Flower Power!

In spite of having a flu bug over the past few days, I was inspired to make something bold and bright to help me think of warm spring temperatures rather than the FREEZING temps we are experiencing in Europe. My heart goes out to all those who are not as fortunate to have warm houses and clothes to protect them in these extreme weather conditions.

I've been wanting to make myself a bag for some time now but never got around to designing it. As I was cleaning out a few things in my office, I found a pattern for a pleated purse that I had printed from the internet ages ago (and unfortunately it doesn't have the link on it so I can't say who to thank for this cute little bag....). I had some bright flower fabric purchased  from IKEA originally to make some pillows for spring and thought it would make a great bold flower bag for spring and summer (plus it has teal in it which as I said in my last post is my favorite color right now!).

So, here's my Flower Power bag ready to be worn with something bright red :-)!

Miss A was also asking for a small zipper bag that she can use for her sewing stuff and all the yarn braids she has been making. Her bag is shown in the photo below - we are both Flower Power girls!

See you again soon!

Jx

Gift card set

I would like to share with you a gift card set that I was asked to make for a friend. She provided the color scheme of brown and blue and I took creative liberty to do the rest! I love the color teal and have been using it in quite a few of my recent cards and tags. This being the case, I had to combine it with brown to make the set of gift cards and tags below. All fit nicely into a paper case wrapped up with a ribbon.

Card set cover

I love this flower paper!!!

Inside of pouch - tags and envelopes on left, cards on right

4 cards with different occasions on them

I hope this provides you with some inspiration today!
Jx

A fresh start

Snowy hydrangeas in Thalwil, Switzerland

February is a fresh start for me. I turned in all of my work equipment (computer, blackberry, badge...) on January 31st after a very challenging year of trying to manage my "part-time come full-time" job, my family and my home...without much success. I am amazed by some Moms who seem to be able to manage work, family and home and to really excel at it. I thought I was one of them until I figured out that I couldn't turn work off upon leaving the office. I would work evenings after the kids went to bed, would wake up before dawn thinking of things that really didn't matter in the scheme of things and had a tendency to be less patient with my kids.  This was not what I envisioned when taking on the job, and I am happy to be finished after quite a long winding down period.

I have to admit, though, that these past couple of days have been tougher than I thought. I thought I would jump right into all those projects I have in my head , sewing machine out, paper and stamps covering my desk and actual projects started. In actuality, I have been wondering around in a bit of a daze trying to find myself in this new world of not checking the blackberry throughout the day, not answering phone calls for work and trying not to think about what I would be doing if I were in the office... Guess it will take a bit of time for adjustment!

I look forward to this fresh start amidst the snow and cold in Switzerland. A renewal of friendships that sort of fell away due to lack of time. Time to reflect on what I want to achieve with my new "work". Activities and time with my kids to show them how much I love them and want them to succeed in all they do. It is all waiting for me...and I look forward to finding out what is in store for me in this next phase of my life.

Happy weekend!
Jx

A little something warm for little hands

I wanted to share something I found and embellished for some of our good friends in Chicago. Little Miss M has a birthday coming soon and I found a great little gift in Zurich to send her. Of course, I had to get coordinating ones for her big brother and new baby sister too :-) because it just wouldn't be fair for only one of them to have this. Chicago can be brutally cold in the winter and what better than to have a little hand warmer to keep in their pocket! They have little hot water bottles inside each one with a small metal tag to "click" to start the strange process to warm the water. I have no idea if they will really work, but they sure look cute, especially with the little hearts on them for Valentine's Day! This is what they looked like after stitching their initials onto the heart so the kids know whose is whose.
 

And here they are in their boxes with a handmade tag for each one. They were wrapped up with some other birthday goodies and shipped out today - and if I am lucky, they will arrive EARLY. This is something absolutely shocking given my recent track record (ummm...last minute email wishes or perhaps an email a week or two late.....)! The year is starting off on a good note!



Happy Monday!

Jx

Flavored sugars - something sweet for the new year

Happy New Year everyone! It is hard to believe that another year has passed in what seems to be the blink of an eye... I hope it has started off well for you!

With the new year comes new projects...and a lot more time!!! One of my goals (or resolutions if you want to call it that) this year is to give more handmade gifts to my friends and family. I love receiving unique little gifts that someone has handmade and think it is a great way to tell someone how special they are. I received a book last Christmas called "Selbst gemacht & mitgebracht" or "handmade & brought" if you translate directly to English. It has all kinds of tasty things you can make and give as gifts for dinner parties, housewarming parties, birthdays, etc. I've been wanting to make things from it for ages but just haven't had the time to do so - until now!

My friend had a birthday this week and she loves to bake and decorate, so I made her the vanilla and citrus sugars and put them in little jars with ribbon and a hand-stamped tag to go around it. The sugars were SO simple to make (especially the vanilla sugar) - the kids loved to help and enjoyed tasting and smelling the sugar afterwards.

Here's the finished product along with the other goodies I put in the gift bag:

Flavored sugars, patterned cupcake papers and a cupcake ornament

 Here are the recipes for the sugars if you want to try it for yourself!

Citrus Sugar

500 grams white sugar
peels from 3 oranges and 2 lemons

Peel the oranges and lemons being careful not to get too much of the white pithy part. Let air dry for a few days or if you are impatient like me, put on a baking tray and bake on low heat (50 degrees C/125 degrees F) for a couple of hours or until peel is hard to the touch. Place peel in food processor and grind until finely chopped. Stir into sugar. This makes a very pretty colored sugar and can be used to flavor teas, baked goods or sprinkled on cakes or cookies.

Vanilla Sugar

500 grams white sugar
2 vanilla pods

Cut open vanilla pods and scrape seeds into sugar. Mix thoroughly. Let pods air dry for 1-2 days and then add to sugar mixture to add more flavor. You could also process the mixture with the dry pods in a food processor so it is more of a fine powder but I left mine as is and use the pods to infuse more flavor into the sugar in a ziplock bag. Mr Z loved this sugar sprinkled on some frothy milk. You could also use it to flavor tea, coffee and baked goods.

Both sugars should last for a couple of months at room temperature.

See you again soon :-)!
Jx

My new favorite book...

Constance, Germany is a cute little town right on the border of Germany and Switzerland and only a little over an hour from where we live. I had driven through it but never really stopped to check it out, in spite of living in Zurich for more than 12 years now. Well, the kids and I finally went when they were out of school in October for their Fall break. The main mission of the trip was to visit the SeaLife acquarium and check out the mall that is right next door as most things are much cheaper in Germany than in Switzerland, especially with the strong Swiss franc. The acquarium was nice - a bit small and crowded but with enough sea life to entertain the kids for an hour, but our favorite part of the trip was the bookstore in the mall. We spent at least over an hour roaming around, sitting in the comfy chairs looking at books and making our Christmas "wish lists".  I found a beautiful book by Sania Pell called The Homemade Home (in German: Lieblings Deko). It has some amazing projects that are right up my alley. And as one might guess, I just happened to stumble across her blog last week when I had a few spare minutes to check out some of my other favorite blogs.  


Check it out if you need some creative ideas for the holidays and home. These air dry clay tags are top on my list :-) - I mean how cute are they!!! Any any stamp will do (and I have plenty to choose from...)!


Have a great weekend!
Jx

Our baby's growing up....

 How is it that time flies by at mock speed these days? Could it be because we are so busy with all the little things that don't really matter in life - like checking the blackberry to see if any "urgent" emails for work have come in during the past 5 minutes - that makes us practically miss the things that really do matter, like sitting with the kids and listening to how their day was (and I mean, really listening without all the noise & distractions going on in your head)? Our baby started kindergarten in August and, I'll tell you something, it is like she turned into a different child overnight (including growing about 2 inches in what seemed like a week...). The chubby little baby has grown into a beautiful little girl in the blink of an eye and it makes me sad and happy at the same time.  I'm so happy that I will be able to watch her continue to blossom in the months and years to come all the while having a bit less "noise" in the background come December when I will be leaving my job to stay home and take in the things that matter in my life. Here's a little book to remember our little Miss Sunshine. Hope you enjoy it.
Jx

This free scrapbook generated with Smilebox