In a PM from justusetape early in the crafting period for this swap, she wrote that she was probably going to make pajamas for me. So imagine my surprise when I went to the post office to pick up her package and was handed a large (originally containing stereo components) and fairly heavy box!
Then imagine my consternation thinking about the items I sent her which, though each had taken a number of hours to create, were small and lightweight; I couldn’t help worrying that she might end up feeling she’d gotten the back end of this bargain (and I’d been so pleased with what I’d made, too...).
On the other hand, I kept telling myself, just because it’s big and heavy doesn’t mean what’s inside is going to be…um…well…happiness-inducing (I’ve been a back end recipient myself in the past) -- this, of course, an effort to stave off my growing sense of potentially inadequate swappage.
When I opened the box, the first thing I saw under the top layer of newspaper padding was fabric in a very fun, kid-type, stars-and-planets design (astronomy and aeronautics were among the interests noted on my questionnaire). Here’s a picture; however, the colors are off -– mostly the background is more a wonderful deep teal/turquoise –- but at least you can see the pattern:
However, this turned out not to be pajamas, but rather a piece of fabric wrapped around an intriguingly framed stitchery “artifact” –- an embroidered rendering, on what looks to be hand-antiqued cloth, of the fossil of an extinct shrimp (oceanography being another of my science-y interests), which is layered between two pieces of glass and held in a beautiful frame in a most ingenious manner, so that there is exposed glass rather than a mat surrounding the cloth (in the picture below it’s lying inside the shipping box, so where it looks like there’s cardboard backing to the frame you’re actually seeing through the clear glass):
The frame is straight on all sides, not curved, and the color of the wood just a little lighter. Here’s a close-up of the lovely embroidery:
Clearing away more newspaper, I discovered what was providing the majority of the weight to the package: a coffee table type book whose cover justusetape had completely repainted:
The thick paint she used imparts a wonderful textural quality, and even a feeling of topography to the beautifully rendered globe:
The book is, indeed, entitled “Above the World” and this almost 300 page volume is filled with gorgeous imagery of the Earth taken from the myriad satellites encircling our planet.
Removing the last of the newspaper revealed the final gasp-inducing item –- a more-than-just-hand-painted wooden tray:
I don’t know if it’s done by wood-burning or carving, but all of the black lines (as well as the star dots in the constellation charts) are etched into the wood; hard to see in a photograph, but here’s a close-up of one panel that might give you an idea:
Here's a link to the picture of the tray on Photobucket, if you'd like to see it in a size where you can see the details a bit better and also read the text:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/waterbaby/Made%20by%20others%20too/NightSkyTray.jpgJennifer justusetape, I am honored to be the recipient these glorious items, and by the time, care, thought, and effort you obviously put into creating them. And on top of all that, they are so perfectly right for me it’s hard to believe we’ve never even met!
And now I’ll be keeping my fingers firmly crossed that you’re be even a portion as pleased with what you receive from me (and don’t forget, there’s one more item still to come your way…).
