What Swapping Is All About!

When I hosted my recent Valentine's Candy Box Swap, I wanted it to include non-bloggers as well. I paired Betty S. and Susan S. together, and connected them through email. The ladies' took full advantage of the opportunity to get to know each other across the miles.

 Each one sent special things. Things that had meaning, and came from the heart! Here is Susan's candy box for Betty. Isn't it picture perfect?

A vintage brooch adds a sparkly touch!

 The inside was packed with ribbons and trims!

 Who wouldn't want to receive this pretty box? Talk about fun!

 tinsel, lace, ric-rac, even tickets...

I think Betty will be all set for Valentine's crafting next year!

Betty's son Ford (who is legally blind) has an Etsy shop called GemTiques! He made Susan the garnet gemstone pendant because it's her birthstone!

 And here is the darling box that Betty sent to Susan! I must admit that I was the tiniest bit jealous of that lace bird!

What a pretty little rose tin!

 Until this swap, I never knew there were so many gorgeous vintage Valentine's Hankies!

Wouldn't they be fun to collect?

The vintage postcard with the typewriter is a special one for sure! And look at the beautiful necklace!

Betty and Susan, it was such a pleasure to have the two of you join this swap! You both did a wonderful job, and I sure hope you had fun. I hope you'll be back for another swap sometime in the future!

Friends, please visit Ford's Etsy Shop! He has such beautiful jewelry, including a sterling silver spoon rose ring that I think I need!

Erica :)

Generous Hearts:A Swappy Tale

One of my swap partners for the Candy Box Swap that I hosted was one Miss Marlynne Snare of Marlynne Creates Daily. When I discovered her blog a few months ago I simply fell in love with her talent and artistic style!

Marlynne is a true folk artist, with a love for the color red!

Just look at the heart box that she created for me! Marlynne chose fabric as her main medium!

Layers of fabric hearts, and the valentines themselves are hand stitched together! I love the cute little girl with her paint can, and the little birdie! She also sent me a huge red and white fabric banner! It's already hanging over my art area.

Tucked inside the box were these treasures!

There was more chocolate, but I ate it! lol

This handmade booklet of Marlynne's art is my favorite piece of all! 

Her paintings come from special things in her life, like her collection of sock monkeys, and the little blue chair that sits in front of the wood stove in her kitchen.

You must visit Marlynne's Blog to see more of her special art work.

Her "English Cottage Series" was inspired by staying in the Cotswold's while celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! Thank you so very much Marlynne for everything! I feel so lucky to now have some of your art, and to have made a new friend! :)

And then a surprise package showed up! The very kind Deb (Garage Sale Gal) sent such sweet things! She made me a candy box, and filled it with all sorts of good things! Once again...there was more chocolate, but I ate it. lol

Deb and I live about 45 minutes apart. We met for the first time at an Estate Sale, (go figure) where I recognized her from the pic on her blog! Deb, thank you for being so generous and thoughtful!

Well, I'm excited to see pictures of what everyone else has been receiving for the swap. I sure hope you all had fun with it, and most importantly were able to connect with someone. Because that's what it's all about!

Love you all (in a bloggy sort of way)-

Erica :)

Wellie wanted to say Hi too...but I guess she fell asleep. :)

Since Christmas :)

Here's an example of why I love my little hometown thrift store. This Hazel Atlas Egg Nog set was there about a week before x-mas, and it was marked $2.00. What??? That same day there was a Clay Aiken American Idol ornament in the glass case for $8.00! LOL I wanted to get that ornament for my sister in law (as a joke) so bad! But no way was I going to spend $8.00 for Clay! Haa!

It's hard to tell but the two German trees in the front are green, and they were given to me by my sister and her boyfriend for x-mas. They didn't even know how perfect they'd fit in with my pink and silver ones! They also gave me the sweet Rand McNally book with the deer!

Last Friday I went into the Goodwill for the first time this year. Yes, I didn't go "thrifting" for three full weeks! I think that's a record for me. I found these little red Pyrex dishes that go with the hostess set, and this cute x-mas hankie!

I also found these two glasses for .49 each. I usually don't buy random glasses, but these were too cool!

These are all of the Santa mugs that I've acquired since x-mas. Each of them were .99 at different Goodwill's, except for the one with the cherry red nose...my favorite!!! Susie (Little Susie Homemaker) sent him to me!

The town I live in is loaded with antique shops. So I visited a couple of them for their after x-mas sales. I loved these candy striped glass ornaments from Poland for $1 each. And I think the one painted with lily of the valley is so pretty and unique. Had to grab the little angel for $1 too!

My favorite shop, Annie's, had great x-masy supplies for crafting next year!

LOL This picture is so odd. But here is what was at the thrift yesterday. Another J.Chein Co globe bank, and I love the little duck planter. McCoy I think???

OK, These are all Shiny Brites and they were marked $1.25 per bag but then they were 50% off! That's my little hometown thrift shop again. lol I don't put solid colored ones on my trees, but they'll be so perfect for wreath making and decorating next year!

You already saw the mugs but here are a couple more Santa things. The one in front is marked Japan and was $1 at Goodwill. The large Gurly Santa and the jar full of vintage cupcake toppers were each $3 at one of the shops.

OK, that's that! I've really been feeling like a pack-rat lately. So I'm going to TRY and cool it with the thrifting! Wish me luck. Haa! I'll for sure be going through a lot of my vintage things and posting them for sale on Etsy. My Christmas items are the most difficult to part with, so there probably won't be too many of those. lol

Hope you all are doing great! And HELLO to my newest followers! :)

Erica

Free Vintage Valentine's and Swap Details!

Hello Hello Friends! I'm back from Mexico, and it was Heavenly!

Thank you all for the sweet comments on my last couple of posts. You are the best!

OK, as promised, here are some Valentine's from my collection. Be sure to save them as "original size" before you print them! I hope there are some here that you can use for craft projects or just to add to your collection. Enjoy :)

Now for those of you that joined  THE CANDY BOX SWAP! :)

There are 27 of us in this one! Fun Fun! There are also 2 more gals that I don't have contact info for. I'll leave your names below, and if you email me at ericaabryan@hotmail.com you can still join! :)

YOUR PARTNERS ARE:

Pam/Virginia Retro AND Holly/Damita's Pretty Wrap

Erica/Thrifter Sisters AND Deb/Garage Sale Gal

Sandy/521 Lake Street AND Hanna/Thrifter Sisters

Elaine/Honeysuckle Hollow AND Chris/A Little Creation

Tammy/Tammy's In Love AND Kim/A Vintage Fairy

Liz/The Pipeliner's Wife AND Tresa/Speedy Lady

Erica/Golden Egg Vintage AND Maddie/Thrifter Sisters

Marlynne/ Marlynne Creates Daily AND Erica/Golden Egg Vintage

Laura/Vintage Betty's AND Dorothy/Hen's Rule

Holly/Cutie Pie Cottage AND Sandie/Retro Sandie

Krista Rowels AND Fran/The Bagg Lady

Donna/Donna's Lavender Nest AND Kim/Musings Of Kim K.

Shirley/Zetta's Aprons AND Chris/Perfectly Printed

Betty Smith AND Susan Skinner

All of the names are "linked" so that you can easily contact each other for mailing address'.

 Carol/C.Pohl, and L.Andrade: I'm sorry, I should have told you that you would need to include your email in your comment. You all show up as "non-reply". Please email me at

ericaabryan@hotmail.com  :)

Will you each please let me know that you're still "IN" by replying to this post? It would be nice if everyone could have their package mailed out by MONDAY the 21st. That gives you two weeks, and we will all have a few weeks to enjoy our decorations/etc.

I received a few emails with questions, so here are a few thoughts. First off, I'm so sorry that I didn't take into account that you might have to spend $7 to $9 bucks for the med/large heart box. I bought mine after Valentine's Day at half off...I'm sorry if that is more than you wanted to spend. But please know that there aren't any strict rules.

Here are a couple ideas. Instead of using a larger sized box (like in my original post), you could make one little one, and one med. The Russel Stover ones hold three pieces, and costs $1.00. The Whitman's holds 6 pieces and I think they are about $3. This is the style of box that you'll want though because the inside parts can be removed. Notice the box that says "Happy Valentine's Day"...it has a firm plastic inside with places that hold the chocolates. You won't be able to fill it very nicely. All of these came from Wal-Mart.

So that's that! Make one big one, two littles, a medium and a small...it's totally up to you! But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give your partner things that you would want to receive!

Mine are going to be filled with about 50/50 new and vintage. And I'm not anti dollar section/store because they have gotten better these days. Did you see all the cute things Target has? Love that red and white twine!

Thank you all so much for joining my swap! I'm still learning as I go, but I sure hope it goes well and that you all have fun! Happy (Early) Valentine's Day!

Erica :)