Quick, quick, hurry up!

Oh boy, did I panic today. New Year's Eve, and I desperately wanted to post photos of the beautiful gifts I had been sent in the last couple of months, in the same year they were received. Bit of a tall order, lol, as there were so many beautiful things I had been gifted with, going back to September! Some I had photographed when they arrived, some I photographed today. All of the pics are pretty poor, as it has been raining just about every day for weeks and weeks on end, and even when it was dry-ish, it was horridly grey and dark.

This is going to be a VERY long post, but I do hope that you will find the time to look at all the photos, because all those precious gifts deserve to be admired. Normally I would do a blog post for each one, but because of my long absence due to ill health, thats not possible if I want them all shown in 2012. 

I had the most wonderful time looking at the precious gifts all over again, I have a big big smile on my face writing this post. So, lets start!

Way way way back, I won a runners up prize in a giveaway from Valerie, whose darned impressive blog you can find HERE. I had admired her fabulous technique for distressing tags before and I was delighted to receive a tag and a postcard from her. They are amazing -

Isn't the crackle finish on these amazing? She also sent another tag, again, such an unusual technique -

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At the end of October, my precious friend Dorthe of the sumptuous Den Lille Lade blog surprised me with a Halloween package. 

Of course, Dorthe being Dorthe didn't just send the gorgeous Halloween hanging, she also sent this  beautiful collage -

and some sweet little craft supplies for me to create with-

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Judy, of Judy's Fabrications is one of the most prolific and colourful fabric artists I know. Everything she creates just leaves me breathless with admiration, so when she offered some amazing flowers in a competition, I just had to take part. And this lovely lady gifted me with ten of her flowers! 

Aren't they the most amazing things you have seen? I know its kinda strange for me to go so doolally over such brightly coloured creations, when I usually go for the whites and creams, but I love some colour in my life as well. I gave Judy a long list of things one could use these for ( that was what the competition was about ), and I am determined to use a few of those ideas.

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My dear friend Lynn from Trash to Treasure Art blog is so thoughtful. For Halloween, she sent me these spooktastic things, just because she knew that Halloween craft supplies are so difficult to get hold of in the UK. First this most excellent card -

and all these supplies, woohoo, 

including this altered domino -

And the rather handsome skeleton man, wrapped in stained cloth, spent a long time hugging my webcam!

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Lucky lucky me managed to win Rhonda's November giveaway, a selection or religous themed ephemera. I adore Rhonda's blog, her style, her delightful creations, and the girl herself. She is a very generous soul. And she is one of the regular White Wednesday participants! Her blog A little bit French will keep you glued to the computer for ages. But first have a look at the lovely giveaway -

Not only  did she send the most beautiful religious images, she also included this dainty little box

 filled with a couple of lace motifs and three of her amazing faux tin types. I LOVE THOSE!!!

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Aaah, my skype buddy Marie, I love chatting with her, and this wonderful woman surprised me with a gorgeous Christmas package! Marie has such an elegant style, which I admire a lot, and which you can see in everything she makes and shows on her blog, Lost Bird Studio.

just look how beautifully and elegantly she wraps her gifts -

Inside one package were this sparkly Christmas star and the beautiful Christmas tag -

And in the other package, the most delightful fibres for my Mermaid Journal project -

as well as these fantastic embellishments for the journal -

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I can't believe how long I haven't been out and about in blogland. It seems like such a long time ago that Astrid from the Astrid's Artistic Efforts blog offered some of her stamps for sale, and of course I couldn't resist that. When the stamps arrived, I was so surprised to find this amazing tag from her as well -

Pretty fantastic, huh?

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And so to my wonderful friend Alexandra, whose exquisite creations grace our homes both in France and here in the UK. Her two blogs, Cottage Dreams and Xela's Art Blog are a feast for your eyes. Getting a package from her is an EVENT and sets my heart aflutter every time. The parcel she recently sent me was overflowing with all sorts of goodies, darn, the girl knows me well -

A delightfully pink lavender pillow -

Gorgeous lace and lace motifs -

OMG, buttons, GLASS buttons in blues, sooo perfect for the Mermaid Journal -

The sweetest little brooch pillow, WITH brooch, swoon -

I had mentioned in a conversation that all the tobacconist shops had disappeared from the High Streets in our area, and that it was impossible these days to get cigar boxes, so what did she do? She sent me this darling little cigar box! -

and this one, which has got to be the poshest cigar box I have ever seen! - 

Inside I found these -

A lovely addition to my Heart collection -

And even more delicious lace -

I was totally gobsmacked when I also found this gorgeous old linen fabric in the parcel. Oh, the possibilities -

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Totally out of the blue and unexpected, I received mail from Kimberly, who hosted some great ATC swaps in 2012 ( and hopefully in 2013 as well ) on her blog Art Joy Stuff. Kimberly is responsible for getting me hooked on ATCs ;-) -

I loved the envelope she had created out of of beautiful old ephemera -

Such a pretty Christmas card -

I was delighted to find one of her equisite Christmas tree ornaments in the envelope -

As I hadn't put up the tree when I took the photos, I hung it on my Victorian birdcage. I rather like it there, I don't want to take it off - 

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You know I mentioned Lynn from Trash to Treasure Art earlier in this post? Well, not only did she surprise me at Halloween, she did it again this Christmas! 

I pulled this sweet box from the envelope -

and inside I found this beautiful Christmas tag, -

the prettiest crochet doily and a Tim Holtz Christmas stamp, -

and...........................

this totally awesome altered salt shaker Christmas ornament! I has the dinkiest, sweetest Christmas scene inside -

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Another name I have mentioned once already in this post is Dorthe's, my beautiful friend from Denmark, whose blog Den Lille Lade is such a delight. She sent me such a very special gift for Christmas.

Her package was beautifully wrapped and embellished with a sweet little heart, which now hangs on the candelabra which holds many of her other little treasures already.

One of her of so beautiful Christmas cards -

And this, this is the most precious gift I received from her, a Christmas Angel to watch over me -

I didn't have the garlands up on the fireplace when I took the photos. She looks so at home in the drawing room now, surrounded by all the white/cream/silver decorations which I managed to get put up in the end, yay. And it seems she has protected me well, as my BP is under control at the moment, and I am just about recovered from this awful cold, which has plagued DH and me for the last 3 weeks.

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There is one more amazing package to show you, and I had intended to do that as well in this post, but when I looked at the photos I had taken when it arrived, I realised they were all fuzzy, because it had been yet another awfully dark and rainy day. The beautiful gifts deserve better than out of focus, fuzzy pics, so I am leaving that one until tomorrow, when hopefully I will be able to take better pictures. I'll just have to pretend that it is still 2012, ahem.

Have a wonderful evening, and I hope you will all be up and celebrating at midnight to see the New Year in.

Until 2013,
toodlepip xxx

WELL DRAT, LOL, I HAD IT ALL FINISHED AT 2MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT, PICKED UP THE PHONE TO WISH MY YOUNGEST DS A HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND MISSED POSTING THIS IN 2012 BY JUST OVER A MINUTE. DRAT DRAT DRAT! PLEASE PRETEND IT IS DATED 31.12.2012, TEHEHEHEHEEE.