I'm going to work backwards on this one....First I'll tell you the SYNCHRONICITY part. A few days ago I posted a new crusade on the Street Team blog:
It's about sending Mail Art - you can read about it over HERE. So like not even 24 hours pass and this box lands on my doorstep. She had no idea.....but in sending me her Crusade entries 1 through 9, she also entered No. 10. Say it with me: How Cool Is That? SHE is Maj Hoenborg, currently living in Germany, native of Denmark. Maj is pronounced "My", (not Madge) the word for May, (the month we were both born in) as I learned when I called her the other night.....very late in her time zone but I wanted her to hear my enthusiasm. More about Maj further down.
You KNOW my heart skipped a beat when I saw this package. I didn't even have the brains to stop and photograph her thoughtfully wrapped contents....I just attacked. Wouldn't you?
Here's my lame attempt to show you all remnants of the cool wrappings....everything in red and black with ribbons, strings,.tags, roses.....You get the picture, I just didn't TAKE one. What could all this be? The outside says CRUSADE. The note says she's enclosing interpretations for every previous crusade. GAH! (And even though she's a webdesigner she doesn't have her own site.....let's bug her about that!)
If you don't know the details behind each crusade you will have to look it up..... Not only is this a stunning pen, and just my thing.....but it writes with ROSE SCENTED INK! AND.....drum roll......she sent a package of refills too! You KNOW I screeched over that cleverness.
The embossed paper was wrapped around one of the packages - I included it so you could see the pattern. Maj's Cheap Trick is this fancy schmancy FOUR LEAF CLOVER old fashioned paper trimming. You KNOW I swooooooned!
As a child, Maj called flip-flops "klip klapper", so that is her Say What entry.....plus, she reminded me that another team player said the pattern on the bottom could be used as a texture stamp - Cheap Trick! Loving the "M" which is also a "W". And Maj, they fit! (See my heartagram belt buckle cemented into the step?)
Maj shared the eggs on the right with the Street Team for Pick Your Poison. She also collects amber....and now I have some!
When I saw these white gloves I cracked up - thought they were Evidence gathering gloves like a forensic scientist would wear....afterall, the Kiss and Tell crusade was about "evidence" of your everyday stuff. But in reading her tag she says we use and abuse ours hands everyday, so she included a recipe for how to maintain nice soft hands. Cover in olive oil, put on plastic gloves, followed by white gloves. Wear for one hour. Thanks, I need that!
THIS ONE IS SO CLEVER!!!!!!!!!! Crusade No. 4 was about journaling your Rock Star Moment. Maj put her twist on it by saying you can be your own Rock Star. Imagine how I squealed at her cleverness when I opened the box and saw the mirror and her sentiment. Say it with me.......
She's a chicken. Press-on tattoos instead of real ink! Or maybe she has one and isn't telling us? How cute is she? Got this photo from her in May....so fun to have a face to go with the friendship.
For her Playlist, Maj made this cool accordion book. The pull-out tag is her listing of Crusades 1 through 9. Under No. 2 she writes, "Playlist: you're looking at it". The girl knows how to play doesn't she? Those letters above are each cut out and painted then applied in. It's a stunner.
Here's a fun part of the story.....After opening everything and basking in the oh-my-gosh-ness of it all, I read the Playlist and it says under #1 Spooky Art: Halloween confetti. What? I didn't see any confetti. So like a day later I'm still curious and carefully peek through every saved wrapping.....and tucked into one was this mini envelope made of vellum and coated in metallicy coolness. I almost missed it because it felt like the thickness of folded tissue paper. Imagine how I cracked up when I read "BOO" on the front.
This handprint is on the back of the card enclosed with the package. The excerpt reads: "It must be about a year since I responded to your 'grave dirt request'." Now there's something you don't see everyday. But yes, I made a call on my blog back in June 2006 for grave dirt of any famous poets or writers. My introduction to Maj cam when she responded to me via email.....and inquired if I was serious. She didn't want to risk getting in trouble if it was a hoax. So a friendship was born, thanks to Hans Christian Andersen. He was buried in Denmark and when Maj went home for a visit last summer she collected some dirt from his grave for me and sent it here in a very cool paper cut envelope with the inititals HCA. She has become a very special friend and I am pleased to share her with you today.
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Winner for Crusade No. 9 ~ "What's that Smell" is Becky New. Congrats Becky! Everyone is invited to come Spread the Love with Crusade No. 10. I'm going to hop over there right now to tell them about Maj's package!
