Gifts from far and near

I have received so many gifts these past few weeks and if I don't get them on my blog soon, people are going to think I'm ungrateful. The first gift is from Donna. Her gift was mailed to me on November 13, about the time I was working on the replacements for the first 12 Days swap. At the time, I would not have appreciated the lovely things I found on Christmas day when I finally opened the gift.


I had to laugh at the note Donna sent about the canvas tote. She said she sent it to the trash in disgust, but maybe I could do something with it. I looked it over and fell in love with it. I didn't even notice the bit of bleeding on one of the leaves until I had looked it over several times and had finished photographing everything. I have some ideas how to fix it.

Donna also sent me a phone book full of dried ginkgo leaves. I admired them on her blog and she said she would dry some for me. Little did I know I would get so many. I'm totally thrilled.

And to top it all off, I got True Colors wrapped in some wonderful wrapping paper I used in my art the last time she sent some. I can't wait to start reading this one. Along with Donna being a generous friend, she is also a wonderful artist. She draws, she paints, she makes awesome altered art. I hope you'll stop by and say hi to her at Findings Art.


The next gift came from my friend Halle. Halle and I often talk on the phone, and Halle told me she would make a pattern for my art journal covers after I whined to her about all the troubles I was having with them. Not only did she do that, she also made two completed covers all ready to assemble some of my pages into. What a joy! Halle said she didn't really think of this as a Christmas gift, but just sent me things she knew I could use. Included in the bounty is a fabric remnant, three boxes of old fashioned slide mounts, some mailing stickers, book pages, hair ties to be used for book cover ties, and postcards from South America. I will use these postcards in my Seven Continents altered book. Included in the package was a lovely photo of Halle and her family, but I won't show that because she and her hubby don't show the kids' faces or names on their blogs. Many of you probably know Halle because she 's been in the Project Dress Up and is a regular Tea Tuesday participant. I hope you'll stop by and say hi to Halle, too.


Next came a package decorated to the nines. You may have seen the lovely angel gracing the front of this package in an earlier post, and the back is equally beautiful with a hand drawn face by Dianne.


I received one of Dianne's drop dead gorgeous hand sewn, beaded, and decorated fabric collages. She put a few more on her blog, too.


Dianne is both an artist and a seamstress. Her journals are filled with her paintings and sketches. Her hand sewing is gorgeous. The above is a tiny example of her talents. I hope you will stop by Dianne at Art Beneath the Cottonwoods, too.


And finally (although I have two more packages to open and show you), these rubber stamps came from Sue at Scoopy's Stuff. Sue is a fellow WOYWWer and a dear person. She recently had a giveaway and out of 64 entrants, I won. Now I need to learn how to stamp!


And Sue made me this funny card to go with my prize. In case you can't read the sentiment, it reads "All I want for Christmas is Santa's naughty boy list." I got a big laugh out of that one. Sue is a stamper and card maker. If you want to see more of Sue's cards, please stop by Scoopy's Stuff and say hi.

Tomorrow I'll share another gift I received when I got home for Christmas. I can't wait to show you! Have a super evening, too.