vella the sea monster

On her way to Finland tomorrow: a rare specimen descended from the octopodidae family. Named Vella after the goddess Vellamo, the mythical goddess of the sea in Finnish folklore, this small sea creature has been chosen to co-habitate with her new host family as part of a study by the Deep Sea Creature Recovery Institute.

I made her for the Adopt a Monster Plush swap for my partner Taija because she enjoys squid, octopi, and other creatures of the deep. Vella's friendly fanged face is embroidered by hand, and I used wool felt hand-dyed a soft purple with Kool-Aid--which is especially appropriate since her new mama likes to use drink packets to dye knitting yarn and expressed a desire for some. I put together a little packet of drink mixes for her, along with an official adoption certificate and welcome letter (whose shield is a real Finnish one depicting Vellamo). The letter is a little cheeky, but I think the recipient will enjoy.

Here's hoping mother and sea-child bond quickly and will have a long and happy life together!

 

fairy bookmarks, windy poem

I've always loved Australian artist Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's beautiful storybook illustrations, but it can be very difficult and expensive to find any of her vintage books or prints. So for a woodland-themed exchange I'm participating in, I thought I'd make a pretty set of fairy bookmarks paired with quotes about reading.

I printed the bookmarks and laminated them, but then thought that mounting them onto another piece of grey cardstock would be even better. So I stitched them up and they're on their way to Singapore at this very moment, which means they're traveling somewhere I've never even been. Lucky bookmarks!

I actually made four bookmarks (although the exchange only called for one), but one of the quotes was very short and I didn't like the way they appeared on the page once it was printed out. So they were ruthlessly cut and promptly turned into little gift tags, to which I've attached pink velvet ribbon; they'll be very nice for an upcoming gift I'll be wrapping up this weekend. I quite like the way they all turned out.

Also in the mail yesterday: a "discover a new poet" packet I made for Laura in Massachusetts.  Whenever it's windy, my husband will sometimes recite a poem to me called "Who Has Seen the Wind?" by Christina Rossetti, which is a poem his mother used to read to him as a child.

I decided to put together a little booklet of several of Christina's poems to send, which I paired with images of artwork by her brother, the artist Dante Rossetti. I like the vivid imagery in her poetry, as well as the melancholy that seems to run through all of it.

Who Has Seen the Wind?
by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

If you'd like a copy of the poetry booklet I made, you can download a copy for yourself here and here. Enjoy!

I have to say, I really like having quick, focused projects to work on for Swap-Bot. It's almost like being in a writing group--the accountability forces you into action! But since I don't want you to think I'm completely insane, I won't share the paper Christmas envelope I also sent out today. At least, not yet.

jane in the mail

Today I'm the one who got exciting mail. After sending maps to Cynthia in a Swap-Bot wish tag game, I requested "anything Jane Austen" other than the books themselves.

Libby Bear, also known as Ellen, was nice enough to grant my wish in the form of a ballpoint pen from the Jane Austen center in Bath, England. How fun! So now Jane may be helping me write notes and lists and such. Which seems like something she might've approved of.

Side note: I do so like receiving packages marked "par avion" and "Royal Mail" and such. I think it'd be nice if our U.S. postal service had more exciting postmarks and stickers...but until then, I suppose it's up to us to make our own parcels more interesting to look at.

Big thanks to Ellen for her clever pick. I never dreamed I'd receive something so close to the source when I asked for something Jane, but how nice it is to have your expectations exceeded.

maps for cynthia

I have a new obsession...and it's called Swap-bot. You've probably noticed I really like sending and receiving packages, and although I'd heard of this website I never got around to signing up. Well, I finally did it last week and I'm having so much fun, I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner.

I've already gotten several great recipes to try, and I've mailed out a couple of parcels as well. One of them is pictured here, my package to Cynthia in Virginia. This isn't really an official rated swap, just something for fun--a sort of "wish list" type thing, whereby I'm granting a wish for maps for someone in a thread, and the next person grants my wish.

Even though I was only supposed to send maps, in this case some vintage ones I had, I had some other things I was dying to send:

*Since this is all about long-distance correspondence, I included some stationery from Griffin and Sabine, one of the most mysterious and romantic letter-writing stories out there. Years later, I still remember how much I liked opening all the envelopes in the books and unfolding the letters to read. I had some G & S stationery (really nice illustrated envelopes and notepaper and stamps) and postcards, as well as some Catolan ones, so into the package they went.

*A few months ago I bought a vintage folio of Cathay Pacific Airways stationery, and I included a few of the airmail envelopes. I love how the thin paper feels with their cheery striped edges, and it's so nice that each envelope has a thin waxy sheet slipped under each flap, presumably to keep the gum from sticking.

*The last few things I decided to put in after reading Cynthia's profile. She likes pages from books, so I sent her vintage pages of one of my favorite chapters from The Middle Moffat--the one where Janey gets caught up into an unexpected basketball game.

*Cynthia also likes young adult novels, so I also put in a copy of one of my favorite YA books, Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall, which is dark and spooky and the perfect for scaring yourself with, and well-written on top of it. Cynthia also talked about the 6-year-old girl she nannies, so I thought it would be fun to include a copy of  Ramona the Pest.

I bound the little parcels with striped baker's twine and a vintage Crackerjack suitcase charm on the airmail envelopes, then wrapped the mailing envelope in vintage maps--with California on the front, of course. I hope Cynthia enjoys her package...it was great fun to put together!

craft exchange: presents from the Netherlands and Spain

Two more packages from the craft swap arrived shortly after the holidays: one from the Netherlands and one from Spain!

I received a little birthday card to use from Studio Sien, as well as a very generous and fun scrapbooking package from Vicky at Pink Planet Scrap. I finally sent off thank you notes yesterday (bad, bad honeybee) to all four of the crafty ladies who sent packages.

I'd like to revisit the idea of doing a craft swap again down the road, perhaps on a one on one basis, and timed during a less busy season. It's such a fun thing to do...I guess no different from trades, really, except with the element of surprise since you don't know what you're getting. And I do love a good surprise.

craft exchange: a present from Australia

I'm so excited to receive the first package back from the holiday craft swap I'm participating in. When this first started, I never expected to hear back from people from all over the U.S., UK, India, Japan, and...Australia! There are so many crafty and generous people out there, and it's been a pleasure meeting them online.

Please pop over and have a look at my present from Tilly Pins!  Photos are on the honeybee Facebook page.

holiday craft swap

I was invited to be part of a craft swap recently--I'd done an impromptu one earlier this summer and really enjoyed it, so jumped at the opportunity when I saw it on Twitter. 

"Craft swap" is probably a misleading term, since it's really more of a chain letter, except with more crafty goodness. Basically, you make one item and invite six other arty people to join, who invite six more crafty people, and in the end you (hopefully) end up with 36 handmade presents.

I wasn't really sure what to make since I didn't know the recipient, so as with many projects I just sat down with a pile of fabric and thread and waited to see what would happen.

I decided to make an ornament using the wool felt I'd hand-dyed awhile back, along with a little soft pouch. All hand-sewn--all the better to craft with in front of the television.

The finished product: a winter bear! Hand-sewn, crocheted loop, and outfitted with a candy cane.

I hope the recipient, who is a graphic designer, likes him.  I went on her blog after I sent it off and discovered that some of her favorite colors are lime green and orange--a happy coincidence! Waiting and hoping she'll let me know that she gets it. Can't wait to start receiving goodies in the mail too.