Valentine's swap with friends

i did a Valentine's swap with 3 friends, Kelly, Leighanna and kim, so i wanted to share what they sent me. Kelly Snelling, was the receipent of my broken heart pendant . she made me a beautiful pair of earrings, that so far, i've worn every day since unwrapping them! i can't help it, they are so delicate and the perfect length for me AND plus they look good!

also, and i can not wait to share this with you, she included a surprise in my package. this big huge box arrived and i was thinking, "that sure is a big box for a little piece of jewelry" - so of course, my curiousity was piqued. so i unwrap the package and this is what i what i found:

if you remember from a few posts back, Benedetta, who i met at OWOH and i did an art exchange and she did a folk art painting of my beloved kitty, Pebbles. Well in her note, Kelly said that she saw that post and that she just HAD to paint Pebbles. Pebbles became her muse - and i can see why. when i looked at that painting, i felt like i was looking in the eyes of my kitty. it was so touching - this unsoliticed portrait of someone who meant so much to me. i was so deeply touched is all i can say. how beautiful is this? i feel so lucky that kelly would have thought to paint him in such a manner. if you have a second, please stop by her blog and mention you saw her painting of Pebbles. i think she would enjoy that.

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My next swap was with my cute friend with the darling laugh, Leighanna Light. I honestly can't remember how i met Leighanna, but i'm guessing it was at Artnsoul -maybe she remembers more details? - but she is one of those people that you feel you have known forever. Leighanna and i are both massage therapists and love doing art of all kinds, so we have a lot in common. on a whim, i just emailed her and asked her if she would be my Valentine and do a Valentine swap with me. i was happy when she said yes! I sent this assemblage to her. it was funny, when i posted it, i thought, aww, she'll never catch this post - and wouldn't you know it, she just happened to check in that day - figures! Leighanna sent me one of her metal bird assemblages, which i had seen on her blog. the feet are so cool on this bird - they are from an old erector set! i'm a sucker for rusty metal and birds, so this is so appropriate for me. i added some rusty metal around the sides and have it hanging from my door knob. i think it will be my "in the studio"
message that says: "if there is a rusty bird hanging on the door knob, don't bother me!"

she also sent me some glass pieces that i found quite interesting. i emailed her to inquire about them and this is what she told me: "the glass is from a place nicknamed the glass graveyard.
It is a place out in the middle of nowhere by the river where all of these melted, twisted bottles completely cover the ground, for miles & miles.
No one knows why, we assume that it used to be an old glass dump that had an extremely hot fire". how cool is that? i just love that she thought to share them with me. she also added some of her cool molded faces that i had been admiring. she's been giving me some tips on making my own, but so far, i suck at it! check these out:

this one is my favorite! i will use these in assemblages.

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due to bad weather, storms and loss of power, my last swap with Kim, is pending - so i'll post more on that later!