Big Weekend

Truly, this was a very big weekend for me, in every way!  Saturday I received some GORGEOUS charms from the Ornamentea charm swap...seven, to be exact, each so beautiful in its own way that it's hard to describe.  So I won't try...a picture is worth a thousand words, etc.

This is an overview of what arrived in the mail...so many little opportunities for excitement.  Here they are, individually, in the order they were opened.

From Becky at LadySmyth Metals, a beautiful metal charm.  I don't know...is it made from PMC?  How was this made?  It is so, so intricate and beautifully finished. 

From Cynthia at Ornamentea, a beautifully crafted woven wire basket charm, to hold all the luck I can find (and lately I've been finding quite a bit!). 

From Elli, in her own words: "Embossed, sanded, sealed brass ingredient for you".  So freaking sweet!









From Erin at Tesori Trovati, one of her kanji symbols, this one representing beauty.  Erin's work is truly beautiful, and I confess that I'm one of her "groupies" (ugh,that sounds pathological, so I'll change my wording a bit)...I mean, one of her faithful blog followers and great fans. It is a thrill for me to have something created by Erin.

Ah, the sweetness of this little beaded cardinal, made by Doreen.  Bead weaving is on my "to do" list; I've never even attempted it and want so badly to learn. 



Okay...wow.  Look what Melissa made!  I think the peacock feather is made from shrink plastic, another genre I've yet to play with.  It's connected to a pretty antiqued silver filigree piece.

And finally, look what Janet did!  A beautiful little beaded cube, finished off with a crystal dangle.  I'm telling you, bead weaving is going to be my next adventure. 

Thank you all so much for the incredible charms...each is gorgeous, and they are all so different!  The ladies at Ornamentea did an amazing job of choosing a variety of different charms for each participant.  Thank you all so very much for hosting this swap!

And now on to the other reason this was a big weekend for me: I hosted a sleepover for my two youngest grandchildren, Emma and Drew.  Emma was over the moon with excitement when she heard that Drew would be joining us.  Drew was a little, ummm, less excited.  He is almost 11, and quite blase about Younger Women.  In fact, he doesn't really see the benefit to spending a lot of time with someone who is only Almost Nine.  However, I plied them with a movie (I Bought a Zoo?  We Bought a Zoo?), that turned out to be very enjoyable for all three of us.  A good movie with popcorn and soda, followed by a visit to the Dollar Store and dinner out...what's not to love?   Given the fact that they were both not home, and they had a level playing field, they played Hide and Seek for what seemed like hours, and finally fell asleep in the living room after watching horrible, annoying TV for awhile.  And in the morning (sadly, I had forgotten all about Daylight Savings, and realizing that I'd "lost" an hour was devastating), this is what I saw:

 

 

I can't help but notice some things: piles of Dollar Store debris everywhere, and the total absence of cats.