I sent a "cornucopia" (as Jankin described it) to each of you, having just come back from a trip to England where it is a free bookmark paradise -- and a trip to the Texas Book Festival. So I tried to make it a pack of both Texas and England stuff most of the time, depending on the selection.

My favorite one was the pretty flowery one with "read in Texas" or similar, but not sure everyone got that. It was fun picking them up as we walked around in the various places and both my mum and my MIL thought it was hilarious that I was swiping bookmarks wherever I went.

Well, I sent out some different ones. Some were from my local library. Richmond Hill library hours and the York Region health and also the Canadian immigration bookmarks came from the Richmond Hill Public Library.

Many of you received the Terry Fox Run bookmarks. Terry Fox is a Canadian Hero. In 1977 he was an athletic teenager diagnosed with bone cancer and lost his leg. With one prosthetic leg he decided to run a marathon across Canada in order to raise money for cancer research. He began in Newfoundland and ran 42 km each day. He did not make it all the way as his cancer spread, but ran a total of 5373 km with cancer and on one leg. Now, every year the school I teach at (and most other schools) participate in a run to raise money for cancer research. This bookmark promoted the run this past fall.

Most of you got Alaska bookmarks from me. I, unfortunately, only had 20 AK bookmarks, so a few of you got others from a bookstore.

My story is that in honor of my sister and BIL's 50th wedding anniversary, they, my brother and SIL, single brother, and my husband and I went on an Alaskan cruise this fall. It was the first cruise for most of us, and we really had a good time. Alaska is very sparsely populated and an outdoorsman's paradise. My two favorite sights were the six-mile-long Hubbard Glacier and Mt. McKinley. We were told that a large percentage of visitors never see the mountain due to cloud cover, but we had beautiful weather.

My SIL had breast cancer surgery, chemo, and radiation earlier in the year (she is well now, thank Heaven), so she and Bro. 1, as well as my husband who had kidney surgery last year and doesn't do well on long car trips, flew to Vancouver for the cruise departure. Sister, BIL, Bro. 2, and I drove from Kentucky to Vancouver and back again via a different route for a total of 26 days away from home. It was quite a trip and altogether wonderful. We visited several national parks, met a cousin for lunch in Montana, and spent a night in Deadwood, SD, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and is buried in Boot Hill Cemetery (BIL's favorite stop).

It has been such fun to receive all your bookmarks. I got Netla's today, quite interesting and probably the most different.

Has anyone received my bookmark yet?

Last time we did this I purchased Australian themed bookmarks, only to find that they didn't fit in standard envelopes, so this time I decided to make them.

I went into my study and picked my favourite books (or a book by a favourite author - the Elizabeth George in the photo isn't my fav, but I needed a thinner book to fit *VBG*) and lined them up on a shelf and took a photo. I photoshopped the photo to add a greeting and the year, then DH took the jpeg to work and printed them out on our photo paper. I laminated them for extra strength.

Astrokath......YES! I received your bookmark a while ago and it is extremely clever and creative. In fact, I looked over your book selections. I don't know if you planned it this way but the woman's face peering out in the center of the row was a perfect touch. Brava!
You outdid yourself! It are marketable.

Yvonne

Kath, yes yours arrived about a week ago; many thanks. I thought it looked very professional and only last night asked DH how you had made it. He said he was out of touch with the latest computer 'clever stuff' (he used to teach some IT as a change from Chemistry) and would need to go on a refresher course to catch up. Now I can tell him.
Wolfseeker, yours arrived early this am; again many thanks. I had visions of the metal-containing envelopes . . . clever BM sent by Janet, lovely ones from Sheri and now Helen's, coming to a sticky end.

Voice over the radio " Here is the news from the BBC. This morning a controlled explosion was carried out at the Royal Mail's central soring office for overseas mail.
Scotland Yard's Special Branch is investigating the contents of the suspect devices. Meanwhile three persons with United States addresses are being held in custody awaiting the outcome of the findings. We understand the recipient of the mail is a person well-known to the police for using a number of cunning aliases and alibis who should NOT BE approached unless wearing protective clothing.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said "We can confirm that this is part of an international Christmas-based plot, to spread good will at the Festive Season. A number of deranged females are said to be behind this audacious plan. The public is warned to treat ALL mail bearing a 'foreign' stamp with suspicion."

Very funny, Vee.

And, Kath, yes I received your bookmark last week and thought it extremely clever. I'm not a techie.

I, too, received your bookmark Kath and loved it.

I was out of town and couldn't make my own bookmarks to send, even if I was the artsy/craftsy type. But I sure enjoyed receiving the handmade, as well as all the other interesting and clever bookmarks.

I googled literary bookmarks and came up with the site where I got the ones I sent of various authors. I tried to do some matching of authors to RPers, but probably wasn't too successful. I sent Jane Austens, Charlotte Brontes, Louisa May Alcotts and Emily Dickensons. Hope you liked what you received.

Thank you for your nice comments about my bookmark - I was rather pleased with how it turned out.
Sarah, I loved your bookmark - I got Louisa May Alcott and I love Little Women.
I also got Wolfseeker's today and it is so pretty.
What a wonderful idea this was - the range of bookmarks is astounding, from local scenery (Vee's lovely watercolours, Cardiff Castle, Hershey's interesting street names) to cleverly made ones (knitted, hand drawn, made with magnets, or milk cartons - loved that) , and local library ones - even comparing opening times is interesting. I will treasure each and every one and think of the sender when I use it.

I had planned to use early November to make the bookmarks for the swap and send them with bonus bookmarks I had been picking up here and there since I signed up, but then I decided at short notice to go to India, so in the end it was just the bookmarks I had gathered that got sent out, plus three or four that I made out of images from Indian tourism brochures.

Some of you will have received postcards from me with bookish quotations and images of museum exhibits, others advertising bookmarks for an art exhibition, and some will have received library bookmarks. Unfortunately it seems that the Public Library here has stopped having bookmarks made since they introduced a self-service lending and returns system, so next year there will probably only be library bookmarks from the National Library in the mix. I laminated all the flimsy ones for durability.

So far I have received:
A lovely Christmas card and three cool astronomy BMs from Donnamira;
An interesting addition to my small but growing collection of author BMs from Sarah Canary;
A nice assortment from Siobhan, 2 of them handmade;
A couple of Welsh ones from Dido;
A lovely BM with watercolour images and a gorgeous Christmas Card from Vee;
A nice bookstore BM with Australian stamps from ColleenOz;
A very pretty BM with a picture and historical information about lace, from Rosefolly, inside a Christmas card;
A Christmas poem and a pretty fabric BM from Sheri;

Plus 7 others that I am opening one a day. More may have arrived, but if so, I will not see them until after Christmas because as usual I am spending the holidays with my parents.

I'm away tomorrow, back after Christmas, so I'll just add my bit here. It has been a wonderful experience and I'm so thrilled with all that you've sent - litte pieces of places and people from all over. Lots of libraries - Pam, Rambo, Bernice (2 languages, like us in Wales); some lovely 'made' bookmarks - Kath, yes indeed I loved seeing your bookshelf; Colleen, the stamps were gorgeous. Cheryl, the holograms were fascinating - I could look at them for hours. Rouan's magnet was very unusual; Siobhan, thanks for the quotations - I particularly love whatever Chekhov has to say. Jane Austen - thanks, Sarah; a little bit of Texas from Liz; Yoyobon, you're so good at the verses and the bookmark was unique. j Woolfseeker, an amazing collection; thanks for Alaska, Carolyn, and for Frances's lovely green knit; and Netla's bit of Iceland; Paula, the lace is beautiful and so, Christine, is your Istanbul crafted one. Vee, I'll be over visiting to see those local scenes for myself. Cece, thanks for sharing your daughter's wedding with the piece of satin - such a lovely green. Jankin, thanks for the card and I hope you're better now. Nicola,thanks for a piece of California.

For myself, it all took form quite slowly but eventually I knew I wanted to give you something of England, but more importantly for me, something of Wales, including the language. Those of you who got the Lifeboat bookmarks, I live near the sea and there have always been shipwrecks along these coasts - the local lifeboatmen are heroes. Then, the Welsh folk museum, St Fagans, for those of you who received those, it's a very big, comprehensive place just outside Cardiff, well worth a day's visit if anyone is in this area. It was there that I spotted the long cards which I realised would also double as bookmarks. There were several different scenes among those I bought: the longest placename in UK, some art from a church, several castles - these all labelled in English and Welsh. Then, back in September, we went to a book launch at the London library, which was where I picked up the London library bookmarks (I'd like to have kept some for myself, but I didn't have enough) - there were about 3 different kinds with different quotations. Otherwise, there was the Welsh Book of the Year 2009, one of Henry's queens and Charlotte Bronte which I got from the parsonage at Haworth.

There we are then.

Dido

Dido, I didn't get the longest placename bookmark from you, but I do have that name self-stamped in my passport from a visit a number of years ago.

I continue to be amazed by all of the creativity that went into the mailings.

The arrival of the bookmarks over the past weeks has been like having Christmas every day. They are all wonderful! Vee, I still can't get over the delightful size of that envelope - I'm amazed it made it through the USPS unscathed.

My bookmarks were based on one I'd bought at a craft fair several years ago. The original was made from upholstery fabric, and once I got it home and examined it closely, I figured I could make my own in the same style. I used to sew and have quite the pile of fabric left, and my DD and I also make jewelry, so I had all the bits and bobs necessary. I've been making these for a couple of years now, they are especially handy for teacher gifts. I was delighted to be able to share them with all of you.

This has been so much fun. I'm thrilled with all my bookmarks and hope we can do this again!

I managed to pick up my bookmarks from the local library. The Toronto postcards were my first choice when, after joining the bookmark exchange, all the interesting bookmarks I had previously seen on my journeys seemed to disappear and I began to panic!

Thus I was left with two sizes of bookmarks, which set off a panic about envelope sizes! I hope everyone received everything OK.

I do hope we do this again; receiving all the bookmarks was a lot of fun and gave me a lot of inspiration for next year!

Well, I've got a pile of interesting and clever bookmarks, I feel quite "rich"! We have so many people here with creative ideas. The accompanying cards look very decorative on my mantelpiece, pretty well my only Christmas decoration this year as I had no enthusiasm for putting up the tree for some reason. And all the envelopes from far away places creating some excitement at letterbox clearing time!
I'm not sure where the idea for mine came from but for years I've cut stamps off envelopes as they came in. As a child I was always fascinated by foreign stamps and coins; they seemed so exotic and laden with the aura of adventure in far-off lands. The idea of sticking them onto bookmarks came first and then I was inspired to ask the local bookshop for some of their bookmarks to use as cardstock. The lady of the shop was most generous and forthcoming when I explained my plan and wouldn't let me pay her for the bookmarks, so I made an extra one and presented her with it.
I soaked the envelopes off over a hundred stamps, had some duds so it was probably more like 150. Laid them all out to dry, then ironed them flat and laid them in little piles according to subject. Along the way I decided each bookmark should have a Christmas stamp for the season, the rest from different categories of "animal/bird", "plant", "place", and the all-encompassing "other" :-). My coffee table was littered with colourful piles for a couple of days until I got time to sit down and paste them all onto the bookmarks. Then I took them down to our local Telecentre for laminating. I think they were taken aback a little but I look fairly harmless so they played along :-)
The cards were a find. My criteria were, long enough to accommodate a bookmark, Australian themed and preferably with some part of the proceeds going to charity. I didn't think I'd fulfil all three easily but as luck would have it I passed a shop with a display of them on practically my first go. The planets must have aligned because I was doing a good thing.
I've really enjoyed this project in both the giving and receiving, thanks so much for organising it Siobhan! BTW I've still got the one you made for the last exchange :-)

Patsy,

Your bookmark has just arrived. I see it was posted on 18th December. Maybe a friendly whale brought it, swimming all the way across the pond and she then passed it to a pleasant tortoise who didn't happen to be hibernating just then, who passed it to my postman...... what a time to take, eh?

Never mind. It's here now and I'm very pleased to receive it with its lovely leaves and autumn colours. Thank you.

Dido

Colleenoz.........what a great story.
Thank you for all that great effort and thought.
I will appreciate your stamp bookmark even more now, knowing how it was designed.

Yvonne

Our 'late' mail is just coming through from the US, most of it posted in the week before Christmas, so maybe Patsy's card has reached Dido sooner than me as she lives about 50 miles nearer the US than I do.

Yes Colleen, I have taken a closer look at your bookmark and really appreciate the ironing that went into flattening the stamps, and the card of Ayres Rock . . .yes I know I should call it something else . . . but I can't spell it.
Yvonne the family loved your milk carton 'creation'. I wonder if I could do something with a glass milk bottle next time?

And thanks again to Siobhan for organising everything . . . and Siobhan, why so modest? Neither you or Rambo signed your 'offerings' so it was a little time before I put envelopes back with cards/letters/bookmarks and worked out which were from you both. ;-)

May I just ask a general question please to US RP'ers (and nothing really to do with the book mark thing)
Over here in the UK Christmas cards are very much part of the whole 'theme' of what you call the 'holiday' and often the one time in the year when one keeps up with relations/friends.
I have relatives in the US and DD has recently 'discovered' a swathe of first cousins and their offspring living from Florida up to Boston (a long story to do with his late Mother having quarrelled with every member of her family since about 1942 and refusing even to discuss the whereabouts of her sisters)
We sent cards off in early Dec and are now receiving replies (this wasn't the first time they knew of our existence) So is card-sending of less importance in the US than in the UK? Just wondering.

I signed mine on the back, maybe I forgot a couple?

In my experience, card-sending has dropped off dramatically in the last few years. I could speculate as to the reasons, but I suspect everyone already knows. I hardly send any, largely because I don't get many in return, and I felt a bit foolish. And in a way it seems rather wasteful, although there are organizations that recycle the cards into other things.

But that is one reason why I wanted to have the bookmark exchange - getting something useful and a bit of Christmas cheer at the same time seems like a winner. It really lifted my spirits, both making and sending my own as well as receiving.

As you know, I kept all my sealed envelopes to open all at once when I had completed all my "must-dos" in December. I had a lovely two+ hours curled up with cats and tea while it snowed outside, and I am so impressed with all the loveliness that I received. Thank you again to everyone. I would love to do this again.

Vee-card sending in the US is definitely dropping off. Many e-card sites and the time and the expense involved.

Vee, card sending seems to be alive and well in Australia. I get many from relatives that we don't correspond with at any other time, and also a few from friends overseas. Even some of my Aussie internet friends, who I talk to often on line, send cards. I really love it, and recycle the cards myself - I cut the greeting off and use them as gift tags for family presents next year.
I personally don't care for e-cards - an email is actually better if there isn't a real card as then the person has to write something!

Well, my mantelpiece is bursting with Christmas cards which is lovely as they are my only Christmas decoration this year. I couldn't get excited about putting up the tree and didn't really have the time anyway. I'm glad people liked my bookmark :-)
Veer, it's "Uluru", pron. "OO-loo-roo" ("oo" as in "book"), which is the name the traditional owners give it. As a sacred site they prefer that tourists not climb on it, but sadly many visitors ignore this and don't feel they've been to Uluru unless they climb to the top. I wouldn't feel the need to climb over the altar at St Paul's or Notre Dame to show I've been there and so climbing Uluru seems very disrespectful to me.
Astrokath, I have to say I prefer real cards too- you can't put an e-card on the mantelpiece! (Well I guess you could if you had a colour printer, which we don't :-) .)

I don't have any creative stories for the bookmarks that I sent, since all I did was call up our 'outreach' group and ask for a couple dozen bookmarks. Except that they sent me more like a couple hundred! Anyone want extras? :)

Donnamira, you could probably save them for next time! We did this a few years ago. No doubt it will happen again a few years down the line. You'll be all set.

I had been casting around for bookmarks for a while. Earlier this fall, I went with some needle-arts-minded friends to a little storefront museum dedicated to lace and lacemaking in nearby Sunnyvale, California. We were enthralled at the lovely work they had on display. When I saw that they sold bookmarks, I knew what I would be sending this year. I even got a couple extras in case there were last minute additions to our exchange. There were not, so I am using the extras myself, very happily.

Rosefolly

I just received the last bookmark, which was the one from Patsy. Posted on December 18, it must have been in one of the 2000 or so mail bags from North America that got stranded in Copenhagen over the holidays on their way to Iceland. I bet lots of people here opened their Christmas presents from the USA yesterday.

I have started preparing for next year's exchange. Everyone will be getting home-made bookmarks.

Patsy, I also received your bookmark and lovely card today. I don't know where it was held up, probably my end as nothing happens with post that arrives between Christmas and the New Year plus all the local mail services have been iced up due to extra cold/icy weather . . . we wouldn't last long in an Icelandic winter. ;-)

In the rush of the holiday season, I didn't really get the time to really relish the selection of wonderful bookmarks you all sent so yesterday I got the pile and went through it one by one and really looked at each one.

It was amazing how varied the selection was, and where they came from. It also gave me some ideas for next year's bookmark exchange....

Thanks again to Siobhan for organizing and the rest of you for participating. A very fun Christmas activity....

I am so jealous for missing out. I hope you repeat this for 2010 or something similar!