Grown up Pen Pals are the Best

Hello everbody! Wow, things have been busy, busy, busy. My Etsy store has been burning up the...charts (?)...well, it's burning up my old sales averages, anyway. I've also begun making a patchwork quilt (2 weeks before moving to Brooklyn!) which I have no idea how to do properly...totally flying by the seat of my...skirt.

I might offer up some photos of my hilarious progress, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for the ridicule that might ensue. I'm only joking, you all are insanely sweet and supportive and would lie to me, I know :)
SO, today was a completelely amazing mail day, thanks mainly to one Ms. Auntie Cookie (known also as Shannon).  I also got a huge haul of vintage buttons, the best of which I have picked out to show & tell with tomorrow...but for today, I've gotta share Shannon's package with you.

First, these lovely, hilarious and sweet original drawings/collages. The tag on the outside of the wrapping said "Apples for Emily"... so very sweet and thoughtful! I adore the two smaller drawings just as much...that little one down at the bottom with the moustache just kills me.

Next, the greatest little bundles of wonderfulness that a girl could ever hope to receive! I wanted so badly to un-bundle the paper stacks, but I had to resist until I could photograph them (for sharing purposes). I feel so lucky that Shannon decided to share a bit of her a-maz-ing thrift score here (the vintage wallpaper samples)... this was already so much goodness. But more stuff just kept tumbling out, as I pulled out one new treasure, 2 more would emerge from this (relatively little) box. It was a bit like watching Mary Poppins pull things out of her magic bag, I believe....Clint said "no, there can't be anything else in there...Dear God!"

But there was! Holey Moly! I have to say my number one favorite thing in this picture are the wooden alphabet blocks that spell out my initials (E.M.). Amazing. Also, a DJ Aunty Cookie cd mix, bits of lace and floss, a zine, cards, pretty silver paper stars, a victorian prayer book, a pulp novel (Shannon, you have insight into my soul...I adore these!), more lovely papers (gnomes! bunnies!), a wax/plastic vintage (bingo set??? i happen to love bingo), a flocked fawn, and the whole darn thing is laying on top of an adorable hawaiian apron! Whew!

Shannon, thank you so much. You made my day...really. It's a tumultuous time in Black Apple Ville, and you, my grown-up "pen pal" made all the difference.