Window Ornament Swap

  And it's swap reveal blog hop time again! :-)
I love swaps, all the phases of it! It's all about expectation and creation (and chatting):

• first, you eagerly wait to know who you partner is;
• then it's time for the first contact with her (we are all women usually), some chatting to know more about each other, and a little web research to see more about her creations, preferences ...;
• after that is the creation phase - brainstorming, thinking, searching for ideas and creating the swap item, hoping that your partner would like it;
• in the meantime more chatting;
• and it's expectation time again - waiting for the packages to arrive to their final destination ... and wondering if your partner would like your creation and what will you receive;
• and finally, when the package arrives you feel like a child opening his/her Christmas gift ... :-D

  For the Window Ornament Swap (organized by Tina Holden in the Polymer Clay Swap Facebook group)  I was paired with Manon van Kempen, a lovely polymer artist living in Spain, but originally from Netherlans. She loves bright colours: orange, reds, yellow; she loves flowers and anything to do with nature; and she loves mixed media as well. Just like I do.  

  Here is what she sent to me:


One side of the ornament made by Manon van Kempen for me



    In the middle it is glass and all around polymer clay leaves, tiny flowers and butterflies. And the same on the other side. She had an injury of the right hand, but she managed to sent it in time ayway.



The other side of the ornament made by Manon van Kempen for me

   Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? I loooove it!!! And she also included some (not clay-) beads, kind of mini bead soup. Thank you, Manon, very much :-)

  
  Ok, let's see what have I made for Manon, now. She loves flowers, so let's be flowers! I wanted to make tulip-like petals and hang them upside down, so they could move when the wind blows trough the ornament. I hung them on a ring made from polymer clay. As the petals did not stay as I wanted, I needed to add another bigger ring under the middle part of the petals. Then I decided to combine it with macrame and arrange the ornament like a bell. In the macrame pattern I added some small yellow and orange round polymer clay beads and on the bottom part also 3 polymer flowers on a red wire.  

The window ornament I made for Manon van Kempen

  A closer look to the flowers:

Detail of the window ornament I made for Manon van Kempen

  As we both live near saltpans (Santa Pola - Spain for Manon and Secovlje - Slovenia for me ) I decided to include something salty, a specialty from our saltpans. You will never guess what .... Sweets!!!! More exactly Pralines with Fleur de Sel (pralines with different tastes like Fleur de Sel and Pistachio, with Fleur de Sel and Sweet Refosco, with Slovenian Honey, with Fleur the Sel and Persimmon Brandy).

  I hope Manon enjoyed this swap as much as I did.
  And I would be happy to read any of your comments :-)


  Here is the whole list of the other participants in the swap - with the links to the blog posts of those who blogged about the swap:

Manon van KEMPEN   http://www.manonvankempen.com/1/post/2012/09/window-ornament-swap.html
Tina HOLDEN   http://beadcomber.blogspot.ca/2012/08/window-ornament-swap.html

Kimberly IDALSKI   http://kimisjewelryandgifts.blogspot.ca/2012/08/artisan-polymer-clay-swap-window.html

Vanessa BETCHER   http://vanessasclayadventures.blogspot.ca/2012/08/window-ornament-swap.html

Leila BIDLER   http://www.lbidler.com/apps/blog/show/18400894-facebook-swap-organized-by-tina-holden

Anne RONCALLI   http://leboudoirdanne.canalblog.com/archives/2012/08/27/24975703.html

Nadia GENNARI   http://easywom.blogspot.it/2012/08/international-polymer-clay-swap-la-mia.html
Ilenia MORENI   http://leggendesegrete.blogspot.it/2012/09/international-swap.html

 

And for those participants who did not blog about the swap, you can find the whole gallery here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.275844535849257&type=1

  Happy hoping!