made out of a manilla folder.  I cut them out and soaked them in some coffee to make them grungy looking, and they looked good with the inchies.

I rummaged around in my stuff and found some little slide frames so I painted and stamped them to match the inchies and then I really got into finding things to go together.  The little beaded bars under the slide frames I found in the bathroom, they are covers from disposable razors that I painted and attached with sewn beads.  Also stitched down some copper washers and the blue, green and purple glass beads at the bottom.

"Live your life without regrets" is from a chocolate wrapper, Dove Promises.  It fit nicely into the little frame and the color matched the background behind the inchies.  

There was just enough space for some lettering of my chosen word for the year.
The background is a piece of painted card stock, and some fabric paper behind the slide frames, and the dark pink behind the inchies is organdy stitched over craft felt, and some strips of sari silk.  I really like the way all these elements came together and I had a lot of fun playing with them.

"FAITH"
Above is a piece I finished today, paint and markers on watercolor paper.  

journal page

journal page practicing lettering

Another journal page practicing lettering.

So that is what I have been up to.  Just playing around in the studio, having fun, being creative, using some of my supplies.  I am grateful to be able to have the time to spend in my studio and for having more supplies than I will ever be able to use up.

Be well.

Spring? walk

The calendar tells me it is spring but it is a little hard to tell around here.  The daffodils and primroses are beginning to bloom but as you can see from the photo above that I took this morning, we keep getting snow showers.  They have mostly been melting off quickly but it gives you an idea of our temperatures.

Today I decided to walk down the road for a change.  Usually I keep to my own sweet 38 acres, wandering around with my old doggies.  I left the two more fragile ones home and set out with frisky Tonka who though he is the oldest one he has the most get up and go.  Look at him there, as if he is saying "Hurry up hurry up hurry up!"  That's a Border Collie for you!

I really like these old mossy fence posts.  These look like they have moss hats on.  Notice the rotten tree behind it, maybe a woodpecker has been pecking on it, getting ready to build a nest perhaps?

This one has a lot of personality, don't you think?

I picked up this garbage along the way.  The receipt is from a grocery store and is for $61.29.  It is mostly chips and dip with some hamburger and lettuce thrown in.  Sheesh.  That is a lot of chips and dip! The wire thing was left behind by the phone company when they worked on a communications box.  I'm keeping it, might find a use for it in a mixed media project.

Sorry my posts are becoming more boring, good thing they are so infrequent too.  I have been working on some art and will show some of it soon.  Until then,
be well.

My desk top

I mess with too many things. I do have fun though and that is what matters, right?  Can anyone identify that thing on my desk?  That thing there with the handle, in about the middle of the picture?

 Here it is at another angle.  Come on, take a guess!  Some one will know.

Be well.
P.S. I just got my first comment from Mary Helen and realized my question is a little misleading.  I know what this thing is, I'm only wondering if anyone else knows.