A Snowball from Andrea!

CQI Snowball Swap - The snowball Andrea sent me from India!

This beauty traveled from India and arrived on Friday, just as we were packing up to leave for the weekend.  I desperately wanted to drop what I was doing to take a few pictures and share this and the other goodies Andrea sent me with you all.

Someone must be praying for me to have patience - lol!  On Monday, I set off to finally take the pictures, but my camera was missing.  It ended up in my hubby's computer bag at work.  On Tuesday morning, I eagerly searched for the camera, but it was still in his computer bag.  Sigh...  So, last night I remembered to snatch my camera back when he came home!  Now, I am finally done running errands and able to share my goodies with you!

In the CQI Snowball database, I indicated I would like blue/silver/white wintery or snowman themed snowballs OR orange and black fall or Halloween themed snowballs.  Donna, Nicki Lee and Andrea all chose to surprise me with the themes they chose.

Center details of snowball from Andrea.

I fear the photos I took do not do this block justice!  I love the stitching, the bead work, the sequins, the fabrics, and especially the mirror in the center of the block!

Details of bead work on snowball from Andrea

The beads are just amazing!

Details from snowball from Andrea

The small black beads in the corner look like little black rocks.  The sequins shimmer in the light.  and the fabrics, trims and stitching are beautiful.

Now, I must admit, I am not very good about mailing blocks out.  Don't get me wrong, I can get them to the post office and mail them out by my deadlines.  However, I tend to be so single-minded in the task of mailing that I am lucky to remember to add a note.  Andrea, however, went above and beyond.  She sent other treasures with my block.

She sent me fabrics from her stash.

And she also sent a handmade card from The Life Foundation in India.  I encourage you to check out the website.  (If you are a little shy about clicking on links like I am, just type in www.thelifefoundationindia.org )  Amongst the pictures in the photo gallery, you will see the paper pulp being made.  And there are more beautiful cards displayed under the "Paper Crafts" section that appear to be available for purchase. 

Here is my card - I love the fibers in the paper!

Envelope

Card

I love the woven paper in the center and the beads are so colorful!

Label on back of card

What a wonderful treat!  It was so very sweet and generous.  Thank you so much, Andrea!

I do hope you will take a moment to look at the other cards and paper crafts.  There are animals, flowers, birds and more.  I believe the Christmas cards are my favorites.  Beautiful.

And please send positive thoughts and prayers to India.  From what I have read on-line, this has been one of their worst monsoon seasons in decades.  According to an article on Global Voices On-line, flash floods and landslides killed over 1,000 lives in northern India earlier this summer.  And landslides recently claimed another 15 lives in a south-western region.