For the Sew mama sew blog meme

This post is for the Sew Mama Sew Holiday Meme. So here I go! I am doing just the first part in this post.

Gifts:

♥ Do you have a favourite gift that you love to give? I love to give people books. I think that a really good book is the best gift to receive myself and if you really make an effort to find the perfect book for someone that equals love. The cutest children book I love to give is Sam McBratney´s book “Guess how much I love you”

♥ If you are making gifts this year, what are you making? As my blog readers know, I am making quite a few gifts this year. Here is a little list with links to some of the projects:

Ricebag warmer
Pacifier holders
Mushroom mittens

Ear rings, mini note books, mini scrapbook holder

♥ Name one thing on your personal wish list. Ali Edwards new scrapbooking book.

♥ Do you make and sell things that would make fantastic gifts? Well, maybe something from my shop?

You can check out lots and lots of cool stuff in the Handmade Holiday flickr group.

I just have to share a photo of my Christmas card making daughter :)



And this is the photo that we have used for our Christmas cards this year!

bad blogger :(

sorry! I know that I have been a bit of a bad blogger but it has been stuff hapening with my internet connection and so on... it is all fixed now.

I have been not motivated to do anything crafty lately. I haven´t even taken any photos! The last 2 weeks! But I have some projects that are either done or in progress. Some Christmas cards in the making, I have to buy new ink for my printer and was planning to print out some photos for them.



I have so many friends with little ones right now and my sister is having twins early next year, so I have been looking for sweet things I can make for a dew of them that they would like to use. I found an easy tutorial in a magazing to make some pacifier holders. These are so simple, but I know how much they can mean to a stressful little momma.




Also we are making gifts for co workers this year. I made a risewarmer that I am happy with. It is such an easy thing to make yourself! Just see the sewmamasew blog from one day in November.




Now that I have a faster internet I have been raiding the internet for some good inspiration. So, here I present to you the list:

1. Studio Calicos gallery went up today and it was fabulous as always!

2. Nisa celebrated her 6 month anniversary with some cute photos from her wedding.

3. I have found a new blog.

4. Kelly Purkey had a fun color post a while ago on her blog.

5. How about orange showed a different kind of Christmas tree. Maybe for the small living people or one who does not care for bling bling :)

6. The same had the yummiest cupcakes I have ever seen!!!

Ps. Check out my shop for some new goodies that just came in!

another slow sunday

I seem to have alot of these slow days lately. And don´t get me wrong I am all for slow, but this weekend I have been plain bored! It was a long time ago I was bored really. My life is very full; with activities,pets and family things to do. But this weekend was just boring. Although I acctually finally saw the movie Rattatouille with my daughter and her friend at he movies yesterday. I have been wanting to see that movie for a while now. It was a good one! Although the french accent could be hard to understnad, especially for the kids. The movie made me want to go to France. Hey, you who have been in Paris, is it really how it is pictured in the movies? You know with lot´s of small cafés, cool houses and just so...so romantic? Or is it only how they all portrait it in the movies? Speaking of France i have just finished reading Anna Gavaldas book Ensamble, c´est tout (transl. "Together, you are less alone") If you like an odder kind of book you should read this. It is very european :) That made me want to go to France even more :)
Currently I have gone back to my comfort zone reading wise. Yep, Agatha Christie :) I am reading one of her Miss Marple books.

I ordered a few CD´s yesterday. Among others I ordered this. I am a sucker for nice looking guys singing nice and I love Christmas songs :) Perfect! I also ordered a few CD´s and DVD´s as Christmas gifts. I am almost ready with my shopping. I just have to buy something for my BIL and FIL then I am finite. Although I am sure I will see something more that is perfect for someone I know! I always do :)

I was flipping through Keri Smiths book "Living out loud" today and that always makes me happy. Have you seen her blog? She always have something thoughtworthy (is that a word?) to say. I especially love this entry plain and simple. I should have that taped on my bathroom mirror! Also she has that Guerilla Art kit book I am dying to get. I am so in the mood for some guerilla art! Just check this out! That is just such a simple way of spreading the love, isn´t it! You can read more on how to be a Guerilla artist here!

Speaking of love, I know that this photo was in my latest flickr mosaic, but I just had to show it again.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/saylamarz/490108654/

I think it is amazing...you know the sparkle of love...

I have no projects that are done or even in the making at the moment. I was so bored my mojo went out the window, but I am going to blame that on my second fall cold that has developed itself in my nose and head...

Just look at those cute feet! My friend just got twin boys early November and I just had to take some photos of their swet babyness :)

Ok here is a list for today!

1.Ingunn had the funniest link on her blog the other day! I think anyone with pets, especially very hungry dogs, can relate totally with this story! I know I can!

2. I found this cool company while browsing the ever so wonderful internet. They have some really cute things.

3. And this girl makes some very cool cuffs, that I would love to have!

4. Sew mama sew blog had a Holiday Handmade Blog meme today that I will make when I have the time. Go check it out!

5. Inge made the best CJ entry into my "For the love of seasons" CJ! She is a fellow list lover :)

6. I made some sweet Christmas gift finds at my local Red Cross second hand store today. Go check out if you have one near you.

7. I am waiting on this and this to arrive on my doorstep tomorrow! Horray!

8. I like this layout.

9. Ali hade some cool links on her blog too.

Haha there is no number 10 because the family is calling for my attention now!

Please leave your mark in the comments section!

a few new projects

First I promised I would show my Holiday planner when I finished it. So here it is. Nothing fancy at all, just a black binder and a few contents like gift lists, shopping lists etc. It feels nice to have everything in one place.







And I made a gift for my sweet SIL who is a biologist and specializes in mushrooms and fungus (!) She also like everything handmade. I bought a plain pair of one size fits all gloves. Then I drew a template for a mushroom which I then cut out in 2 colors of felt. I pinned everything together and handstitched the felt onto the gloves. Voila!








I also made a chipboard frame that I have begun to embellish to make it a holiday frame where I can put a Christmas photo in.



And a few weeks ago I was inspired to make other chipboard frames. These I just cut out of a sheet of chipboard and got busy with some tape. I think they look cute :)










One day during my daily wanderings around the internet I came across Simple Scrapbooks site where I found a cool link to the book Elizabeth has written, where she bases her projects on calenders or almanacs. If you go here they have sneak peeks on a few of her projects. Right now they have an easy Birthday planner up. I made one in like 20 minutes! This is a gift for someone for Christmas.





My daughter made my day when she suprised me with breakfast in bed this morning! I have the best girl in the world!

Oh and the cutest Tech gifts are up on sewmamasew! Check them out!

friday

I am feeling blue...it may have something to do with the music I am listening to...it is an album called Absolute Women and there are some beautiful songs on there. Like:

Life for rent w/ Dido
Fields of gold w/ Eva Cassidy
The look of love w/ Diana Krall
The beautiful goodbye w/ Amanda Marshall

well, I can go on (is a 2 cd album!) I especially love every version of Fields of gold, don´t you? And i love Dido period. But i am in need of some new music. I seem to just listen to old music, which I don´t mind really, but right now I feel the need for something new! Do you have any suggestions? J, this would be a good Christmas gift too! :) Leave a suggestion in the comments section for me!

Otherwise I went to a thrift shop tonight and found some "new" bags. I love to buy bags in thrift shops because you can buy several without going bankrupt. I got three! Schyss: don´t tell my husband! I know I know I am really not in need for ANY bags at the moment, but I am like some women are with shoes! I love bags!

I have enjoyed checking in with the sewmamasew blog everyday this month to see what genius things they all come up with. Still haven´t been there? Please go! Tomorrow they are doing purses ♥ :)

Elise had a great ornament tutorial on her blog the other day. Very simple and very cool! I am definetly going to try to make some of those!
She also has a very cool collection of daily cards. I have been so nspired by all these altered cards floating around the internet and I came up with this.



I just altered the playing cards and added names of stuff that makes me happy.

And I did this with a photo i acctually took in a clothing stores dress room. They had : You look great! written on the mirror! Talk about self bost!




One more to add to my BOM album. fight is what i do everyday!



And Harry sure does love his ball!




Tomorrow i am going to meet the 2 newest members of our island: twin newborn boys :) Yes, I can see why you are jealous of me :) I love to smell babies ah...

♥ this mosaic

1. Stairway of Remembrance, 2. CWD164: Sparks Fly., 3. .love factory., 4. Untitled, 5. Ginger Bread Snowflakes, 6. Champ de Mars, 7. new years 2006, 8. hundertwasser a bit different, 9. Button Flowers Red Pouch, 10. Running ahead of oneself, 11. angele, 12. I think this sums it up nicely... (365 days shot, too!), 13. yumtastic, 14. Love film, 15. Powells Books, Portland, 16. another view, 17. Sleeping Corgi - Not My Photo, 18. Found sunlight, 19. Untitled, 20. ready...., 21. Dalila - Sofa, 22. Feeding Time, 23. Look into my eyes..., 24. Tired

This can possibly be my favorite mosaic yet. I love these photos so much! Don´t you agree? It has so much love in it.

I have been thinking alot on Christmas gifts a lot lately. I think I have got ideas for most people. And to help me I am creating a simple holiday planner. I have never made one before but I have been so inspired by so many this year, so I gave in :) I am working on it and will show when it is finished.

Sarah posted a cool set of photos in her flickr gallery the other day and if there are anyone missing New York you should take a look if you can. The photos made me want to go there even more!

Ok this will be a short one because dinner is calling my name!

slow saturday

We are having a slow saturday over at our house today. My daghter isn´t feeling well and has been on the couch in her pyamas all day :) Just my kind of day really, slacking around in my sweats and do whatever.

I have been doing some new projects, but they are not at all finished so i am not showing anything yet :) But I did make a little booster layout for myself acctually. I have started an all about me kind of album and in that I have decided to put random things that I feel about at that moment. The journaling is my new mantra: I may! I can! I will! and it refers to my thoughts being so negative and I need to change the way I think to be able to get better from my loooong depression.



I finally got to use those yummy American Craft foam numbers. Aren´t they just yummy! And I really like that photo that my daughter took of me when we were at that cool 50s café if you remember.


We have all been missing our Chanty boy alot lately, especially my husband. It is strange, but not really, that Chanty and Harry are so very different. I thought they would make me feel the same. But it is not so, not so at all. Harry has become more of my dog, like Chanty was more my husbands. I have been the one being home and around Harry the most these months and that shows. He wines for me and want to be in the room I am in and soforth. He is doing so much better and is down to 54 kilos now. We are taking longer and longer walks and he just sits down for a bit when his legs get tired. But he is so happy all the time! He ran (!) to me today! Wow! As we get home from our walks he likes to lay down infront of the front stairs and just lay for a while. And that is a typical Chanty thing to do, he loved to lay outside just sniffing and looking around.






I have also had time to browse the net for some cool things today and you have to see Annas gorgeous baby minibook! It is so great! (Anna I couldn´t leave you a message on your blog)

rain and snow

It is raining and snowing here. Just yucky weather! But, it is great weather for staying inside and doing good things like having a tea party with my daughter that she prepared :) and lighting candles and cuddleling on the couch watching re-run sit-coms and to scrapbook. We took control over my scraproom and scrapped together. It is fun, but we do it so rarely. I don´t know why. Note to self: Scrap more often with daughter! She made a cute Fathers Day card (we have it on sunday here in Sweden!) and she was very proud of herself. She even learned the art of using rub-ons! I am a proud mama!

I made a few scrapbook pages. First I finally scrapped my daughters stuffed-animal-birthday-party.



I decided to make it very simple with no journaling shown. I have it hidden behind one of the photos. I like that I can print my photos myself. I recived a kick-a** printer for my graduation from my lovely MIL and FIL. It does everything and does it good too. I am lucky!


Here is what I did with my dance photo :)



And my daughter is going very good at school and in her homework. We are so proud of her, she comes home daily with new praises from her teachers and she absolutely loves school.




I am browsing around for good handmade gifts that I can make for a friend that has her birthday coming up and also for Christmas of course! Do you have any suggestions? Link me up!

*i´m feeling yummy top to toe*

Have you heard that Gwen Stefani song? I felt so good this morning, so I cranked up the stereo and did a little dance-silly-like-no-one-is-watching-through-the-house dance :) It felt good! Try it today! Very liberating indeed. I listen through the CD and then took along shower. Ah the luxury!

I also had time to see an Oprah episode. I rarely do, but today it was about hope and that sounded good. So I am sitting there and there was an interview with a man that have held a sign with the words : FREE HUG on it. He went out and stood in places like the subway station or a mall and just asked for a hug. Many people, he said, thought he was a little crazy but then suddenly someone would come up to him and hug him. I think that is so cool. A hug means so much, I think. Go hug someone, it feels so good :)

I am going to make a little list again with some cool places and things that I like at the moment:

1. Just check out todays crafts at sewmamasew! I mean that house is so cool! Seriously there are some really cool crafters out there.

2. Carolines latest flickr mosaic.

3. Annika has bought my papers here and she has used it perfectly here and here.

4. KI memories popculture collection. Do I have to comment that?

5. This awesome print that Inge had at her blog!

6. Nisa rocked the SIS gallery the other night, she is such a cool scrapper.

7. Karla...I am not even going to start commenting on her :) You all know!

Ok, I will stop now and go scrap a page about the dancing :)

Tuesday blogging

boat in sunset, originally uploaded by lisafisa.

This week started out cold. I am cold, the wind is cold...but I am happy to say that my heart is warm! I am happy about so many things right now, for no big reason, really. As you know me I have to do a little list :)

♥ I love my husband so much! I have been through so much self doubt and doubt in almost every area in my life, but it feels so nice to just say, yep I love him!
♥ My work. I love to go in and get all smiles and hugs from the sweet kids. It truly makes my day!
♥ My daughter is home again! She has been gone for a whole week while she had her autumn leave from school. And the house is really not the same without her.
♥ No headache! This is a big one for me. I have had migraines, bad ones too, for several years now and everyday I feel better is a blessing to me.
♥ Awesome craft inspirations. This is one thing that always makes me smile! If you don´t mind I am going to give you some cool links real quick:
1, Sewmamasew has begun their November craft month. Wow!
2, Just check out these photos. Wow!
3, How about orange is always inspiring! Wow!
There are more ofcourse, but I´ll save them for now.
♥ My online friends have made me happy this week, as they do any week! Emails, comments and notes really mean alot to me.

Have a wonderful tuesday!

saturday projects

I so made a new easy peasy project today and I thought I would share with you all. You may now that Sweden (where i live) can be a bit chilly in the winter time and as I work with kids we are outside even when it is chilly. Aha, I thought as a measure to keep my hands warm during those times I made something to do just that. I took out my sewing machine for this (hold on to you seats!), some felt and rice. I measured my felt (folded) with a playing card (just because it was just there!).



I sewed a seam around the felt pieces but left an opening where I then poured a little of the rice in. I used about a tablespoon or two. You will see when you pour how much you will need. Just make sure you can sew that last piece together.



Oh and make sure no rice ends up in the sewing machine...not that I have ANY rice in my machine :)



I made 2 in each color, and I put them in the microwave for like 15 seconds and then put on in each mitten as I walk outside and the warm rice will keep my hands warm for a good while!



Now isn´t that a good idea, eh! :)

And can you belive I had time to scrap too!








I played around with my wide angle lens today. My cat was very curious on what on earth I was doing :)





me and Harry hanging out!

Have a wonderful weekend!

friday again :)

This is placed in my kitchen and this is where I add all the small items I find during walks, travels or thrift shop wanderings. Every item has a small story behind it and my daughter loves to stand her and just point at things and ask me to tell the story of it. I have this photo at my flickr gallery and there I have added notes to a few items if you are interested!

Yesterday was happy mail day! I told you before that I won one of the challenges over at SIStv and yesterday my price came! Oh. My. God. is all I can say about this package! It was completely packed with 4 different kit collections and rub-ons, stickers, a few pens and some yummy tape and flowers :) I am so creating something with some of these this weekend :)



Although I am pretty sure I am not going to win a challenge again, I still am making a few of them this week. Ashley Wren had one that was about what scares you. I made this.



I write about my biggest fear, a thing that I am scared of everyday. That I am not the mother that i should be, that my daughter won´t feel the love I have her for her... I guess most mothers has these feeling from time to time. Isn´t the love for our children so overwhelming sometimes. You just want to show you love them so much it hurts sometimes.

I am also working on a challenge where you were suppose to use tape in a creative way. I´ll show you that soon!

It is CJ time again and this month I have had Aprils CJ and the theme is selfportrait. This is what I came up with.



Here is a closer look.






I will leave you with a photo of my darling cat that took my place in my bed this morning when I got up. I love how cats just seem to enjoy life to the fullest all day long!



***Edited: Oh did you see the counter? Almost 1000 visitors :) Yay!