A Swap For All Seasons-February, Part II-what I sent to Marti

Marti was my "mail-to" person this month and I was a little bit intimidated at first..

Marti is a Class A paper artist...she does beautiful work and teaches at Paper Tales, in San Diego, which is wonderful shop known for it's great assortment of paper goods and renowned group of instructors. Marti's blog is called Artful Curiosities and you really should take a bit of time to visit.

I always like to snoop around visit the blog of the person I am creating for, it gives me an idea of what they might like. When I visited at Marti's blog I discovered that she is a Marie Antoinette lover! There are several different Marie swap groups around and she participates regularly in those.

I hunted around for some appropriate images and this is what I came up with...

a chipboard hanging tag with paper, a doily and some digital embellishment..

The tag is digital but the button is real. Can you read the sentiment on the tag?
My attempt at a little Marie humor!

On the back of the tag, I added a little unknown to me fact....

On the card I used another image of Marie...very ornate...

The card and tag were fun to make. I liked the little challenge of finding something Marti might find appealing. Then there was the destash...I have lots of red!

I think we are all enjoying these monthly swaps. Each month there are some new swappers joining in and maybe some regulars taking a break. You can come and go with this one. The assignemnts are already given for March, but if you go to A Swap For All Seasons, on March 1, you can sign up for the April Swap. Our darling leader, Linda, gives us lots of inspiration almost every day and on the 15th of the month, there is a drawing for some free treats!

Have a great weekend everyone...hope it's sunny where you are!

xoxo

Joyce

A Swap For All Seasons-February-my treats from Francie

David and I have been traveling quite a bit in the past month. We are home for a while now and just trying to get back to a normal rhythm.

Yesterday, my package arrived from Francie of 

The Scented Cottage.

This was my first time to be paired with Francie and she is a real sweetheart!

There were many gift pouches in my package...she really spoiled me!

Our theme this month was Valentine's Day and the color was RED.

Francie made the cutest handmade card and tag...very girlie with lots of glitter and pfoof!

Aren't the images cute?

The turquoise heart is actually a candy box and tucked inside were..

lots of different flowers and some lace and other bits and bobs.

So many different things in the stash she sent!!! (Love the rose hearts!)

AND...

a dear little lavender sachet that she made....it smells heavenly, of course!

There was also a nice sampling of chocolate...as I said, WAS.

Thank you for all of the treasures, Francie.

I am so glad you had my name this time,

and now,

I have your name for March!!

I'll me back to show you what I sent Marti!

xoxo

Joyce

Can I Have a Little Drum Roll Please...

 OK-that wasn't quite what I had in mind but it will have to do I guess...

It's time to announce the winner of the

 (BIG) Birthday Giveaway!!!

The winner is....

Kim Campbell

(OK, Bobby, enough with the drums already!)

Kim, will you please send me your mailing address and 
I will get your treats in the mail to you.

Thanks for entering everyone, I would love to be able to send each one of you a gift, but since I can't, I will just you all a big hug and kiss!

xoxo
Joyce

Seeing Red!

I'm seeing RED right now.

No, I'm not a bit angry.

I'm just basking in the glow of some redness that has come my way recently!

Yesterday, we returned home from a trip to find the usual pile of mail.

Both of our birthdays fell while we were away so there were lots of Birthday cards to open, along with the bills and advertisements, catalogs and magazines.

There were also some fat envelopes of various sizes and one big box.

I wouldn't allow myself to open any of the packages until all of the suitcases were unpacked and I started on the laundry.

If you recall, I won the February Giveaway in my swap group,

A Swap For All Seasons

The color this month was RED.

Such cute redness in the package from Linda, our clever and adorable hostess!

 LOVE LOVE LOVE!

 LOVE LOVE LOVE!

 Linda knows I love paper dolls...everything came in this little cloth sack.

 Another friend, who must know that even though I have a nice handkerchief collection, I didn't have one for Valentine's Day. Now I do! More RED! And a cute card and buttons, too!!

 The biggest Birthday surprise in the mail, was the big box from Twyla, of Two Crazy Crafters. (believe me, there is nothing crazy about this girl except, maybe, crazy kindness!) She, and her multi-talented daughter, Lindsey, have a wonderful blog...you should visit if you have never been there. Right now they are featuring vintage Valentine's cards that you can download for your own use.

Twyla wrote to me last week and said she'd like to send me a pair of her adorable, crocheted, house slippers. Such a kind gesture! Of course I said yes...I've wanted a pair for a long time but couldn't decide on a color. Twyla suggested a RED & pink combination which turned out to be the perfect choice!

The box was much bigger than a pair of house slippers...because, this was also inside!!!!

No photograph could ever capture the beautiful colors in this crocheted afghan! Twyla is a wizard with crochet hooks! Even the edging is adorable!

They are the colors I love, RED, pink, minty aqua, grey/blue.

It is just what I needed for these -7 temps we are having in Pittsburgh. I wrapped up in it last night and this morning and it is sooooo warm!

The last REDs I'm going to show you this morning are 2 gifts from my dear friend, Michele, in Virginia.We were able to spend some time with her and her husband in our travels. One of the things we did together was to take a short hop to Leesburg to visit a favorite shop and find a new favorite place. I will write about that in another post. Anyway, Michele gave me a treat bag of gifts for my birthday including the cute tea towels with the RED cherries and the little RED Valentine tin. 

When I opened the tin (sorry, I should have photographed it when I first opened it-LOL!) 

I found it filled with her shortbread cookie hearts!! Michele knows that shortbread (and specifically HER shortbread cookies) are my favorite. I took them to the beach with us and rationed them out every day. Look, I even came home with a few!

So much love! So much creativity! So much RED!

I am very Blessed, indeed!

Now, don't forget to sign up for my (Big) Birthday Giveaway.

You can read about it in the previous post....and you must leave a comment on that post to be entered. I will randomly draw a name on January 31st! Good luck!

Boy, I'd love to be in a warm place right now!

xoxo

Joyce

It's (Big) Birthday Giveaway Time!!

Today is my Birthday!

It's a really BIG one!!

65!!!

I love Birthdays and I enjoy celebrating every one!

Age, to me, is only a number.

It doesn't have anything to do with how I'm feeling...

Like everyone else, I have some days when I feel 

25

and other days when I feel 

95

But today, it's a day to celebrate in my favorite way...

by giving a gift package to one of my followers!

I've been gathering an assortment of fun things,

 in bright colors,

so that you can feel that you've been to the party with me!

Tea towels in my favorite red and blue!

Nested Susan Branch tins...

Heart shaped playing cards...

and some Mary Engelbreit...there always has to be some Mary!

It's really simple to enter for the Big Birthday Giveaway!

You need to be a follower of my blog to be eligible to win, and that's easy to do...just sign up near the top of the page, in the column on the right, and leave me a comment on this post. If you are already a follower, thank you...

you will also need to leave a comment.
Follow and comment....simple!

On January 31, I will randomly pick a winner!!

I want to thank all of the friends who follow my little blog...

I always say I have met some of my dearest friends through this

writing adventure and I appreciate every comment or email that I receive!

You are all a treasure to me!

Good Luck!

XOXO

Joyce

In The Mail

I have been stalking carefully checking the mail delivery for several weeks, waiting for a particular package. Yesterday, David went out to get the mail and when he came back inside, he said, "Joyce, I think you'll want to come down and get your mail!"

Would you be excited to see this?

A cuter-than-cute package from Cath Kidston!!!

But wait...there's more! Another package!

I thought that was the most clever saying I've ever seen on a package!

Are you ready? From Cath...TA DA

a new cross-body bag and matching wallet!

(Garden Rose is the pattern) 

I have been wanting a bag from CK for years but could never make up my mind (Do you see where this is headed?) One is more beautiful than the next! Right after Christmas, they started a big sale at Cath Kidston USA, and I figured this was my chance, and so I had to 

DECIDE!!! 

(my one little word for 2014)

This is what I picked and I absolutely love it! Both bag and wallet are oilcloth, which means they aren't as heavy as leather...I love leather but I'm tired of hauling that extra weight around on my shoulder.

The bag is a good size with one outside zipper and one inside.

The zip-around wallet holds lots of cards...

and a generous section for cash...not much in there now!

It's all packed up and ready to go out for a spin...

I am also putting this oilcloth case to good use. 

I bought it in the summer thinking that if I ever made up my mind about a purse, I would use it for carrying the plethora of coupons, reward cards and gift cards I have

. It's a generous 6x8-inches...not Cath.

 If you're interested in the CK sale you can use this link here.

Now to the other box...

That box came from HSN. Anna Griffin had several sales events on their station last Friday and I resisted everything but this stamp set...

I am borrowing this image from the HSN website (where the stamp set is, unfortunately, sold out. I also purchased the set at a price less than the one they're showing now)

Anyway, 30 chalkboard style stamps, 2 ink pads and an acrylic mount. Anna's stamp sets are outstanding and the fonts used on them are beautiful! If you hop over to HSN's website, you can see some card samples made using this set of stamps.

OK-pretty exciting mail day!

But wait....there's more!!

Our Swap Goddess, Linda, has a giveaway once a month on 

A Swap For All Seasons, featuring the color of the month...this month is red!

This morning I received an email from Linda letting me know that I had won the drawing!!

I will be receiving all of this wonderfulness...

and some of Linda's Sweetheart Snack Mix! I will write more about this, of course, when it arrives!

A very good day, indeed!

xoxo

Joyce

A Swap For All Seasons...January...Thinking of You

We are in Month 4 of our year long swap at 

A Swap For All Seasons.

Our assignment each month is to send our designated person (and this changes every month)

a card, a tag and some stash from our collection (nothing newly purchased) in a specific color.

You can jump in any month and participate...sign-ups are always the first day of the month.

You can read about the swap with the guidelines here. It's too late to sign up for the February swap but if you come back on February 1st, you can sign up for the March swap.

Our theme for January was Thinking of You and the color for the month was blue.

 Bev had my name for sending. Bev and I are the 2 Pittsburghers in the swap. We met some years ago when we both worked at a local scrapbook store, which has sadly gone the way of many independent scrapbook stores.

Bev is a great card maker and has been on a design team or two.

The package she sent was all wrapped in sewing pattern tissue, plus a box sealed with Washi tape and a dear little matchbox. .

A cute card with a sweet little girl on the front....she does look like she's thinking of you.

The tag coordinated nicely. 

Inside the matchbox was an assortment of buttons, tiny blue flowers and some felt do-dads.

The stash that Bev sent for me was some old Bingo cards, dyed seam binding in a beautiful shade of blue and some rick rack!

If that wasn't enough, Bev also sent me this gorgeous necklace that she made from an old key of some type and some repurposed gems from another piece of jewelry! I love this!!

Thanks for being such a generous "donor", Bev. You made this month very special!

Wendy was the person whom I created for this month. I think it was her fist time swapping with our group and I hope it was a good experience for her.

This is the card and tag I made for Wendy...

Blue is one of my favorite colors so this month was fun for me. I love that little girl image...

and I managed to work in  a paper doll stamp on the tag.

The stash was an assortment of vintage images, button card and a package of blue card blanks.

I hope you will consider joining in on this swap. We do have a lot of fun and I've met some wonderful crafters from all over!

xoxo

Joyce