A Magical Trade!

In March, Cameron from Paint Myself Pretty blog, and I decided to do an art trade.  Check out her blog, her art is so fun and whimsical and she's not afraid to try everything!!

Yay, this is the second one I've participated in, and it is so much fun to see and get to know the creative side of fellow artists/bloggers.  

We had hoped to complete the trade by the end of March, but it ended being last week, mostly because of busyness in my days.  

We created original pieces of art for each other and it's so amazing to see her work in person.  She puts so much into it.  I'm super excited with what I received from her.

Hooray!!!

This is the fantastic piece she created for me, it is so magical and I can't wait to hang it up.  Look at all those amazing details.  Actual gold in the hair too.  

If you've ever done a trade, you will notice that artists love to send other little 

goodies, along with the actual art piece.  It is so exciting to open the package and find a bundle of goodness, it's like an unbirthday gift.  :)

Look at these delicious bits of goodness.  Scraps of old fashioned pics, which I am so loving, cute little envelopes, which I've no doubt, she crafted, her own little artist calling cards, which are absolutely amazing!!!

It is a plethora of goodness and I'm so looking forward to working on some new projects and trying more collage type art.  So inspiring!!

Her sweet little painting of a sleeping cat, on a card that she wrote in.  I love this, it's so sweet!  

If you haven't yet had the opportunity to make an art trade, I encourage you to do so.  It is so fun and such a great way to get to know fellow artists, even better. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cameron.  <3

P.S. If you are interested in doing a trade, let me know!  :)

Yippee!!! Happy Mail!

Today has been a gorgeous day!!  It started off with my cat waking me up, no doubt wanting to make sure that I didn't miss seeing the beautiful sunrise....I'm pretty sure his hunger had nothing to do with it.

After doing our morning routines and chores, the kids and I decided that it was much too beautiful outside to stay at home.   So,  we decided to head to the park downtown, that runs along the river.  I took A LOT of pictures, but I chose only a select few to bombard you with.  :)

I think weather vanes are pretty sweet.

A tunnel under the bridge. 

This is a pretty awesome bridge, I have a drawing I did of it.  It used to actually be train tracks and they transformed it a few years back into a walking bridge.

Look at that glorious sky.

Duck, Duck, Geese!!

Wondering under the trees.

Z kids, waiting for me to catch up.  

Lamp posts, does anyone else have an obsession with them?

Back up to the bridge. 

Yes, another one...It reminds me of Narnia.

I like the way this turned out.

Zared likes to climb every tree possible.  Isn't that what trees are for? :)

One last quick shot of the gorgeous clouds before we head home.

Then to my wonderful surprise, I got home and the package I have been anxiously/excitedly waiting for, was there...in my mailbox, waiting for me to bask in it's glory!!  :)
About 3 weeks ago, one of my lovely blog friend's, Laila, and I decided to make an art trade.  She is multi-talented.  She draws, paints, crochet's, knits...you name it, she does it.  And it is all very beautiful.  One of her goals this year was to make art trades every month, I didn't know this when I asked her about it, but it all worked out very well and I'm so excited about my goodies in the mail.
I will share pictures with you..

This is the outside of the package, she decorated it with these lovely patterns.  I am going to keep this.

It was most fun to see the few additions to this package that were unexpected.  These are a few pages from a book, written in 1933 in Norwegian and Danish.  I can use these for a background for a picture.  :)

She also wrote me a lovely note on her own handmade notecard, isn't this beautiful?

A bonus piece of art from Sandra, she is Laila's young friend who loves to create as well.  I will definitely be hanging this one up.  

And the gorgeous pot holders that I traded for, they're so very pretty and colorful.  She crocheted them and they are lined on the back with white stitching.  Very pretty, I'm looking forward to putting these in my kitchen above my stove where I can see them everyday.  She also made the sweet little tag too.  She is so talented.
Thank you so much Laila, I am so, so happy with my lovely goodies!!  

What a truly happy and beautiful day!