wow, there's a bunch more over here that I hadn't seen! they're all so fun! I especially love that fish Mermaid!

heres what I got, from Senga!

and it was already filled with booty!

Thanks Senga, very cool! love art deco style and colors - classic!

They are all just wonderful! So much fun to see how varied the concepts are even when all are working on a single idea - ya'll are simply awesome! The cutting, color combinations, materials and different substrates are amazing!

cindiloo - The striped thing is one of my TX flag themed bowling balls. It has a bluebonnet on the opposite side. Had it done for months, just waiting on me to grout.

Pat

Adaisy has recieved a bank from me, here it is

Mo, wearing a lovely scarf that reads, "Put it away for tesserae" she is dressed in copper

I included a cabbage plate, I am the cabbage plate lady! lol

NT, you are also leading the way in poly clay tess! Do tell how you got the sections to curve so neatly around MO.... That's adorable! That cabbage plate looks so real!

Pat

Smacking myself on the forehead.....I am soooo slow, a copper pig.....pennies....I just now got that part.

this came to me today, by Donna Post/ Cadonna. It is beautiful. Her note says she used foil wrapping paper, tempered glass, glitter tiles & Mosaic tiles. Good interpretation of the challenge

Here is a link that might be useful:

Curb, I cut out the strip of clay and formed it around her, stamped it, divided it into individual "tiles" and baked it in place!

WW, if you look at the 1st photo you might see that the legs have half pennies. Thats how I know how much work Crafty put into her bank... its not easy to cut them

Oh, Donna...that TG flower is just BEAUTIFUL!! I wanna try TGing over colored foil...it always looks so pretty and shiny! What is the substrate? I'm guess a tin?

cindi-thanks!
it's a flower shaped ceramic bank.

Cadonna How neat that you would find an unusual shape for the bank, as did several others....thinking outside the pig. I love the use of the mixed media on this,it sure does shine...I will try to fill it up and then I can fill up my gas tank and go see Slow. LOL
Thanks again.

Donna, that flower is gorgeous! How cool to find that!

i LOVE ebay! you can find just about anything there......

Posting this for Andylynne (from Flagtruck):

I got back from the inlaws cottage yesterday and there was a package waiting for me. It is from Carol Thomas...no screen name given, so I'm not sure who it is. I feel terrible, it cost an arm and a leg for shipping.

Anyhoo, the piggy is pretty cool. I love the blue and green colour combo. The nose is pretty cool too...I like how it is done. I see new things every time I look at it. Thank you very much Carol !!!

Pretty blue and green piggy! The milli eyes and around the nose is cool!
And I LOVE the cup handles!! Great job!

Here is the piggy I made for the exchange:

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Great pig!! She's got one fancy rear end!!

Pretty, pretty pig all dressed up in green and copper! Beautiful work!

Yippee, my bank finally came! It is from Pat who I think is curbdiver. Her note had me very intrigued and I couldn't wait to see what she did. Her note said to drop coins or folded paper money down the spout...to open twist the top 1/4 turn and if I want to use it as a hiding spot for jewelry then remove the 2 screws on the bottom and that she gutted most of the electrical components to make room for little things.

So...any guesses about what she did????

Here it is...
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I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MY COFFEE POT BANK!!!!! It ties right in with my shabby chic stuff. Thank you Pat, this was a very clever idea!

I am way behind on my comments on all the other banks so I just want to add how great they all have been. Can't wait to see the remaining banks.

Barb

NOW I can stop holding my breath wondering if it arrived OK! So glad it did and you like it! It was definitely a fun project...just called to me at the thrift store...Enjoy!

Pat

What a cool idea!! Your projects are always so fun!!

Yes, very cool! And it's sooo pretty! Great job!!

They are all so wonderful.. It's just amazing how many takes on a bank there can be!! These exchanges are my favorite to watch. I love when you guys do the same object, or the
same idea, in this case! Love the way everyone's idea's are all their own. Your gift exchanges are awesome ladies! Really enjoy them!! Have never seen people do this kind of thing. This forum is the best I have ever seen. Most people
don't trust anyone's words, let alone their faith in an exchange like you all do. That is worth a lot....You are a wonderful bunch here. Love what you do!

Well, that is the neatest idea I have seen...how original. No piggys for you gal. Excellent work...Lucky lady Barb.

I received the MOST AMAZING treasure box from Daisyme!! These photos cannot do it justice. I feel so blessed and honored to receive this special "Songbird's Secret". THANK YOU SO MUCH DAISYME!!!!

intertwined with twigs and rocks and some shells

there's a copper metal leaf as a perch

the chimney acts as a handle to open the lid

how she matched up the pieces it's amazing!!

inside - the songbird's secret beads!!

the roof is made from acorns!!

IT'S AMAZING!!

WOW AND DOUBLE WOW! She was worried that it didn't make it and now I know why. It is drop dead gorgeous and one of a kind. How unique..you are very luck Crystal..I know you will treasure this one...beautiful job Gail.

How FABULOUS! That is simply beautiful! What a unique idea! The top and bottom fit together perfectly...so wonderful!

Daisyme, how on earth did you cut those perfect shingles??? Got a stash of cones from a tree at my mom and dad's - my sis has always wanted me to make something with them, but I couldn't figure out how to cut them off into a useable shape/size.

Pat

Awesome Daisyme!! great job!!

You oudid yourself on this one Daisyme! It's truly one of a kind AWESOME!

WOW Daisyme...that is one awesome bank!

DAISY, that is terrific! I love woodsy stuff. I met my DH in a chatroom, and his ID was "Woodsman" :)

Aren't those pine cone "thingies", rather than acorns? (Can't think what you'd call them...)

Thank you so much, everyone! I just got in tonight from a vacation and was so anxious to see if the house had arrived safely. And in my email I got the BEST and SWEETEST thank you letter from "Crystal". It just delighted me that she loved the house so much.

Ladyronnie, you are right. Those ARE pinecone "thingys" or "leaves" (I've been trying to figure out what to call them too). I'd never tried them before. But I got concerned about weight for mailing. They worked out so great I'll use them again. I just took a pair of garden clippers and cut them off as close as I could to the core. They layed out pretty well on their own.

It was fun to mesh the ceramic pieces too so hopefully you couldn't tell where the "bank" opened. I got a pretty good shot of that myself and will post it with my other house pics if anyone is interested in seeing that. I think you can get to it at Photbucket.com/daisyme/birdhouses

This exchange has been SO fun for me, and I can hardly wait for the next one. What wonderful projects everyone did! I can hardly wait til I get the time to pour over them and have a chance to comment on them. Right now, though, we've just unpaked the car and the DH is pacing and asking what's for dinner. We leave to go backpacking Friday!

Oops! It's http://photobucket.com/daisyme-birdhouses. You've gotta spell photobucket right for sure. LOL

No WAY! thats AMAZING Daisyme! OMG thats so awesome!!!!

CURB - I LOVE THAT POT!!!! what a cool Idea

Nicethyme and rchovey! I love your banks! They both "speak" to me in their beautiful coppers. Nicethyme....I'm still finding time to try to catch up here, but you MADE those tiles with the words? How great is THAT? I HAVE to learn how to do that. Rchovey, what is the blue tesserae? I just love that combination! The pig's behind is absolutely wonderful. Inspired! How did YOU do your lettering?

Flag! I do believe I see pieces from your kitchen collection on your colorful pig! The gal that started me on the birdhouses used handles and beads as you do too! No wonder we get along. I love your style!

Senga and Pat! What amazing pieces you produced! Senga, your box is really really well done and quite special. Wow. And Pat, GEE! You REALLY made a secret space. Did you warn Crafty Lady to be sure to leave a note for her family if she leaves anything important in there? That's a great piece.

my bank came and it's beautiful! it's from andrea and i LOVE everything about it. she used gems and tempered glass and created something so lovely. thanks so much andrea-it's perfect!!

Daisyme, the tesserae is from my friends back windshield of her convertible. We were at a craft show last year and when she started to let the top down to make it easier to remove some things from her car.... "CRASH"... something was in the back window ledge. I immediately found a bag and started collecting the glass! I've been saving it for over a year now. Still have some left. The words were found at AC Moore or Michael's can't remember which now. Glad you like her! It was such fun.

What an adorable blue box! I love the all the tesserae, and the color combination is beautiful. As I understand it, that smaller glass is crash glass? Wow, I've got to get some of that! It makes up so great, doesn't it? Cadonna, you got a great piece in the exchange!

Archovey, you were so lucky even though your friend wasn't. LOL Thanks for letting me know what the tesserare was. It's really special. Is it hard to work with? Did you just push it into copper-colored thinset and use a stamp for the lettering? I LOVE how it looks. Oh! So many questions! That pig is so absolutely wonderful.

You guys blow me away. I'm finally catching up!

chickeemama - you are the queen of cane. that piggy turned out cool!

Crafty-Lady - the penny bank is adorable

ba1je - I love the gentle colors of the heart bank.

Shrty - Your boxes are rocking now. You found your niche.

cindiloo - love the little turtle! We have a turtle and she can't help but make me smile.

Cacbeary - what a cute pink and purple piggy!

Wench - Love the bright colors of the paisley beaded piggy!

Cathy - the jar is lovely.

Carol - blue and green piggy is adorable.

BeckyIA - the blingy box is adorable with the pink piggies!

Mermaid - your fishy is adorable!

wackyweeder - "Swirlita the Swine" is too cute!! Love the butterfly on the snout!

Senga - that box is the bomb! Reminds me of an old fashioned train case.

Nice - that copper penny color piggy is wonderful, your poly clay work is amazing.

rchovey - that is the cutest tail ever!

curb - I love the coffeepot! I had an aunt that kept her "house money" in an old coffee pot, I forgotten about that until I saw this! :)

andrea - that blue box is awesome! It reminds me of looking underwater. It has so much depth. LOVE IT!

PHEW I think I got all posted!! 4 to go?

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Thank you..and the apology was not necessary!!

by my count 3 have not been posted...plus one that rchovey posted,but the recipient has not yet acknowledged.

One is coming from Canada and two people are still on vacation. One ,I was told, was sent by the deadline

Look what I got from Betty Bowen - who is off traveling through Paris and Italy! Isn't he just the cutest?? She made rolled ceramic tiles with different money sayings on them (and then broke them up!)Just adorable, Betty.
Thanks,
Ann
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On the newest pig...that was such a clever and cute idea to use the money sayings on the rolled ceramic tiles. I hope Betty's having a grand time traveling too!

Shirty, a pretty box and a lot of tess. I just love that tile on the top. Lucky you!

Very clever !! cute little piggy!!

What a unique idea! Very nice!!

gibsona, I'm glad the pig arrived in one piece.

I'm also glad my friend cathy's lovely little box arrived at its destination too - she is off on vacation in CA and we'll post her bank when she gets home. She's led our local art camp for about 12 years now, so doing it with the camp tile was a perfect choice for her.

I got back from Italy in the wee hours of the morning and I just dropped in to see if it got to you --- now I'm off to the post office and pick up my bank!!

Betty...did you get a chance to check your mail? I curious to see if you like the gift?

I forgot to post my pretty little piggy over here.
My bank came from Andylynne and I just love it!
First it traveled around the world: (and was NOT damaged at all!)
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And then it went wee-wee-wee all the way home:

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Cindyloo, I have been thinking of posting and asking if you ever got your bank. Now the mystery is solved. What an adorable lil' piggy. Who did it come from?? She did a great job, I haven't ever posted over on the other side, guess I should check out out. I know Maria wanted up to post our banks both places.

I continue to be amazed at all the great ideas coming from one exchange.. so many different interpretations !! and they are all great

What a wonderful testament to andylynne's packing skills! Yet another precious bank made it safely to it's new owner. Personally, I think they are all fabulous! Couldn't name a favorite unless, of course, it was the one **I** received!! LOL!!

Pat

Last thing we heard from bettycbowen was that she was on the way to the post office to pick up her package after returning from vacation.... do you think she's OK? We also haven't heard from her friend Cathy who has also been on vacation. Does anyone have contact with these folks? I'm a bit of a worry-wort.
Betty and Cathy: if you're out there let us know your OK.

I got this email from Cathy:

Maria,
I have just gotten back into town after an extended visit with my family in California. My exchange bank was waiting for me and it was wonderful!
I will post my pictures as soon as I can figure out how! (Sorry, I am VERY computer illiterate.) The exchange was alot of fun. Thank you for organizing the whole deal.
Cathy

I emailed them both asking them to post as soon as they could