Sun & Mountains Messenger Bag

I'm excited to show you a bag that has been calling my name for the past 3 months, saying "Why won't you finish me????? I'm lonely over here in your messy corner of the world! I want someone to USE me!!!!!"

A friend special ordered this bag in December and I finally found some time over the weekend to put some tender loving care into finishing it. I can't wait for my friend to see it :-)!

Messenger bag - approx. size 15"w x 13"h

Hand-embroidered on/around the flap

This sun makes me smile!

Inside pocket with my label (it also has a zipper pocket on the other side) -
for those of you who don't know, Blume means "flower" in German :-)

Hopefully I will find some time to make some spring & summer bags in the near future. I'm in the mood for a bright, colorful bag to carry around Zurich this summer!

have a great week!
Jx

A lovely little find

I actually have a few minutes to check out some of my favorite blogs - a rarity since I am now working 60-80% in a "real" job again...sigh! In my bliss, I found this lovely little find on Decor8.  Lisa Stickley's spring collection totally caught my eye for the: 1) beautiful spring colors and 2) adorable bags (you know how I love, love, love bags), aprons and spring collection of cups, plates and knick-knacks that I really don't need but would LOVE to have!  She even has free shipping through March 16th for anyone who is interested!!!!

Happy weekend to you all!

Jx

Chocolates and cheese

Miss A with her cupcake

Birthday cupcakes with Washi tape flags

Chocolate and cheese ... who can resist these two things??? I feel for those people out there who have allergies to milk and cannot enjoy the luscious flavor of chocolate (dark, being my flavor of choice) or the variety of cheeses available in Switzerland.  We love chocolate and had a great opportunity this week to enjoy it multiple times - birthday celebration early in the week and a visit to tour a chocolate factory on the weekend. Miss A helped me make the best ever chocolate cupcakes for my birthday on Monday. I absolutely LOVE Wacky Cake which has no eggs and can be mixed up in the dish/pan you want to make it in. So easy and honestly one of the moistest cakes I have ever had. For the frosting on the cupcakes above, I just melted some dark chocolate and added a couple spoons of sour cream and a little powdered sugar - deeeeeeelicious!

On to our next chocolate expedition... Mr Z and his friends started a book club in the Fall and read several of the Roald Dahl books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The kids read the book, watched both versions of the movie and, of course, had to tour a real chocolate factory at the end of the session! We drove to the French region of Switzerland to a little town named Broc to visit the Callier chocolate factory (a branch of Nestlé). Kids had a fabulous time and by the end of the tour, had eaten enough chocolate to last for a month :-)! Here are a few photos of the tour:

The Golden Tickets!

Duh?!?! All the time!!!!

Mr Z stuffed full of chocolate - looks a bit like the squirrels that Veruca Salt wants in the movie!

Gruyére cheese is one of the most famous cheeses in Switzerland and is used in everything from fondue to quiche to slicing and eating plain with bread for dinner. The Callier chocolate factory was only about 10 minutes from the town of Gruyére, a gorgeous old village that sits on top of a hill surrounded by incredible mountains. So, of course, we had to stop and check it out! The day was beautiful and the kids enjoyed running around the open cobblestone streets (no cars allowed!). Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to eat there as we had 5 rowdy kids, 4 adults and only a few restaurants to choose from who could not (or would not) want us partaking in their overpriced cuisine! However, we can now say we've "been there, done that" and have some great photos of the day. Here are a few of Gruyére:

 

Have a great week!  I'll see you again soon!

Jx



Love Notes...completed project!

So on Friday, you saw a little sneak peak at what I was planning for V-day. Red, pink and linen with all the trimmings :-)! Now you can see the completed project!

 Felt pouch embellished with trims and hand stitching

 Inside: tags, mini cards and coordinating envelopes

 Adorable heart tags - perfect for any gift!

 A few of the cards. There are 5 total (including my favorite

foldout heart below)

Stay posted for more V-day ideas in the next couple of weeks!
Jx

ART Therapy with friends

Do you ever feel like you are drowning in a sea of commitments and you can't seem to come up for air? Like when everyone in your family is demanding your time - "MOOOMMY, can you help me? I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I'm bored. I want to go here or there. I want... I wannt... I waannnnnt..." and "Why haven't you done this yet? What have you been doing all day????"   I defintitely find myself in these dark waters from time to time. It weighs you down like a rock tied around your waste.

But do you know what I do when things start going black?  I forget the rest of the world for a few hours and escape to ART. How it calms me when I am all tangled up inside. Paper... ink... stamps... ribbon... thread... fabric... - all are sooooo therapeutic. They allow me to release the stress of the day and create something beautiful, even if it is only beautiful to me. I had an ART therapy session today with some friends who also needed a bit of artful release. We made these cute little felt pouches and mini note cards and tags to go inside. All the things I love combined into one cute package. What more could a girl ask for?! Here are a few photos of our creations.

 Green & Pink flowers and little red hearts...

 Felt pouch that measures approx. 4" w x 4.5" h

 Inside pockets are about 4" apart

Stamping all the goodies inside the pouches!



See you again soon!
Jx

Sneak Peak: Love Notes

With Valentine's Day only a few weeks away and a little inspiration from Stampin Up!'s new Occasions Mini Catalog, I thought it would be fun to make some Love Notes and tags that are packaged in pretty little felt pouches for some of my friends. Don't you just love the dainty flower ribbon? Can't wait to get started sewing and stamping!
More on this project coming soon!

Happy Friday!

Drawing with Misty Mawn

I'm taking an on-line class with Misty Mawn and this week is drawing. Lines, shading, doodles, portraits, whatever suits your fancy! It has been so much fun to pick up a pencil again. As a kid, I got a book from my Grandma on "how to draw animals". It was the greatest thing in the world, along with the tracing paper she gave me to trace the animals first to help get the feel of the proportions. Once I got pretty good at the tracing part, I moved onto drawing them from the pictures. Dogs were my favorite thing to draw, especially cute little golden retrievers or lab puppies off the covers of various magazines laying around the house. I honestly haven't sat down to just draw for a VERY LONG TIME. Here are a couple of the things I've drawn this week. Still have the assignment to do a self-portrait but not sure if that will happen or not....could be scary!

This is supposed to be Miss A, but she looks about 5 years older than she really is... oh well! Had fun drawing her :-)!

One assignment is to pick one item and draw it, paint it or incorporate it into the assignments every day of the 5 week class. I chose my favorite coffee/tea cup. Here's a couple different drawings of it as well as an apple from memory (something much different than a real apple!).

Have a great weekend!
Jx