The May Basket Swap

Well, Suz is swapping again. I joined Kari Ramstrom's May Basket Swap and had an absolutely wonderful partner. Her name is Renee and she has a business (Vintage Recreations) in which she repurposes jewelry (like Kat and me) ...and she lives in the Minneapolis area! How strange is that! She is actually going to be selling at the Junk Bonanza...this is the real thing, sisters!  I will take you through this beautiful basket step by step and then I want you to go to her blog to see the basket as it was presented. As would be expected, it was beautiful. As usual, I didn't think about taking a picture before I dove in! 

This is the beautiful basket in which the many treats were presented. I believe she said she made the liner. It is so soft and pretty and will be put to good use, probably right next to my bed. 

Throughout the box, there were TONS of flowers, vintage plastic, silk, feather, you name it. They made a bed for all of the beautiful little treats.

My home is decorated in mostly soft pastels...soft pink, soft blue and soft grey. Renee sent some wonderful treats that will be so much fun to use. There are soft pink flower candles, the kind that float in water (I love those!). Next to the candles is the most lovely blue ceramic bird...so charming. Then we have flower seeds...we love flowers in Minnesota...even though our growing season is about one month! Under that is a soft pink feather bird and some pink fuzzy chicks!!! I love fuzzy chicks! And then we have a wonderful package of Prima flowers. I will find a lot to do with these!

Next are the millinery flowers...can you believe it? They are so rare around here. She had just been to an antique fair near me and bought them for me. I was thrilled. As scarce as hen's teeth, as they say in the Midwest (not really). Aren't they gorgeous? There were also two of those little vintage plastic baskets that people used to have at weddings. So sweet.

Wow, isn't this something? This is the biggest haul of vintage jewelry I have laid my eyes on! Kat and I were both just dazzled. There were enamel pins and plastic flowers and rhinestone pins and beaded necklaces and seed bead chains and pearls and pop bead spacers...just everything I could ever want. There was also a darling little container of rhinestones...really cool ones. It truly was a dream basket full of jewelry goodies, which are the things that I love the most.

There were also dog treats that drove Sophie and Harvey, The Rescue Dog, just nuts. I need to find out from her what they were as they are long gone. I didn't think to look closely as I threw away the wrapper. And there was the most adorable ceramic flower vintage clock, which is hanging in the paper craft room. The last treat (I am sure I am forgetting something) was a pair of aqua blue fuzzy socks. How did she know I love fuzzy socks, and especially ones that are a soft aqua. Kat wanted to borrow them. I said,"No, borrow an old pair." She told me the old ones were "hard," which they are compared to these!

Thank you, Renee. I am blown away by your generosity! This was an incredible swap! Renee brought the basket to my house. I was not feeling well and Kat traded with her. She said she was so sweet and had one of those beautiful Scandanavian faces. I am hoping we can get some of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area bloggers together this summer and then I can meet her. 

Underneath this is the basket that I gave Renee. There are some similarities, huh? Do you see the bird, beads, flowers, trim? 

Here you can see my first pincushion, which was on the top. I started with a turquoise blue ceramic Oven King bowl on the bottom. I have a bird in a nest on the top. I sugared the bird, then started making the flower garden. I got a little carried away!!!! Nonetheless, it was fun to make. You can also see the top of my basket. It is a vintage sewing basket I bought from Kari's shop. I actually bought two, one pink and this one, and I had a bit of a hard time giving this one up...but I am so glad I did to such a great partner. Sigh. Swapping is so much fun!
-Suz