Ottawa (July 31/06) - For a few Northern artists, the past few weeks have been beyond belief.

"It was just out of this world," said artist and Nunavut Arctic College instructor Beth Biggs.

Earlier this month, Biggs and fellow Iqaluit artists Pootoogook Qiatsuk, Therese Ukaliannuk and Okpik Pitseolak followed their creation, the Clarkson Cup, to Ottawa, where it was presented to the national women's hockey team in a lavish Toronto ceremony.

"There were 700 people at the dinner," said Biggs. "No one knew that the cup was going to be presented, it was a surprise. We walked in a procession, with an RCMP officer holding the cup."

The procession also included Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson and former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson.

"The lights were going, there was music... It was just amazing," said Biggs.

While the fate of the cup is still up the in air, Biggs was excited about what the future could hold.

"The idea that this might become an international challenge cup... I get goosebumps all over my body whenever I think about it," she said.

Above and beyond the glitz and glamour of the event, this was the first chance Biggs and the other artists had to view the silver cup in its entirety, which went through several assembly processes around the country.

Pictures of the trophy made tnational news, but Biggs prefers to focus on the fun experiences she and the artists had on their trip, which included visits to Clarkson's home and meeting Wayne Gretzky.

"You can just imagine it was overwhelming," Biggs said with a laugh.

The celebration was a last hurrah of sorts for Biggs, who is embarking on a new career in Fredericton, N.B., after 10 years in the North.

"I have such great memories of the North, but I'm very excited to move on," she said.

Many of these memories involve Qiatsuk, Ukaliannuk and Pitseolak, she said, and the bond that has built up between them over the years.

"We sat there together in Wayne Gretzky's restaurant," she said. "I looked and said, 'you know 10 years ago when we met, could you ever imagine that we would be sitting together in Toronto and that this would be happening?'"

"It's very amazing, I'd say a bit like a fairy tale."