Ashley Made me a Happy Birthday!

A month ago I sent Ashley a cigar-box birthday package full of wax-paper wrapped goodies to remind her of home and of her passions - instant snow, multi-flavored local honey sticks, a tree, and - the crowning piece - a prism! (Ashley loves triangles and colors - how could she not own a prism?!)

What I got back for my birthday package was even better!! Beautifully illustrated sea-creatures rendered by her own hand, exotic candies, and even pearls! Here are some snap State-side snap shots from the grab-bag goodies and CD & card illustrations.

More photographs as taken across the sea can be seen on her blog or in the quoted segment below:

The Sea is Laced with Gold

Here's a little calendar I made for my dear friend, Danica. It was her birthday in December, and I was a little late. Hence the multiple year thing. There was also a mix CD, as there tends to be with gifts given as of late, but I'll let her post those pictures.

I learned to make Japanese water balloons!

A few weeks ago, Ashley put up a series of lovely blog posts what engendered great feelings of whimsy in me. One of the things she mentioned was sending a birthday package to a friend (I would venture to guess it went to mutual friend currently featured in Ashley's blog) that had a bag, with instructions, full of folded origami balloons. I decided I must learn this for myself! And then put these little balloons in an emergency party kit a long with some other goodies (mentioned below) - you can, too! With these step by step photos, I did my darnedest to depict how pictorial instructions for you (mouse over the image for step instructions):

At the same time as discovering Ashley's balloons, Hollin visited and photographed the 6th Annual Puces Pop DIY Craft & Fair where equal amounts of celebratory decor dotted the church's basement and merchandising displays of crafters' booths. A particularly lovely and simple decoration Hollin captured were the pom-poms strung up above the entrance:

Apparently, though, you can purchase something similar for $65 from anthropologie (while these pom-poms are felted, they do NOT make this project worth that hunk of change in my humble opinion):

I finally got myself to Michael's where I was able to purchase a HUGE bag of brightly colored pom-poms for $5 and string them together myself with some magenta embroidery floss - it was very therapeutic:

(Yes. Our hallway is pink.)