Finally! Endlich!

I finally have some time for my little Stampin'Up write-up.

Short and to the point, it was a wonderful evening. The number of guests far surpassed my imagination and the SU staff had everything running so well. The fact that Shelli Gardner, founder of Stampin' Up, presented the Make'n Takes personally was of course, the icing on the cake.

Endlich habe ich etwas Zeit für meinen kleinen Bericht über den Stampin'Up Kreativabend in HH.

Um es kurz zu machen... es war ein rundum gelungener Abend. Die Anzahl der Teilnehmer überstieg meine Vorstellung um einiges, die Organisation klappte hervorragend, und dass Shelli Gardner, die Gründerin von Stampin'Up die Make'n Takes persönlich vorführen würde, war natürlich das i-Tüpfelchen.

First we made a little goody bag topper. Super simple, but with a little topper some simple candy looks so much better right away. The fact that we stamped and "blinged" a little cupcake was... well.. perfect for me.

Zuerst haben wir einen kleinen "goodybag topper" gemacht. Super einfach, aber dann macht so ein kleines Tütchen mit Bonbons doch gleich was her. Und dass wir dann auch noch einen cupcake stempeln und beglitzern konnten... Yum!



Next we made a little birthannouncement. I have no babies in my future, so I didn't stamp the announcement part on the little tag, but I think it will make a cute card for my neighbor whose son is being baptized this coming Saturday.

Als nächstes haben wir eine kleine Geburtsanzeigekarte (sagt man das so?) gestempelt. Für mich ist das Thema Babies abgeschlossen, deswegen habe ich den Anzeigenteil nicht auf das Tag gestempelt, aber ich denke meine Nachbarn werden die Karte zur Taufe ihres Sohnes kriegen.



The third Make'n Take was a scrapbook page. I was in a bit of a hurry to get home to relieve the babysitter, and I don't usually scrap 6x6, so I skipped out on this part, and chatted a bit with Shelli Gardener. I have to tell you, I was tickled pink to finally meet her. I had been a demonstrator in the US for 3 years or so, but never had a chance to go to Convention. So I had to sign up as a demo here in Germany to finally meet her. Just kidding. LOL. But really, she is such a sweet lady and I loved chatting with her.

Das dritte Make'n Take war eine Scrapbookseite. Ich war ein weni in Eile nach hause zu kommen um den Babysitter abzulösen, und da ich ohnehin so gut wie nie 6x6 scrappe, habe ich diese Make'n Take nicht mitgemacht. Aber ich habe die Zeit genutzt mich mit Shelli Gardner zu unterhalten. Ich hatte mich so darauf gefreut, sie endlich kennen zulernen. Ich war 3 Jahre lang Demonstrator in den USA, aber habe es nie geschafft zur Convention zu fahren. Da musste ich also hier in Deutschland Demonstrator werden um sie endlich zu treffen. LOL. Aber, Spass beiseite, sie ist eine so nette Frau und ich bewundere was sie da in 20 Jahren aufgebaut hat.



And last but not least, a few more pictures.

Stampin' Up had set out a display table with lots of the Acessory producst. I thought this was a wonderful idea. So often we only think about the stamps, and as a demo, you always have stamps to show, but (especially new demos) we don't always have all of the acessories. So the guests in attendance were able to actually look at, and feel the products.

Stampin' Up hatte einen Tisch mit allen anderen Produkten aus dem Katalog. Dies war eine wunderbare Möglichkeit für die Gäste diese Produkte einmal kennenzulernen. Als Demonstrator reden wir ja immer über die Stempel, und davon haben wir ja auch immer reichlich, aber wir haben (vor allem neue Demonstratoren) ja nicht immer alle "nicht-Stempel" Produkte zum zeigen.





So, that was it, have a good one.

Best of intentions....

yes, I did have the best of intentions of posting the projects from the Stampin'Up Kreativabend on Wednesday. BUT....what can I say, I have the most fabulous neighbors.

After working until 2pm, then attending the girls' end of school year party at after school care, then grocery shopping, stopping by my store to get my schedule for next week, feeding the girls supper, going over to the wine store (to buy wine, but also to discuss scrapbooking and a possible custom job.... yes, I want to make that clear, I had a purpose, non-wine related), and then sending off Trouble #2 to a summer solstice bonfire with neighbors #2 and then looking for Trouble #1 who had run off to do something or another... that's how I ended up at my neighbor's. And once I ended up at my neighbor's...we had a glass of wine, we discussed the class offered at the art store tomorrow, we chit chatted... and before we knew it, it was 9pm, and T#2 returned home with neighbors #2... some more wine, some more chit chat, some entertainment by T#1, T#2 and neighborchild... and before we knew it... it was almost midnight. And quite frankly, the lighting stinks, I had a glass or two of wine, and I am tired... the make'n takes will have to wait til tomorrow.

so, halleluja for neighbors who adore my children, who take them on outings, who like to chit-chat, who like to have a glass of wine, who like to hang out... who are just plain old fabulous.

Good night and have a good one.

totally random

this is totally pathetic, but I just stuffed my face with a Hawaiian frozen pizza and a glass of wine. I had a fabulous day, really, but well.. 10pm rolled around and I realized I hadn't eaten anything but a piece of apple cake, a piece of rhubarb cake and a piece of goat cheese wrapped in tirolean bacon.... I was STARVING!!!

What's the deal? I work in a delikatessen. I work around food! Why don't I eat?

Well, after a fabulous morning and a spontaneous drive into the city visiting with Ms. Nat (where I ate the two pieces of cake) and an equally enjoyable trip to my favorite art stores Jerwitz and Tube, I had to go in to work tonight at 5pm to "learn how to close the store". Oye! I guess I should be flattered that "they" (aka boss lady and guy training me) feel that I am up to the task, because after closing the store tonight... I am on my own come Tuesday! I guess my work scedule is going to be basically two full days.... from open to close, 10.5 hours. Every so often I will have to work a Saturday. Mmmmhhhh, could be worse.
Anyway, after closing the store, I had to pick up Trouble #1 and #2 from the grandparents. And since teacher conferences are upon us, I had to chit chat with my mom for a while, because... let me tell you, we have A LOT OF complaints about the school. Anyway, one thing lead to another, one phone call after another, and there it was 10pm and I hadn't eaten... hence the frozen pizza and glass of wine.

anyway, disregard my starvation induced... or pizza overload (?) babble... the point of my post was going to be... Stampin'Up updates coming tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Have you e-mailed me recently? Hat mir jemand kürzlich eine email geschickt?

Today, just for giggles, I looked at my spamfolder. I usually just delete it, but today... I looked. To my surprise, I found two e-mails that were not spam. Seems my spamfilter is working overtime, or rather, not filtering the right mails, because I still get those offers of fabulous business opportunites in Nigeria or male enhancement products in my inbox, but apparently not other, regular, possibly important mails. So anyway, long story short, if you have emailed me and I don't get back to you in... let's say two or three days, chances are, your mail found its way into my spamfolder and I deleted it without ever having read it. You can always reach me at my blog email, though.

Heute, bloss so zum Spass, habe ich mal meinen Spamordern angeschaut. I lösche ihn eigentlich normalerweise nur, aber heute... hab ich mal geschaut. Zu meiner grossen Überaschung fand ich zwei e-mails die nicht Spam waren. Anscheinen arbeitet der Spamfilter im Moment übereifrig, bzw. er filtert die falschen mails, denn ich kriege immer noch mails mit dem Angebot fantastischer Geldsummen, wenn ich denn nur irgendwelches Geld von Nigeria oä. auf mein Konto transferiere oder Angebote wie man(n) denn Potenzprobleme beseitigen kann... aber andere mails kommen nicht an. Also, langer Rede kurzer Sinn... sollte mir jemand gemailt haben und ich habe nicht innerhalb von zwei, drei Tagen geantwortet, dann ist eure mail wahrscheinlich im Spamorder gelandet. Über meine alternative blogemail bin ich aber auch immer zu erreichen.

My report about the Stampin'Up event last night will follow later today.

Mein Bericht über den Stampin'Up Kreativabend in HH kommt später.

Have a good one.

Tonight I'm going stamping... heute abend geh ich stempeln!

Sorry for my non-German speaking readers... it'll be all German today.

Heute abend ist endlich der Hamburger Kreativabend von Stampin' Up. Ich freu' mich schon riesig einig bekannte Gesichter wiederzusehen und auch neue kennenzulernen. Ganz besonders freu ich mich natürlich darüber dass Shelli Gardner, die Gründerin von Stampin'Up dabei sein wird. Falls noch jemand ganz kurzentschlossen mitmachen möchte, (bin ich die einzige die dem Fußballspiel heute abend entkommen möchte?) schickt mir einfach eine kurze mail damit ich Bescheid weiß.

Wann:

Mittwoch, 25. Juni 2008, 19:30 - 21:00
(Einlass ab 19:00)

Wo:

Marriot Hotel
Flughafenstr. 47
22415 Hamburg

Es wurde angekündigt dass 4 Make'n Takes geplant sind... die werde ich dann hoffentlich morgen zeigen können.

Soviel erstmal dazu, ich habe noch eine Menge zu erledigen bevor es heute abend endlich losgeht.

Have a good one.

Who knew....

that just getting a bunch of new papers would send me over the edge? I had a little box of paper goodness in my mailbox on yesterday and as soon as I saw the papers I had to start scrapping and if I hadn't been so gosh darn tired, I swear, I would have scrapped all night. And these are the results:






Supplies: Bazzill CS, Cosmo Cricket PP, Amsterdam Acrylic paint, Distress Crackle paint, Marabou acrylic paint, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, Stampin' Up eyelets, Creative imaginations rub on, misc. ribbon





Supplies: Bazzill CS, PP Cosmo Cricket, KI Memories, SU eyelets, misc. ribbon, American Crafts marker, Signo uniball, Prima tape, CatsLifePress stamp, Distress Ink.

And just because I felt like it... a 6x12 LO... but wouldn't you know it... it has stuff sticking over the edge again.




Supplies: Cosmo Cricket, Hambly, Queen & Co felt, Adirondack paint dabber, Heidi Swapp Chipboard, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, misc. buttons.
Now I think I want to scrap some more....

Have a good one.

Scrapping the Music....

I have been wanting to scrap these dance pictures of Trouble #1 for a while now, so this week's song Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman was perfect.


Supplies used: PP 7gypsies, KI memories, HS chipboard letters, 7gypsies stickers, signo uniball, Stampin' Up eyelets, misc. ribbon

After a long time, I finally made a card again, for my neighbors (who happen to be the BEST neighbors EVER!) who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this past Sunday.


Other than that.... not much time for anything. Work is kind of interfering. LOL. But, it's fun and I do enjoy it.

Have a good one.

Favorite things...

I haven't had a lot of time to scrap, so when I did, I grabbed my two favorite things... Danyeela Pattern Paper and Hambly Rubons and Overlays. And these are two of the LOs I came up with. The first one actually doesn't have any Danyeela Pattern Papers, only some overlays, but the second one... I went a bit crazy with the paper and the rubons, but I love, love, love how it all came together.


PP K&Co, Creative Imaginations, Hambly Overays, Ranger Distress Crackle paint, Alcohol ink, Stampin'Up Eyelets, misc. chipboard.


PP Danyeela, Hambly Rubons, SU eyelets, 7gypsies labels, Sultane cutouts.
Journaling: ONE DAY... she is going to feel too grown up to be silly like this. I hope it is not anytime soon. First day of school 8'07

Have a good one.

I was in heaven!

I had the most fabulous weekend! Really, it was a lot of work, but it was so much fun. And, like I said, I was in heaven: I got to bake four different kinds of cupcakes and try out a new recipe for cinnamon rolls. Oh my... it was pure sugar overload at my house, but I had a blast.

So, to backtrack. I started baking Friday, because on Saturday I was hosting the Northern Paperbraut Meeting. The always fabulous Primadonna Ms. Kalbach was going to teach a Workshop (dets on her blog, she still has some kits for sale, I think, better check them out fast....), I was going to provide the nourishment.... in the form of cupcakes.

I ended up making OrangePoppyseed, BananaHazelnutChocolate with Caramel Buttercream, and Vanilla Chocolate Cupcakes. I also made oh so Ooooey-goooooey cinnamonrolls, that took me back Omaha where I had my last Cinnabon cinnamon roll what seems a long, long time ago.

Nat's workshop was wonderful. I didn't get to do the project yet... I was trying to be a good hostess, so I didn't sit down much... but everybody really seemed to enjoy it. And of course, how could they not, they fell in love with the wonderful new Prima Marketing Products.

And for today, I baked two dozen or so VanillaStrawberry cupcakes (also in the picture) for my neighbors' 30th wedding anniversary. So... enjoy the pictures, I am beat and going to bed.









Have a good one.

Lazy blogger here...

not really, just "working again"-blogger. Funny how something like a job interferes with important things like updating my blog. LOL.

Anyway, I am getting super excited. On Saturday we are having a little Paperbraut Forum get-together at my house, with a fabulous workshop by the fabulous Ms. Kalbach. And since Nat is providing the entertainment, errr....I mean creative activity, I am providing the food. We are talking cupcakes here.

I am not sure on what exactly I am going to make though. I was thinking orange poppyseed, banana caramel, and strawberry. But Trouble #2 requested something with Vanilla Seasalt again. Mmmmhhh. Some more thinking to do.

Anyway, nothing else going on, have a good one.

Three Vanilla, Vanilla Seasalt Caramel Buttercream Cupcake

Just a quick post because I am heading off to bed.

This is the one kind of cupcakes that I took to Nat's yesterday. I absolutely loved them. They are Three Vanilla Cupcakes with a Vanilla Seasalt Caramel Buttercream. I had read about using seasalt in cupcakes and I was a bit sceptical, but since one of my favorite deserts is Strawberry Pretzel Salad, which is kind of sweet and salty, I thought "why not?" And I loved the outcome. The three kinds of vanilla are great in the cupcake part and the buttercream.... oh, yummy!



I am going to try and post pictures of the other kind... strawberry cupcakes.... tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Just a short post today...

So many things on my to-do list today
1) bake cupcakes-done, except frosting (out of powdered sugar... see #4)
2) prepare salad-dressing prepared, just need to toss with the greens
3) take kids to swimming... in 20 minutes
4) grocery shopping-still need to do.
5) head into the city to meet up with Nat, Andrea, and Kimmy! Is this the coolest? I love that I have so many scrappy friends, but do they have to live so far apart? So... I am tickled pink that there are going to be four of us getting together today for an afternoon of scraptalk, girltalk, good food and drink, and more scraptalk.

Have a good one.

Stampin'Up Update (German)

Nachdem ich gestern bei einer SU Demo Schulung war kann ich jetzt mit neuem Elan posten.

Also:

1. Stampin'Up Kreativabende in 5 deutschen Städten.

Diese Events finden in Frankfurt, Köln, Hamburg, Berlin und München statt. Jeweils 19-21h.
Ihr könnt dort mehr über SU erfahren, aber in erster Linie geht es darum SU Produkten kennenzulernen und damit zu basteln.
* Ihr könnt bei diesem KOSTENLOSEN Event mehrere Projekte herstellen.
* Ihr könnt Preise gewinnen.
* Was ist besser als mal ein fröhlicher Abend ohne Kinder, Arbeit, und was man denn sonst so noch machen muss?

Und für mich das absolute highlight:
* Shelli Gardner, Mitgründerin von Stampin’ Up! ist bei drei Veranstaltungen in Deutschland dabei (Hamburg, Berlin, München) dabei. Dies ist eine tolle Gelegenheit in kleinerem Rahmen, die Person zu treffen, die "hinter" Stampin’ Up! steht

Jetzt zu den Details: Anmelden (egal zu welchem der 5 Events-nicht nur Hamburg) könnt ihr euch bei mir per mail manolos.I.covet@gmail.com und ich lasse Euch die Details zukommen. Ich werde auf jeden Fall dabei sein und hoffe ganz viele von Euch zumindest in Hamburg zu sehen.

2. SuperSonderAngebot im Juni

Auch in diesem Monat hat Stampin'Up wieder ein tolles Angebot.

Und zwar gibt es vom 1.-30 Juni 2008 die Kombibox "Three for you" zu dem fantastischen Preis von 39.95@€ und das Stempelset "Grundbegriffe" für 35.95€. Das ist jeweils ein Rabatt von über 30%. Also, schlagt zu. Schickt mir eine mail, ruft mich an, auf Rauchzeichen reagiere ich eher nicht... LOL, aber lasst euch dieses Angebot nicht entgehen.

3. SuperSonderAngebot #2

Als ob das Angebot mit der Kombibox und dem Stempelset nicht schon genug wären, es gibt noch ein weiteres. Schaut mal hier: eScape. Auch dieses Angebot läuft den ganzen Juni über.... meldet euch bei mir.

So, das wär's dann erstmal für heute. Ich muss zur Arbeit.

Have a good one.

just a couple of LOs and check back tomorrow for a Stampin'Up update

I started working (officially) on June first. We had to do a thorough cleaning and rearranging of the store... I was beat after two days of non-stop cleaning and running around. But, the store looks so much nicer now and I feel much better just knowing how clean it is now.

On top of work, I also managed to get two LOs done. This one is a total lift of an Ashley Calder LO. I love all the different techniques she shows in her book and I decided to give a few of them a shot.

and a close-up of my little wire "antennas".


This one was so much fun. I never even thought of painting over the rather bright K&Co paper, but I love how it turned out.
Materials used: K&Co paper, gesso, Hambly overlay and rub-ons, Stampin'Up Wire, sequins, misc. chipboard letters.

The other LO I did is also a lift, but from a different book... sorry, don't remember the original artist. But anyway, I wanted to play around with some of the lovely Stampin'Up designer papers. Pretty much everything is SU, except for the rubons and the giant brad.



and a close-up of the hidden journaling flap: Trouble #2 wrote her own journaling.



Quite frankly, I am going to fall into bed any minute now, so check back tomorrow for some fun and exciting Stampin'Up News... both fabulous specials and a great event.

Have a good one.