Archive for December, 2009

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing you all the best and lots of blessings for 2010

We are soon ready to go outside to welcome the New Year with some fireworks. Hoping to catch a few photos as well  (these above is a couple of years old already…), even though it’s chilly 15 below zero here right now (Celsius). Brrr..

Just a little note to let you know I’m not dead. Thankfully. But the season has been good, busy and filled with joy + a little bit of sickness. So there you have it, the reason I’ve been away for a while…

As usual I’m up way past my bedtime, so I’ll make this short and sweet. I just wanted to share a few news about a designer I CT for: Sweet Tomato Designs. Cara has decided to move her designs to one store only (where that is will be told on January 1st; follow her blog for updates). Because she is leaving her current three stores she’s having a huge sale right now. Click image below to jump to her store at Pretty Scrappy. (But hurry, her store(s) closes tomorrow.)

I made this LO with her last kit I Believe (I also used a template of hers):

Click image for credits.

Hope to be back soon!! I have so many things to share and show. I see that I have to fix the heading image as well – it’s winter around here and it’s snow, snow, snow and freezing cold. Right now 18 degrees Centigrade below zero. Brrr.. I’m bringing a wool blanket to bed tonight! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Dec. 4th of my album, click image for credits and more info).

Since last year I’ve been following Ali’s blog and especially her project December Daily. This year I promised my self to play along and document our Advent and Christmas season, I even made an album in July (!) for it – and you know what? I’m doing it, slowly (but steadily) it is taking form. I’m printing my images at home and almost everyday has a digital element of some kind.

I started the album on the 1st Sunday of Advent and it’s going through to Jan 1st. So by the end of it it’ll contain more than a month of memories. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up during the holidays, at least to put a few words down somewhere so I have a story to go with the photos. The days are busy with work and living, so we’ll see what happens – but so far I have a few things to show from the four first days of December (click images for credits and more info):

I plan on taking photos of the actual album as well, as soon as I can get around to that I’m also getting back to that gingerbread cookie recipe in it’s own post (with translation to English as well and maybe even some US measurements if I can manage ).

A few things from TODAY:

1. got to bed to late
2. but managed to get out of bed in time
3. fought computer issues at work
4. really frustrated about that – hoping everything runs smoothly tomorrow
5. had an advent/christmas devotion at a nursing home
6. MT came by and we both went home for some dinner
7. and some muffins making
8. we’ve decided that muffins makes as good a christmas cookies as any
9. and MT loved to have a taste before we put them in the freezer
10. I loved the tasting as well…
11. we are reading Julemysteriet by Jostein Gaarder
12. finally MT is old enough to understand most of the story
13. and he loves it
14. talked to my mom
15. and made a blog post
16. hoping to get to bead early (earlier….) – already missed that one, but now this is going to publish
17. must make the card to go in the advent calendar first, though

See you around. Have a sweet Advent

A busy start to the Advent season. But a GOOD start.

I’ve been creating a few project over the last days. I’ve loved it, but my kitchen is messy and my laundry pile is high – so I guess I’d better spend the day taking care of a few things here at home (as well as preparing the many services with children and youths leading up to Christmas). My life is never boring and always filled with things to take care off. But sometimes (like now) I take time to sit down with a coffee and blog a little It’s nice to put a few words out there and it helps me documenting my days – and thoughts – as well.

A few weeks ago I saw Stacy Julian’s idea for a simple, but cute,  advent calendar (look down for the bonus project). I wanted to make my own and told my mom to bring my Grandma’s sewing machine so I could have a go on it. I decided to make a few gifts as well, so I started with those. It was so fun bringing out my Grandma’s old Singer and it’s amazing it still works like a charm. I’m not as good a sewer (by any means) as her, but this project is pretty forgiving when it comes to messing it up. It kind of adds interest. Anyhow, here is my go with the gift projects:

When I finished these I took some time to stitch together a few for my self, but I haven’t gotten around to finish more than one each day (until today, but it’s still a work in progress..). On the back I’ve made a pocket to hold a few cards with 1) the Christmas story 2) Today’s things to do. MT finds this each morning and reads what the cards say, first the story part and then the other with the things to do. So far he’s liked it a lot and he hasn’t even complained once about not getting a gift calendar like he got last year. I’m so glad about that since I felt all the gifts (even though some pretty small) took too much away from the season and the joy of the gifts on Christmas Eve itself. I plan on using this calendar each year – only changing the cards on the back – I like it and it’s also easy to bring along if we are going places in December.

I’ve also started my version of December Daily inspired by Ali Edwards. I’ve made a few new beginner mistakes (like making way to complicated pages – so next year there will be no snowflakes; even though they are seriously cute, but the decorating is a bit too…though). And since I print from home it’s a good idea to have page sizes that have easily room for a 8×8 or 11×8,5 or a 11×5 or … (you get the idea). Next year!!

I started the album on November 29th as in the first Sunday of Advent. So far I’ve finished through December 3rd and are going hybrid on this project. I’ve never been a paper scrapper, so this is a lot of new stuff for me – but I’m starting to get the hang of it. And it’s nothing like looking thought my album and feeling good about all the stuff captured from each day. Now I’ll never forget how this season felt. I’m running out of time right now, but I’ll make a post with the digital elements as soon as possible – maybe I even can get around to do a bit of photo-shot of the album as well?!

I love this season, but I wish for an extra hour now and then. And for documenting reasons here are few things from TODAY:

1. it’s snowing
2. the snow is wet
3. making the roads all slippery
4. the tractor haven’t been her shoveling the snow away yet (he came at 3 pm)
5. I almost did not come up to the house again after driving MT to school this morning
6. I need to order new winter tires soon
7. there is a man working in the cellar
8. he’s making a lot of noise
9. but it’s good he’s doing this job, makes the cellar (and the house) free of house fungus
10. I’m now going to clean out all the milk cartons on my counter before anyone comes to count them (and then figure out how long they have stood there….)
11. I haven’t been sick after taking the swine flue vaccine last Friday (neither has MT), but my arm is sore and I miss sleeping on my left side…
12. then I only have to wait for the photos to upload and then this post is published
13. sadly that took all day
14. I’m running behind on my uploading habits
15. my bed is calling, I’m trying to not listen…. as also is a habit of mine
16. I didn’t cross everything out of my list today
17. but I did a few
18. thanks for reading

See you around!