Friday, October 31, 2008

I am done!

I was going to post a party recap, but I am sorry... I just can't. I am exhausted.

Will post tomorrow. I am going to have myself some wine and fall asleep.
But, the party was a good one.

Have a good one.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Weihnachtskarten Workshop.... (deutsch)

ich wollte nur schon mal ankündigen:

Ich werde wieder einen Weihnachtskarten WS anbieten, Datum steht noch nicht fest, aber entweder letzte Novemberwoche oder erste Dezemberwoche.

5 verschiedene Karten mit verschiedenen Schwierigkeitsgraden.... von ganz schlicht bis kompliziert. Alles natürlich mit Stampin'Up Stempeln und Materialien.

Also, meldet euch doch einfach wenn ihr Lust habt, ich lasse euch dann die Details zukommen.

Have a good one.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Super-Mom to the rescue....

well, at least that's what Trouble #1 and #2 seem to think of me. Today was the first day back to school and since T#2's birthday was during fall break, she wanted to take treats to school for her classmates to share. No biggie.... 25 cupcakes. But only after I nixed the idea of having a three story cake or a lifelike spider cake....

Then, after I picked her up from school today, she tells me, that she wants treats for afterschool care, too. That'd be 48 cupcakes! she wants spiderweb cupcakes. She wants spider cupcakes.... no.... we'll be sticking with simple piped ones.

And, I am considering miniature cupcakes....

Anyway, this is what today*s batch looked like. Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. There are no official school colors here in Germany, but all the "official" school shirts are blue and orange. So... blue and orange frosting it was.



Off to bed I go. I am exhausted.
Have a good one.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Stampin'Up workshop (deutsch)

So, endlich kann ich es posten.... der Stampin'Up Weihnachtsminialbum Workshop.






































Dieses kleine Album, im Format 5 x 7 ½ inch möchte ich mit euch aus dem Simply Scrappin' Set "I wish" erstellen. Ich war von dem Set so begeistert dass ich mir einfach ein Projekt damit ausdenken musste. Das Album ist einfach genug für einen Anfänger, aber auch erfahrene Scrapper werden auf ihre Kosten kommen. Man kann das Album sehr schlicht halten, oder sich mit Stempeln und Farbe weiter austoben. Dieser Workshop ist ein "Team-Workshop", d.h. er wird von zwei SU Demos angeboten: Dörte in Westerkappeln, und von mir, Liz.

Termine: 14. oder 21. 11. bei mir und am 22. oder 29.11. bei Dörte
Genauere info und Anmeldung bitte über manolos.I.covet@gmail.com für den Workshop bei mir oder dkessling@web.de für den Workshop bei Dörte.

Falls ihr nicht an diesen Terminen teilnehmen könnt, kann auch das komplette Materialpaket mit ausführlicher Anleitung (Schritt für Schritt, bebildert) für €25,00 plus Porto bei mir bestellt werden.

Ich freu mich schon.

Have a good one.
Liz

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Another LO....

this one if from a while ago. I just love this picture of my father-in-law and Trouble #2. He's teaching her how to operate the big riding lawnmower. Nothing like starting the farm help young, right?



Now I have to go to work.
Have a good one.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The one who keeps me sane....

It's payback time, LOL. Ms. Nat keeps posting pictures or LOs of me. Well.... I finally have some pictures of her, too, taken as part of our photography class. And well... my LO is a thank you to her, for keeping me sane. I am so glad we met...which was actually way back when I was still living in the US and had no idea I would be moving back to Germany. Thanks for being such a wonderful friend.



Check back later for an update on that Stampin'Up Christmas Minialbum Workshop. I am running a bit behind with posting on that one.

Have a good one.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

It's a rainy day....

Trouble #1 and #2 decided they didn't like going to the vacation program I had been sending them to. That makes things a bit tricky because I still have to work, but we'll see....

But since the weather has been crappy, they've been inside way too much, which makes them cranky. And if they are cranky, I get cranky. So, despite their protests, I dragged them down to the river today. I admit, the weather was awful, but we all needed the fresh air.





That's it for now. Working on a LO and last preparations for the Stampin'Up Workshop.

Have a good one.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Coming Up....Stampin'Up! Weihnachts Workshop!

Sorry, since it is about Stampin'Up Germany, this will be in German.

Ich bin in letzter Zeit nicht viel zum Scrappen gekommen, aber... ich habe einen neuen Stampin'Up Workshop ausgearbeitet zum Thema Weihnachten und Minialbum. Mir gefällt einfach das "I wish" Set im neuen Katalog so gut.... ich musste damit arbeiten. Also, genaueres gibts in den nächsten Tagen hier auf dem Blog. Schaut wieder vorbei!

Jetzt werde ich mich dran mache einen AppleCrisp zu backen. Yummy!

Now I am off to bake some AppleCrisp. Yummy!

Have a good one.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Happy Birthday to my baby Trouble #2

Trouble #2 turned 7 today. Actually... she was born at 9:02pm Central time, which means she wasn't even born yet, but since she insisted on staying up till her actual birth time, I sort of skipped the minor detail of different time zones. So, 9:02pm German time and off to bed she went.

Considering how much baking I do, I have to say.... I sucked as a mom today. My own child did not get a proper birthday cake. But, in my defense, we stumbled upon this little nugget..... sorry, not for the faint of heart, watch at your own discretion...


and for a few days I actually considered it, but then decided against it, because I a) couldn't find a brain jello mold anywhere (suprise!) nor, b) did I have cornsyrup. I think I might just have to buy a big jug of this stuff next time I am in the US.

Anyway, so no bleeding zombie brain for my child. We also stumbled upon pictures of "graveyard cake". Now, that was definitely up Trouble #2's alley. So, I set out to make graveyard cake. And again, I stumbled, because a) I couldn't find OREO's (which are available in Germany at a few stores, just not in our little town) nor b) was there any CoolWhip. Or c) oval cookies. You would think that I could at least find little oval cookies to make the headstones. Anyway, long story short, I did improvise, and used Chocolate Prinzenrolle for the "dirt", didn't even know they made chocolate Prinzenrolle, and I used regular whipped cream instead of the CoolWhip. And I used store bought chocolate chip cookies which were sort of oval, for the headstones. And voila, my child was deeply impressed as was my neighbor.

So, without further ado, here is the birthday child and her graveyard cake. Please note... my little buttercream ghosts! Also, darn that photography class.... I should have shot on P or Auto, because I did not get a single clear picture of T#2, except for one where she sports this awful fake smile.


,


Now I really wish I had a glass of wine to relax, but alas... there isn't any to be found. So off to bed I go.

Have a good one.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Day 3 of the photography class....

It's the first day of fall break and that's a good thing. The girls and I didn't have to get up quite so early (though the girls did... silly!) and there was no mad rush to get things rounded up for school.

I am still exhausted from the weekend. Yes, it was wonderful. But, it was also two long days of walking, picture taking and learning and trying to digest information. So not much to talk about really, but here are some more pictures from yesterday's assignment....








I think it is safe to say... fall is here.

Have a good one.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

The most perfect day....

not only did I get to spend all day with the most fabulous Ms. Nat, but I also got to spend all day in the city, taking a photography class. The weather was absolutely fabulous and we couldn't have wished for better. We went down to the harbor and took bunches of pictures. I am dead tired, but here are a few of the shots.





Now, I have to get some sleep. I have to get up in just a few hours and head back into the city... yeah, another fabulous day with Nat and the photography class.
Have a good one.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

I am such a freakin' follower...

or... I was bored to tears at work, today.

First, I promised pictures of my caramel apple cupcakes. Well, can't do. They turned out fine, tastewise, but looks wise? Not so much. I should have known better than to try and doctor up my usual buttercream. It turned out too runny and since I didn't have green sprinkles, I tinted the buttercream. Well... a little bit of food color goes a long way, and they were definitely bright green. And, since the buttercream was too runny, I ended up just kind of shmearing it on top, and then dunking it into brown sugar. So, back to the drawing board on the buttercream, but as for flavor? Yeah, these cupcakes are a keeper.

Second.... that's what makes me a follower.... I remember seeing all kind of things felt over the last year or so. Now, I didn't much care to include felt on my LOs. I have bunches of felt for scrapbooking, but really.... it's still all in the box. And actual felting? Seemed rather labor intensive and tedious... not my thing either. But somehow...I stumbled upon this blog a while ago. Don't even know where and how... just remember seeing the gal was from Omaha, and so I started reading. And she does the cutest, most adorable little felt flower bouquets. Anyway, flowers are good, but then she did cupcake appliques. Oh, so cute! I am not usually one for embroidery and hand stitching and all that fun stuff, but somehow, those cupcakes stayed in the back of my mind.

Long story short, this morning I just knew things would be slow at work and so I packed up some supplies. And sure enough, 1 hour into things, not a customer in sight.... I started stitching. And it was really fun and relaxing. So, without further ado, here are my cupcakes. The non-calorie kind.



Now I am off to bed. I have to work tomorrow and have a photography class tomorrow. Sooo excited about that.

Have a good one.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Mmmmhhhh, caramel apples.....

Fall=Caramel Apples.

That's one of the few things I like about fall.... and it being "soup season", but that's for another post.

So, as I went about scouring the internet in search for caramel apple recipes, I stumbled upon THIS recipe. Okay, I love this blog anyway, but this cupcake looked just too cute for words and it being caramel apple.... how perfect is that?

So, I just got home from parent/teacher night for Trouble#2, and I am baking a batch of caramel apple cupcakes as we speak. The caramel filling is already done. There is no such thing as corn syrup in Germany. Do you think it will matter? The caramel tastes yummy, though. Anyway, the cupcakes are baking, the frosting will have to wait till the morning, though. It is getting late. Pictures tomorrow, I promise.

Have a good one.

Friday, October 03, 2008

No cupcakes for a change....

I did make some Chocolate/Balsamico cupcakes with Fig Buttercream yesterday. They were delish but I have no photos to show. Sorry.

In other baking news....

Apparently I opened my big mouth and volunteered to make lots of apple waffle batter for the store for tomorrow's Applefest!

Good thing there is the internet, because... I had no recipe. Why did I volunteer? Who knows. So now I have been baking apple waffles all day. I am sick of apple waffles already, especially since these taste okay, but nowhere near as good as my mom's waffles.

Will let you know how they sell.

Have a good one.