Meet a special lady with a gift

And no, I am not talking about myself.
If you followed this blog, you might know that I lost two of my furkids last year, Merlin and Gandalf.
In memory of Merlin I wrote this post to show the beautiful portrait pendant a dear friend had made for me. As a matter of fact I am looking at it right now.
The chance to get a very special memory of Gandalf came when one of my artisan friends asked me about my wire crochet pig. We decided to trade.
Her part of the trade arrived in the mail today. Although I had seen a picture of it beforehand, the actual item took my breath.

Meet Shannon Ivins of Pigatopia. I hope she won't mind that I mostly stole her own words from her ArtFire bio.

"I make artwork to help rescued animals ranging from Pot Bellied Pigs to cats and dogs, even chickens. I have 13 pigs, 8 dogs and one cat all of which are rescues. Some their families no longer wanted, a couple were abandoned after years of abuse, others had no choice but to find a home due to health issues. The money generated from the sales of my items is to pay vet bills, shelter and food for animals that have been abused and rescued. I have made crafts and art as far back as I can remember. Over the years I have been told that I am an artist. I decided to use that talent to help those who cannot help themselves. I work in gardening and I use my art to relieve the stresses of everyday life. I hope you enjoy looking at my work as much as everyone else and hope you have a great day."

Her artwork goes from portrait pencil sketches to watercolor pictures, from paper mache to ornaments with clay, from glass etchings to wood burn items and I haven't even mentioned her dark art yet!
I could post so many pictures from her shops here, but I would really prefer for you to go over there and look for yourself, so you can see the wide variety instead of only a few choices.

But maybe you are curious to see what I got?
I'll show you a photo of Gandalf first. Can you see his crooked smile? The upper fang had been pulled on that side and he always got his lip caught under the lower fang. Here you can also see well that he had only one eye, the other one had to be removed after an infection he got when he was a baby on a farm before he was rescued.



Now look at this "book". Shannon did a wood burn portrait of Gandalf on it. Isn't it amazing how she caught the little smirk and his face, the fur and the impressive fluffy tail? I can't stop looking at it. And being a librarian I of course love that it's a book.



The book also has a secret, though. It's not merely a decoration, but it has a drawer inside! Is that cool or what?



Shannon, as a matter of fact I should say much more, but here let me just say that this is a very special piece to me and now I can only hope even more that you will like my part of the trade, too.
Words can't tell how grateful I am. Thanks!