Swaps, swaps and more swaps!

These past several weeks have been crazy at 9010. We traveled to my sister and brother-in-law's home in Chatham, New Jersey for Thanksgiving and had a fun time with family. Right before we came home David started with what he thought was a cold but ended up being a horrible sinus infection which knocked him out for almost a week. During that week he was home I had some minor surgery to remove some basal cell carcinoma from my face. The procedure went well and the Dr. warned that I might end up with a black eye. Two days passed with not too much discoloration and then BOOM-I suddenly looked like I was the loser in a prize fight! I was going to post a picture but decided it was just too ugly for you to see! A week later I am still a lovely shade of yellow and purpleish-red all around my eye. It doesn't hurt at all and the incision is healing well....I'm just a sight fright to see. OK-on to some fun stuff!
In the middle of all of that, I had 3 swaps due! YIKES! I became totally overwhelmed with projects and needing to clean the house and decorate for Christmas so I took myself away from the computer for a bit to get some things finished. Now, all of my swap packages have been mailed (insert sigh of relief here) and I am on to cleaning and decorating simultaneously which is how I often work.
Today I will share the swaps with youThe first swap was A Swap for All Seasons, Altered Cabinet card swap. My partner was Sharon Wideman of My Vintage Studio. Sharon completely spoiled me with her swap goodies!! She sent art supplies...(CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)

vintage cards, buttons, a sweet cottage hot pad......

Beautiful tags that Sharon makes (and sells in her Etsy Store) The pictures do not do these cards justice!

The cabinet card is the most beautiful creation ever! The baby picture is gorgeous but what Sharon did to alter it was magnificent!

Aren't the lace and yards and yards of vintage ribbon amazing? (Did I mention that there were Godiva Chocolates in the package? No? So sorry, they're gone...but not forgotten!)

If you want something to do in the slower days of January, Linda has just announced a

Vintage Valentine Swap at A Swap for All Seasons.

I wouldn't miss this one...you might want to try it out!My cabinet card for Sharon...

I just loved these two little cherubs!

I also sent supplies for Sharon to use in her art...she has some pictures posted on her blog.

My second swap  has become an annual tradition. It is an ornament swap with Deb of

Say It With Letters

There were groups of 5 and we were to make and send an ornament to each of the women in our group. Before I realized that Holiday Home was the theme for the swap....I decided to go with a "tree" theme.

 (My brain really has been on overload!)

I made origami  tree ornaments....

some tree tags and a chocolate tree....

Are you still with me?

The final swap was the Vintage Christmas Tag swap that my friend

Elizabeth of Creative Breathing hosted. We were to make 15 tags....one for each swapper and send them all to Elizabeth. She is going to put all of the tags on a ring and send them out to everyone. I really enjoyed this one because Elizabeth chose a large (6x3-inch) tag format to work with. We had the option to make them all of the tags alike or use different images. I can't do 15 of one thing so I chose my favorite cute vintage images and just played with different techniques and styles and had a blast. I will post the tags I receive when they arrive but in the meantime, if you go to Elizabeth's blog (did you know that clicking on any words I have highlighted in a different color will take you to another blog? Click on Creative Breathing, above.) you can see some peeks of the tags she has already received.
 (Not surprisingly-I am the last swapper to send my tags!)

There you have it for now. When I look over this post and the pictures, I can understand why I'm so tired! I love swapping. I've gotten to know some of the nicest people through blogging and swapping  and this creative outlet keeps me off the streets and certainly out of the mall! If you've never tried a swap, think about jumping in. Start small....you'll be amazed at what you will learn.

Back to my cleaning/decorating mode! The new tree goes up tonight!

If you are in the mood for a Give-away....

my friend Marie of  Spun By Me has a dandy one going on right now. If you enter, please mention that you came from my blog. Good luck!

Please excuse me...I need to keep my nose to the grindstone!

Hi friends. I didn't want to just disappear into thin air but I wanted you to know that I'm taking a bit of a blog break (for maybe a week). I have 2 swaps to finish up and I haven't even taken the pumpkins down yet. Do you ever occasionaly get overwhelmed with the tasks at hand?
When I come back I'll have lots of pictures to share of all of the wonderful swaps I've been involved with. Sharon-your package is in the mail!
I'll be back soon~
Joyce

Ever Grateful!

This Thanksgiving, we are at my sister and brother-in-law's in New Jersey. We are having a wonderful time  with children and grandchildren, neices and nephews.
I wish all of my friends and family the Blessings of Thanksgiving.
Take time to say a prayer of thanks to God, for the blessings that enrich your lives.
Give lots of hugs and kisses!
Take time to say a prayer of thanks for the young men and women serving our nation in the USA and abroad.
I am so grateful for all that God provides for me on a daily basis. I am lucky to have a wonderful, loving husband; kind and thoughtful children; the cutest grandson in the world and an army of friends in my life.
Thank you for listening to me ramble on. Thank you for sharing your talent. Thank you for your words of support. Thank you for loving me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the mail

I love padded envelopes! I love opening my mailbox and seeing that manilla color in between the bills (ugh!) and the countless catalogs coming my way these days. This past week brought 4 padded envelopes my way.

In the first envelope was a treasure trove of paper crafting supplies from my sweet friend Elizabeth of Creative Breathing. Leftover bits and bob, papers, ribbons and the cutest photographs of vintage Christma cards! I will have fun playing with all that she sent. Thanks Elizabeth! Where did you find that tiny pink ball fringe!!!! It's the cutest!

In the second package was an embellished cabinet card from dear Linda Smith of A Swap for All Seasons. I am in a cabinet card swap that Linda is hosting and I won a drawing on the blog. Linda does a lovely job hosting and crafting and this card is more beautiful than my camera could capture. Thank you Linda-you are always an inspiration!

The third and fourth envelopes held items I had purchased from Etsy. Do you shop at Etsy? I love the unending selection of handcrafted and vintage items and I always look there first when I'm searching for something special! I try to buy handmade whenever possible.

The first items are paper strips with beautiful printed words on them. One set says "Thankful for...." and the second set has the words to "O Holy Night". You link the strips together to make a long chain. The Thanksving set is going with us to Thanksgiving dinner so everyone can write what they're thankful for. Then the chains can be brought out again next year to review. They are from Ormolu.

The last padded envelope just arrived yesterday and contained some cards by the talented artist Amber Alexander. She sells prints and cards of her wonderful and whimsical animal themed art. Last year I bought David a print of a squirrel in an apron (in honor of our resident visitor Edith Ann). When I saw these cards, I knew I had to get some. Edith....skating!!!!!! Who knew!

Don't you think it was a good mail week? Can't wait to see what next week brings!

NOTE: Sharon-thank you for helping me with my blog header. How does it look to you? It looks great to me! Big hugs to you!!!!!