31 Wishes Swaps!

So part of the fun of any event is signing up for the swaps.  In the past, when I've missed signing up, or if I've been too intimidated to sign up, I've been disappointed.  Despite being so busy I could barely keep my head above water, I still signed up for all three of the swaps for 31 Wishes.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of a couple of the pieces I gave away - probably because I was sweating finishing them at the very last minute... Oh well.

The first swap was a cuff swap organized by Betti Zucker from New York.  It was a blind swap in that we didn't know who our cuff would end up with nor did we know from whom we would receive a cuff.  Each of the cuffs were put into individual bags and we played a sort of "musical chairs" with the bags until the music stopped.  Whatever bag we were holding when the music stopped, that was the cuff we received (as long as it wasn't the cuff we had made).  Make sense?  Of course, when the music stopped, I had no bag and one person had two.  So I probably got the bag she didn't think she wanted - big mistake for her!  Look at this awesome cuff with a cute skull surrounded by tulle and silver garland, with gorgeous black lace on buttery soft orange leather.  It was packaged so beautifully too.  Susan from Texas made this and put it on a little cushion inside a clear chinese to go type container.  Just lovely! I've worn it everyday since 31 Wishes.  

The cuff I made was a cute leather cuff that went to Kendall Anderson and she loved it!  She has a new blog and she has posted a picture of the cuff if you want to pop over and take a look. 

 The second swap was a book of "Buried Secrets of the Dearly Departed".  We had to make a page for this coffee table book and come up with some sort of secret that the author of the page took to the grave with them.  This was hosted by Lisa Thompson, and co-hosted by Susan Linn and Susie Vergenz,  and what fun it was! Believe it or not, I had a hard time coming up with a secret! The creepy cover:

 I believe the page below was made by Dana Young. A little book with a fun poem was included and tucked into her page.

Susan Linn created the page below.  Susan claims she is not a paper artist - but she is a fabulous jewelry maker.  However, this page and the story it contains proves that Susan has many talents.

 Lisa Thompson made the page below.  Unfortunately, the picture I took of this page covers up the photo of the little girl who took the secret to her grave.  I didn't notice until I'm halfway through tis post.  Ugh.  The texture on this page is amazing and I love the story Lisa included.

Below is the page I made.  The photo of Ms. Emma was done on tape transfer transparencies.  My secret is about what happened at the base of that old, gnarly tree....

 Mary Willia made the page below.  I love all of the embellishments she used - the clock, the spider, the candelabra and the eerie picture of the body in the coffin with a vial of "ashes".  Ghoulish!

 Dean Bartlett's creation is below.  Great old photo!

 Leisel Milford's page hints at what buried secret is revealed.  When you pull on the tab under the photo, the secret is revealed.  How fun!

 I love the way Susie Vergenz made her page. So visually appealing.

 Melody Winston made this fun page.  The photo is the front of a "file" that contains a Wanted poster.  Next to that is the Obituary.

 Betti Zucker made this page and it's creepy and fun all at the same time.

 Cathy Bruhn made this Rattlesnake page.  Sends shivers up my spine just thinking about those creatures!

 My friend Nora Neely made this page and it's so her!  Vintage romance basically sums up everything that is Nora.  It's beautiful.

 Wow ~ if you are still reading this, you must *love* swaps as much as I do.
The third and final swap was a one to one swap of a 31 Wishes Wand Swap.  We were paired with a partner and we were to make a wand that was 24 inches tall. We only found out who our partner was a few weeks before the event.  I was paired with the beautiful Cassie from Texas.  While all the wands were completely amazing, I knew everyone had their eyes on this SPECTACULAR  creation that Cassie made for me.  It was so beautifully wrapped, I didn't want to open it and let anything happen to it.

 Can you even believe this??? A vintage doll head topped with a fabulous vintage hat and surrounded with more vintage goodness in flowers, rhinestones, lace and ribbon.  Cassie painted her eyes to have a creepy white tinge to them.  To top it off, when you lay the wand down, the doll closes her eyes. Cassie's creativity is over the top!

So, there you have it.  Three amazing swaps, one over the top, fabulous event, lots of creative friends.  Does it get any better?