I haven't really noticed obnoxious ads, but I have had trouble with the digizine thing...  I did a screen capture so you guys can see what it's doing...

Ok, here's my pictures of the package I got from imthecutest81.  I'm afraid I don't have a shot of the whole ball, since I lost a bunch of pictures to a bad SD card. 

The whole bundle, mostly:



the crocheted market bag straight off my wist that didn't make it into the first picture (yes, it's already full of a WIP):



Closeup of the Star Trek coasters:



Closeup of the glass stone magnets:  If you can't see them all, there are pictures of Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, The Last Unicorn, Zelda, The Lord of the Rings, and Redwall, which are all things that I love!



the yarn the ball was wrapped in was a green and gold shade of Caron Simply Soft Shadow that I totally love.  I've never seen this stuff before and I need to find somewhere near me that sells it

Thank you so much for a lovely package!

Well, I finally figured out why I couldn't get pictures from my camera to my computer, so one corrupted SD card and a new card reader later, I've finally got my pictures of the wonderful package phnx sent me

Here's the group shop, minus the yummy cactus candy:



close up of the sunflower:



and a close up of the embroidery on the book cover:



The last one isn't as clear as I'd like it to be, but I think you can get the idea

I love it all, and I'm so happy I decided to join this swap

Yay, I got my TT from anastrophe today   She used my Firefly theme and made me an Inara-inspired tea wallet:







She said the material came from a thrift shop skirt and that this was the first time she made something with piping.  I think it looks totally awesome. Also, she sewed it on a treadle sewing machine; no electricity required!  That's sew cool!  I can hardly wait to show it off to my family and friends; Thank you so much, anastrophe!

And since she hasn't had a chance to post yet, here's what I made for her that she received over the weekend:

I used her flower and black themes and make a jar with a hidden compartment inside to hide your treasures.  She described herself as a "recovering blackaholic" in one of her PMs so I included some blueish/redish/purpleish flowers to give a little variety.  The design I painted on the lid of the jar is based on patterns from medieval blackwork embroidery.  I originally wanted to paint it to look like embroidered stitches but I couldn't get it too look right, so I just went with plain lines.  There is a big leaf glued to the bottom of the tube so you can't see it if you look in from the bottom, and a few flower petals glued to the top of the tube to keep the other flowers from popping up out of the jar when the lid is off.

looking inside:


the lid in progress with the images that inspired the design:


the little copper ring I used to keep the note rolled up nice and neat inside 


I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the closed jar with the finished lid;  I must have just been too anxious to get it in the mail :p 

Ok, I have something really cool I want to share with all y'all

I always wear a pendant with a 7-pointed star on it.  When I started wearing it, it had nothing to do with any religion at all, but over the years, it has come to be a very special object for me.  While I still don't see it as being religious, I treasure it much like my husband treasures his crucifix.  So I was in the recent matchbox swap and one of my partners, melmakespretty, asked me if I'd be interested in a custom stamp and I thought about for a bit and finally said yeah, I'd like one with a star like the one on my necklace.  So I sent her a picture of the pendant and this is what she made for me:



It is exactly like my necklace and it's totally awesome!  I'm so excited that I'm bursting which is why I had to share 

Ok, here is the awesome stamp that melmakespretty made for me:



And here is a close up of the stamping:



and here is the pendant that I wear all the time:



Once again, that is totally awesome - thank you!!!

This purse started life as the head of an amigurumi chihuahua that didn't look much like a chihuahua. You might think that I was using odd colors for a chihuahua, but if you knew my daughter, you'd understand.  Anyway, I was about to rip it out and start over when I noticed that the yarn was coming together in a wonderful spiral and I just couldn't take it apart.  So I kept it going until it was just big enough to hold my driver's license, debit card and chap stick which is often all that I carry.  In the summertime, I often don't have any pockets in my shorts or dresses so I made a nice long strap to put across my shoulders, and now I've got a wonderful little bag to use this summer.

It's made with Peaches and Creme cotton yarn in Fiesta Ombre with a US 0/2.55 mm steel crochet hook.  I nearly dislocated my fingers using such a small hook, but I'm very happy with it now





Oh, and I wasn't sure if this should go here or under bags and purses, so I flipped a coin; sorry if it's in the wrong place! 

She also fille the box with small sead beads and tiny little pearl beads and a lovely little blue facetted gem (no pics camera wouln't do supermacro).

Here's the pics I took before I sent it off with everything in a pile...



And here are the pics of the completely awesome box the freestyle sent me:


What this?  Yes, yes it is an awesome NES controller made out of polymer clay! I've been carrying it in my pocket and showing it off to all my geeky friends for the past two days and I love it


Here's a group shot of everything.  Check out the awesome poly clay Tetris pieces!  I think those will become either magnets or push pins.  There was also a little plastic charm of what I thought was a cheeseburger, but my kid saw it and yelled "Ooh a Krabby Patty"  and yoinked it to go feed to her toy chihuahuas before I had a chance to take pictures.


Here's a zoom of the little bits.  I put the dime in the frame put show the tiny awesomeness of the tiniest bits.  Those gears are so small I can barely see them!  I also love the littlest butterflies and star.  If you can't read it, the clear charm reads "Treasure the moment" and I love that too.  Heck, I love all of it!

Thank you for an awesome box, freestyle!

Yay, Second box is finished and I'm off to the post office. Here's a teaser for Freestyle...

Hey everyone   I thought I'd get us started with just a little teaser of what Melmakespretty has heading her way...