The Final 2 Gifts of 2007

12/24/2007
Penelope Harris was responsible for gift #13 for group 1 and she created these wonderful fabric books for each of the ladies. The books were made from swatches from fabric sample books.

Each page is something special-acetone transfers, hand embroidery, a poem she wrote.

Rubber stamping, little pockets...


The theme of the book was nature and was just so thoughtful and tactile.



And last, but not least, I (Lelainia Lloyd) was gift #13 for group 2. I created this folky house ornie for each of the ladies to keep in their studios to remind them that being an artist has its ebbs and flows and that they should be gentle with themselves when experiencing this. The rules of being an artist is a quote, though unfortunately, I don't know the source. I hope it serves as inspiration for the coming year.

And that folks, is a wrap! THANK YOU to each and every artist for pouring your heart and soul into this exchange. You have outdone yourselves with you generosity and creativity and it was a pleasure hosting. It's been wonderfully rewarding to see my friends connecting and appreciating one another's talents, which is precisely why I do it.

THANK YOU to Caren, Ruth, Jennifer and Kelly for helping out with photos. Much appreciated!

And THANK YOU to all of you out there in cyberland for coming along for the ride. We hope you enjoyed our brand of holiday magic. Please visit our Valentine Blog in mid-January as we prepare to celebrate Valentine's Day. See you there!!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 12:46 p.m., | 0 comments

On the 12th Day of Xmas...

Kelly Snelling made each of the ladies in group 1 this pendant made from a photo she took of a statue of Jesus.
She placed the photo under thick faceted glass and then created the bezel from polymer clay.

She made twisted wire jump rings, hammered clasps and frames for ceramic beads and added semi-precious gemstones along with her handmade clay bird beads on a leather cord.

Here is a close up of some of the detailing on the back.


As you can see, each necklace is a little bit different. Some of the stones used were faceted chalcedony, amazonite, pearls, jade, dark blue tiger's eye, mother-of-pearl, and quartz.


Crystal Neubauer created this lovely little bird pendant for each of the ladies in group 2. It hangs from a leather cord. The brass bezel has been antiqued on the reverse and the collage has fragments of old script. What a treasure!

There are 2 more gift to post-lucky #13, which I will share later this morning. Stay tuned!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 6:05 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 11th Day of Xmas...

12/23/2007

Erika Tysse created beautiful personalized stationary sets for each of the ladies in group 1.

Each lady had their monogram on their stationary, which Erika did by gocco printing and hand stamping, making them all wonderfully unique. What a treat!


Deb Trotter created these wonderful circle books for the girls in group 2. She researched everyone of the ladies and created a piece of art, along with a poem depicting each artist.

Deb then colour copied each of the pages to make one for each artist, giving them the original of their page in their own book.

This is the original page Deb made for me. She just did a ton of work and this will be such a sweet keepsake of this year's exchange.

*To see all the pages in Deb's book, please visit her blog. The link is on the right.

One more day and 4 gifts left!!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 9:21 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 10th Day of Xmas...

12/22/2007
Caren McNee created a beautiful handmade ornament for each of the ladies in group 1. She hand crochet little bags to hold each of them.


Inside was this amazing handpainted, folded ornie that tells the story of her life and love of South Africa. (She now lives in NZ.)

On the back it says "Come and share my world... nature, home, friends and dreams of Africa".
It can be displayed freestanding or hung from the ribbon.


Liz Smith created this wee chunky note books for the ladies in group 2.

Inside are all kinds of fun elements-tags with buttons,

old bits of sewing ephemera,

and old playing cards...I imagine Liz did each one to suit the lucky lady receiving it. Since I am a sewing ephemera junkie, that's what's decorating mine. It's just so lovely!

Two days and 6 gifts left to share!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 9:45 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 9th Day of Xmas...

12/21/2007

Dawn Supina created this altered button card ornie for the ladies of group 1. It has hand dyed lace, German text, fibers and embellishments on the front.


On the back you can see the actual pearl button card it's been built on. How inventive!


Trudy Mclauchlan hand stitched this adorable embroidered lavender eye pillow for the ladies in group 2. My guess is that it was made from a vintage tea towel. It's adorable!

3 more days left!!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 6:06 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 8th Day of Xmas...

12/20/2007
Deb Lewis' gift was opened to reveal this beautiful beaded tassel pendant for the ladies of group 1. The colour of the beads reminds me of fresh raspberries. This is a wonderful creation!


Arlene Travnik's gift was opened by the ladies in group 2 and inside we found this gorgeous little fabric book. The overlay is tulle and the items on the cover are captured in little pockets so they float. The stone on the front reads "A Winter's Idyll".


There are also little floating elements on the back cover. The stone on the back reads "Favourite Things".


Inside, the signatures are made from crumpled paper bags. This is a gorgeous book to fill with mementos of the season.

See you tomorrow for day 9's magic!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 5:57 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 7th day of Xmas...

12/19/2007

Ruth O'Connor gifted the ladies of group 1 with this sweet little house bookmark. Ruth lives in New Zealand where it's the middle of summer right now, so this is her imagining our winter season.

Fiona Mortimore gifted the ladies of group two with this fabulous quilted birdhouse collage. It has wonderful patchwork layers, lace and buttons, along with snippets of text.


The colours are just delicious. (The aqua matches my studio walls!) What a treat!

More magic tomorrow!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 6:45 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 6th Day of Xmas...

12/18/2007
Linda Koch created this little altered paper bag for the ladies in group 1. It has a sweet little collage on it and red and green jingle bells dangling from the handle. Inside are some vintage book pages.


Pilar Pollock made this amazing articulated doll for the ladies in group 2. It has an Edward Gory feel to it and she has built up beautiful layers of paint, paper and stamping for her dress. This is incredibly fun and unique!

Day 7 arrives tomorrow. See you then!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 6:21 a.m., | 1 comments

On the 5th day of Xmas...

12/17/2007

Maija Lepore made these handy magnetic boards for all the ladies in group 1. The "r" and heart are magnets. How clever!


Kristen Robinson gifted the ladies in group 2 with this gorgeous hand felted pouch. She added toile, ticking and a vintage shoe ad to the front. I love the little bird-it's *so* Kristen.

What will day 6 hold? Stay tuned to find out!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 5:33 a.m., | 1 comments

On the 4th day of Xmas...

12/16/2007


Melissa David made this cool artsy pendant for the ladies of group 1. It was fashioned from copper and metal bits and pieces, malachite beads and features a polymer clay face. It hangs from a beautiful copper chain.


Kathy Strittmater created this pretty ATC from vintage text and handmade the beautiful polymer clay heart in the center for the ladies of group 2.


She also crafted this stand for it, using a piece of vintage sliverware. I love how the tines were manipulated to form a heart. Very creative!!

Every day is another wonderful discovery of just how talented and creative these artists are. Back tomorrow with more gifts!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 8:41 a.m., | 1 comments

On The 3rd Day of Xmas...

12/15/2007

Amy Huff created this playful soldered domino necklace on a leather thong for all the ladies in Group 1. Very cool!


Barbara Atwell made each of the girls in group 2 a delightful box of vintage stationary. There were notecards, envelopes, a post-it notepad book, bookmarks and a sweet little shipping tag collage. What girl wouldn't love that?!?

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 7:58 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 2nd Day of Xmas....

12/14/2007
Jennifer Rowland made these utterly charming earrings for the ladies of Group 1. The coins say "Liberty" on them and are accented with black beads and silver danglies.


Cece Grimes created this funky assemblage figure pendant from a vintage brass safety pin for each of the ladies in Group 2.

We all love to have artsy bling and both these gifts are fantastic!

Back with Day 3 tomorrow!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 6:05 a.m., | 0 comments

On the 1st Day of Xmas....

12/13/2007
Edina Tien made these exquisite monogrammed shabby chic banners for the ladies in Group 1. This is Caren's, hanging in her garden in New Zealand. Aren't the details lovely? Little paper flowers, bits of vintage ephemera and wall paper, tissue paper rosettes and rayon ribbon. MMMM!!


Debra Cooper made the ladies in Group 2 these hand embroidered artsy clutch purses. All the materials are vintage or recycled.


This one is Deb T's and she wanted to share the cute fabric on the inside too.



Debra made them in a variety of colours and designs. How pretty!

See you tomorrow with day 2's gifts!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 7:59 a.m., | 1 comments

12 Days Canadian Style!



While I wait for one of my helper elves to get out of bed and open a gift so she can send me a pic, here's Dawn Supina's basket of goodies out in the Alberta snow. Hopefully they're back inside where it's warm while she's opening #1.

Back soon with day 1 revealed!

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posted by Lelainia N. Lloyd at 7:33 a.m., | 1 comments