Friday, April 29, 2011

The Mail Has Been Very Very Good to Me

Last week, my mailbox goodness reached epic proportions.  It started with this:

 As they say, "You had me at hello."  Who doesn't like chocolate?  But wait!  Even better -- I know, what could be better than chocolate? -- there was a whole bunch of stuff inside.  Stuff that doesn't mess with my diet.

Handmade tags, note cards, ATCs, envelopes, a little round box filled with beads, and some pens and buttons!  Who is responsible for this bounty?  My friend Jan, who blogs here, and her friends who have a group blog here.  They are mixed media artists who do lots of intricate, fun stuff.  I highly recommend checking them out.  I won this in a giveaway on http://foxontherunarts.blogspot.com/ .  So cool.


And wait!  There's more!  I swap blocks with my Sparkly Chicken friends (not all of them have blogs, but those who do are listed on the side under "Sparkly Chickens Blogs").  Anne Marie, who blogs here, sent me this colorful moose.


Just look at the wonderful embroidery (French knots are my favorite embroidery stitch).

And she included these goodies.  Cards with more stuff on them and some very sparkly yarn.



But wait!  That's not all!



In advance of my birthday, the mail got this package to me in record time!  It wasn't supposed to arrive until next month, but it's here!


Beth blogs here about her adventures in Africa.  She sent me these little bottles and the charms -- an elephant for Africa and a shoe because, well, I'm kind of a shoe lover.  The tall bottle is a vanilla sugar grinder from South Africa -- it's full of big crystals of sugar and chunks of real vanilla pods.  It's delicious ground onto ricotta cheese and over coffee.  This weekend, I'm going to try it on French toast, fruit and maybe some pancakes or waffles.There was some floral fabric.




And these wonderful batiks from Africa.  I love these giraffes -- maybe I should make a bag out of this?













 I love this one -- I can see this fussy cut up into a kaleidoscopic design.  I've included a pic of the selvage.




And these chickens are the best!  They're quite large and I love they way they're walking all over the fabric!

Thank you all for making this such a fun week for me!

4 comments:

Talin's Corner said...

Wow, what a bounty. Happy Birthday (in advance). I love all the note cards and the fabrics. I love your idea of making a bag out of the giraffe fabric. Enjoy all your goodies.

Jan said...

It looks as though your luck has changed as far as winning things goes. You are a big winner here! What a great bunch of stuff, I look forward to seeing what you use it for. It will be fun! When is your birthday?

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

Yep... I'm hoping the mail system stays fixed!!! I think the spice grinder is the best thing in the bunch... but I'm not a shoe slut... (but if you come visit...you better bring a bag for just shoes).... Lots and lots of shoes here... even for guys with a shoe thing!!!

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Wow! What a haul!!! BTW, french knots are my favourite as well. Next is the feather stitch which really didn't fit on the moose block.