AFF Part 2

One thing I love about AF and AFF is the trades. Everyone brings goodies to trade with other artists. Some things are handmade and some are not. It can be anything from a piece of jewellery (a pendant, a charm) to a small collage or mini quilt, to an ATC or a packet of pretty ephemera or fabric. You never know what other people are going to bring, which is half the fun.

When I came home from AF, I had three tote bags full of goodies and AFF was the same! Above are the packets of fibres from the fibre swap Sammy set up for everyone. (Thanks Sammy!) There were 30 people in the swap and each person packaged up 3 yds. cuts of their fibres. I am thrilled to have lots of new colours and textures to play with!
These are some of the other swaps I received. The beaded bracelet you see was a gift from my pal Heather. I fell in love with it because I love folkart Americana. It was incredibly sweet of her to give it to me.

The triangle pendant was made for me by my friend Deb May. It's really cool. It's made from glass, utee, foil and inks. The silver "L" charm was from Lisa Call who makes the most gorgeous silver jewellery. I just happened to have my sliver bracelet I made in April with me and it didn't have anything on it. The charm was absolutely perfect! Thanks so much Lisa and I will get something out to you by Monday! ;)

This sweet little nest is a pin given to me by fellow Canadians Ty and Marcia. Ty knit the nest and Marcia made the eggs. I just think it's so wonderfully creative. The wool is so soft and every time I pick it up, I just like to pet it. You can't really tell from this picture (taken late one night at AFF in my room) but the little eggs are blue.

There were more things, but the were given to me after I took these photos. DJ Pettit gave me the most beautiful print which I plan to frame and hang in my livingroom. I am so pleased to have it-DJ is really special and I just adore her. I can't wait to get it framed and hung. If I showed you everything I was gifted with, this post would be a mile long. Suffice it to say, everything was thoughtful and I really appreciate what everyone shared with me. I just feel utterly spoiled. Thank you!!

One of the nicest things was that even if someone ran out of trades or didn't bring any, people would still give them things. That is one of the things I like best about this community of artists. Everyone is so eager to be kind to one another and really, the world really needs more of that.

More AFF pics to follow! Stay tuned!