Well... I thought I'd have better "after" pictures...

but, so far no luck. Trouble #1 just isn't quite the master photographer yet... okay, maybe it is me...and my "selfportrait" was of everything but my hair, so all I have at this point are the two shots the stylist took right after.

So, enough with the suspense.... tada! The new "me":



Now I am off to enjoy the sun.... lazy afternoon on my patio.
Have a good one.

well... this is the before....

never mind my double chin and fat arms.....

Have a good one.

Want to take a guess...

at what this is?



Have a good one....

Perfect Day...

well, not really, since I am staying home with a nasty, nasty cold. But, that is the title of this week's challenge over at Scrapping the Music. And in this family, a perfect day is spent at the race track. I love, love, love the track with the excitement, the smells, the tension.... Of course I have seen the bad parts, too, but heck... this day we were spectators and enjoyed all Belmont had to show.


PP Scenic Route, MM, Rhonna Farrer, HS letters, AC rubons, SU eyelets, Daisy D's rubon tape, L'il Davis labels.

And back to bed I go.
Have a good one.

The new frontier....

or so it seems. There I have been scrapping with Danyeela pattern paper for months now. Almost exclusively, too, it seems. But when she sent me some of her new 12x12 papers (as opposed to A4) I was stumped. I looked at the papers. I smelled the papers. I stroked the papers. I admired the papers. But.... I didn't SCRAP the papers. They were too big! That's what it must have felt like when the pioneers started to cross the Great Plains. So much wide open space! Okay, not really, but you get my point, right?

However, I got over my fear. I cut into it. I used it. And this is what I came up with. I still used the A4 Papers, but the background is a complete sheet of 12x12 Danyeela Pattern Paper. LOVE IT!!!!



Other materials used: Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, Elsie cupcake sticker, misc. ribbon, trim, eyelets and rubons.

So, off to start the new week..... I have "fun" things planned for today... a visit with my PCP, unemployment agency, the health department.... oh yeah, it is going to be a fantastic day. Insert eyeroll!

Have a good one.

Stampin'Up Kreativabend in Deutschland

to my regular readers... please excuse this post in German but really, it is only of interest for anyone actually IN Germany.

In der zweiten Juni Hälfte finden in fünf deutschen Städten Kreativabende mit Stampin' Up statt, nämlich in Frankfurt, Köln, Berlin, Hamburg und München. In Berlin, Hamburg, und München wird sogar Shelli Gardner, die Gründerin von Stampin' Up dabei sein. Darauf freue ich mich schon besonders, denn in meinen nunmehr 8 Jahren bei Stampin'up habe ich es bis jetzt noch nicht geschafft sie kennen zulernen. Wer also Lust hat, entweder einfach mal Stampin'Up kennenzulernen, oder besser kennenzulernen, ein paar Karten zu basteln, und allgemein einen netten abend zu verbringen... dann HIER entlang zur Anmeldung.

Ich freu mich schon.

Back to normal programming. LOL. The weather looks gorgeous, it is still quiet on my little corner (during the week there are always big trucks going down my street, so it's rather loud) and I think I am going to send Trouble #1 and #2 off to the bakery to get some fresh rolls for breakfast. Yummy! Fresh rolls for breakfast on the patio. What could be a better start to a Sunday?

After getting the tires changed on my car, I might even get some scrapping done.

Have a good one.

Oye.... my feet!

It is a sad day. I had to admit defeat. There I go blabbing about fabulous shoes and whatnot, nothing less than 3 inch heels and tiny straps and such, and at 3pm today, I had to give in. My feet were killing me. And I wasn't even wearing anything outrageously high or pointy or otherwise super stylish. The shoes I wore today were Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes similar to these:


I have had these shoes for years, just haven't worn them in a while.

And, like I said, at 3pm I was done. Out came the tennis shoes. The shame!

But, I haven't worked in a restaurant in... let me think... 15 years or so. I haven't had to be on my feet non-stop like in a restaurant... in 15 years. So it will definitely be a matter of getting my feet back into shape so I can manage all day in heels again. Because, you know I refuse to wear some ugly clodhoppers, just because they are comfy.

Now I am off to soak my feet. Maybe I should start saving my tips for a weekly footmassage and pedicure.

Have a good one.

Oh what a fabulous day!

I had been wanting to do this for a long, long time. And today was finally the day. After a lovely breakfast, Nat and I went and attended a meeting of the acrylic painting group of Ute Zander, a Hamburg artist, who has also published several books on acrylic painting. I found one of her books at our local library by accident and ever since, have wanted to attend one of her classes.

I had a blast playing around with all the paints and this is what I came up with:

and a close up of the largest one:


Now, mind you, none of the pictures are done. For example, the white one in the middle, all we did so far is create a textured canvas out of white paint and marble powder and sand. The next step would be to emphasize some of the textures and rework some areas. And then add paint. And add... and add...Same goes for the collaged piece. It's just the first layer.

So, nothing got finished today, but I had a blast.

And, as I had promised Nat, I made Rhubarb Cinnamon Cupcakes.
Now, they don't "look" like Rhubarb Cinnamon, but trust me they are. It is a vanilla cupcake with a rhubarb compote filling and creamy cinnamon buttercream. They are super yummy.

And who'd have thought that a day of painting could be so exhausting. I am ready for bed.
Have a good one.

Hold on, hold tight

did you see? My layout for last week's challenge was picked for the Scrapping the Music Hall of Fame. Yeah!

For this week's challenge, I once again used danyeela pattern paper. Love that stuff.
Other supplies used: KI alpha stickers, MME rub ons, Stampin Up eyelets and hemp, grungeboard, misc. ribbon and brads.



Now I am off to bake the rhubarb cinnamon cupcakes as promised.
Have a good one.

Happy Monday!

well, an early morning post from me because it is going to be quite the day, I think. I have been unemployed for pretty much 4 years now. But today I am supposed to "test-work" at a new job. Nothing I had envisioned, nothing long term, but heck... if it gets me out of the house...

So here's my latest LO. I just got this picture of Trouble #2 from a friend. It just had to be scrapped. Please excuse the awful pink background. Usually I photograph my LOs against a white background, but this time the white overlay would have completely disappeared.... hence the pink background.



Supplies: Danyeela Pattern Paper... for sources see previous posts, Hambly rub ons and overlay, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, grungeboard, Kreul acrylic paint, misc. ric rac and fabric, Stampin'Up eyelets, 7gypsies labels.

Have a good one.

I should have known better...

than to try a different kind of frosting on a cupcake. I love the Swiss Meringue Buttercream and the plain buttercream that I usually use, but... I was led astray.... and regretted it.

I tried out a new recipe for cupcakes and frosting. It looked super yummy, and I figured since there is no diet cherry chocolate Dr. Pepper (oh, how I miss just regular Dr. Pepper) here in Germany, so why not try Cherry Coke? Well... I was sceptical at first, because the batter was VERY runny, but they came out beautifully. Nice and light and moist.

On to the frosting. It seemed easy enough: just throw everything into a bowl, beat until proper consistency (over a bain marie). No Sweat. Except... apparently marachino syrup here contains less food coloring than in the US and my frosting was NOT pink like I had envisioned. So I simply added some food color. But, that didn't solve my problem: it tasted painfully sweet like powdered sugar. JUST powdered sugar. No marachino flavor at all. So I added some cherry juice... still no flavor other than powdered sugar. So I gave in and added some vanilla flavoring. I was so disappointed.

Anyway, I went ahead and decorated the cupcakes. The frosting was easy enough to pipe and they look pretty enough. But flavor wise... ehhh!


I am already working on the recipe for the Rhubarb Cinnamon Cupcakes, but probably won't get baked until Tuesday.

Have a good one.

2nd post for the day....

lots of things to mention...

First, my LO for Scrapping the Music:



Second: my fabulously talented friend Danyeela went 12x12. Oh, how I love these papers. And, you know where you can find these yummy papers? Right HERE. I have a few of the new papers sitting here and oh, are they lovely. And what is even cooler.... when buying a sheet of these papers, not only do you get a regular 12x12 sheet of paper, but also a 4x12 sheet of the same paper. I know, you probably are thinking WTH, but really, how many times have you bought TWO sheets of the same paper only to have most of that second sheet flying around your stash years later and not using it? Okay, maybe I am the only one with that problem, but really.... so often I just need a litle bit more than 12x12. And voila! She did it.


Third: I baked pie! And I realized.... I should stick to cupcakes. Not that I am a bad pie baker, but I am a bad pie CRUST baker. Or maybe I should have stuck to my regular old Betty Crocker pie crust recipe, but no... I had to try out a new recipe! Let's just say, my pie crust ist not very pretty looking. Considering the super yummy custard and cream filling that is going to go into it, though, I don't think it is going to matter in the grand scheme of things.

Fourth: no, there isnt' really a fourth. So, have a good one.

I think....

I am back to my usual self. Well... almost.

I actually finished a LO for the current song at Scrapping the Music... turned out a bit more depressing than intended... but heck... the LO is done and will get posted later today.

And, what is more important, I am feeling the urge to bake again. My stomach is still not quite up to par. It is actually being very picky as to what it likes and dislikes, so for example, plain old toast-- not good. Yummy goat cheese salad? VERY GOOD. Go figure. Oh, am I a scrapper or what? I even took a picture of my salad. It doesn't get much better than a fabulously tasty salad, a new sunshade and a comfortable chair on the patio.

And when I picked up my folks this morning to take them to the airport, I also picked some rhubarb from their garden and I am going to make some rhubarb cinnamon cupcakes. Might have to make a special trip into the city to deliver some to Nat... or maybe I will try something entirely different today (been having this craving for banana cream pie or possibly coconut cream pie) and keep the rhubarb cupcakes for next week when I am going to see Nat anyway? With gas prices the way they are.... Mmhhhh.... decisions, decisions. I am not very good with decisions....

Anyway, I still have some greens left over and some chicoree, no goat cheese, so might have to make a special trip to the store.... and enjoy the rest of the afternoon on the aforementioned shady patio.

Bliss.

Have a good one.

Gorgeous weather makes for bad mojo

the weather hasn't been gorgous for the entire past 4 weeks, but it seems I haven't scrapped in ages. To top it off... this morning I woke up with some kind of stomach bug. Trouble #2 had it on Friday but was over it by that evening. So I am hoping for the same.

So, what can I do to get back into the swing of things? I want to scrap so badly. Any Suggestions?

I am going to go veg out on the patio again. I bought a large sunshade yesterday and have been dozing outside all day.

Have a good one.

Laying low....

just in case you are wondering... it is a holiday weekend, the kids are home from school until tuesday and we have company.... so no posting for me. you might get lucky and I will have time to try out a new cupcake recipe I have been working on... but not before Sunday.

So, have a good one.