Valerie's pages to me in our International swap

I haven't known Valerie long, but when I asked her to join this international swap I knew she was going to outdo herself.  In fact, Valerie is the first person I thought of when I decided to host this, after Annette and I knew that just two people exchanging art would not be as fun as if we invited others to join us.

On Thursday, Valerie shared photos of the art she made me.  If you are not familiar with her blog, or her work, you are truly in for a wonderful surprise and treat.  My treat!  Please visit her blog for possibly better photos than the scans I created.

Let's begin with the package she sent me.   Even before I opened it, I saw the beautiful rusty goodness she had created.

Then there were these incredible postage stamps.  I fell in love with them, especially since some of them were appropriate for T Stands For Tuesday.  Thankfully, even though the post office marked up the beautiful picture she created to go on the box, they didn't put marks through the postage stamps.

After many, many, many minutes of trying to cut into the box through that heavy tape Valerie uses, I took the easy way out and ripped it open from the back, making sure to preserve the stamps on the front.

Before we see the awesomely awesome pages Valerie sent me, here are some of the wonderful extras she sent.  See the lovely Bleubeard and Squiggles images she created?  I LOVE them.

Valerie paid homage to Bleubeard with my card for the swap.  She also sent two beautiful tags and an incredible tag book she made.

In addition to the two tags, she sent these wonderful embossed letters.  You can't begin to believe the details of each of these tags, because photos simply don't pick up their beauty.

But that wasn't all.  I didn't have room on the cutter which sits directly under my OTT (full spectrum) light, so had to spread these out on my craft table.  Napkins galore, and the most beautiful

card that has so many details, I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Valerie always pays special attention to details, that's for sure.

Now it's time to share these beautiful tip-ins she sent me.  I didn't watermark them because these are Valerie's art, not mine.  SO, please don't pin them without asking her permission.

These lovely ladies were hand drawn by Valerie on rusted linen fabric.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize I had obliterated one of the faces when I allowed the fringe to fall over it.

I didn't think this one would scan because it is SO dimensional.  I wish you could see this in person, because it is simply beyond gorgeous.  Everything from the stamping and embellishments spoke to me. Valerie's favorite Umbrella Man was paired with her famous corrugated cardboard.  Although I know this is paint, it both looks and feels like rust.

Valerie knows me SO well.  She knows I prefer dresses over pants, and I love my two boys.  I suspect Bleubeard is on the right because, although they both have collars, only Bleubeard has his own name and address tag, since I've not bought one for Squiggles yet.  I told Valerie that she had me pegged with my "no neck," a fact I've never denied.  But my alter ego has very long legs, especially considering I am only 4'11" tall.  Valerie promises to make my legs shorter next time, though.  Look at that gorgeous rusty skirt.  Isn't it simply over the top?

You would have to feel this to appreciate it.  I swear it feels like genuine rust.

Again, so much detail.  From the lovely image to the Hamsa protection hand to the fleur die cut to the rusty key to the awesome background, this piece is simply incredible.  And of course, I love the symbolism, too, since my grandmother was a business owner, then a teacher, and her sister was a medical doctor in an age when women didn't work outside the home, much less have advanced degrees.  

What can I say?  Again, this was an over the top beauty.  The butterfly with its rusty key shaped body was perfect, and the trees made of corrugated cardboard were superb.  Even the rusty lace was incredible.  But Valerie also added a fairy and embossed portions of the background.

It looks like Bleubeard, or possibly Squiggles, and I are about to embark on a trip.  Not sure who the man is, but as long as he's not a stalker, he might be a great companion.   I love the rusty car, which I'm sure was inspired by the cars Valerie sometimes photographs on her walks to the market cafe by the river.

Meet Mr. Rusty.  Mr. Rusty is incredible, even though one of the flowers was flipped over when I scanned him.  I can assure you that he is all HEART!

I borrowed Valerie's photo to show the other flower, too.  Don't you just love Mr. Rusty's eyes?

In her blog post about this cat, Valerie confessed:

After finishing this page I heat dried the paint on the reverse,which made the cat's head swell up and bubble - aaaaaargh, it looked awful. So I made a second head and fixed it over the first, and covered other strange bubbles with the metal ornaments. It was not as I intended, but that's life....

Regardless, I not only fell in love with this, it was Bleubeard's favorite, right down to the whiskers that move when he paws them.

This is the reverse page that Valerie alluded to.  It is absolutely rusty feeling and looking, even though it's rust paint.  In fact, I had to check my hand to make sure I wasn't getting rust on it when I felt this page.  I'm a very tactile person, so this was a perfect ending.  I added the postcard Valerie made to this page, because I forgot to show it as one of her gifts.

I told Valerie I was over the MOON with love for these tip-ins.  They are simply out of this world.  I am so glad Valerie accepted my invitation to join this swap, because this is an incredible addition to my RUST pages. Thank you again, Valerie.

Thanks, too, for joining me today.  I'm sure you loved Valerie's pages as much as I.