okay.... I give up....

not only did my laptop crash, now the desktop crashed as well. I have no idea what's going on, but it seems that the computer gods decided I needed to take a break from online life. So, unless Santa brings me a new computer, I don't know when or how frequently I will be able to post, mail, or otherwise keep in touch.

Bei mir ist der Computer-Supergau eingetreten... sowohl laptop als auch PC sind gecrashed. Keine Ahnung was da los ist, aber die Computer-Götter scheinen beschlossen zu haben dass ich eine Internet-Auszeit brauche. Also, es sei denn dass der Weihnachtsmann mir einen neuen Computer bringt, weiss ich nicht wann oder wie oft ich posten, mailen, oder mich sonst melden werde.

So... with that said, Merry Christmas and a happy new Year!

Also, es bleibt mir nichts anderes als euch eine Frohe Weihnacht und ein glückliches Neues Jahr zu wünschen.

Have a good one.

Christmas cupcakes

I know, I know, I haven't posted any cupcakes in a while. And to be honest, I haven't baked too many cupcakes lately.

But this is what I did earlier today for a Christmas party Trouble #1 and #2 went to.
I ran out of buttercream, but this is what I planned on doing:



As it was, I did just one like this. The rest were plain red or white. Somehow I doN't think the kids really cared.

Have a good one.

Christmas Canvas

Oye! I had this whole post planned out, with pictures and all, and wouldn't you know it? My laptop crashed! Black screen and all that good stuff. And of course all my pictures are on it. I am praying that it can be salvaged, because.... you know it... my backup is... well... non-existent. And a new computer is not in my budget right now.

I am hoping that Santa listened to my pleas for a new laptop, but in the meantime, I am thankful that I can use Trouble#1's computer. It doesn't have any of my files on it, but at least I have internet access. Can you imagine what would happen if I didn't have internet access? I think I would go insane! It's my connection to the world! All my friends and aquaintances are everywhere other than here and the internet is how we stay connected. It'd be like sending me to a desert island. Nightmare!!!

Anyway, since I cannot write up a new post, I will have to refer you to my post OVER HERE.

Have a good one.

Blogaward

Danke liebe Elke, für diesen Award. Und ich werde mich bemühen auch wieder mehr Deutsch zu schreiben.... die Faulheit, die Faulheit, sage ich da nur.

Thank you, Elke, for the award. I will try to write more in German like I used to. I've been lazy... Thanks for calling me on it.

So, on to the award.

The rules are: I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word.
~
1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your hair? awful
3. Your mother? at home
4. Your father? shopping
5. Your favorite food? Thai
6. Your dream last night? can't remember
7. Your favorite drink? Cosmopolitans
8. Your dream/goal? peace on earth!
9. What room are you in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? illness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? not here
13. Where were you last night? at home
14. Something that you aren’t? organized
15. Muffins? yum!
16. Wish list item? laptop
17. Where did you grow up? Hamburg
18. Last thing you did? read my daily bloglist
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Your TV? off
21. Your Pets? Trouble#3
22. Friends? few
23. Your life? could be better
24. Your mood? so so
25. Missing someone? not really
26. Vehicle? dinosaur
27. Something you’re not wearing? ugly shoes
28. Your favorite store? M&J Trimming
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? yesterday?
31. Last time you cried? day before yesterday
32. Your best friend? life-saver
33. One place that I go to over and over? NYC
34. Facebook? yup
35. Favorite place to eat? Johnny's Cafe

I think pretty much everyone I know already has received this award, so... if you haven't, feel free to grab it.

Have a good one.

And yet another one....

This canvas is even simpler.




I painted the diecut with white acrylic paint, and then again with Lumiere. Love the light shimmer. I then stamped the word "Peace" onto the canvas, attached the diecut, added some irridescent and blue Stickles and it's done.

Have a good one.

Christmas Canvas No. 2

I had a few of these little (6x6in) canvases sitting around and was lacking inspiration. So when I got my DT kit from Lasercuts I played around with the large die cut shapes. And voila... super quick Christmas decoration.

For this one, I cut out a few trees from a sheet of Kaisercraft paper and attached them to the Canvas. Then I painted the tree die cut with green acrylic paint and attached it over the paper trees. Last but not least, I added some glitter... can't go without glitter, right? That's it. Super quick, super cute.



Tomorrow I'll show you another Christmas Canvas.

Have a good one.

Blog Hop

Welcome to the "Let's Party!" blog hop for myStamp BOX! If you have just happened upon my blog, you'll want to start at the beginning our blog hop. Take the time to leave some love on each design team members blog post for the blog and you could be be picked to WIN a very own myStamp BOX stamp set of your very own! You have until Friday December 11th at 6pm EST to leave your comments for a chance to win. The blog hop winner will be announced on the myStamp BOX blog on Monday December 14th.

Here is our blog rotation for this evening:
mSB Blog/Bettina
Virginia
Trace
Nathalie
Liz
Jolene
Ellen
Tracey
Tina
Marci
Leica
Kim
Gudrun
Elisa
Ally

Here's my card! I have been making Christmas cards, and I am getting bored with it already, so I used the He Loves Me Set for a change of pace. I stamped the petals, the stem, and the "Celebrate" flower center on cream colored CS. I then cut them out, and attached them to the card. Then I "curled" the petals a bit over my scissors edge and voila.... Super easy.



Now on to Jolene's blog to catch more fun ideas for all kinds of parties! Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog to be eligible for our blog hop prize! Good luck!

Have a good one.

Christmas Canvas

I haven't scrapped much these last few weeks. Just can't seem to get into it. Instead, I've been painting, and I made a few little Christmas canvases. Will show those over the next few days.

Here's one I made yesterday. It is 30x30cm and it was super quick and simple. I like how it turned out.


I got out my old MM foam stamps, and stamped "Christmas words" with red acrylic paint. I then used a Tattered Angels Glimmer screen and sprayed over it with Maya Road Mist in gold. After that, I added the Santa image (it's old... )and added some diecut stickers (Litte yellow Bicycle) and string for the ornaments. Voila!


Now I am hopefully going to set up the Christmas tree and maybe get around to decorating it?

Have a good one.

Come join us....

Meet Walter!

Isn't he cute?

Granted,I don't pick up coffee here in Germany nearly as much as I used to in the US, but when I saw the pattern for a sock monkey coffee cup cozy, I had to make one. Oh, the things we do to amuse ourselves!




Have a good one.

Have I mentioned...

that I have been knitting? A lot?

It is so wonderfully calming and relaxing. And, unlike scrapping, I can do it pretty much anywhere.... Waiting to pick up the kids from school? Waiting at the dentist? On the train? Hanging out with my neighbor on a friday night, drinking some wine? You betcha! I've even been tempted to knit while stuck in a traffic jam, but then that just didn't seem too safe.

Anyway, I was "between" projects for oh, about a second or two, and T#1 told me she wanted me to make her a slouchy hat. Sure... no problem. I grabbed some left-over yarn and went to work. Unfortunately she didn't like the color, so the hat found a home with Ms. Nat. I then grabbed some other left-over yarn from my stash, and this time we had a winner. T#1 and #2 both like the way it turned out and I am sure it is not going to be the last slouchy hat I am making this winter. Anyway, long story short, here's the hat, modeled by T#2.



Mmmmmhhhh, I have some other things in the works, but can't really show those yet. And with that I am running out of things to write. LOL.

Have a good one.

I promised too much...

well, I didn't really promise, but... me coming out of hiding? Not really happening.

Mojo is just not really present, and I haven't sat down at my scrapdesk in forever. On the other hand, I have been knitting. It keeps me calm. And I get some Christmas gifts taken care of.

Anyway, time seems to be flying and today is already the first of Advent. I barely got an advent wreath up in time. Trouble #2 and I went looking for a ready-made wreath yesterday but the ones we could afford were ugly, the ones we liked... cost a fortune. So, since T#2 wanted "different" and "purple"... we made our own. And I must say, I kind of like the purple, sparkly, reindeer.


I got to light the first candle this morning, when T#2 fixed a delicious breakfast for us. If this is a sign for things to come, I might just let her live past the ripe old age of 8!


Happy First Advent!



Have a good one.

With this... my 500th post....

I come back out of hiding.

Somehow I just haven't been in the mood to scrap. Good thing I had a project done for MyStampBox. Somehow the colors aren't really as bright here as IRL, but... heck, it's bright, it might just brighten my mood. The weather is definitely putting a damper on my spirits.

Enjoy!
Have a good one.

Flohmarkt

Schaut mal hier vorbei... LIZ-Art!

Ich hab mal wieder aussortiert.

Have a good one.

Painting....

Not much new around here, so here are the pictures of my paintings.







Have a good one.

Yes, I am still alive!

I had, once again, some internet issues which made posting very long and tedious.... so I just gave up. But, here I am back. And hopefully my internet issues are a thing of the past.

Lots of stuff going on here but oddly enough, I can't really remember most of it.

I did go to the special sale at the Hamburgerwollfabrik yesterday. It's not like I need to stock up on yarn. After all, I am pretty sure I have enough yarn for a good dozen or so sweaters in my stash in the basement, but just the thought of actually seeing parts of the warehouse.... too cool! So while Trouble #2 was at a birthday party, I dragged Trouble #1 clear across town to the sale. Well, T#1 was less than impressed and whiny, so it wasn't all that enjoyable for me either. And then, when I had finally decided on some yarn, wouldn't you know it? My EC card was nowhere to be found. Of course I panicked, until T#1 mentioned casually, that she had seen it sitting on my desk that morning! Ughhh!!!!
So, I left without buying anything, but they are holding my yarn til Wednesday, when I can stop by again and pick it up.

Mmmhhh, what else? Oh, my painting class! I am having a lot of fun with it. After the less than enjoyable 2nd class where we had to paint a sunflower and then a poppy, it's not all bad anymore. I actually spoke up and told the teacher that painting flowers and still lifes was so not my thing, and that I really wanted to learn techniques and experiment with color and such, so maybe I was in the wrong class? But she is accomodating and is letting me do my own thing. I really like how my last two paintings turned out. If the lighting is right, I will try to get some pictures and post them later.

And since I hate posts without pictures, a few more from our trip to Nebraska. I am such a city kid, so seeing a bunch of wild turkeys in the backyard is really strange to me. There was a family of deer, as well, but I cannot find the pictures at the moment. If you are wondering how close the turkeys actually came.... the first picture is taken with my zoom lens since they were just on the other side of the fence, but the second and third picture were taken with my regular lens, standing on the deck.






So, how's that for wildlife photography? Grin!

Off to get the day started.

Have a good one.

And then there was heat!

ahhhhh!

The heat in our house is finally working again!

We've been without heat for a week now. And let me tell you... it's been cold! Cold enough that I wore knitted socks to bed. And I never wear socks to bed. I hate anything on my feet when I sleep. But it was so darn cold.

Anyway, after finally figuring out that the company that installed the heater had moved and getting the new numbers... the service guys were here within 30 minutes.

Trouble #3 almost bit one of them in the rear, but heck... the heat is on in my house!


Other than that, here's a little something I did with my favorite MyStampbox stampset "Colorful Companions". A lovely lady from a German scrapping forum sent me the little photo display box a while ago, filled with Reese's peanutbutter cups because I had been feeling cruddy. The peanutbutter cups definitely helped. Yumm! And after I ate all of them, I had the box sitting around for a while.
Anyway, long story short, I had this idea in my head of what I wanted to do with the butterflies and the box was perfect for it. Butterflies flying around a box of sweet treats!



I covered the box with some Basic Grey paper, then stamped the butterflies on vellum and embossed with Iridescent embossing powder. Added some wire and voila!

Now I am going to enjoy my warm and cozy house. Grin!

Have a good one.

Free Stamps....

hey, did that catch your eye?

Das hat Eure Aufmerksamkeit erregt, oder?

It is super easy. Just go over to MyStampBox and leave a comment.

Es ist ganz einfach. Geht einfach zu MyStampBox und hinterlasst einen Kommentar.



I had to drop off T#1 at school this morning at 6am. She left for a 1 week class trip. Of course then I had to rush home to get T#2, because she had to be dropped off at school at 7:15. I really hate rushing like that in the morning. Of course the constant rain didn't help my mood.

Oh well... need to get some crafty stuff done. Never mind cleaning the house, laundry, etc. etc. The heater isn't working and it is way too cold in the house for me to feel all ambitious about housework. And yes, the heater service guy is supposed to call me back.

Have a good one.

Happy Halloween!

So busy today! Three different Halloween parties for us, so there's lots of stuff to prepare.

Trouble #2 is going to a sleepover at a farm about 20 minutes from here. They are going to dress up, have BBQ, bonfire, roast marshmallows, hayrack ride, etc. etc. Other than getting everything but the kitchen sink packed, oh, and adjusting the waist on T#2's costume, since nothing ever does fit her properly, not much work for me.

Trouble #1 is going to a party at her best friend's house this afternoon. I made cupcakes for her to take along. After the party they are going trick or treating and then she is sleeping over with her friend at her friend's grandma's house, because of party #3, the grown-up party at her best friend's house....

... which is where I am going to be this evening. I can't remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween, but heck, I have a party to go to, I will dress up.

So, of course I didn't get around to taking pictures early, so those will have to wait til tomorrow.

I will leave you with a Halloween card I made for tonight's party's hostess, using the cute MyStampbox stampset Boo.
I stamped the little spiderweb on the background, then I dry embossed a piece of CS with my Cuttlebug and then spritzed it with Adirondack ColorWash and Tattered Angel Glimmer Mist. For the finishing touch I heat embossed the little mummies as well as the "Happy Halloween". I then painted some Luminarc over the mummies and used marker to color the "Happy Halloween". Last, but not least, I then used a circle punch to cut the stamped images and adhered them to the card with foam tabs.



So, now I have to go and walk Trouble #3, and since I will be gone tonight, set out the candy for any Trick or Treaters that might come by... actually, I am going to be the grinch that is not giving out candy, but little Halloween pencils and stickers. Just don't feel comfortable leaving food items out while I am gone. And I suppose then I will have to get myself all dolled up for tonight's party.

Have a good one.

I am baaackkkk!

Just in case anyone was going to send out a search party.... we did make it back from the US in one piece and with several extra pieces of.... luggage!

We had a wonderful time, spending time with family and friends, lots of shopping... hence the extra luggage, lots of (comfort-) food, and fun activities.

Since I still have to edit my pictures, just a few from the pumpkin patch:

Trouble #1 is starting to feel "too old" to have Mama take her picture all the time. This was the only decent one out of the batch.



Trouble #2 on the other hand... she just loves to have her picture taken. And she loved her pumpkin.


And just because she was so cute...


More later.
Have a good one.

I am off...

If you don't read anything on here for the next few weeks, it is because I will be on vacation and don't know how much online time I will get.

Have a good one.

Things on my mind...

I am still recovering from the fabulous Cherry Pie Event this past weekend in Venray, Netherlands. I had so much fun and got so much done. But between the lack of sleep and the stomach bug that somehow got to me on Monday... I am exhausted and trying to squeeze in naps anytime I can. If you are up for a whole weekend of workshops and scrapping, and fun... you really should attend next time. If I can swing it financially, I am definitely considering it.

So, since I didn't manage to actually finish anything at the event so I would have something to show and I am blessed with a somewhat "temperamental" internet connection these last few days so I cannot even upload anything older... you are left with random things weighing on my mind like:

Ritz Crackers! Good stuff! TUC crackers... not quite as good, but heck, right now I don't care.

Diet Coke tastes icky... but add enough "Old Monk" Rum (my favorite... and my uncle just brought back a bottle from India) ... yeah, all is good!

Trouble #1 is driving me insane! And it's only a short walk. Drama Queen! Pre-Puberty. 'nuff said!

Trouble #3 (aka Rajah, the dog) was so excited to see me when I came back from being gone all weekend, I thought he was going to pee on himself. It's good to feel loved! Okay... T#1 and #2 were super excited to see me, too. I wasn't worried about them peeing on themselves!

Only 5 more days till our vacation!

So, what kind of food is the Netherlands known for?

There should not be any meat in mashed potatoes. It's a texture thing. Or maybe it's a dutch thing?

I hate rain!

I hate yard work!

I hate yard work in the rain!

My vacuum cleaner broke. How do I clean my house without a vacuum cleaner before we go on vacation? On the other hand... perfect excuse! Duh!

I want chocolate! But I grabbed a Milka Nut Raisin bar instead of a Milka Hazelnut bar at the store and I just cannot eat it.

And I just googled Milka Nut raisin bars and I cannot believe they sell for $2.50 in the US! I bought it for €.89, which is about $1.30. But it is still gross!

So... that's about all that's on my mind right now.

Have a good one.

I am so excited...

to be part of the new myStampBox Design Team.



There is a blog hop going on right now, to introduce the new DT members. And you can actually win one of the myStampBox stampsets. Go check it out.

And now I am off to like a maniac to finish up some last minute stuff. Then I am off to pick up Ms. Nat and we are going to here!

Have a good one.

The magic of Fall--Herbstzauber

Not quite ready to spill what I mentioned earlier, but there is something I CAN show: my first design team LOs for Keep Scrapping. The fall kit consists of 2 12x12 in sheets of chipboard shapes available at various shops. If your preferred shop doesn't carry Keep Scrapping products, have them check into it.

Ich kann noch nicht wirklich verraten was ich heute früh schon angedeuted habe, aber dies hier kann ich zeigen: meine ersten DT Arbeiten für Keep Scrapping. Das Herbstkit besteht aus zwei 30x30cm Chipboardplatten und ihr könnt diese über verschiedene Scrapläden beziehen oder fragt doch einfach mal den Händler eures Vertrauens nach Produkten von Keep Scrapping.








For the LOs I used acrylic paints to paint the chipboard shapes and then sprayed them with GlimmerMist. I love how it turned out.
For the card, I colored the corncob with pastels and watersoluble crayons, and then also sprayed with GlimmerMist. That gave a softer result than with the acrylic paints, but I like it equally well.


Für die LOs habe ich die Chipboardteile mit Acrylfarbe bemalt und dann mit GlimmerMist besprüht. Ich bin begeistert davon wie es aussieht. Für die Karte habe ich den Maiskolben mit Pastelkreiden und wasservermalbaren Wachsmalstiften angemalt und danach mit GlimmerMist besprüht. Dies ergab ein insgesamt weicheres Resultat, aber mir gefällt auch das.

So much for now.
Soviel erstmal dazu.

Have a good one.

I have something else to tell...

cannot spill the beans quite yet, but later today!

I am so excited!

Have a good one.

Only two more days....

until I leave for THIS event. I am so excited! I am going with this lovely lady, who will be teaching 4 WSs:



while I am just a lowly participant. LOL

But until then, it's time to clean the house a bit, take to dog to the kennel, finish up some projects, drive T#1 & #2 all over the place and so on and so forth.

Have a good one.

Isn't this....

the most beautiful shoe you have ever seen?



I am drooling....

Have a good one.

The last of the guests....

for my parents' anniversary have left. My aunt and uncle came all the way from Australia, so it was wonderful to have them stay for a while. That's the problem: if you are from a large family and they are pretty much spread out all over the world, you don't get to see each other a whole lot. So when you do, it gets super busy because you try to cram in all the togetherness you can.

Needless to say, there was not a lot of time to scrap. But don't worry, I have a few older LOs yet that I haven't shown.

Here's one of Trouble #2.

Supplies: Bazzill CS, LazarWorks PP, Hambly PP & overlay, Stickles, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, Creative Imaginations rub ons.

That's all for today.
Have a good one.

On this day....

40 years ago, my parents said "I do!". And so I wish them "Happy Anniversary!".

So, since there are two things I do well... bake and scrap... that's what I did in honor of their big day.

I am still in the middle of baking a wedding cake for the big celebration tomorrow. I will post pictures when it is done, but as of now, nothing to show yet.

And I scrapped some wedding LOs for my parents. There aren't too many pictures, because they had a small wedding, but I think with what I had to work with, they will like what I did. The LOs will be displayed at the celebration as well.

So, without further ado, here you go:










Supplies: PP all DCWV, misc. other supplies.

There is one more LO, to include Trouble #1 and #2, but it is not done yet.

Have a good one.

Coming up for air....

still super busy here... baking, cleaning (again), running here and there, picking up people (mainly T#1 & #2), running errands, etc. etc.

AND I am scrapping. On a deadline! Which is Sunday 6pm. That's when I have to have about a half dozen LOs of my parents' wedding day finished. My parents don't have a whole lot of pictures of their wedding, but what they have, my mom handed over. And I scanned and printed them and now I am trying to finish LOs. I will show them when they are done, but as of yet, only two are done, one is in the works.

Other than that, I have been knitting. Finished two sweaters, just need to block them. Started a cardigan. That's about 1/2 done. Okay... maybe 1/3 done. Will show everything when I get pictures.

So I am leaving you with a LO:



Supplies: PP Rouge de Garrance, Hambly journaling block, Stampin'Up glitter, Adirondack paint, and misc. chipboard letters. Sorry, there is no journaling yet. My black pen ran out....

Have a good one.

I can spill the beans....

I am thrilled to be part of the brand new Design Team for Keep Scrapping, a new company for German-language lasercut chipboard pieces and wordbooks.


Jetzt kann ich es verraten....

Ich freue mich riesig Mitglied des neuen Design Teams für Keep Scrapping zu sein. Wie einige von Euch sicherlich schon aus der SAZ wissen, Keep Scrapping ist eine neue Firma die Wortbücher und Chipboard Elemente schneidet.

Check out the other DT members here.

Die anderen DT-Mitglieder könnt ihr hier sehen.

Have a good one.

Can't tell you yet....

but I am super excited!

Ich kann noch nichts verraten aber ich freu mich riesig!

Maybe later today....

Vielleicht im laufe des Tages....



Have a good one.

Happy Weekend!

Not much going on here... scrapping up a storm, but haven't had a chance to take pictures yet, so I will show you this LO, which I don't think I have shown yet.



Other than that, I will be on a cleaning and baking frenzy this weekend. I have a cake order for tomorrow and another one for next Sunday. Next Sunday's order is special to me, because it is for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. That occasion is also the reason for my cleaning frenzy: lots and lots of out-of-town relatives coming to visit, so my house has to be at least presentable.

Have a good one.

One of my favorite blogs....

appropriately named Shoelust keeps me drooling on the keyboard pretty much everyday.

And today they posted a pair of booties that I had posted a while ago. Remember these?



I still can't afford them, but I thought I'd share my blog obsession with you.

Have a good one.

Happy Wednesday!

After having a few very (bad-) fallish days, yesterday and today have been wonderful. So I am not going to spend a lot of time online but enjoy what is most likely going to be one of the last nice days of the summer.




Supplies: lots of stuff from my scrap box. I am bound and determined to make a dent in my old supplies before buying new ones.

Have a good one.

Can you guess?

I took this picture back in June when 6 North-German scrappers got together for brunch in Hamburg. I thought it was funny how different we all are, just as different as our shoes, but we have this one strong bond: scrapbooking. That's how we met, that's what keeps us keep in touch. Who else will listen for hours about the various aspects of paper patterns, rub ons, and glitter application?

Anyway, can you guess who the scrappers are that are hiding behind the shoes? It's pretty tricky, I admit.

Supplies used: PP all Danyeela pattern paper, Hambly overlay, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, misc.lace and paint.

Hint: (clockwise from top) 1.fcnheeni 2. read 3. hscluu 4. Lzi 5. atn 6. mikym

Now I am off to the mall...

have a good one.

Starting school....

luckily Trouble #1 and #2 are already done with first grade, but our neighbor girl started first grade this past Wednesday. Since I drew a total blank as to what gift to get her, I decided on making a scrapbook for first day of school pictures. I realize, it is probably a gift more for her parents, but hey... what are you going to get the kid that pretty much has everything?








Supplies: all kinds of stuff from my scrap bin. The album is an 8x8 in Fancy Pants chipboard album

Now I am off into the city for Onam celebration. Yumm!

Have a good one.