Inside is a teeny tiny book! It is The Raven! It is about an inch high and 3/4 inch wide. Wow!
Can you guess who tomorrow is? LOL
Well, it finally stopped raining long enough to photograph Catherine's gift. I have many pieces of her art collected through swaps in at least 3 different Yahoo groups! Amazing, since she lives in The Netherlands (and sadly, has no blog)
The wrappings in this swap have been spectacular -- and some have been hard (mentally) to open because they have been stitched up so I have to rip them open. I didn't want to rip this one open.....but of course I did :)
Inside is the coolest ornament. It's stitched heart that has the feel of paper clay -- but I think that it's just layers of paint -- and Pilar has hand painted the face on it. A heart with wings is my favourite image.
Don't you just love this wrapping? I love the stitched detail!
Julie made this perfect cuff. I opened it at school today and wore it all day! The kids were very impressed. This is the second cuff made by Julie that I have the extreme pleasure of owning. She made one for a trade at ArtFest last year. It has a sea monster on it. The kids really love that one too...
The article called me "a blogger and arts and craft maven"
Today's gift is from Mija. This raven has been wonderfully hand felted -- and then bright baubles have been hand stitched to it. It has a pocket inside -- so you can wear it as a necklace and carry something in it -- like your lip balm (I don't go anywhere without it :). Please click on the photo for a slightly better look -- or even better, hop on over to Mija's blog -- she's got great shots of it!
This is the movie that I saw tonight. I took Ray out and told him that I was taking him for a surprise somewhere. I didn't say where! Where the Wild Things Are is his favourite childhood book. I remember my brother reading it, but my favourites were "I Wish that I had Duck Feet" and "The Plant Sitter".
Which brings me to this:
(in the movie it says "let the wild rumpus start!" -- some copies of the book say that, some copies of the book say "let the wild rumpus begin" I prefer the latter.....)
Hahaha -- just kidding, Kelly -- it's not hideous in any way -- it's beautiful! Well, I just have too many beautiful things to wear on Monday. I'm going out for dinner and a movie tonight, what accessories shall I wear?
Anyway, head on over to Kelly's blog, Soul Humming. She has way better pictures of all of the gifts than I do :)
Today's giftie is from Terrie!
TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.
Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it --oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly --very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this, And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously --cautiously (for the hinges creaked) --I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights --every night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.
Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers --of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back --but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.
I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?"
I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.
Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief --oh, no! --it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself --"It is nothing but the wind in the chimney --it is only a mouse crossing the floor," or "It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp." Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel --although he neither saw nor heard --to feel the presence of my head within the room.
When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little --a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it --you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily --until, at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.
It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness --all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.
And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! --do you mark me well I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eve would trouble me no more.
If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!
When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock --still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, --for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.
I smiled, --for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search --search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.
The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: --It continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness --until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.
No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath --and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly --more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men --but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!
"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"
The auction is well under way! We're raising money for Breast cancer research.
Here's what the listing said (written by Kelly Snelling)
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I just love opening a present every day! I feel so spoiled (and my family would agree, as I am a huge gloater) (is that a word?)(she who gloats?)
Inside was this very cool pin -- I don't know if it is ceramic or polymer clay, but the texture is so fantastic -- and this photograph actually picked up the surface design and the fabulous colour!
Thanks Saundra -- I wore it to school today (I'm so excited to open the gifts that I open them at 6am!)
Opens everywhere today!
... and inside is... this beautiful piece of art! Complete with hanger so I can hang it up right away. Thanks, Linda!
2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birth. To honour his life, I have joined some friends in The Altered Guild to create some Poe -inspired art.It is a countdown -- The 13 Days of Poe. I am SO EXCITED about this event! I love what I made and I'm sure that I will love the 12 other pieces of art even more than my own!
I will also be giving away one of my gifts to a lucky winner! All you have to do is comment on the day that my gift is posted. But I'm not going to tell you right now what day I am -- You're going to have to keep coming back for the next few weeks to find out!
Not only was the gift box spectacular, the pendant inside is fabulous! I'm wearing it to school tomorrow. Thank you so much, Tami (and I apologize for the dark pictures. The flash leaves such a glare, so it's no flash for this whole event!
It's Thanksgiving here in Canada! I thought that I'd leave you with some very cute children's art! They had a blast punching out all of the leaves. Click on the picture for a close up. (see more pics on my other blog, ms brown's classroom.
They look flat in these pictures. In reality they are much more dimensional.
Many of the charming necklaces and bracelets from this book will be up for auction on ebay to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Some of the auctions will go up today, Sunday October 4th. Please go over to the blog "A Charming Exchange" and to co- author Kelly Snelling's blog to get the latest news as well as previews of the jewelry that will be up for auction. I collaborated on many pieces featured in this book, and am very proud to see the work being auctioned off! All the money will go to the charity. I'll be bidding on some myself!
