It feels good to be done with the swap, but I've got that after the holiday let down now. There is still the pile of goodies that came as gifts to play with tho, that sure helps.
And I can take my own book down to enjoy and flip through whenever I want. That is if I can lift it... its HUGE! Over 40 artists gifted me with an extra tag for my swap book.
Its a book that is so big, it can practically bury a Dorkie.
Poor dog. She sure is patient with me. Yes, she is wearing the book around her neck.
Here it is in its full magnificence.
And I have the BEST display for it! Debra G. sent me this birdie-shaped iron hook, and I sprayed it white, then beat it around in the gravel a bit to distress it. I added a bird nest charm that was a gift also.
Of course, between my bad hand writing and the fact that I got a couple of different kinds of nests, I'm not sure who this one is from.
And its such a sweet little nest, I just love it and the way it looks on this hook.
Here is a peek at my pitiful list. Its all color coded, and I am rigorous about marking items off as I go. The typed names are just fine, its my hand written notes that screw me up. I have hand writing that is almost as bad as my singing voice. And you DO NOT want to hear that. It compares with my dance moves. Only Sugarwings can appreciate my dancing and singing skills. She even thinks my notes are fine, but then she can't read. She likes me to make notes for her to tape to things around the house.
I need to keep better lists when I do a swap. Another problem I have is that I scratch things off the list after I've contacted the person, then I can't go back and read what I'd contacted them about.
How embarrassing.
The grand, globs of gifts are extreme! Its always a surprise to see that someone has packed up such nice, thoughtful things for me (and my fairy baby too)
These metal birdies were from Chloe Rose.
I did the same thing with these as I did the bird hook from Debra, painted it white and beat it up in the gravel. Then, I hung the whole flock from the chandy above my desk.
The pink twine they are suspended with was from Jennifer Phillips.
One other problem that I have with some names in swaps, is that people go by lots and lots of names, between their full, given name, a nick name, a blog name, email address, or the return address label that might even be their husband's name, or just an initial along with a last name I've never heard.
I try to keep it all straight, but sometimes people contact me with one name, sign the note with another, or have a different one on their return address. I can't always figure out who is who or match up names with email addresses or blog names.
All I know for sure is, that EACH SET OF TAGS GETS A BOOK MAILED TO THE ADDRESS THAT CAME WITH IT!!
And that is what is the most important thing to keep track of.
I am deeply appreciative of all the thought and care that goes into the gifts. Thanks, everyone!
Kathy made the Dorothy charm for me, and the rosette is from JoAnne.
Becky made this for my budding little artist.
The sparkly locket, I'm afraid, is on the list of bad handwriting mistakes. I don't know who its from at this point, but I'm wearing it and enjoying it right now. Thanks so much for thinking of me, kind swapper!!
I hope I don't get my crown taken away because I'm not linking with everyone who was so generous and thoughtful to send things...
But hopefully, everyone will enjoy their books and this public THANK YOU will suffice!
And I will share some of it with you. I've scanned some of the great ephemera I was given, and all you need to do is click on it to open in a larger window, save, and print from your saved file.
I'll leave you with some eye candy, a few of the yummy treats that I was lucky enough to get from my swappin buds.