Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Over The Rainbow Whimsy Jar

More swappy goodness coming at'cha! Another swap I recently participated in over on Swap-bot was one called "Over the rainbow" and this was a whimsey jar swap.

Whimsey jar? What's a whimsey jar? I had no clue... do you guys know? After some quick Googling, I discovered a whimsey jar is a jar packed full of whimsical {go figure} things usually based on a theme...

Aaaaall righty then! So we had a couple of rules, the jars had to contain at least one Wizard of Oz item, and you must include rainbow items in the jar, everything else was senders choice. I'm really lucky that my partner Leah is easy going and smart, because she has a nice long list of little things that make her happy listed on her profile. This made my job very fun & easy-peasy!

Leah emailed me today to let me know she recieved her package. She loves her jar! That makes me so happy.

Shall we begin?
Here is the top of my jar. I used fabric reminescent of Dorothy's iconic dress and embroidered a rainbow across the top. Fitting, no? I had one heck of a time with this pouffy-jar-lid-thing, you guys. I read several different tutorials, and was pretty sure I did it correctly, but I. COULD. NOT. get this darn jar to screw closed. I eventually gave up and *taped* the lid to the jar. How lame is that?? Rrrrrrr!
Seriously, how hard could that be??
Geesh.
{banging head on desk}
It still frustrates me... I better move along.

The first thing I aquired for my partner, and what guided the colors of everything else in the jar was a little zippy bag. I found this on Etsy, it was made special for Leah by Bibi Rodriguez at funkygoodstuff. I fell in love with the fabric, so bright and cheery and totally different than the Wizard of Oz themes and colors that I'm used to.
It's got yellow polka-dots inside! So cute!
Also pictured, a bright rainbow of DMC embroidery floss and an extra little scrap of the blue-check fabric.

I made a little strawberry pin cushion...
and stuffed it with cute birdie & flower pins...

Colorful erasers in fun shapes... check!

Chubby little dinasaur pencil toppers, not on the list, but too cute not to get... check!

Pretty paperclips...check!

Various office goodies. Highlighters, little sticy notes, big ol' binder clips, a kitty cat hole punch and some really cute scotch tape from the Farm Chicks store... check, check, check!

All stuffed into a standard mason jar, Tetris style!
I also added some bright fabric samples in fun & funky colors and patterns to the box. It was pretty cramed.


Sadly... it seems as though I've been "flaked" on for this swap. The partner chosen for me seems to have disapearred off the face of the planet. I'm not alone, it looks like she's signed up for a LOT of swaps and isn't responding to any of them... her account has been suspended. That's not very nice.
Karma... it's everywhere you're going to be.
~ ~ *EDIT* ~ ~ 
Just to clarify, this was a "one way" swap, the person that I sent to was NOT the same person who was supposed to send to me.
The swap coordinator offered to "angel" for me, that means to make a package for someone who was flaked on. It's very sweet of her, and I sincerely appreciate the offer, but I declined. She lives in the United Kingdom and postage is beastly. Not to mention it's probably rather a pain to have to put together, and mail out another jar. She's a gem for offering, but I'd rather her not spend her hard earned cash, it's not her fault.

I really enjoyed putting Leah's jar together and since this was my first whimsey jar, it's good practice!
I love these whimsey jars though! Don't you think these would make terrific Christmas presents?? Oh, the wheels are turning... it's mid September already... have you guys already started your handmade Christmas presents?? {ducking!}
Heehee... me neither! I better get moving!

oxo,
Lisa 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

oooooooooh! those flakers! they can really ruin a good swap! your whimsy jar is ADORABLE! i've never made one(yet). Your partner is SO lucky!
on another note, those handmade xmas gifts...i'm getting to those...tomorrow...le sigh...
keep up the cute work, Lisa!!

Wendy said...

oh no, I can't believe she flaked! Had you already sent it out? It's gorgeous, she's really missing out, hope she sees your post and kicks herself!

Leah said...

I keep looking at that little Oz pouch and loving it more and more and more (if that's possible)! I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet. it's almost too cute to use, lol. :)

Jennifer Stumpf said...

Oh I love your blog and your work so much! Love the little strawberry emery on this one, love every flickr post and oh I so love "you've got red on you." Can I say that something so grisly is also completely adorable? keep up the great work!

Beedeebabee said...

Hi Lisa!

First...Boo-hoo to that flake girl...that wasn't very nice AT ALL! Okay...I won't waste anymore time on HER. Grrrrr.

Now on to you, Sweetie! I LOVE this idea, and your jar is just scrumptious! You packed it up with the best goodies! OMG, and that strawberry...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!...and Yes, I think these would be really great Christmas gifts! I haven't started either, and I promised myself last year that I'd start in August...get a grip, Paulette!

Lisa, your posts are always so entertaining!
Aside from your stitching talents and wonderful imagination, you are soOO darn funny!

Have a fun weekend, Sweetie!
Paulette xoxo

Bibi said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog, Lisa!

I'm so glad your partner liked the zippy! That is such a cool whimsy jar!! You really outdid yourself. :)

Boo, to the flaker. Grrrr..... :(