Merry Christmas

I just want to wish a very Merry Christmas to everyone out there. I hope your day is filled with peace, and joy. Enjoy your day with your family and friends. We are hosting lunch with all of our friends today at 2. We woke up this morning and did a web cam Christmas with my husband who is currently in Spain for work. That's the military for ya! Many missed holidays, birthdays, anniversaries but what can you do. We made the best of it and I'm just happy he was able to watch the kids open their gifts. Merry Christmas........

Just Because

I'm feeling so good right now house is clean, laundry is drying, and dinner is already planned and it's only 9:01am! I'm even showered!! I'm at least showered because I'm leaving in a bit to volunteer in my son's classroom. Anyway I checked out Julee's Mojo challenge and actually had it done last night however I really dislike taking picture's at night. I took the picture this morning and it's super dark background cause it's sitting on my black craft table. Oh well...I used Julee's Mojo64 sketch challenge and incorporated Color Throwdown's CTD22 color challenge. I used Basic Black, Regal Rose, & Certainly Celery. I keep trying to use up this background paper because I have bits and pieces in my scrap drawer and wouldn't you know this fit perfect for the card! I used the sentiment "just because" because I love giving. Even if it's not your birthday. This is the time of year people should really give back to the community or their friends who help them a lot. I have a big heart with a small pocket book so I can't always afford to get gifts but I love to make a stack of cards or alter some 3-d item to lift a friends spirits if they are down and out. I hope you all are able to relax during these next few weeks before Christmas arrives.

Manuel's Christmas tree

Manuel's teacher sent home a Christmas tree kit which included some green and blue construction paper. They had to make a tree out of the green paper and glue it to the blue paper. Then use whatever supplies you have at home to decorate it. Of course he wants to use my stamp supplies. I asked him to look at my punches to see what we could use for ornaments and he picked the 1/2 inch circle punch. I put glue dots where he pointed on the tree he wanted them and he stuck them on. He wanted to draw lights he drew three and gave up. He wanted snow flakes so he used some Whisper White craft ink and stamped away. Then he saw the snowman and Santa Claus stamps sitting on my desk and asked to stamp one on each side. He said "mom can we use some of that (stickles) for the sparkly stuff like on our tree?" He was referring to the garland on the tree. However I controlled the stickles I can't waste stickles. :) After all was said and done the next morning after everything dried he asked to take a picture so we could email it to his dad who is away for work. He wanted to show dad what a cool job he did on his tree.

Luzern, Switzerland

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day! It's my favorite holiday hands down. It's a celebration of reflecting back on your year and seeing how God has blessed you in your life. I love the way it brings together friends and family to eat a lot of food and enjoy each other's company.
My son Luis and I went to Luzern, Switzerland yesterday. We had a fantastic time. I love being able to stroll the streets in Europe. Learning about the history and visiting lots of churches. The architectural detail in churches are amazing in Europe. I just wanted to share a few photos of our Luzern trip.

Look at those beautiful Swiss Alps in the background!

Here I am on the Mill Bridge...

My son Luis and I are on the street in downtown Luzern close to the shopping district.

Here is a picture of the Jesuit Church of Luzern on the inside. It was absolutely amazing.
That's all I have for today. We're spending the rest of the day just in our pj's because we all have colds coming on. We took a long nap this afternoon and now I'm ready to check out some blogs and maybe make a few cards to share tomorrow.
Everyone enjoy their Sunday!

Simple Snowflake

Hey everyone! This week is so busy!! I'm sure it is for everyone out there. I've been working on more Christmas cards. Luckily I'm almost finished. I anticipate being finished by Sunday so they can be in the mail by Monday! I just wanted to make a very simple Christmas card so that I won't be spending my entire free time in my stamp room. My husband is away in another country for the next few months for work so I'm playing single mom and must keep the kids busy. I love the way this card turned out. It's so simple and sparkly. I debated about sponging white ink all around the edges but I really like the simplicity of the way it is. I used the Snowflake Additions stamp set by Papertrey ink. Cute cute set by the way! I embossed the sentiment "the world is your" in winter white embossing powder. I'm keeping it short because I've got 12 loaves of Pumpkin bread to make today. Each one of my close friends is getting a loaf for Thanksgiving...so I need to start baking. I hope each one of you have a very blessed Thanksgiving.

Happy Turkey Day

I had time today to participate in Julee's Mojo Monday challenge. The kids are off of school today and tomorrow for parent teacher conferences so I'm hoping to get a lot of stamping time in. Mojo Monday #60 is a super cute sketch! I'll be using this sketch pretty often I think. These are my Thanksgiving cards for this year. I better get them out soon. I think it takes about 2 weeks for regular cards to get to the states from here. Oh well they might be a little late but it's the thought that counts right? I used Turkey Day from Sweet N Sassy stamps. I'll have to come back later with supplies used.

Late Halloween post

Once again life has become super busy with this household. I just wanted to post a super late picture of a few of the Halloween jars I made for neighbors and friends. I went to all the thrift stores on the three bases around and picked up jars or canisters whenever I saw one that I could decorate and put candy in. I think these two came out pretty cute they went to two of my neighbors. The german kids loved them!

I've Been Tagged

I've not kept up with my blog I noticed it's been about once a week. Here I thought once both kids were in school I'd be able to blog all day long or work on projects so I could post them to my blog. YEAH RIGHT! lol I think I'm living in a dream world. I try to post at least once a week though. I was reading through my comments on a recent post and see that Angi over at Making Mayhem tagged me. So here are the rules and 6 random things about me:

Rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2.Write six random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.

6 random things about me

1) I am seriously having homesickness this last week. I just want to take a visit back to the states soooooooo bad. I miss all the scrapbook stores, and Target, and eating out. I miss the Target dollar spots, and dollar trees. You can find so much cool stuff to alter from those two places.


2) I wish I could be Martha Stewart ok not her literally but I want to be so talented like her. I love to pamper my friends and family with crafts, and baked goods!


3) I love quilts! Although you may already know that if you read my blog often. I'm still trying to find someone here in Germany to teach me.


4) I love to find great deals at thrift shops. I miss the thrift shops in the states.


5) I am a procrastinator! HUGE but you wouldn't know that if you knew me. I find it so much better to work under pressure. It's a adrenaline rush that I do enjoy even if I'm complaining about why I procrastinate. Is that weird or what?


6) I am a SHOPPER! I'm always doing online window shopping and when I find a good deal I will buy it.




I'm tagging:

Carmen

Joy

Jami

Suzy

Jeneane

Ally

Bella Birthday Wishes

This Cuppacakeabella stamp from Stamping Bella is my favorite! I had to put it to use because I've had this stamp for a few weeks now and just did not ink it up yet. I used stickles on the dots on her dress and on some of the lines in the cupcake liner. I paper pieced the liner from the same paper I used in the strip on the card. Love this card!

Cupcake help

I found this cute sentiment from the Arts & Crafts center on base and had to come home and make a card with it! The sentiment is by Inkadinkadoo. My friend Amy and I have been swapping cards monthly and this month's theme she chose cupcakes! So Ms. Amy if you're checking my blog this is one of the three cards I'll be sending to you. Hope you like it girly! I used the cupcake image from Crazy For Cupcakes by Stampin' Up!

I Want to Win This Quilt!

This post in completly non stamping related. I have two other loves besides stamping. I know shocker! I love reading quilt blogs and I love all the home decor blogs out there as well. But I simply LOVE quilts. Only problem is I don't know how to make them. I rely on my Aunt from Minnesota to make me one every once in a while. I love the detail that goes into quilting. I need to learn how to quilt soon! Elizabeth at the Pigtails & Snails blog made this super cute quilt and she's giving it away! I hope to win that quilt! It's adorable!! You can enter as well just by clicking on her blog name and entering your post. Good luck!

Happy 5th Birthday Manuel!

Last Friday Oct 10th was my son's 5th birthday. My husband and I went to have lunch with him at school and we passed out cupcakes to his classmates. I can't believe he's 5 already. It seems like just yesterday we had him. It sounds cliche I know but seriously where does the time go? He's such a momma's boy too. When he was smaller and I carried him everywhere he always twirled my hair around his fingers. To this day that's his favorite thing to do is to sit in my lap or when reading books at bedtime he loves to twirl my hair. I'm sure as he gets older that will stop and will make me sad. I just don't want them to grow up so fast! Happy Birthday baby!

My New (old) craft table

I used to use a writing desk as my craft table but it just wasn't big enough. I had been searching and searching the Ramsteinyardsales.com website for a old farmers kitchen table. I wanted something that I could sand and repaint to give it my own flair. Well this lady was selling a old kitchen table and it was exactly what i was looking for. It came with 4 ugly chairs and the table for $50! What a deal it was!! Those I will have to recover but I'm not sure how to do that so I'll have to find someone who might know to help me.


Here is what it looked like when I bought it and I had started to strip the paint.


Here is what it looks like after. I painted it black to go with my decor in the room. I really love the way it turned out and I think I've found a new hobby that I'd enjoy doing.

I'm always on the look out for a piece of furniture that I can make my own. It's kind of hard here in Germany though because on the economy the thrift stores aren't so cheap once the Euro is coverted into dollars.

Thanks for taking a peek at my room!

My Craft space

I've been wanting to share for a while now pics of my little crafting space but it was never clean enough to take a pic and also I had the hardest time figuring out how to put text under each picture. Meli from The Glitter Goddess blog helped me figure out how to do that so here I am ready to post about my room. My choice of room color's is black and white. I will not be painting my walls because we are only stationed here for 3 years and I just don't feel up to painting it back when we are done. If I wanted to I'd probably paint it a sage green color to set off the black and white.


I purchased the letters from Hobby Lobby before leaving the states. I covered them using some black and white paper I bought online. It sits above the entrance to my living room.


This little corner of my room is part of my storage. I bought the black bars at Ikea to hold my punches. The 4 drawer chest I bought at Hobby Lobby each one holds different things. The 3 hanging cloth shelf on the wall I purchased at Ikea as well and it holds my nestabilities, cuttlebug items, my mini sewing machine and too much stuff to list!


Here is my Longaberger shelf which holds some of my embellishments. I don't have much storage space in the room so a lot of my other embellishments including all my stamps are in the hallway only a few feet away from my craft room. The hallway has built in shelves.


This is the wonderful window that was built by the German owners years and years ago. I love it because of the light it lets into the room.


Here is my double door windows that lets in a TON of light. I love these doors. They both open so when it's beautiful outside I am able to open them wide open and let in all the fresh air.

Thanksgiving Dinner invite

Just a quick post tonight. It's 11pm here and I told myself I'd be in bed by midnight. I need to get some sleep I have a bunch of errands to do tomorrow that will probably take up my entire day unfortunately. These are my Thanksgiving Dinner invites to 5 of our friends we're having over for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'll come back tomorrow to add in details.

Alexis Name Frame

A few months ago I went to a babyshower and as part of my gift I made the baby a name frame for her bedroom. All the women who were there (mainly non crafters) went bonkers over the name frame. At the baby shower I had several women come up to me and ask if I would make them and sell them. Let me tell you it has really taken off! I'm not sure if it's because we are in Germany and these are not so popular here but I've been getting orders left and right. I'm down to three frames though. YIKES! I'm waiting on a box of frames to come from a friend. She hunts down all the Wal-Mart stores and buys the frames that I need. I'm probably going to have to look at various stores around here to see if I can find something similar. However it won't be as cheap so I'll have to raise my prices. The dollar is bad here in Europe. The last few days the dollar has gone up. But at one point it was $1.71 for every Euro. Now it's at $1.39 for 1 Euro that is today's rate. It's fluctuates daily. So I just wanted to share a picture of the name frame I did as my first order for Alexis. Her mother absolutely LOVED it. The picture doesn't do it justice. The colors are more bold in real life.

Precious Friend Boxy-bag

Just a quick post today because I have a project I want to complete before the kids get home in a couple hours. Have you seen the adorable instructions that Jodylynn over at Confessions of a Ribbon Addict has posted for this boxy bag? It is super easy to make. I hope you give it a shot!! I haven't put anything in my box yet. My friend that I'm going to give it to is in love with these candies from a local German store so I need to go get some and package it up and give it to her. Thanks for looking!

Bella Buttons & Bows challenge

While blog hopping yesterday I came across Leanne's Mile High Stamp & Scrap blog. She posted a challenge for us to play in using a Bella image, bows, and at least 5 buttons. Of course I had to participate. This card took me 24 hours to finish because I kept coming back to it. I kept changing things around. I finally ended up making a 5.25 X 5.25 card because the Partygirlabella image was so large. I used 5 buttons, the large Pepe Jeans button has another flower button on top. I thread ribbon through both and tied a knot. I used the heart from A to Z Accents from Stampin' Up! I stamped it in Versamark ink and used it as a background on the So Saffron cardstock.

supplies: Partygirlabella, A to Z Accents stamp sets, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Certainly Celery & Regal Rose cardstock, buttons, Stampin' Write markers in Bordering Blue, So Saffron, and Certaily Celery, ribbon, corner punch

SFYTT

I completely forgot about card making day yesterday! What a shocker! Actually we were busy all day anyway so I wouldn't have had time to make anything. I spent my Sunday blog hopping and couldn't believe all the challenges for card making day and decided to partcipate in a few. I check on Suzy's blog often Inky Rubber. I LOVE the cards she makes using Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT). I've always checked Jen's blog out but never participated. Here is my first card using her sketch challenge for card making day. I used a double sided piece of cardstock by Making Memories Noteworthy collection called Audrey Pink Floral. I HEART this cardstock and unfortunately I only bought 1 piece while at the craft center on base. I went back yesterday and there was NONE left. Of course because it's soooooo pretty! I love the flowers on one side and the polka dots on the other. I wanted to distress the card so I sponged all pieces with Stampin' Up! ink pad in Creamy Caramel. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Bloomin' with Garden Riley

I should totally be meal planning for the next two weeks & finishing up my resume right now but I'm so tired of planning meals that I had to find something to distract me. What a better way to get sidetracked than to post something on my blog? I haven't done a Mojo Monday challenge in a while so I did Julee's sketch this week. Isn't Garden Riley sooooo cute? I participated in a Riley image swap recently and got this image in the swap. I'm definitely going to have to start buying some more Riley's. I love the way this card turned out and my coloring isn' so bad either. I really can't get the coloring down but I think I did pretty good this time. I used some paper I bought recently by Making Memories it's called Garden Party the green plaid paper is called Garden Party Stripe, and the flower paper is called Garden Party Flowers.

supplies: Pretty In Pink, Chocoalte Chip & Whisper White cardstock, Making Memories Garden Party scrapbok paper, Staz-On black ink, Taylor Tots, Garden Riley stamp, ticket corner punch, pop dots