Don't look Kattrina! At least not until you receive your package.
I had a lot of fun making up a package of goodies to send to my stationery swap partner Kattrina.
I hope I didn't go overboard. It was so hard knowing where to stop. Our limit was $15 and I really didn't spend even that much, but I'm sure it's enough for what I sent.
Here's the goods:
These are all cards I made. Three I made especially for Kattrina. One of them says "Hola" because I know she is marrying a young man whose native language is Spanish. I figure she can send this one to one of her new family members in the future. Most are my own ideas, but a couple of them I got from Kristina Werner's blog and one I made with a friend who is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.
The top two cards on the left I purchased in a group at a school auction. They were made by a talented woman here where I live. She takes lovely photos. The top card on the right was made by my sister-in-law. Hand drawn and embossed. She made a large set of these for me and I think they are beautiful.
The bottom two rows look like photos, but they are actually envelopes. I made them with a pretty calendar that I purchased at the beginning of March when it was way cheap inexpensive. I made more from the rest of the calendar, but I gave Kattrina the best ones. ;)
These are some things I added just in case Kattrina's crafty. Just some bits and pieces of things I've collected or have been given. The labels on the bottom left I made so she could use them on the envelopes I made in the previous photo. I hate the thought of having to cover up any of the beautiful images of nature, but you can't send a card without an address, right!?
The colorful circles I bought on Etsy. I adore Etsy! Much time has been lost in my perusing of Etsy.
These are some cards and postcards I've had hanging around for awhile. I still like them very much, but someone else should enjoy them too. The two postcards in the top right hand corner are from our local museum in Sarasota. I actually bought a print and had it framed of the second one from the right. It's called Roman Courtship. I just love it. In the museum it's enormous. It's beautifully painted. Oh, to have such an amazing talent.
Last, but not least, two pretty pens. I should have included them with another grouping, but I forgot and they so wanted their time in the spotlight.
I can't wait for her to get everything. I hope it all pleases her. I do tend to be kinda flowery in the things I like. I don't know if that is very trendy, but it sure is pretty.
If you're interested, my previous post poses a question for those with a crafty nature. I would appreciate any comments you might have.
Ciao
What a wonderful swap package, i think your partner will be more than happy with that package. Thankyou for your kind words on my blog and for joining in the swap!
ReplyDeleteOh wow. I start feeling bad now that I see all those amazing things other people swapped. :D I bought most of the things for my swap and stationery in Germany seems to be pretty expensive so I only swap a small part of what others added for their partners. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteAnd I also start getting worried- I posted my envelope last week on Monday and my partner still doesn't seem to have it.
Anyway, I totally love the handmade cards, they look great!
Hm, have you seen the movie "becoming Jane", with Anne Hathaway?
I remember one of the very first scenes where Jane is walking up and down in a room, suddenly hurries to a desk, grabs paper and pen and starts writing in a very "obsessed" way. I'm a bit like that, I guess. I see something in a movie, hear a song and suddenly this idea pops up in my head and I just HAVE to start working. :D I even stop exercising when I look out of the window and see that the sky has a nice colour, just in order to take a photo or two. :D
I should really share more of my ideas with you guys. These days I mainly spend my creativity on decorating envelopes and letters but there are also a couple of other things. I guess I'll upload some more pictures of things I recently finished to give you an overview.
Ah, thank you. :) I was sick of the old layout plus the banner, finally realised that both together are too much- too many details, too many colours. So I deleted the layout, took some nice spring pictures in our garden yesterday and tata. :) I'm glad you like it. I'm pretty happy with that banner, too. :)
Oh wow, thanks for commenting twice today- I would have replied to your first one already but shortly afterwards Joana wrote, too, also sent a message, then I got one from my boyfriend and after replying to both of them you already replied a second time. Seems as if I'm just too lazy for my own good. :D I have to admit that some youtube videos caught my attention for a while. :D
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks a lot. :) I'm really glad that you like it- I already asked my boyfriend if he thinks I did an okay job but he's not objective enough to value this. :D
Yes, you might be right, the number of items sent isn't that important but I saw a couple of other swaps already and my only thought was "omg, okay, they posted like ten times as much as I did and I have no idea how they managed to only pay 15$ for this" :D
I'm just afraid that not all people are able to see how much effort and time somebody spent on more creative presents (bad experiences during the past), that's why I'm always a bit worried. Esepcially because, after I was done with my wrapping, I read on my partner's blog that she's not such a big fan of the original Alice story. :D
What I just thought about is that the post (or custom) might have opened my envelope and that this could be the reason why she hasn't received the swap yet. Here in Germany you normally don't need to tell what's inside an envelope, that only goes for packages you post.
Yes, she really is sweet. :) I just received my very first letter from here the day I brought my boyfriend back to the airport and was totally emotional anyway but when I saw her letter everything was just fine for a short while again. :)
Ah, and yes, that's a glass heart. I bought lots of them for friends and family- I have a small box whwre I keep presents for beloved ones like postcards, writing pads- and those glass hearts. I bought them in the very same store where I got the journals- there are actually three different types of them: a green, a yellow and a red one and I can't get enough of them :D
Hm, you know, until some weeks ago, I never thought about decorating envelopes this way, too. Most of the letters I sent and received have been "boring white" ones, showing nothing else than the addresses. I always loved drawing sketches on mine but I nver tried out more things until I saw some mail art-orientated blogs. Since then I totally enjoy decorating envelopes, cutting out quotes and pictured from old magazines, try out different colours. . the only problem might be that the German post offices are pretty strict. They just decided to have us pay 60% more for green, blue and red envelopes because they have to sort them manually. ;)
I actually planned to try out what happenes if I post a purple or turquoise envelope. :D
I'm pretty sure that I watched this movie accidentially. My ex was one of those people who said that only action movies are worth watching at the cinema so we never entered the local cinema at all, at least not together, so I usually borrowed all the movies I wanted to see at our local library. Becoming Jane was one of them and I only borrowed it because it is with Anne Hathaway and because it's about Jane Austen- I watched it right after finishing Pride and Prejudice.
I hope you enjoyed watching your movie, I'm currentlywaiting for the newest German Idol voting results. I've never been such a big fan of casting shows but this one caught my attention.
Enjoy your weekend. :)
PS: I actually never thought about blog etiquette, to be totally honest. There are some topics I wouldn't dicuss on here since this blog is a public one- if you prefer to add certains things via e-mail rather than a post then feel free to do so. :)And maybe you already saw that I added my book list to my blog some minutes ago. :)
Hello Tina,
ReplyDeleteI can describe how glad I was when I read your opinion in my blog post about Massive letters. I feel more than welcome to see you in my blog and to read your words, I see you like to say what goes in your mind and heart, it matter a lot.
Before keeping that issue I want to talk about your post here, because it was the reason why I came here. I feel fascinated when I see all of those wonderful stationery things, it's pity that I can find them around the place I live, so I try to make handmade things, like you have some. I make my own envelope or change them to prettier things, try to give color to my letters, draw, I really appreciate it, I suppose the other like it either...
Did ever happened to you to buy postcards to send to someone or any other piece of stationery and when you have to do it you just can't because you like it so much? Sometimes I feel in love for the things I make, like if they were my children *ah ah* I'm so silly.
Plus, you can call me Joana, feel free to do it and I'll be happy *
Actually I think that some people are lazy and think more in the day to get back letter than in the day to write them. They just think to reply very quickly and shortly to get more answers, why? Simply because of that magical moment of having to take out a letter from the mailbox, isn't it magic? But I totally understand what you said and I also agree with that, so people are afraid to open themselves, they probably don't believe that is really possible to make friend for real in this way, and one more thing that I talked with Tanja today and I think she will not feel mad about telling it here, some people cut, they cut the thoughts, just not to write that much. One more thing, the more you write the more you give to the other person to know you, if you write always a short letter how long will take to the other person to know you? That's why I am a lover of long letter, it's good to know someone's thought the deepest things, to trust.
I also don't write massive letter to everyone, I write massive letter to who write them to me too, because we need to have a match point, wasn't fair and would be tiring to write 20 sheets to someone and get only 2, so I also can adapt. Everyone looks to have view of what is a short or long letter or even medium letters, and I am looking for that asnwer, the truth ^^ so we can understand each other every time we write requests. In my view i would consider 4 to 6 sheets a medium letter writer, and be happy! Half of my pen friend write around that number of sheets, so it is perfectly normal.
I am very thankful to share ideas with you and thank you very very much dear,
Love,
Joana
By the way, this is not a competition with Tanja to see who write more *ah ah* she knows!
ReplyDelete