Woot ! Blog Hub Swap Day 1

This beautiful card from the Gaian Tarot is perfectly expressive of how I feel today; though if I were to dance outside in the sunshine, I would have a lot more layers on, it being seriously winter temperatures today.

And the reason ? Do you remember this ?

Well, having spent 5 days in UK customs (who knows why) today my package from my swap partner Denise at Voie de Vie finally got here !

I was so excited ! In spite of being the swap organizer, I had actually managed to forget that Denise was assigned to me, and I believe it is a sign of my impending grown-up-ness that I was able to not look at my lists to remind myself: it was actually Denise who gave the game away when she emailed me to tell me she had checked the tracking, and my parcel was en route ...she had been concerned about the delay.

Look at all these photos I took for you - I hope you realize the enormity of the sacrifice I made for you, Dear Reader, as taking photos further delayed me opening my parcel and first package !

  


An interested dog, and a cat's butt. Oh ! And a huge box.

The card said 'Open me first'. So I did. Elegantly written in what I call American traditional script, it told me my themes were travel and creativity. I have done lots of travelling in my life - the longest I have ever been in one place is the 4 years I have lived here. But I don't know how Denise could have known any of that.

Yes, there are only 3 packages - but the card says to check my Ravelry inbox on Days 4 and 8. Even so ... Denise enjoys messing with my head, obviously. Because when I opened the large package numbered 1, I found the rest of the swap packages in it: 

There was a slight fresh whiff of wintergreen - Denise had used it to get rid of the smell of varnish, she said. One of the mandatory elements of this swap was that one item had  to be handmade - and this is Denise's. She says it's the prototype for an idea she's had for a while - and this must also be the creativity theme she refers to:  I don't even know how you come up with this, let alone work out the hows and whys necessary. I know my frustration threshold is WAY too low for something like this - and I really admire people who can create things just from an idea.

                                         Ignore the obligatory cat butt. Same cat, by the way.

Lovely shades of red, purple, magenta and pink with the springtime Tulip as a central motif.  I love these kinds of colors - and in fact one of my FO's for tomorrow is in a very similar colorway. It's definitely stiff enough to be a proper hatbox (if only I had a hat!) - and who doesn't love pretty and unique storage that can be displayed ?    

Denise's attention to detail verges on the obsessive is totally amazing - look at this:

The inside of the lid and base are maps ! So very cleverly part of the travel theme. I am totally impressed - thanks, Denise !