Exciting mail

Recently, I was surprised by a thoughtful gift that came in the mail. Cathy sent me a package full of things I love. Including this hat covered in blooms.

And vintage napkins with sweet pictures on them.

Like this adorable Alice theme.  Thank you, Cathy!

Soon after, this package came from Terry while she was vacationing in Maui.  We have travelled there with her before and she knew what some of my faves were.  Well, at least the ones that can be packaged up and mailed, that is.

Now, as if that wasn't enough, I opened my mailbox to find handmade cards from my pal, Angie and my dear Guncle Randy.  

Getting this fun mail has made me even more excited about the Farewell to Downton art journal swap.  It is going to be like Christmas every day as the artwork starts coming in. I LOVE seeing the boxes arrive, and piling up in the studio.

I do my best to not open each as it arrives, because I have to stay with a system and keep them all boxed up until I'm ready to spread the pages out and sort them into books.  There is a checklist that I need to follow.

But… how can I resist?  I have to allow myself some peeks into the wonderful artwork my creative friends have entrusted me with.

 I just cannot wait to see the pages, this is a theme I'm so fond of.  It's going to be a good one, isn't it?

Sadly, it isn't going to work out to do international swapping, I miss those days of feeling like the world was such a small place when mail would arrive from across the globe. Postal rates have skyrocketed for overseas, and when I saw that it would cost over thirty bucks to send the books out of the country, I figured that was way too much. 

Now, if you really, really want to participate from far away and you are fine with the cost, please do sign up.  But I understand if you balk at the price, I sure did.

 ps- I am away right now, but please do send an email to sign up for the swap. I'll catch up with my records when I return.