Star Ornament package update

I have returned from visiting my parents and have 15 packages awaiting my attention! I will open them, scan or photograph your stars and add them to the blog over the next few days. There are about a half a dozen or so more packages that I am expecting by Saturday. I will get all of these up on the swaps blog as soon as I can.

It was good to go visit my parents, but also sad. Last spring, my dad had a tumor in his colon removed and it has now metastasized and moved to his liver. I was able to accompany my parents to one of the Dr appointments about treatment options and it seems the best thing is for my dad to do a course or two of chemotherapy starting soon, and then interventional radiation directly on the liver. My dad is also receiving acupuncture and I am glad his oncologist welcomes this treatment, as it should help dad through the chemotherapy.

I was scared about all of this before I went to see them, but while there, I fell into my parents “one step at a time” philosophy. It has served us all very well. I am wishing and praying that the course of chemotherapy is not too hard for my father and without too many side effects. Steven and I will go visit them again in December.

I know some of you have probably been wondering about my dad if you have been following here for any length of time, and so that is why I share this with you. All I can say is I am glad I have the swaps and my classes to keep my mind otherwise occupied. Thank you!

Star Ornament Swap!

Just a note! Even though I am in Florida I spoke with my husband tonight and he told me the star ornament packages are coming in . . . There are packages in and received from Patricia Schweitzer, Betty Lou Cassidy, Kiki Finlayson, someone in San Diego - perhaps Lorraine Beaumont, as she wrote me a few days ago saying her package was on the way. There was 1 more package as well, without a return address (that steven could find!) but I will sort it all out later this week.

Thanks for sending! I am glad Steven could retreive them as it is good to be here. Very quiet, but good. We see the Dr. at the Interventional Radiation center tomorrow morning and go out in the boat tomorrow afternoon, maybe catch some fish!

xo from lenna

Star Ornament Swap! Jenna Morlock - Ohio

This is Jenna's first creative swap and she has done a wonderful job with her stars! Each one is a little different but with some similarities . . .

Jenna's blog is called: Quilt Crazy Gal Jenna Louise and I think her stars for this swap will be posted there soon. Yes, they are up, with a wonderful description of how she made them. Click on any picture here to see a larger photo and enjoy!

Star Ornament Swap! Doris Stahl - UK

Doris Stahl, aka Odette on her blog, sent in the most colorful paper stars on a wire with smaller paper stars, paper beads and other beads and shells, wow! Doris made a special star ornament for me too -much appreciated, Doris. I still have your valentine ornament hanging up!

I have a little bit more of a close up photo to the right, showing off the beautiful paper Doris used to make the star. You can read and see more on Doris' blog, ArtAffair.

Below, is a scan of all of Doris' star ornaments. The cellophane they are wrapped in gives a strange glare with my scanner, but I thought you would enjoy the quote on the tag Doris sent with each ornament.

Star Ornament Swap! Donna Butcher - California

Donna Butcher sent in 3 different types of star ornaments. She made 5 for the swap and an extra one for me -thank you! Each one includes a mitten shaped tag, which I think is so sweet -and also appropriate, now that it is getting COLD!

Click on any photo for a larger more detailed picture. Thanks for participating, Donna! I love your variety of stars.

Shades of the Forest Quilties - Bev Teichrob, Victoria BC

These wonderful Forest Quilties were delivered right to me by Bev Teichrob this past Saturday. Now, hand-delivery has happened to me before with swap participants who live nearby in the Avon, CT area, but the difference here is that Bev is from Victoria, British Columbia!

Bev has been here on the East Coast of the USA, traveling around the New England area with her husband who had a job to do here - for about a month. When she first arrived here from BC in September, she took a Collage class from me in my studio with 4 other women. It was great fun & you can read about it here. Bev asked if there was another class she could take before she headed back home and we arranged for a different class for her to do on October 18th - more on that later, on my creative lenna blog! When Bev came for class on that day, she brought her finished Shades of the Forest Quilties, all stiched by hand while she was traveling! She had prepared herself by bring the fabric & needed supplies with her and she said she quite enjoyed doing them. So much so that Bev created two sets of 4 quilties and and extra one for me. Thanks so much Bev, and I hope you have arrived home safely now. What a treat is was to meet you in person!

New Swap - Alpha Stamps Alice in Wonderland ATCs

Hi! I am announcing the first Creative Swap for 2009 today! I am very excited about it because I just love the images from Alpha Stamps that we'll be using. I also know many of you are fans of Alice in Wonderland . . . so without further adieu, here is the swap call. I hope you enjoy the idea and that I see you in the swap! Some of my own samples are highlighted here in this post for illustration. I've added descriptions on how I made these ATCs to my creative lenna blog: go here to read them, and . . . I have now added more ATCs for this swap -go here- to see the ones I created with fabric, transparencies & clear stickers.

Registration for any Creative Swap takes place on the blog now via a PayPal ‘Pay Now’ button. You can register for any open swap by finding the appropriate PayPal Button found in this blog’s sidebar on the right. Your choice of buttons will be #1) for the swap you are interested in and #2) for the mailing options -me sending to you within the USA or mailing swaps to you outside of the USA. After you have paid for postage and handling via the PayPal button = I receive notification from PayPal. You are registered for the swap! I will email you confirming your registration and send the FULL swap details including my mailing address. *Make sure I have your proper email and mailing address for confirmation and swap details. And, please be patient, but email me if you have not heard from me confirming your participation in the swap by 48 hrs.

Due Jan 24, 2009 February 3rd, 2009: an Alpha Stamps Alice in Wonderland ATC swap (9 for 9)
After seeing the many interesting and beautiful Alice in Wonderland images offered by Alpha Stamps, I could not help but decide to host an ATC swap using them! The swap specs:

– create and send in nine ATCs. Receive nine in return (one will be your own)
– Each ATC MUST use an Alpha Stamps Alice in Wonderland image from any of the image sheets, paper dolls, stickers, or rubber stamps available at Alpha Stamps. This includes the Tea and Tea party related collage images and rubber stamps. As long as you have something Alpha Stamps and Alice in Wonderland, you are good to go!
– your images (from sheets) may be card stock (paper), fabric, clear sticker or transparency – as Alpha Stamps offers all of these choices
– Create the base of your ATCs from fabric, paper, thin wood, acrylic, or anything you can imagine as long as it fits into a clear nine pocket plastic holder . . .
– All ATCs must be sent to me in a nine-pocket holder (look for baseball card sleeve)
– All ATCs must be 2.5” x 3.5” in size (6.4 cm x 8.9 cm)
– your design can be either landscape or portrait orientation
– Any media can be used in creating these ATCs
– your ATCs may be ALL the SAME design, ALL different, or a mix – 3 of 3 or whatever. It is your choice.
– If you wish to be included in the swap, your ATCS must be in my hands by: Saturday, Jan 24, 2009 I have extended the due date because of the winter holidays to:
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009!

Each participant will receive a custom 'thank you' collage sheet as a gift from Alpha Stamps plus the chance to win a special *First Prize* for the most creative ATCs. Besides the collage sheet, Alpha Stamps’ owner Leslie Elledge is also donating an Alice in Wonderland Tarot Card Deck as the first prize, wow. Thank you, Leslie!

If you are new to creating ATCs or need some inspiration I will have links for instruction and design ideas for you when I confirm your registration. In addition I can answer your ATC questions via email.

Registration for the Alice in Wonderland ATC swap is $6.00 for mailing within the USA and $8.00 for mailing internationally. Use the ‘Pay Now’ buttons on the blog to register. If the buttons have been removed, the swap is full. This registration fee includes shipping and handling for nine ATCS, a small gift from Alpha Stamps plus any needed help from me with your ATCs. If you send payment to me via PayPal and you do not hear from me within 48 hours, or if you have any questions, please email me.

Star Ornament Swap! Lisa Mallette - Florida

Lisa Mallette from Florida, has sent in two different sets of 5 star ornaments for our swap due nov. 1st -wow! The 2 sets are very different from each other, but both are quite impressive. My favorite set is the wooden stars, below. Lisa gave them a really interesting paint/embossed/stamped texture and I just love the wire she fashioned to hang them.

Lisa has her own blog, Studio Rose where you can read more about them and see more of her art! Lisa wrote and said she always looks forward to my swaps -- Thank you, Lisa. I always look forward to you participating in my swaps!!

Click on any picture for more detail.

Star Ornament Swap! Kate North - UK

From Kate North in England, we have received some really wonderful and creative 6-sided fabric stars with poly clay faces and lots of danglies! Kate was so kind and made an extra one for me, thanks so much. I love Kate's moo cards (mini business cards). You may see them peeking out behind her stars -they have a tiny photo of one of the same poly clay faces!

Kate has a blog where she posted her ornaments & wrote about them. Check it out here! Her blog is filled with lots of interesting art, mostly quilt & fibre -she is very busy and prolific! A close up of Kate's stars is here:

Shades of the Forest Quilties - Wil Opio Oguta, Netherlands

From Wil in the Netherlands, we have a lovely set of 4 Forest Quilties plus an extra one for me -thanks ever so much. Will has incorporated beautiful photos of forest mushrooms into her quilties, as well as leaves and leaf charms. The fabric colors and Wil's stitching is superb! I like the fibers on the edge too. Great job, thanks for participating again! To see more of Wil's fabric art, click on her name at the bottom of this post.

Shades of the Forest Quilties - Sue Lee, South Dakota

To the left is the front of one of Sue Lee's Forest quilties and the back of another one, with one of her handmade tags; click on any photo for a closer look! Sue's Forest Quilties just arrived the other day. I like the way Sue has quilted part of the top of her quiltie and stitched her handmade tag the same way.
Sue enclosed a note,
"This was another fun quiltie swap, I'm finding I really enjoy making them. A friend gave me permission to use some of her photos, so that's where I started. I also used Batik fabric with leaves, charms and artificial leaves. Thank you for hosting this swap, I know there is a lot of work involved. It is such a treat to see what everyone does. Thanks, Sue"


Thank you too, Sue, for the extra quiltie for me -wow!

Star Ornament Swap! Mieke Bronkers - The Netherlands

From Mieke Bronkers in the Netherlands, we have received 2 different sets of star ornaments (5 in each set) for our swap due November 1st. They are both so wonderful, thank you, Mieke!

One set is soft fabric stars, beaded and decorated with small buttons and little poly clay faces. The other set of star ornaments are created from beaded wire and cool bottle caps that Mieke decorated on the inside. : ^ )

click on any photo for a closer look !

Sunshine Quilties

Joanie Hoffman sent in this wonderful quiltie as a trade for one of Fiona's quilties that arrived a little too late to be included in the swap -the quilties had already been swapped and sent out. Thank you, Joanie! I will send one of Fiona's sunshine quilties off to Joanie in Tuesday's mail (it was a holiday today in the states!)

Left to arrive is just one more quiltie from Barbara Roberts in Florida, and then I can send all 4 quilties to Fiona in Scotland. Barbara has already mailed her package to me, and she sent a link so we could see her sunshine quiltie, here. It's gorgeous! Thanks so much to: Barbara, Joanie, Sue and Joellyn for stepping up and making an extra quiltie to trade with Fiona. Wonderful!

Star Ornament Swap!

The Star Ornament swap is one of our current swaps that is due in my hands November 1st ~ wow, only 3 weeks away! Amazingly, there are still a few spaces left to join, if you can work quickly & send your swap pieces in very soon, to be here by the 1st (see the right sidebar for a sign-up button via PayPal ). There are 31 participants registered already, from the US, Canada, UK, The Netherlands, Australia & Germany! It is sure to be a great swap with lots of talent and fun. I am participating myself, and here is what I have come up with so far . . . I worked mostly with wire and beads, but created a few paper stars -- one is wire & handmade paper and another one uses a fabric collage sheet image on top of watercolour paper. Remember, I said anything goes for this swap as far as the medium used to create your stars!

click on any picture for details and a larger picture!

The last two stars with the black background were created on watercolour paper and feature images from Alpha Stamps collage sheets - the blue star uses an image from The Moon & Stars Fabric Sheet and the black & white star's image comes from the wonderful Alchemical Spheres collage sheet.

More sunshine . . . .

I have received extra quilties from 2 generous participants; Joellyn Quinn and Sue Lee. They are trading one for one with Fiona, whose quilties were hung up in the mailstream from Scotland and did not get here in time for the swap. Thank you both so much! I know Fiona will be so pleased. Here is Sue Lee's extra sunshine quiltie . . . . so vibrant and beautiful!

And below is a close up of Joellyn's wonderful stitching, followed by a full picture of her quiltie below.

I have sent Sue Lee one of Fiona's quilties already (Sue's arrived the other day) and I will be sending one to Joellyn on Monday : ) After Barbara's & Joanie's quilties for Fiona reach me, I will send them each one, and then package up Fiona's quitie trades and send them to her, yay! I am so grateful for the volunteers so we could include Fiona in the swap, thank you!