December is here!!!

Happy 1st of December everyone! It is so hard to believe that today is the first day of December and this is the last month of 2013...this year flew past a lightning speed!

I had two incredible groups of ladies at my house on Wednesday to participate in my Christmas tag workshops. One very special lady even got on the train from Geneva at 4:56AM (yes, 4:56 in the MORNING) to come to the morning workshop - THANKS, MARIA!! It never ceases to amaze me how many times I hear "I'm sooooo not creative" or "I can't make that!" from people at my workshops. And I always tell them they are WRONG! We all have imaginations and the ability to make things, it just takes the right tools, the right atmosphere and the right frame of mind to do it. Well, we had all those factors and then some on Wednesday. The ladies made 25 tags each and had fun sharing their ideas with one another - "OOOOHH! So pretty! I'm copying that one!" was a favorite phrase I heard around the table.

Here are a few photos of the workshops!

The lovely Maria - still smiling in spite of getting up well before the crack of dawn :-)

Thanks again, ladies, for a wonderful day!

Have a wonderful start to December! In this month of giving, let your creative spirit out of the box and make something special for family and friends instead of fighting the crowds for a gift that anyone could buy!
J xx

Vintage Christmas Tags

I've been having fun with my Christmas stamps making tags for the upcoming market. As you can see above, the cute little vintage postcards I used on some Christmas cards also found a home on some tags. I just love them!

It's been very busy in my office this week, so I'll try to post more during the week to show you what else I will be selling at the Christmas "Around the World" market on 23 November!

Hope you are having a good weekend!
J xx

Christmas Tag Kit Workshop

The fall holidays are over now and it's time to gear up for Christmas! I was playing around this morning with the new Christmas Tag Kit from Stampin' Up! and made some examples to show participants in the workshop I have planned for 27 November 2013. Each person receives the kit from Stampin' Up! and will also have access to my collection of papers, inks, stamps and a variety of embellishments. It should be a fun class and will make everyone feel like they've really accomplished something when they walk away with 24 tags!!

I'm also busy, busy, busy working on new stuff to sell at the Christmas "Around the World" Market that we have organized in Wädenswil on 23 November. Check out the link to find out more info about the event!

So, I'm off to stamp now before picking up the little one for lunch! Have a good week!

J xx

Stationary Box Class Photos

Ten crafty ladies and I had a great time last week creating stationary boxes and a variety of cards and tags to go in the boxes! It was quite a project to tackle in a few hours (note...lesson to self for future classes!), but everyone did well and completed most of the items in the time we had. A big thanks to Dennise for letting us use her studio. You can find more photos on her blog Chick Kiss. Here are some of my pictures of the event!

Have a great weekend! Spring weather is here in Zurich (at least for the weekend...)!!!!
J xx

Stationary Box Class ... a sneak peak!

Spring is starting to show its face in Zurich after a long winter and many mornings of shoveling the driveway - Hooray!!! But...as is normally the case when the weather is beautiful, I've been cooped up in my office, working hard to prepare for our Stationary Box class that will take place on Tuesday and Friday next week (see this post). Below is a sneak peak of what we will be making.

This is my example box set. There are several tutorials for this box on the internet. I used the pdf from this tutorial that I found on Pinterest, so special thanks to Dannie's Designs for the pdf version!!

Our combined classes will have 10 lovely, crafty ladies, and as such, I've made packs for them to choose from, each containing a different set of colors and patterned paper. I did this for two reasons: 1) it allows each person to create their own unique box set, and 2) it helps clear out a small portion of my 12x12 designer paper so I can purchase more on my next trip to the USA in April! The basic box will be in kraft paper because it goes with everything (and is one of my favorite stock to have on hand). 

Hope you are having a great week!

J xx

Stationary Box Stamp Class Invitation

Stamp Camp in January

I held a Stamp Camp at my house a couple weeks ago for one of my friends and wanted to share what we made with you. I enjoy spreading the love of stamping and what you can do with paper to others and find it such a shame that Switzerland does not have more products like Stampin' Up...! There is a HUGE market for this type of crafty goodness in Switzerland and I think SU! would do very well if they would make the decision to come into the country (they already have operations in Germany, France and the UK... so why not Switzerland????).

One thing that I introduced to the class was the use of a Sizzix embossing machine that one of my friends loaned me. OH MY GOODNESS...I LOVE THAT MACHINE!!! It takes a plain old piece of paper and turns it into something beautiful with only the turn of a crank! The Smile card below, as well as the birdy note pad use the embossing plates for the background and I just love the look it gives to them. Guess what I am getting for my birthday in a few weeks....!

We made 4 cards and a little notebook

Birdy notebook with embossed cover

This is my favorite card that we made. Can you see the birds that are embossed on the brown background? 

They all had fun creating their own balloon card using a variety of papers from my scrap box. 

The old maps are actually a set of paper placemats I found one time. They are perfect for more "manly" cards. 

 Below are a few photos of the class participants.

Let the creativity flow!

The crafty participants, including a brave, young man (and the first male particpant to attend one of my classes!)

Happy stamping!
J xx