Thank You Mr. Mailman

busy, busy, busy, seems to be the theme this month.  I wanted to share some things I got in the mail this week that almost had me doing cartwheels......I would have..... if I could have....if I was in shape, that is.

One BIG news I have to share is that I found some long lost relatives who live a few minutes from me! yay! I have not met them yet but can't wait 'till I do.  I found them by a chance in a million as I was comparing addresses with my sweet sister in law to send Christmas cards.  She found their last name and an address and we both wondered if they we were related.  Turns out, we  are related and I cannot wait to meet them.  Imagine that! I have relatives within a skip hop and a jump away! there is no greater gift than finding new relatives.

Now, I mentioned a while back that I started a new hobby that I fell in love with and that is Artist Trading Cards.  I have done three of them and have swapped with other Artists....I like to call myself an Artist when I'm referring to my Artist Trading Cards, it just makes me feel so professional and creative.

This month I swaped ATC's with my new awesome friend, Patti from Treasure Barn .  She sent me the most amazing cards and gifts and I just have to share it with you.
Here's the card she sent me, the theme is "Angels":
it's so beautiful, love this pretty little Angel, the lighting in my house is bad but the card is so sparkly and shiny, I just couldn't get my camera to capture that.

she sent me an extra card that is so pretty too:
I love the vintage look to it, It looks so romantic, they kind of look like my parents when they were young:

She also sent me a gift along with these two beautiful cards:
Isn't this pendant beautiful!!!I'll be wearing this necklace on Christmas, I love the glitter on her hair, it's so pretty.  Thank you Patti, you Rock!

They all came with this cute Christmas card:
It brought such a big smile to my face when I read it:

Now, for the card I made and sent to Patti:
I thought the chubby little Angel looked so cute.  I used white embossing powder for the background and blue glitter at the bottom.  I glued some pearl halves and wah-lah!
I'll show you the embossing technique on a future post.

I also got two more things in the mail.  These were gift cards donated to Bubblegum and Duct Tape by two very cool companies who sponsored a post on this blog.  One is CSN stores and look what I got with the gift card they sent me, a flatware set for four, a total of 16 pieces :

 Look at the beautiful detail:

the second gift card I received was from Shutterfly, and look what I selected, my Christmas cards!  They did an awesome job and delivery was quick.  I sent my Christmas cards out last week, I'm sure they will all make it to their destination in time.

Happy Holidays everyone and thank you all for being so supportive of my blogging.  It's just little 'ol me trying to reach out to people everywhere.  All I have to share are my stories, my crafts and my friendship and have received so much more in return.   There are so many kind people in Blogland, I just can't imagine not being part of it.   And, although you live so far away from me, in Blogland, we are all neighbors.  Thank you all for being so awesome!