All things seem possible in May!

Man! I'm gonna have to step up my swapping game....I'm not keeping up w/ the wonderful partners I've had. Just look at all that Christine @ A Work in Progress sent me for the May Day Tussie Mussie swap, hosted by Linda @ A Swap for All Seasons.

(it has been cloudy so I waited until a ray of sunshine peeked through teh clouds & took everything out back to photograph)

Her tussie mussie was beautiful! She made it out of vintage wallpaper & did things a bit differently by making it 3-sided...love that! You can't get any Springier than this, huh? She adorned it w/ tiny pearl strands, crepe paper ruffles & wonderful flowers.

This votive was the first gift I pulled out of the box & I instantly thought, "this will be my favorite thing from this swap" but that seemed to be a recurring thought during the gift opening. ;o)

Cause as soon as I saw this lace-wrapped clothespin, adorned w/ a vintage rhinestone shoe clip, I thought the same thing again.

And again when I saw the crown candle base w/ crown doo-dad. The base was thoughtfully filled w/ glass panes for me to solder into charms, a fleur des lis stamp & pink ink pad.

But I just knew for sure, when I saw this wonderful flower garland, that it would be my favorite.

Wrong again! Check out the wonderful graphics on the button card....awesome!!! Christine also included wonderful little charms, vintage seam bindings & a tin of buttons.

When I first saw this pattern for teh adorable children's dress, I thought "How cute! I want to make that for Caralyn!" but when I removed the pattern, I was confused...thought someone had stuffed it w/ tissue paper & that there was no longer a pattern inside. It didn't take me long (not too long anyway) to determine that it was indeed the pattern, it was just from back in the day, before they added all the seam lines, cut lines, etc. I'm not so sure I have the necessary sewing skills to complete this dress after all. *grins*

Love the roll of ledger paper as well as the images she included. And the velvet leaves are the most beautiful shade of blue!

Isn't the key cool? I plan on wearing it on a chain to Paper Cowgirl since Christine put a Texas star on it. And aren't the tiny, pink velvet millinery flowers sweet?

But I was absolutely positive when I saw the frozen charlotte that she would be my fave...after all, how do you top a charlotte?

Maybe w/ some vintage rhinestone hair pins? Yep... that'll do it!

But in the end, the last wonderful treasure that I opened was my fave. Isn't this charm bracelet beautiful?!?!?!? I love, love, love, love, love it!!!

Christine, I can't believe how generous you were to me....thank you so much! And I want y'all to know that Christine is just as generous w/ her friendship as she was w/ the swap goodies. You were an awesome swap partner & it was a pleasure!

Here's the pile of goodies I sent Christine although I added a couple of things after I took this picture. (it was cloudy that day too so I took everything out to the drop-leaf on my front porch, to capture what light I could.)

I made the tussie mussie w/ vintage wallpaper too (I know it doesn't show up well against the brick but it was the best I could do) & because Christine is a girl w/ a lot of class, I left it fairly simple...letting the beautiful wallpaper be the star of the show. I stuffed it w/ rolls of vintage wallpaper & old book pages.

Adding a bird cause Christine loves birds.

Inside the tussie mussie is a favorite May quote.

A vintage egg vase, packed w/ vintage hankie, dominoes, vintage children's game cards, seam binding & a button card. I also decorated a few clothespins w/ the color of the day & stamped them w/ inspirational words. And remember how I said that I always like to include at least one "heart" item in each swap? My heart was screaming for me to keep the gorgeous blue rosary beads ... I've had them for years & adore them but they really belonged in this swap, don't you think? I know that Christine will treasure them as much as I!

I hope this flower child didn't turn out too cutesy for Christine. She's another project out of Sandra Evertson's book Fanciful Paper Projects. The book was part of the give-away I won from Karen Valentine @ My Desert Cottage & I just LOVE this book. I've already made 3 projects from it.

Everyone is doing silhouettes these days. I shook things up a bit & stayed true to the palette by doing it in blue. The poem I added to the background reads....

'But I must gather knots of flowers

and beads and garlands gay,

For I'm to be the Queen o' May, mother,

I'm to be the Queen o' May!

I added a tuft of tulle & a vintage earring to the bottom corner of the frame to fouf it up some. I also sent Christine, her initial mounted on an old page from a french paperback & placed in a jeweled frame.

I included a small flower frog in the palest shade of blue w/ vintage images from a decoupgae sheet & another children's game card.

It is true...the more you give, the more comes back to you!