HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! AND COME SEE THE GOODIES MY THANKSGIVING SWAP PARTNER SENT ME!

I participated in a Thanksgiving Paper doll/ATC swap over at Debra's. Her blog has been a source of holiday inspiration for me since before I started my own blog so I was so excited to participate in one of her swaps. The requirements were to make a paper doll and an ATC and send them to your swap partner. I can't show you my paper doll because I didn't look at my pics until after I had mailed the doll and they were blurry. (My apology for all the pics: I am not a good picture taker.) Above is the sweet ATC I received in the swap. I love that she made a pink Thanksgiving card. And here's what else I got from my swap partner, Sharon:

Isn't her 3-D paper doll wonderful. I love that she has that little rope belt of pearls. The background is just a pillow we had the office, but I thought it looked very rustic with the doll.

Sharon also very generously enclosed these other little treats for me. Just the kind of trinkets that a vintage girl like me adores. There's even a little tractor stamp and I am coincidentally working on a little tractor project! How serendipitous! I love, love, love, love the old purse with the celluloid closing. The leather has a little dry rot so it can't be carried as a purse anymore, but I'm thinking that the front of the purse could be a good journal cover embellishment or maybe the whole purse could be used in a shadowbox. I'll keep it until just the right project presents itself.

Its so lovely I thought you should see a close-up of the design on the leather. Thanks so much Sharon for being such an awesome swap partner. I hope we get to meet in person.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I am so grateful for my family and friends, on and off the net. You all mean so much to me. I know more of you read my blog than leave me comments. Please know I appreciate you all very much and I love to read your comments, too.

I'VE JOINED ANOTHER SWAP!

Carolyn is hosting her 2nd annual Christmas Cracker Swap. Yours don't have to p-o-p, but they are decorated on the outside and contain some Christmas Surprises within. You can read about the specific details here. Sign-ups until the 21st so get on over there and sign up if you're interested! (uh, oh, I think I threw away that paper towel tube last night.....)

WILD WOMAN IS ON HER WAY TO ENGLAND!

I signed up for a wild woman pin swap. After I signed up, I felt a little intimidated by all the great textiley(is that even a word - anyway, the girls are good with yarns and fibers) works by my fellow artists - I work mostly in paper. In the end I decided to cut the back of the head off a little rubber baby doll and paint her little white baby doll pony tail into a silver bee hive on the top of her head. She still wasn't looking wild enough so I painted her face gold. I thought it would cover all her features, but they still shown through so I wiped the paint off her eyes and mouth. I then made her a little cocoon made from a time card and attached a zipper to help with her emergence. I gave her wings made from silver tree leaves and stamped the word "FLY" on a little lingerie strap. The purple and green thing perched on her head is a dragon fly for good luck. I added a little bling and sparkly and sent her on her way. I named her Miss Meta for metamorphosis. What will I be after the change???? She's a little big and heavy to be a brooch, but I hoping whoever gets her will forgive me and will use her as a journal embellishment or some other good use. Good luck to Miss Meta in her travels.

I'VE JOINED A THANKSGIVING PAPERDOLL SWAP AND YOU CAN, TOO!

I love the holidays, specifically all the old vintage graphics. Now there's a new opportunity to use them. Debra over at HopHopJingleBoo is having a Thanksgiving Paperdoll swap and I'm playing, too. Debra's keeping it simple, you only need to make a holiday themed paperdoll, an ATC and maybe a recipe and get them in the mail by November 15th. Sign-ups are open only until November 8th so get on over there and follow the directions in this post to sign up. It should be a lot of fun! Hope to see you there!

GLOBAL HOLIDAY ATC SWAP!

Strathmore Artist Papers is hosting a global artist trading card swap, where every participant is a winner and receives an original artist trading card. First, visit a participating art materials retailer for an entry form. Create your own holiday or winter-themed card. ATC and entry material must be postmarked by Nov. 26. You will recieve another artisit's card around the middle of December. I know Preston Art Supply in my area has entry forms, but you should be able to find them at other locations. I looked, but could not find them available on line.