Yesterday I received the most wonderful box of gifts from Bitter Betty.  The packaging itself was a work of art, but there are no pictures of that, of course.  Who can wait to get the camera when there is a big box of birthday presents to open?  Not me.

Here is my very own Alice in Wonderland Egg (with Kate the Cat from Isa).  Mine all mine!  Bitter Betty let it slip that a package was coming my way and I hoped with all my hope that it was going to have an Alice the Wonderland Egg in it.  All the hoping paid off.  The egg will be getting it's own little shrine, but for now, Kate is keeping an eye on it for me.

When I was little, I would imagine myself living alone, away from the whole world, usually in the woods behind my Grandmother's house.  Now my secret place is going to be inside this egg with the Cheshire Cat.  I want to crawl in there and live in it's red glitter center.  I'll peek out past the rick-rack occasionally, but for the most part, I'll just sit in the crook of the tree listening to riddles and napping.

The owl plate in the center of my monitor stand was the next gem in my box of presents.  As you can see, it's already become a part of my desk decor.  My burgeoning pin collection (the two owls were from Andrew this birthday) and some mini lucky stars have found a home here.  It's bizzarro-cool, and not a little creepy, yet totally compelling.  There is a face, a leaf, and a stem.  I'm not sure what the creator was going for, but "joyously unsettling" is my description.

The blue and green glaze is sparkly crackle glass.  I haven't seen anything like it.  It's totally unique and it's what gives the piece a whimsical, cheerful edge.