How about packing it up with brushes, etc., and giving it an artist's palette theme? I don't know much about how artists pack up their stuff though, haha - that may not be a good idea. When we give gifts to young girls for their birthday and such, we sometimes will buy a cute purse and pack tons of stuff in it - coin purse, makeup, pen and notepad, gum, etc. When you said 'bag' up there, did you mean purse? If not, maybe just a cute little purse, or a little backpack purse. There are also stuffed animal purses out there, too.

interested. I pmed you. I would also be happy to trade for the cuttings. :) Let me see what else I have here .

This is a great thread. We all love what we collect and isn't it wonderful that most of us collect something different? I collect blue and white Staffordshire Transferware from England, early to mid 1800's. I have over 100 Cup Plates, a little more or less than 4" diameter. They were used as a coaster with the handless cups with bowl shape saucer of 6" from the 1820-1850 period. Often confused with a child's plate from a toy tea set. I also have many patterns of dinner ware pieces of a specific potter E. & G Phillips, Longport England. American butter stamps, butter churns and English cream pots with dairy names stamped or transfered on the pot and numerous other things too many to list. I am just addicted to antiques and collectibles. I also clean and repair and resale and upgrade my English china. So my life is a constant buy, clean, repair, resale, collect more upgrade..etc. I tell my husband I am recycling and being green! I love,love, love what I do. I cannot imagine not ever being able to buy and also resale to share my knowlegde. I also have an extensive library of reference books and love researching everything.

LOL I just reread what I wrote and my grammar isn't very good. LOL I had fun opening the boxes to see what Martha had sent. I knew of some of the items like the books and the dessert set and crystal and I knew she was sending me some Christmas decorations but not as many as she sent. LOL Except for the glassware I have to hoist all this stuff up to the attic tomorrow. I still have my Christmas decorations up but I think I will take them down now because the rooms look so cluttered with all this extra stuff. I can pack away the decorations with my own decorations. I'm not sure where or if I want to hang the prints yet and may wait until Spring to decide. I also have 2 stitched pieces I inherited and I just received in December so have to decide where to hang them too. I am very sentimental. My Grandma had all kinds of Royal Doulton figurines and Royal Doulton Toby Jugs and I would sit and look at them and let my imagination take me away. I would think of stories that told tales of the Balloon Lady, Ribbon Lady and the Pot Maker and the Rug Seller selling their wares in the market. I had stories of the Robin Hood and Beefeater Toby Jugs along with many others whose faces I didn't know. Grandma also had a Royal Doulton BullDog with a Union Jack on his back which represented Winston Churchill and a little white bone china dog who stood playfully looking at the ladybug on its tail. I imagined all the pretty lady figurines dancing away and their children - Hummel kids swinging on their tree branches. I drank tea from the finest china with tiny shamrocks on them and lined up the highball and shot glasses of men in their tartan kilts. Whenever I gazed upon the 2 dimensional large plates on Grandma's kitchen wall I used my fingers to cross the drawbridge and climb the steep stone palace stairs and I would stop next to the man in armour who stood guarding the palace door. I so wanted to see his face - my knight in shining armour you know. LOL My Grandma's things are priceless to me. My cousin only visited once or twice a year so has no attachment to these things and it is her right to sell them if she wishes or give them away. I can still have my memories of the things and the stories they told. LOL I was just tickled to received some of the things she did decide to part with. Anne