Christmas, birthday, and swap gifts from the frozen north

My dear friend Annette, aka Voodoo Vixen, sent this beautifully wrapped package of goodies from Canada and I received it Thursday evening. This is how I removed it from the brown paper package. It took over an hour to open and savor all the wonderful goodies that Annette sent. Just LOOK at all that lovely fabric ribbon. I know I'll put it to good use in my altered books and other projects.


Gosh I hate my camera. No matter how close or far away I took photos of this darling rocking horse, the focus was always off. You will just have to believe it is a gorgeous little rocker that I will be thrilled to add to my ever growing collection.


I'm not sure why I picked this package first (maybe because of the rocking horse, although I didn't even see it until I started unwrapping the ribbon). Not a whole lot to say on this, since I will be breaking it out for T on Tuesday. Yep, Annette even said in the note you saw in the first photo that was why she sent it. Of course, I love it because it is British.


The next gift was wrapped with a green gauzy ribbon, and


contained some of Annette's fabulous cabbage roses. She held hers together using pearl brads. They are awesome. I wish you could see all the shine and sparkle they have.


I was quite grateful that Annette didn't tie the ribbon knots so tight I couldn't get them open. This one was great. Not too tight, not too loose!


When I opened the package, I was simply thrilled. This must be my birthday gift! First a bag of clock gears, which I love, then a bag of candy wrapped in a gossamer bag, then another bag filled with a rocking horse necklace full of bling! I had to remove this little guy from the bag because he was longing to be free.

But THEN, I decided it must be my Christmas gift, because the bag of candy was actually TRUFFLES. To my knowledge, I have never tasted truffles, so this is going to be a real treat. Also, Annette's sense of humor took over, because there was a Canadian Moose keyring in the bag, too. Our ongoing joke about her thinking a moose was a bear started way back in September, 2010. It kept us both laughing and teasing each other for weeks! I hope you can see the little guy through the bag. He's a cutie and has the word "Canada" stamped on the back.


I could almost read what was in the next package.


Of course, I had no idea there was a darling oriental kimono/dress, as well as an oriental piece in a size that could be used as a rug in an AB, along with more tea!! How thoughtful of Annette. English teas really ARE the best. I won't be needing tea for a long time, now! And I'm considering hanging the dress with the ones I made over a 12 month period in 2010.


What? Two more gifts? I was starting to feel like a queen for a day (or possibly an entire weekend).


I was more than thrilled (or as my British friends would say, "chuffed") to get these die cuts. The pieces behind the black and white paper cuts are made of foam and cut from dies Annette created so they could be used as masks and stencils. I'm so, so impressed that Annette remembered I used several of the ones she sent me before. A quick swipe or clean-up and they are ready to use again. The long piece with two small flowers, which looks a bit like a hair tie can be used as a book closure, per Annette's advice.


So did I save the best for last? It was on the bottom, so I guess so! The fabric ribbon on the package was dotted with flocked flowers (say that three times fast)! And look at that gorgeous bit of bling on the ribbon that held the entire package together! It looks like hand cut crystal.


Here, as promised by Annette, is the awesome puzzle she altered for me. She gave tips for altering the puzzle. These are the same/similar techniques I used to make mine for her.


There is NO WAY I can photograph the details of this piece, so I will let you read Annette's words and see her photos here. She takes MUCH better photos than I can with this lousy camera I have. Here you can barely make out the flower, dress form and stand, purse, gears from clock parts, jewelry parts, the black bird that spills onto the frame, and what looks like a blob of wax, but was actually a little bird stamped in something that looked like, but was not, wax.


Although I loved it all, I was especially pleased with the British flag (my grandmother and her parents were "pure" British and her parents, who died about a decade after I was born, never let me, the "mongrel" forget it). I also loved the cat, which could have represented Bleubeard, as well as Pandy (Pandora) and/or Tom-Tom, Annette's two.

Now PLEASE, if you haven't already, check out Annette's post and tell her Bleubeard and Elizabeth sent you.