Fun in Klosters

Enjoying our week in Klosters, skiing, ice skating and hanging out with the family and friends! It's too bad we have to go back to reality on Monday....

Hope you are enjoying your week too!

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

Christmas in Switzerland...a bit late!

sparkling Christmas tree with real candles and a sparkler

I had started this post just after Christmas and realized that I never posted it... So, here it is, better late than never!

Have you ever seen a real Christmas tree with real candles lit on it? As an American, this is something that says "FIRE! RED ALERT! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!". However, for many Swiss, this is the norm. They purchase their trees locally a few days before Christmas, clip on special holders for the candles and light them only for a short period of time on Christmas Eve, Christmas day and maybe the day after Christmas. We are blessed to have wonderful Swiss neighbors who invite us up each year on the day after Christmas so we can enjoy this beautiful Swiss tradition (as well as see who can be the champion in guessing which candle will go out last). This year, however, we experienced something new and absolutely mind-boggling to our "Smoky the Bear" attitude when it comes to fire and trees... there were not only lit candles on the tree, but Erica also lit sparklers and hung them from some of the branches. We were in absolute awe of how beautiful it looked and that it didn't catch anything on fire! As you can see from the picture above, it really is a spectacular site.

Until next time!

J xx 

Foxy tote

Well, I'm happy to say that I am back in service after what my hubby calls a "hiatus" of not really doing anything "productive" for a number of weeks... Of course, he is normally referring to my exercise regimen, but I think I can also use it for my absence in creativity over the past 4-6 weeks!  This is not to say that I didn't have other things going on in my life, including illnesses, recurring headaches that are really getting on my nerves, kids to take care of while hubby is working 16 hour days through the audit busy season, and trying to fulfill Santa's present to me from 2011.  Santa mentioned in his 2012 letter to me that if I didn't follow his orders, I "...may not get any gifts next year except for a big pile of reindeer food (because we have so much extra in the North Pole) that you could feed Z's stinky mice. My reindeer food has a special magic ingredient to make the animal's poop not stinky - I hate stinky animals." Now, in 2011, Santa gave me a very generous present stating that i "...should take time to redecorate your apartment in terms of new furniture/pictures/paint/lights/table, etc."  So what's a gal to do?? I definitely prefer new furniture to reindeer food (although I would really like that magic ingredient to make the pet mice a bit less stinky!), AND given Santa's history, I don't want to miss any future presents; so, I've been busy finding the perfect dining room table, chairs and a sideboard for our place. I'll post about it and a few other things I've been up to for our place once everything gets delivered. I am so excited!!!!! Enough about Santa and the wonderful man that he is :-)!

Here's a tote bag made from pvc plastic (similar to wax cloth) that I just finished for my friend's little boy. It is about 13 inches wide by 17 inches high and is not lined so they can use it for wet or dry things. He likes foxes and I found an iron-on transfer of a fox in my stash that I put onto a leafy print and then added a bit of stitching to its ears and tail. The "N" is the first initial of his name so he will always know which bag is his. I thought it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Hope he likes it too!

I hope to be back soon with more posts. Until then, have a great start to the week!
J xx

Tribute to a wonderful woman

Gram and Dadak with Miss A and Mr Z in October 2012

My Gram passed away last night. She lived a wonderful 90 years and was married to my Grandpa (now 92) for around 70 years (think it might be 71...). She's been such an integral part of my life for the past (almost) 40 years and I am so blessed to have had her in my life for so long... as well as part of my children's lives. Not many people get to spend time with their Great-Grandparents for as long as my kids have. She had a beautiful smile, a loving heart and was always there with open arms when we needed a hug. She also had the softest skin with less wrinkles than most people half her age, a tribute to daily applications of Ponds Cold Cream :-)! Guess she must have been a believer of this old advertisment!

As I sit here in a state of overwhelming sadness, I keep thinking of all the things she taught me growing up:

- how to draw animals and landscapes 

- how to paint (we loved to watch Bob Ross paint "happy little trees" or "perky little clouds" in 30 minutes)

- how to sew (she made so many of my clothes as a child)

- how to play games (we played games like Yatzee, Uno and Rummikub when we stayed with them rather than sit in front of the TV)

- that exercise is important - she and my Grandpa always walked after dinner or in the mornings (they were the "mall walkers" in bad weather)

- that cooking is fun - she enjoyed cooking and made the BEST meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a tomato gravy that you could ever eat (mouth is watering as I think about it...too bad I don't have her cast iron skillet or I would make one as a tribute to her!)

- and finally (well not really, but I won't go on more than this), that family is important - we got together for ALL holidays, birthdays and anything else that we thought needed celebrating. I am so fortunate and blessed to have had a loving, caring family close by as I was growing up. 

Gram and Miss A in October 2012

I leave you with a photo taken in October after Gram and Miss A finished pushing each other up and down the hall with her walker. They had such a good time as you can see by their glowing smiles. May you rest in peace with our Lord and Savior, Gram, and be our guardian angel who watches over us every day of our lives. I love you and will always treasure the memories we had together.

J xx

Better late than never...Christmas Market success!

We had fresh snow on the ground, a chill in the air and a beautiful, sunny day for our Thalwil Arts & Crafts Christmas market last Friday!  I wanted to get some sneak peaks of the things I was making posted before the market took place. Unfortunately, all the late nights of preparing for it caught up with me and I didn't manage to get anything posted to my blog... Well, I'll make up for it in this post and will show you lots of pictures of our little market and the things we sold! 

My rack of bags - I was so excited with how many I managed to get done in 4 weeks (along with all the other bits below...)!

Cards, cards and more cards!

My card kits, tag kits, button hair pins, and more!! 

Barb's table with her awesome paintings (I now have two of them :-)!!)

Erica (in glasses) selling some lovely Peruvian hats to our neighbor

Miss A even had her own table and managed to sell quite a few of her things!

Svetlana and her table of jewelry and knit products

Dennise's handmade jewelry (unfortunately didn't get her picture with it...)

As you can see, we had lots of stuff to sell and did a pretty good job of it over the course of the afternoon and evening! It was so much fun to have a wonderful group of women, all selling handmade products to our friends and families. Could this be an annual tradition?????? I sure hope so!! 

Here are a few more shots of some of my products:

Button hair pins and a few flower headbands

Pretty wrapped Lindt Chocolate bars

Create-a-card kit in decoupaged box - includes 10 cards and lots of bits to make them your own

Create-a-card kit in decoupaged box - includes 10 cards and lots of bits to make them your own

Create-a-card kit in decoupaged box - includes 10 cards and lots of bits to make them your own

Small embellished burlap gift bags, perfect for Advent presents

Miscellaneous tags

Merry Mochaccino mixes in jars

I hope to be back with you soon to show you some of my other little projects and orders that will be filled before Christmas! 

J xx