Here is my package from Chynadoll36: 



She sent me a blend of things from Boston and Washington D.C. The "map" in this picture is actually a hand-bound journal, complete with a guide to Boston slag. She also sent tons of fun paper and stickers to decorate it with. Also are postcards (which I collect actually), Yankee candles (made in Mass), sunglasses that are all the rage, apple seeds (in the blue packet), cherry blossom barrettes, a crazy-cool apple hand puppet (already on my funky toy shelf), and a piece of wood with little cherry blossomed detailed on to it. Oh, and Marshmellow Fluff to make Fluff-a-nutter sandwhiches -- her favorite. Sounds interesting!

There is lots of really cool stuff here. Thanks for all your hard work, Chynadoll36. I really appreciate it!!

[bronzecase:]

Well, I'm thrilled to say that SilverWing received her package today. Even though I'm in Kentucky, my theme was Japan. Here's the money shot:



The chain of origami cranes was to represent the Japanese belief that if you create 1000 paper cranes then you get your wish answered. I only made around 20 though.  They are laced together with fishing line and a little loop at the top so you can hang them up.

I also included lots of snacks and candy from Japan. A pair of chopsticks with instructions -- although she knows how to use them already! I also made (my favorite) a little makeup pouch with a lamb. I made the penguin stuffie and the lamb from a pattern in a Japanese craft book, so that's the connection:



And, of course, the little guide book that could. I have never scrapbooked before so I just tricked out a photo album.



This is my first swap and I had a great time getting everything together. I learned so much! Pardon all the gushing.   

bronzecase: As a fellow Southerner, I totally feel ya about the rebel flag. I work in a really small country town and I see them on a regular basis. blah

Here is the book where the pattern came from:



It has an interesting mix of patterns. My next project is to make all these little rabbits and kittens in kimonos! 

BeePea: I'm not sure what kind of eyes these are - because when I opened the package I threw it away and transferred all the eyes into a zip-lock baggie. I would think that they aren't "safety" eyes though because they are really small and hard plastic, and obviously not good for little kids. Next time I go to Michael's I'll see what they are called.

My homestay sister from Japan sent me a really cool book with patterns to make felt mascots. This is my first attempt at putting one together. It's about 4 inches tall or so. I just finshed another one in pink!

かわいいと思います。




By my feet for some height perspective.


The original cutie.

Unfortunately, I am not able to quote my source material here. This illustration was taken from a book that was printed in the early 1970's written for developmentally disabled children. My boyfriend came across it while working in the preservation department at the library. He photo copied a couple pages which were later turned into the below piece of art and another larger piece depicting the exact scene.

This is supposed to be a image of the right thing - and then the wrong thing...




Sorry the image of the painting is on a weird angle. We have it hanging in a small hallway so it was hard to shoot.

This is a really cool idea. My boyfriend has done some silk-screened paintings from old pictures in textbooks that were for autistic children or developmentally disabled children in the early 70s. One of the pictures had this really cute little girl that was eating out of a dog bowl. He came across it while he was working in the preservation department of the library.

Okay, side note here and not that this is an old textbook (its from the 80s) BUT, I love this picture. It came from my college Japanese textbook. In the exercise, you are supposed to describe what you are seeing. Interesting!

I fashioned an avatar that looked just like my boyfriend from http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml. Then I tossed it into Photoshop and blew it up to see the individual pixels. Next, I placed a grid and then got to work on my stitching.

Now we have a portrait of my boyfriend and one of me adorning our hallway. Its a lot more fun than a cheesey posed shot from JC Penny. 

Here's my starting image:


Thanks to Abi-Station, I was able to make an avatar that looks just like him - minus the 2-day shadow. Then I added the grid and printed it out:


Here's the finished product. I just wish I hadn't ended up with so much white space at the top. Maybe someday I'll think of something to stitch up there: