Thanks for everything and have a great 2008!!

Oh my wonderful Artful Christmas Swap participants... I can't believe that the swap is completely over... I have been working on this swap for about 6 months and it has finally come to a close. :(
It's kind of like a chapter in my life has completed and this leaves me feeling a little sad. In the same breath, there is always another page to turn, more art to create and ideas to dream up, so bring on 2008! I look forward to the challenge!! I also look forward to running into you all in cyberspace in the year to come.
To everyone who participated in the swap: Thank you for your ideas, patience and creativity... Oh yeah, and the fantastic gifts! I LOVE being in exchanges like this for the artwork, the inspiration and of course meeting some great people... Which all of you are!
Again, Happy Holidays and Best Wishes,
Holly :)

Merry Christmas!! On the 12th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Darlene's Girls' Day Out Fabric Bag














Group 2: Sallianne's Pink 'Joy' Glitter Ornament

















Group 3: Patrice's Fragrant Wax Ornament

On the 11th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Karyn's Happiness Bird

Group 2: Tracy's Bottle Cap Dolly Pendant

Group 3: Angela's Cute Angel

On the 10th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Sheri's Altered Artwork

Group 2: Belinda's Blue Angel

Group 3: Stefania's Dress Ornament

On the 9th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1 and 2: My (Holly) Inspirational Pins (digital collages turned into wee 1in. pins)... Can't remember if I gave an assortment of two or three pins per person but these are the different designs folks may have gotten!

Group 3: Rashell's Silver Beaded Bracelet

On the 8th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Jamie's Holiday Microscope Slide Ornament





















Group 2: Theresa's Domino Pin and Fun, Fuzzy Yarn














Group 3: Vivian's Twinkle Snowman




















PS- Please excuse the format change for the Group number and names! I consider myself pretty technologically advanced but for the life of me I have SO much trouble controlling the layout of these Blogger posts! I set them up one way and they post looking completely different which is why I'm trying something new... If anyone wants to throw me some tips PLEASE feel free!... All the gifts look nice though, don't they?!

On the 7th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Lisa's Microscope Slide Pendant and Art Materials

Group 2: Robin's Angel and Cross Stitch Ornament

Group 3: Pat's Accordian Holiday Frame (pretty sure Pat made all different gifts for folks...Feel free to post your gift on your blog or shoot me a photo!)

On the 6th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Nell's Wallpaper Journal

Group 2: Sarah's Tin O' Magnets

Group 3: Martha's Pretty Lady Pin

On the 5th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Day 5: My (Holly) 'Be Happy, Create Art' Magnet

On the 4th Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1:Norma's Fabric Pin

Group 2: Mimi's 'Sisterhood of Art' Pendant

Group 3: Rachael's 'Noel' Paper Banner

On the 3rd Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Lilla's Pretty Pendant


















Group 2: Yooper's Holiday Gift Tags










Group 3: Liz's Wee Little Christmas Purse

On the 2nd Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Sabine's Christmas Wall Hanging

Group 2: Mollie's Holiday Bookmark

Group 3: Melanie's Handmade Journal

On the 1st Day of Christmas my art friend gave to me...

Group 1: Barbara's Purse and Notebook Set

Group 2: Jen's Partridge and Pear Collaged Bird Figure

Group 3: Chris's Xmas Tree Ornament and Art Supplies

Welcome to the Days You've Been Waiting For...

Ho, Ho, Holly has been wicked busy getting ready for today and displaying everyone's awesome gifts! The big day has arrived and everyone that has made gifts for the Artful Christmas Swap can open Day 1 today!... That is providing that you haven't already torn into all of them! I've decided that I will be posting all of the 3 different groups' gifts at 6pm Eastern USA time so that everyone can take a peek at what other's got in their little packages. Should be tons of fun!



When your gift comes up in the days to come please feel free to comment on how you created your gift, any inspirations you might have had or techniques that you used. That way you not only give an actual physical gift but you also give the gift of passing on your vast knowledge. :)

Thanks again for participating and I'll see you all again at 6pm.

Thanks, best wishes and of course... Merry Christmas!

Holly :)

Sorry for the silence!

Howdy all! I just wanted to apologize for my recent lack of communication! I have had my head down, working hard to get all those packages out and try to piece together some Christmas surprises for my own family. No matter how much advanced planning I do, I am ALWAYS amazed at how much work comes down to the last couple of weeks. My latest hurdle was getting little presents together for my kids' Advent calendars. They are both very young so I feel it's super important to give them the magic of the season while they are young enough to truly 'believe'. I'm sure any of you with kids (and possibly cats and dogs!) of any age would totally understand. :)

So the business at hand is ALL of the swaps have been made, ALL of the packages have been sent out and the FUN will begin here, this Friday on Dec. 14th when we (or at least those of you that could stand it) will start opening up those lovely gifts that you received. I will send out an invite to Art-E-Zine for people to come and take a peek at all of our hard work. Should be a lot of fun! Talk to you on Friday for sure, if not sooner!

Best Wishes, Holly :)

Rashell's Gifts

In all the holiday hoopla I realized that I forgot to post Rashell's wonderful gifts! She's such a nice person she didn't even e-mail to complain... Shame on me! Rashell's little beauties are housed in what looks like an Altoid tin but is decorated with floral paper and a sweet little ribbon. As for what's inside, she gives us no hints! Thanks for participating Rashell!

Swap Update!

Hi to all and Happy Almost Thanksgiving! I have some really great news for all of our Artful Christmas Swap groups. The latest status report is that all the gifts that I was expecting have been received and accounted for!! That is huge because now I can truly start the swapping process for all the groups... Specifically Group 3. Group 2 already has been notified about shipping and many folks have gotten back to me with postage payments and some of Group 2's packages are already in the mail. Very exciting!

Group 1 has an angel in their midst... If you are a member of Group 1 you will be very pleased to know that a member of your group has generously paid for the entire group's shipping costs and most of your packages are already in the mail. That person has decided to remain anonymous and just take happiness in knowing that they have done something really nice for others... Might I say VERY NICE because the bill for the whole group's postage was not cheap. So a special MERRY CHRISTMAS to the members of Group 1... And to the rest of us too! Might I suggest that the members of Group 1 'pay it forward' and try to find something extra special to do this holiday season that will help someone out. Just a thought but it would be a nice tribute to your 'Postal Angel'.

Group 3 can expect to hear from me early next week about shipping costs to get your wonderful gifts back to you. So sorry about the delay but we were waiting for just a couple more gifts to trickle in. I wanted to give everyone a fair chance so the fault truly lies with me if you are a little upset with the wait. Rest assured I believe that even people over seas will get their gifts long before Dec 14th... The key is once I send you a shipping cost, get your payment in as quick as possible. Paypal is the quickest so especially if you are far from the USA it may be worth it to open an account if you don't already have one. Waiting for a check through 'snail mail' would take longer but the choice is up to individuals.

One other tidbit for Groups 1 and 2... We had a couple of hiccups with players late in the game for these groups and long story short, you will all (Groups 1 and 2) be getting two gifts from me. Rather than have it be 11 days of Christmas I just decided to step up and do 2 days... Don't worry, I didn't totally knock myself out. Day 9 was easy and a nice back up gift that I had thought you all would enjoy and appreciate. Hopefully you all will! As a result Groups 1 and 2 both will get back 2 of YOUR OWN gifts. Call it a little bonus. :)

Thanks for everything and I will be in touch! Let me know when you get you packages... hvlajinac@yahoo.com

Best Wishes, Holly :)

Rachael's Gifts

Rachael's gifts are wrapped in a beautiful pieces of sheet music and then tied up with sheer ribbons. The dear, little Christmas tags finish each gift off nicely! Lovely work Rachael!

Holly's Gifts Part 2

For these gifts I also had the benefit of knowing what number I was going to use... I got some cool rubberstamp sets this year that I really wanted to put to good use and this gave me just the occasion. Why two gifts from me in two groups you may ask? In two of the groups I had a couple of folks drop out and it was actually easier for me to pick up the slack than to try to find two other players that wanted to jump in at the last minute. Hopefully the groups that get my 'bonus' gift won't be disappointed as the orginal artwork is handmade but the gift itself is not... Hmmmmm... I guess that makes for a bit of mystery leading up to the 9th Day of Christmas!