The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

I'm IN!!!! This swap is through the Do What You Love blog that I follow. I've never done anything like this before but thought it would be something fun for the summer. I mean, really, what could be more fun than combining my love of paper, fabric and stitching to create a "Discover" themed postcard to swap with someone else in this great world of ours??? YEAH!!!

If you are also interested in doing something creative this summer, you can register via this link.

Hope you are having fun so far this summer! My kiddies had their last day of school today, so let the fun begin!!!

J xx

Birds and butterflies

Hello!!!!  I hope you are enjoying the summer so far! Our kiddies still have two weeks of school left so we haven't "officially" started summer yet here in Zurich, but we have been enjoying the sunshine and warm temps that finally arrived after my last post! We celebrated Miss A's birthday earlier this month and will celebrate Mr Z's birthday tomorrow. He hits double digits this year and this fact really makes me feel old, as well as feel like time is shooting past me at warp speed... Has anyone out there figured out how to slow it down yet???? Please pass this wisdom on to me if you have!

I don't know about you, but I am in love with most things with birds (bird houses, bird cages, etc...) and/or butterflies on them. I simply can't get enough, especially the bird theme. I went into Zurich yesterday to check out some of the half year sales (yes, they generally only have sales twice a year unlike twice a week in the US!) and, of course, found two things NOT ON SALE but that I had to get - a bird pillow for my bed and a pillow case with little bird houses all over it (for what, I am not yet sure but thinking it would make an adorable little bag of some sort!). So, going along with the birds and butterflies theme, I want to share a couple things I have been stamping and sewing over the past couple of weeks. 

Birdie tote and my new pillow :-) - the flower is a pin so it can be removed to put on something else or in your hair

Butterfly appliqué tote - again the flower can be removed

And here's a litte note card set that I made for Mr Z's teacher who is leaving at the end of this year (we will miss her!!!). I wrapped the cards in some sheer fabric and just love the softness that it gives to the set. 

Stamped notecards and coordinating envelopes

Have a great rest of the week! 

J xx

I love PAPER!

Hello again! 

I hope this post finds you happy and creative! The weather here in Zurich has been rather dreadful for the past couple of weeks with cooler than normal temps and LOTS OF RAIN! I like the rain, don't get me wrong, but when it rains off and on every day for almost 2 weeks I get a bit cranky... However, the rain has meant more time indoors and more time stamping and doing workshops! I was excited to host two "stamp camps" at the beginning of June where a group of friends and "friends-of-friends" made 4 different cards and a variety of tags. It is so much fun to teach women who have never stamped before how easy it is to make a beautiful card with ink, stamp, sponge (to age the edges, of course!) and paper. Below is a shot of the somewhat chaotic, yet creative table we had at the first workshop! 

While in the US for our spring break, I bought some new designer papers that I absolutely adore. They have such amazing patterns and colors and I honestly can't get enough of them. Check out a few of the cards and tags I made with them below!

This is the cover of a card set pack that includes 4 coordinating cards and 4 tags

I'm hooked on making these flower cards....who knew what could be done with a heart punch???!!

I absolutely love these red prints! I wish I had fabric in the same...

Well, I'm off to work on some teacher presents now! In spite of having a pile of other things on my plate right now, I've decided to make all of the kids' teachers "handmade" gifts that they can actually use. Check back next week (hopefully!!) to see what I'm up to!

Ohhhh - I see sun shining on the other side of the lake and a bit of blue sky- yippppeeee! I think that means the rain is finally over! What a way to sign off for the day!

J xx

My Office Redo

Sorry I have been out of commission for the past month or so! We had a wonderful trip to see our family in America and the hubby and I even had a bit of a second honeymoon in Santa Barbara, CA while the kiddos stayed with Grandma and Papa (such a BEAUTIFUL place - I miss walking on the beach every morning). That combined with planting our garden and flowers, holding two stamp classes and preparing for Miss A's birthday that is coming up this week, I've been too busy to blog.

HOWEVER, today I managed to finally take some pictures of our home "office" redo (a.k.a. our computer room, craft room, ironing room, chill out room, etc....). We had an old sofa-bed couch that took up a whole wall and we used it mainly for holding junk rather than hanging out on it. So, off it went (with a bit of effort to get it out of the door...) and voilà, I now have a corner desk, a new cabinet that was once in Miss A's room (she also had a room redo with a new wardrobe!), and loads of space to set up tables for stamp classes or for sewing. Needless to say, I LOVE IT and it is so inspiring to work in. It's my little oasis.

Hope you are having a good start to the week! I will be back again soon with some cards and little projects I have been working on.

J xx

The Five W’s of Life

Who you are is what makes you special. Do not change for anyone.

What lies ahead will always be a mystery. Do not be afraid to explore.

When life pushes you over, you push back harder

Where there are choices to make, make the one you won’t regret.

Why things happen will never be certain. Take it in stride and move forward.

- Author Unknown

This is something I came across while checking out Pinterest, an incredibly inspiring site that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can find me here if you are a Pinterest member. I find the whole site rather addicting...hmmm....kind of like my obsessions with paper and fabric that I just can't seem to get rid IN CASE I MIGHT need it in the future!! Does this ring a bell with any of you????


Happy Hump Day (e.g. Happy Wednesday  - the "hump" is for the "middle of the week" for those of you who don't know what this means!)!! 

J xx

Mr & Mrs Card Set

Mr & Mrs Card Set

We are going to a wedding next weekend for one of my hubby's best friends and I wanted to give them a little something handmade to go along with their gift. My dear friend gave me a box of mini note cards with brown envelopes in a neat little brown box, knowing that I could probably add something to the plain cover and white note cards. I thought it would be perfect for the couple-to-be for when they want to write a little thank you to their guests should they wish to do so. I added some patterned paper to the outside of the box and made a flower from fabric, lace and ribbon (love, love, love how it turned out!!!) and then stamped the white note cards with five different designs to give them a bit of variety. 

I love how the flower turned out!

The base of the flower was made from fabric. I was playing around with the ribbon to wrap around the box and decided that I liked this one (combo of two ribbons stitched together with linen thread) to accent the top of the flower. And the best part of it all is the button with the antique look and feel to it. Let's put it this way...it was hard to part with the flower!


Inside includes 35 mini cards (5 different designs) with brown envelopes

Now I need to try and find some more of these little boxes....!

We are off to America on Saturday for Spring Break (YEAH!!!), so I'll be back with more in a few weeks.

:-) J xx

Flowers and Spots - Totes for kids

Green Flower tote bag

Denim spot tote bag

Pink Flower tote bag

Close up of stitching on flowers

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here with Spring in the air. We've planted flowers and herbs, cleaned the cellar (ugggh!), dug out a patch of grass in our backyard to plant a new flower garden that will help hide a not-so-attractive rock wall, taken several bike rides/walks through the woods and along the lake (see previous posts) and have just been enjoying the beautiful weather we've been experiencing (well, at least until Easter when the cold and rain returned...)! In the middle of all that, I had a special order for 3 tote bags for one little boy and two little girls! The basic totes were bought in the US a couple of years ago and have been sitting in one of my baskets waiting for inspiration to transform them into more than just a simple tote bag. Since flowers have been on my mind lately, I hand-appliqued some big, bright flowers onto the girls' totes, adding some buttons and ric-rac along the way. In order that the boy tote would last a bit longer, I went with big circles in stripes and polka dot fabric. I lined all the bags with coordinating fabric in order to hide the stitching inside - that was a bit tricky considering the totes were pre-made... I'm pretty pleased with how they all turned out and hope their new owners will also like them!

More to come soon!
J xx