Mimmsical Creations

I received a lovely letter in the mail on Monday from my niece, Joy. She wrote to me about the stuffed animals I had sent them a couple months back. She told me that she wrote a book (I believe it was spelled "rowt"!) and thought maybe I would want a copy (which I do, of course!)

She also sent me this wonderful artwork!! I'll find a special place to hang it for sure!

Thank you Joy!! It was so fun to hear from you! I will write back!

I'm very late in posting about these goodies, but late is better than never, no?

First off, I purchased a lovely bookmark from the amazing Janet. She has a new Etsy shop, and I had to have this lovely mermaid!! She is just beautiful! Along with my purchase, Janet sent a great ATC as well! She even decorated the envelope!!

Next, I purchased this amazing handmade journal from Jolene!! I received this so long ago, but am just now posting! Sheesh! Jolene does amazing work! This journal is NO exception! (Jolene - I borrowed your photo - I hope you don't mind! I couldn't get a good one for some reason!)

And last, but certainly not least, I am getting photos posted of the Spring Re-gift swap over at Create a Connection! My partner was Donna (meaning I sent to her, she sent to me!) She really spoiled me (and outdid me I think!) She sent so much fun stuff, including a handmade pin (which I love!), an art doll that I can decorate, books, paper, bath stuff, candles, tea, you name it! It was such a fun package to open!! Thanks Donna!!

Well, I've taken a few days off in December. I needed a break from my every day posting. I don't know why it was so hard, but it was!!

I am LATE in posting about this fun mail from the amazing Mary Ann! She was so kind as to send me a lovely charm she made. I LOVE this!! It is so tiny and yet, so detailed!! She included a cute little "follow your bliss" button too!! I'm sorry I didn't post sooner about this wonderful package! (Bills buried the fun mail! Can you imagine?!)

THEN - on Monday, I got this wonderful card from my best friend Andrea.

It's Thursday and that is Photo Day at Create a Connection! I haven't played along in a while, but I have photos for today's theme! "What a View"

Amber is hosting and she wants to see the view from our windows. It just so happens, I took some pretty amazing sunset shots right out our back door a couple days ago!! So I'm sharing them now! :) I'm also including a shot of our neighbor's "fire" tree - the colors are pretty amazing right now!!

I also have Fun mail to share!! I've received two swap packages this week!! The first is from Eva - a book swap hosted by Zazazu!! Eva sent a lovely little handmade bird, a beautiful (also handmade) bookmark, and a great little book which Mike is also enjoying! (He read the Three Little Pigs out loud, and had both of us laughing like crazy!!) Thanks Eva and Karen Beth at Zazazu for hosting!

The second fun package I received was from the 5-a-Day Swap hosted by Jenna over at Create a Connection this month. It was a fruit and veggie theme (can you guess what I sent to my partner?! If you guessed pickles, you'd be right!)

I got a fun package from Marie today!! She sent me Idaho treats - potato themed, of course! "Potato" candy, a shot glass from Idaho, and postcards (Some had recipes!) She also included some family recipes - many for potatoes!! Thanks Marie!! So fun!

I have fun mail to share from this past weekend!

My package for the Favorite Things swap that I hosted in September over at Create a Connection arrived from Megan! She was very thoughtful and careful in her choosing for me as she learned from reading my blog that I'm trying to "de-clutter" and get rid of things! She did so well! And I really loved learning what her favorite things are!

She sent two wonderful handmade things including a small painting she made. I truly LOVE it and will find a place of honor for it! She wrote her note in a card she made, and had been saving because she loved it so much! :)

Also included were Peanut M&Ms - a favorite treat of mine as well, which I can't eat anymore because they trigger migraines - so Mike benefitted from this treat!! She included one of her favorite books and a great magazine that she said fits with her views on life! Great stuff!! And last but not least, a Starbucks card!! Yay!

I think I'll treat myself to a coffee and sit outside and read my new book!! Thank you MEGAN!!

And, today being Photo Thursday over at Create a Connection, I want to post a photo for Amber's theme of Something New!

NEW SHOES!! Yesterday, my boss/friend Laurel, decided to take my co-worker and I shoe shopping. Because we "step up" so often, we got new shoes (and there was an awesome sale!) Patricia found some shoes she liked, as did I... they are DANSKOS!!! I've wanted a pair for so long, and now I have them. Whoo hoo - I love my boss! :) And my new green shoes that are really comfy and totally cute if you ask me!

I went missing... I didn't intend to, but I did. I have these periods of time where I need to be introverted I think. This last week was one. It's been pretty stressful around here, so I just sort of drew in! I visited all of your blogs, but I just didn't come update my own!! But, I'm back, with at least one post today - maybe even two or three! :)

Mike is very unhappy (still and ongoing) in his job. So, we are now really pushing to try to move away, move on, find something new for him! We're both very excited to live near the ocean, so that is where we're focusing. Right now, our target (still) is the Raleigh, NC area. His brother, Jeff, just moved to Wilmington, NC, and Mike got to visit last week. The ocean, the beaches, and the visit with his brother really rejuvenated him. He loves the area. So, we're going to aim that direction. Raleigh is close enough, but not too close to his brother. And there will be lots of job options for me too. I'll keep you posted, but we're trying to make this happen sooner rather than later because the stress isn't good!!

On to happy mail! I participated in this swap last month. And when I got back from my day off yesterday (another blog post there) I had a package waiting from my swap partner, Jana! Wow - what a fun box to open!!

Our assignment was to send things that made us happy - I did this for Jana, and she in turn did it for me. She wrote me a note explaining everything she sent! First up was this gorgeous, collaged box! So fun, and bright and cheerful!


Next, inside was a plethora of goodies! Jana included sharpies (my favorite, of course!), candles (that smell really good!), a cute little candle holder, flower seeds (from her garden!), glitter pens, handmade (by Jana!) earrings, chocolate, lip balm (also chocolate!), a great book that's on my to read list (White Oleander), and a pez dispenser. What a fun box to receive!!! I will definitely enjoy everything packed in!! Thanks for everything Jana!! And thanks to Zazazu for hosting such a fun swap!!

I participated in a fun swap this month at Create a Connection. It was the Hometown Swap. I put together a package of stuff that was from or about my hometown, and the person sending to me did the same!

My package arrived over the weekend from the lovely Bella! She sent me a very fun package of stuff about her hometown in New Jersey. What I loved most about the package is the letter that she wrote explaining her hometown, why she loves it, and why she sent the stuff she did.

Included was a bag of popcorn (from a midnight release party that she attended for the new Harry Potter book... she knew I was a fan too!), a shell and a beach souvenir from her favorite place on the water, a magazine about New Jersey as well as a little book about the state. She also included a couple of postcards. It was all wrapped up so prettily too!

Thank you SOOO much Bella! I will enjoy reading more about your hometown/state!

This swap happened a couple months ago, but my swap partner (sending to me) ran into some difficult times in her life, and I received my wonderful package from her just this weekend! She was so great in letting me know that my package would arrive, just later than planned! And it was worth the wait!!

Judy made me this wonderful little "cell" bag!! It is a perfect fit for a cell phone (which I don't currently have, but I will put this beauty to use no matter!!) The detail in the bag is hard to show in pictures - but it is gorgeous! Judy remembered that my color choice was green - and I let her know I loved it in combo with purple!!

Such an amazingly beautiful piece of wearable/usable art!! Thanks so much Judy for the thoughtful package!! I love it!!

One of my favorite bloggers, Mary Ann, and her sister hosted a Tea Party Swap earlier this year. It was such a great success that they did it again and just hosted a Vintage Tea Swap!

I just received my lovely package in the mail from my partner Jen! Wow - such a fun box to open!! Inside I found teas, chocolate (although it was melted from the heat - it's in the fridge to "recover" now!), a lovely handmade card, a gorgeous teacup and saucer and a little "tea fairy" to sit on the edge of the teacup!!

This was such a fun swap! I had a great time finding a vintage cup and saucer for my send-to partner as well! I think I might be addicted to swapping! It's just too fun!! Gotta love fun mail!!

Thanks Mary Ann and Jo for hosting, and Jen for sending me such great goodies!!

I actually won something!! Jolene over at The Blue Cottage ran a fun little contest in May. If you left a comment at her blog during the month, she entered your name in a drawing. Well, I love her blog, and comment often, so it was a given that I'd be entered!!

Well, I won!! Whoo hoo!! Jolene makes some amazing, fantastic things! I got my winning package in the mail last night!! Such pretty wrapping:

And contained inside was one of Jolene's one-of-a-kind hand bound, coptic stitch journals!! SOCOOL!! (to borrow one of Jolene's words!) It is the cover of an old, very cute book, and inside are wonderful, thick blank pages!!


Check out the cool spine - you can see the stitching!

Well, here it is Monday again! I have lots of things to share too! First - I missed Photo Thursday last week at Create a Connection, but I still want to participate! :) Nino at Cease Cows was the guest host for May and her theme for last Thursday was Water.

My water picture is from my garden! We have this cool little fountain - it used to be a fish pond, but sprung a leak! Our landlord remodeled it quickly and turned it into this:

It is a little bare around it right now, but once the flowers take hold and start blooming it will look so pretty!! I love the sound of the water too! Here are a few more of my garden and flowers!

On Saturday, Mike and I went white-water rafting in the Cache La Poudre canyon near Fort Collins!! We had gone once two years ago, and it was SO fun! I got really nervous before hand, but once our trip was underway, it was all fun! I hope I'll have a picture to share, but there are some "technical" difficulties. You see, this rafting company uses the Pigeon Express to get the photos back to the shop before the raft trip is over. The photographer places the digital memory in a little tiny pack attached to a homing pigeon's back. (no, really!) and then the birds fly home and they get the photos ready for when we come back from rafting.

Well, we have bad luck with pigeons I guess. Last time we went, the pigeon actually lost the film. I guess that never happens, but it did for us! So - no picture. This time - the pigeon was very late in arriving and when we headed for home, had not arrived with his film! So, we're waiting to see what happened. I have a call in to find out, but so far no photos! Suffice it to say, we had a great time, but we are REALLY sore! Muscles are protesting the heavy use! Paddling down a river with class 2 and 3 rapids is hard work!! But, oh so enjoyable!

And, I actually made some art yesterday!! Shocker! I pulled out the old Sharpies and I made three ATCs for a "music" theme swap! Yay! It was fun. I think the fumes went to my head! :) I'm packing these up to send off today!

Yesterday was a FUN mail day!! I received my swap from Jone - in the box swap for Create a Connection! What a great package!!

Thank you SO much Jone - and thanks to Holli for hosting such a fun swap!!

Yay!! I received my lovely package from Holly for the Create a Connection Journal Swap on Friday!!

What a fantastic journal! Holly picked out the perfect paper for me - thick enough that I can "sharpie-ize" without it bleeding through. THEN - she altered it for me!! She added great colors (my favorites - purple and green), quotes, great fibers down the spine. SO fun!! (The quote on the front says: "The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend." Henry David Thoreau.)

Holly even decorated the envelope - what a FUN package to receive in the mail! Here is a portion of the fabulous envelope! Holly also wrote a fantastic note inside the journal. She said, "... the pages are thick so you'll be able to draw and doodle with gusto. Be true to your creative endeavors, never stop having fun." Great words of advice, Holly!! THANK YOU!!

And for Photo Thursday (on Monday - late again!!) DebR asked us to do this:

"I want you to channel your inner magpie. (Even if you don't think you have one, try anyway!) Pretend for just a moment that you were suddenly, magically transformed into a magpie and have to go build a new nest. Look around you right now, in whatever room you're sitting in to read this post. What's the first shiny, colorful, and/or flashy thing that catches your eye and that you think your inner magpie would want for her nest?"

Now - my journal just lit up my inner magpie!! There was so much there that caught my eye for my "nest" so-to-speak!

My blog friend Mary Ann is the queen of swaps!! She hosted a fabulous Valentine ATC Swap that I participated in! What FUN that was!!

Well, she's at it again and I participated, of course!! This one is the "You're my cuppa tea party and swap"! :) The deal is - we will all have tea "together" by taking creative photos of our own tea parties to share. We were also paired up to do a small swap!

I had fun putting together the journal and package for my tea partner, Tanaya! But, as fate would have it, my partner who was supposed to send to me didn't come through, so the amazing, wonderful Mary Ann sent me a package of goodies instead!!

Well, she is awesome - what a FUN package I received!! Not only did I receive TEA, but she made a lovely collage, sent some fun lotion and lip gloss and other goodies!! She even decorated the package with tea stamps and bright paper!!

Now... I have to figure out my own tea party for this Friday so I can get my photos posted and participate in this virtual tea party gathering!! I'll post them here so you can all participate via me! :)