Something Old...

Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue...was a wonderful swap, hosted by Linda Smith of A Swap for All Seasons. We were to gift our partner in each area, then send a wedding picture. These are the presents that arrived at my house last week, given to me by my swap partner, Amy Marshall, of Creative in Kansas (who lives five minutes from my brother, Rick!). They were wrapped in blue paper, gilded bird paper and blue chiffon, embellished with vintage wallpaper, tulle and jewels and were quite a beautiful site. It was all I could do to not unwrap them right away (but I knew I needed to get a picture of them all wrapped up...I resisted).

This is a picture of my unwrapped gifts all together. Underneath everything is a gorgeously illustrated Hallmark book on gift-wrapping. What a treat! I took it right to my bed with me and have soaked up a little each night. Just a delightful book...perfect for me!

Amy gave me some gorgeous blue things for my table. I actually set the table so I could show you how beautifully they fit into our dining room. In the center of the plate, you can see my napkin tucked into the gorgeous beaded napkin rings that look like Fourth of July fireworks. At the top left are one of a set of ceramic sorbet cups with ceramic sorbet spoons. They are perfect. As I told Amy, Jud and I love to entertain and have special things like this to put on our table.

This is the "over the chair" picture to show you how beautifully the cups and napkin rings match everything in our dining room.

These lovelies decorated the packages. They are a cute silver fleur de lis charm, three vintage rhinetone pins (!!!) and two vintage silver lockets and a charm on a silver chain (!!!!). Can you believe it? Are these not perfect gifts for someone who loves vintage jewelry?

You will never guess what these are. I knew because I had seen them on Amy's blog and knew she wore them at her recent wedding in Jamaica. These are barefoot sandals! You wrap the big loop around your heel. the little loop fits over your second toe. Next year, I want to make some of these for the fair! They again are in lovely turquoise.

This would have been enough. Amy perfectly captured my colors, my taste and my before-bedtime reading material. This is the gift that I will never, ever forget. I did not get a wedding picture. I got...three strands of old turquoise, each separated by tiny shell beads (called heishi). This is an unimaginable gift. I cannot tell you how overcome I was...in fact, I walked around the house all day in a stupor, wondering how I could thank her.  I am still amazed by the generosity of my dear swap partner. It is impossible to capture the beauty of these beads, especially to me, someone who loves beautiful stone. They are amazing, clearly crafted by hand and graduated in size. They are perfect in their imperfection. Does that make sense?

Included with the strands was a note that said, "My grandfather did a lot of trading with the Indians in New Mexico/Mexico. We have plenty of this to share." I am so grateful and find it hard to find words. All there is to say is, "Thank you, Amy. Thank you."


-Suz