Garden of Live Flowers Swap -- Incoming

I almost didn't sign up for this swap, but I'm really glad I did. The theme was Garden of Live Flowers/Looking-Glass Insects, which isn't one of my favorite sections of the Alice books. My partner did a wonderful job with it though.

First, she filled the box with flowers and attached some of those little bugs that blow up in a glass of water. For some reason, the very morning the package arrived, I had wished for some of these. Really.

Everything was wrapped in tissue paper in my favorite color combination, mardi gras, and look how many packages there are.

For knitterly goodness, there was a magnetic pattern board, which I've already put to use, flowered stitch markers, and ... HELLO!!!! ... Madelinetosh sock yarn. I'm totally open to suggestions on what to make with it, as I've been looking all day and am somewhat stumped. It's got lots of lovely olive shades in it. My partner had asked me to suggest a yarn, and I said to trust her instincts. Didn't she do great?

Then there were some other lovely goodies.

As far as handmades, there were four! First was a tote bag

a bread-and-butterfly scissors holder

a flowered pin cushion in Mardi Gras colors

and best of all, she designed this amazing tape measure cover. First, look at Tenniel's image of the snapdragonfly.

Now, check this out:

Sooooo cool!