Birdsong Three: the swaps and more

The swaps at art events are always a joy.

At Birdsong, the setting is Karla's patio on the first evening, after the first two classes.  Above, Karla as she opens her matchbox swap from Suzanne.

For Birdsong Three's matchbox swap, I made a box for Gail that I showed you here, and Marj made this box for me. And what a box! On top, a lovely altered bird on a branch...

and below, it was actually TWO boxes -- the one on top contained TEN DRAWERS with beaded pulls that were decorated inside and out! They were filled with little treasures that I love!  I really love the paper she chose to decorate the outside of the boxes.  Can you imagine how much work that was?

This is Marj as she opens her own special swap box (above.)  She and Gail were the co-hosts of the swap.

The box was full of trims, gorgeous findings, buttons, something sparkly and intriguing (a polished rock?), and look at those wooden beads that spell my name! The sweet, pale green handkerchief underneath was also in the box!  One of the things I really enjoy about Marj (we've Birdsong'd together before...) is her amazing hugs.  She is very gifted in bear-hugging.  I look forward to seeing her because I don't really have anyone else in my life who is a hugger.  So what do you think was in the bottom matchbox?

A likeness of her beautiful daughter (who I haven't met in person but have seen in photos) giving me a hug!  It is really heartwarming.  I loved this box -- it was just for me!

And here are all the swapped boxes together in Karla's kitchen.  Note the one in the top right corner: it's Audrey's dresser!  They were all so much fun to see.

My new friend, Mercedes, hostessed the rosette swap; she had a neat way of randomly choosing exchange partners by matching up pretty bird tags.  The one I made, which I showed you here went to one of the gals from Iowa, Lyn, while I received one from Tami.

She packaged her rosette sweetly in a pouch made from an embroidered vintage textile; it is a mix of neutrals and is shown next to the tag that Mercedes made.

The focal piece is a vintage bird and nest pin.  I love the colors together!

Here are most of the rosettes assembled for their group photo.  Isn't it amazing the way everyone interprets the same creative challenge?  This was a fun swap and I know I'll continue making rosettes now that I've tried it out!

My lovely friend from Indiana, Stephanie, hostessed the tag swap.  I showed you mine here, and here's the awesome book I got in return:

I'll show you ALL of it so you can enjoy the artistry.  I photographed the front of each tag and then the reverse is to the left of the next tag in the next photo -- I hope that makes sense!

So much fun, and color, and lovely textures!

After the swaps we enjoyed another great meal; one thing that you know you're going to get at Karla's events is well fed!

I still have more Birdsong beauty to show you, but I also wanted to show you this photo of Dennis and I this past Friday night as we celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. Our lives feel very full lately -- and what a shock to go (so quickly) from working at home to working outside of the home.  I really like my job; it's fun and invigorating to be working and doing something I enjoy -- but it's also very time-consuming (funny how that works!)  I'm having a hard time in the evenings sitting down at the computer to read blogs and write on some of my pages...and haven't quite hit the point where I'm organized enough to do it in the mornings before work.  I'm also struggling to find the time to exercise as often as I'm used to doing.  I know I'll get into a rhythm soon, and I hope you'll stick with me as posts are fewer and further between through this adjustment period!