Trollidity: The Hobbit-Hole of Phantasmagoric Splendour

Swap Pictures

Verb Swap: Sendouts September 24, 2006.

Organiser: Kitten Wrangler
Sendout Date: 2006-09-24
Original Thread: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=113568.0
Gallery: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=119818.0
My Partner: Haylie
General Idea: Each person chose a verb (e.g., to fly, to swim, etc.—my favourite of the ones chosen was ‘defenestrate’, meaning ‘to throw [someone or something] out a window’); the person's partner would then craft items based on that verb. My verb was ‘to illuminate’; my partner Haylie's was ‘to sparkle’.

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Received

Haylie's box arrived on Saturday, September 30, but my mail carrier didn't deliver it (grrr), so I had to wait till Monday, October 2, to pick it up from the Post Office.

Haylie knew it was my first swap and put in a huge amount of effort to make it really special and fun. On top of the package when I opened it was a note that said, ‘Read this first!’ In it, she requested that I open each item in order (they were separately wrapped in tissue paper), because some of the items went together. To add to the fun, she had put scratch-off stickers (like the scratch-offs on lottery tickets) on the page, and under each sticker was the name of one item. (I don't know where she got those stickers, but I want some! It was such a cool, fun idea to add them.)

All the stuff together, pre-unwrapping. Notice that the tag on the wrapping of Item 1 says, ‘Illuminate 1. To provide or brighten with light’, and Item 2 says, ‘Illuminate 2. To enlighten intellectually or spiritually; enable to understand’.



Item no. 1 was an incredible etched glass candleholder. It says, ‘Better to illuminate than merely to shine’, which, as she noted in her letter, is part of a quotation by St Thomas Aquinas.



Item no. 2 was a CD with tutorials for stencilling and for making paper—both things I'd mentioned I wanted to learn. She wrote the tutes herself, and they are funny and very clear. She even included a selection of stencil patterns!



Item no. 3 turned out to be a stencilling kit! Freezer paper, two brushes, a pencil (red, which I had mentioned as a current favourite colour), and a bottle of white fabric paint.



The fourth item was a bunch of small pieces of handmade paper. Aren't they lovely? I haven't decided what to do with them yet, although I've had several ideas.



Item no. 5 was a bundle of journal covers. She knew that I make my own journals, and she sent me several pieces of fabric with which to cover them. The first one was my favourite, and actually made me gasp aloud. The picture doesn't do the colours justice! The second and third were stencilled (her sister did the rose on black fabric, and Haylie did the design on the tan fabric—and pictures of them working on it are in the tutorial!), and she actually embroidered an ‘illuminate’ design on the fourth piece!









Items 6 & 7 (shown together here) were, respectively, a chain mail bracelet with a magnetic clasp and a keychain with really lovely red glass beads and my name on. (Once again, the pictures don't do the colours justice. She really nailed the colour of red that I love so much!)



Item no. 8 was a stack of bookmarks, all based on stuff from the Dictionary section of this site. The one on top of the stack was the ‘Shut up, Viggo Mortensen!’ one, and it made me laugh so hard I almost fell down. Haylie, you are my HERO!






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Sent

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