my beautiful life

happy jolly

2011-12-09T22:22:00.001-08:00

happy jolly, originally uploaded by elisabet ottosson.

just wanted to wish you a lovely weekend and share some ofmy favorite holiday themed photos from flickr!

yellow again ♥ + no virtual coffee today

2011-04-26T03:22:00.001-07:00

1. porch finds, 2. canary, 3. Valentine2, 4. Yellow., 5. fondu!, 6. teacups, 7. in the greenhouse, 8. "Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness..." ~ Richard Bach, 9. Bench Monday, spring is finally here edition., 10. Old 111:365, 11. IMG_3332, 12. 8-Year Old All-Star, 13. because flare makes me happy14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

i am so busy with my school work today, so there will not be a virtual coffee post today. i am leaving you with some yellow love instead!

behold!

2010-07-09T05:28:00.000-07:00

one of the things i have been working on is my new blog!

please update your rss feeds and links :)

things to be happy about

2010-07-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

a while back i bought the book "14.000 things to be happy about" which i have read the first 15 pages of. some of the things the author has listed don´t comply to me, but here are my favorites from pages 1-10:

-answers

-waking up early and having breafast together outside

-tender, loving touches

-rearranging the apartment

-serendipitous plans

-the sensuality of a scalp rub

-watering your garden

-thought while ironing

-the little things in life that really make your day go right

-not worrying about having what everyone else has

-returning librarybooks

-men

-rising early

-wild roses, blush pink and spicily fragrant in the cool of the night

i am hoping this book while boost to see the little things in life!

and i am sure this will trig me to write my own list and hopefully scrapbook it!

how i use my concrete creations :)

2010-07-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

the things i made with concrete the other week are placed alittle bit here and there in my backyard.

this bowl i made using a rhubarb leaf holds rocks and shells that we collect.

i placed it on my front steps, but i might move it and use it as a birdbath later.

i made some flat shapes aswell.

this one i made using a baking form and when i had poured the concrete into the mold, i put sea glass ontop.

i use it in one of my flowerbeds as a decoration.

more decorations (the leaf shape was a project from last year that went ehum, not so well!, but i love it anyway!) and a stepping stone i made last year where i put strawberry leafs in the bottom so that it would show up when i turned it up side down.

it is great to have something to put my foot on when i pick the weeds!

these are small roses that i put a stick to and use as both decorations and when a plant need some support.

i made them using a ice cube mold!

these are probably my favorites!

first i wanted to use them as stepping stones, but then i needed something to spice up my herbgarden :)

i also wanted to show you a project that didn´t go exactly the way i wanted.

as i made this pot, i used one larger plastic bowl and a smaller one. well, i got the larger one of when the concrete had dried, the smaller one...not so much :) so i sacrified that smaller plastic bowl and took some plants from the garden and this is what i got!

i love it!

have a wonderful day!

and don´t forget to say hi in the comments, it will make me smile :)

moments

2010-07-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

i enjoyed my view at the beach yesterday.

my daughter came home from camp where she has been over a week.

i missed her.

she played in the sand, serving me all kinds of sand meals.

but this is where she made a pool, which became a bubblepool after some ehm air was broken :)

this ofcourse was hilarious :)

i love that she is home!

_________________

this week i will share some photos of how and where i use the things in cement i have been making.

i hope to find both the time and the urge to scrapbook.

i will share some of my favorites from the book "14,000 things to be happy about" which i heard about over at this lovely blog.

i hope that july has treaten you good so far ♥

she is home ♥

2010-07-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

she is finally home after being away for a good while.

i will post some new photos tomorrow.

canning season

2010-07-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

yesterday i made my own strawberry jam.

canning season always makes me happy.

and ables me to feel like i am a homemaker for reals.

wardrobe re-fashion

2010-07-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

i have done a few alterations in my wardrobe the last cuple of years. and i love it! i love to go into a store/thrift store and see something and think, well if i picked that of or sewed something there...and the cherry onto? my daughter has begun thinking the exact way!

i love that!

this time it was this skirt i bought at a thriftshop. i do like the beaded lining, but wanted a more everyday casual look instead.

i begun with cutting the whole beaded part of. i am saving it, i might find a use for it in another project.

the other week my husband threw away some boxershorts that he didn´t like. before they went in the trashcan, i cut the elastic of.

i pinned the elastic to the top of the skirt. i thought it would go smother, but i did have a little bit of trubble since i had to gather the fabric so it would be even later. then i sewed a single stitch on my sewingmachine and voila; a casual summer long skirt!

a scrapbooking post finally

2010-06-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

finally i have some scrapbooking pages to show you! i took them outside and hung thenm in a tree in the backyard to photograph them!

and for this first layout, it is very suiteable as it is about my ever growing love for gardening :)

i love that snail patterned paper (panduro) and i saw those dot effects somewhere online and thought it gave so much to the page. and simple; circle punch + glue dot!

and since i didn´t have an "O" to spell "love" i used a felt heart instead.

i know this is a poor excuse for a photo of a 2 pager, but it still is :) i tried to bind the 2 together by using the same green patterned papers for the circle accents.

i love the fact that you can use your blogposts and transfer them onto a scrapbook layout, but as i usually scrapbook in swedish i seldom do use my blogposts (as i always blog in english!), but this time i did. i used my writing from this blogpost earlier this week. i thought that it captured exactly what i wanted to say in both blog and layout.

ok, thats all from me today. but tomorrow or friday i have a wardrobe refashon post in store for you!

a hot day

2010-06-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

today was so hot!

so we are spending the night in the shade in the garden reading and dozing off ♥

my black boy

2010-06-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

he is such a good boy!

where i go to get energy

2010-06-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

you know all people have those days. those days when you are like drained and down. i have those day kinda often. today was one of those days. i am home alone, the other ones are out and about. i am home with the dogs. i haven´t really talked to anyone the whole day and i didn´t quiet know what to do with myself.

so, i packed the dogs up in the car and we went to the beach.

the beach is my place to place to think. my place to wander. my place to pick rocks. my place to breath.

i especially like to go to the beach at night/sunset year round. it is usually quiet and empty. i like to be alone with my thoughts. rock picking and just to sit and feel the sand on my hands. the light is usually magic. just magic.

sometimes i go to the beach when it is stormy. i can sit in the sand and just feel every bad thought and anxious feeling blowing away in the wind.

tonight the air was so fresh and the sense of a beautiful summer night was so intense. the water was so still and glimmering.

i stretched and took a few deep refreshing breaths.

i waded in the water.

i picked rocks.

i felt better.

2010-06-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

concrete

2010-06-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

i must say that my heart skipped a beat when i saw my rhubarb concretes :) i love love love them! before i have been to nosy and haven´t waited long enough to remove the actual leaf, alas it is hard to pick it away and sticks to the concrete. but this time i waited extra long, so the leaf just came right off!

i present one crocked lightholder ;) i still love the texture.

i collect not one rocks, but also sandglass! i used a few in my collection to get this plate. i use it as a decoration in one of my flowerbeds.

to get this one, i used a round shaped form and laid the leaf in the bottom before adding the concrete. again, i love the texture of the leaf!

these photo/noteholders are cute i think. i will sand them and add soft dots in the bottom so they won´t scratch the surface they are placed on.

lesson learned: oil EVERYTHING before adding the wet concret. i have 2 other projects that went in the garbage bin since i couldn´t even get the concrete out of the forms!

my june so far

2010-06-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

my june so far from Lisa Ottosson on Vimeo.

getting creative!

2010-06-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

don´t miss read that, because i am still in a rut with being creative and all.
i am thinking maybe the lovely weather we have had the last weeks might have something to do with not having anything indoorsy to show you all. outdoor on the other hand i have quite a few new plants, plans for a nursery and i fixed the waterpump all by myself!

i did however start on # 8 on my summer list! i did something in concrete! i haven´t seen the result yet, the things are in a friends garage still. but tomorrow i might have to sneak inside to have a peak!

i found lots of inspiration on benitas blog (scroll down a bit) where she has been sharing her concrete projects!

i hope that i can show you some stuff tomorrow when i have seen it myself :)

my wall art

2010-06-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

i know that i am way late with this post, but life got busy. but here it is! the wall art i worked on last week. i have seen so many cool trays around the internet the last cuple of months. i have a few of these laying around here since i was younger, so i decided to give it a try.

i had so much fun picking out the bits and pieces for this project. i picked out way to many, but i am happy with what i ended up with! (i see now that the upper right corner have lost its pp!)

and this is where it hangs! i made room when i rearranged my wall the other day!

here are some links to other cool printer trays:

ali

a class

well, i can go on and on! i have a sense that this might be a cool christmas gift!

washer winner

2010-06-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

ok, i asked my husband to say a number between 1-7 and he said...4 and that would be...

Susanna said...

These are great Lisa!

I'm working on making stuff to sell at the dollhouse fair in July.. on my desk right now are tiny miniature leather suitcases :)

so, susanna: Onneksi olkoon! is that right??? please email me with your adress and what you would like to have printed on the washer! joy!

and please go take a look at all the sweetness susanna has on her blog!

giveaway closed

2010-06-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

i am sorry that it took the whole day for me to get this post up! but the weather has been superb today so we have spend the day outside!

ok, so here is the giveaway!

i am giving one lucky winner one of my custom made washer necklaces! yay! i love making them and i have several of my own and i love them!

one lucky winner get to send me the names or maybe a short saying/message that she/he would like to have printed on the washer. the necklace comes with a black or white elastic string.

how can you enter this lovely giveaway, you may ask. well, simply comment on this post telling me what your next craft project is!

i will draw a winner on sunday!

good luck!

drizzel + fullbodied {creativity boot camp}

2010-06-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

i finally got these two done for the creativity boot camp. i struggled with both, but then i googled the translation of the words abit better and these two ideas came to mind.

ps. be sure to stop by tomorrow as i am having a giveaway!!!

scrappy

2010-06-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

i managed to get some scrapbooking done on sunday night. itis funny how i long to sit down and create, but then almost have to force myself to acctually do it!

hehe! yes, these two had some good old hillbillie fun with the lawnmower from my husbands work! i instantly thought of the title when i saw and heard their laughter as they raced with the mower! i initially wanted to use buttons to make a banner, but i cannot remember where i have put all my buttons!!! so i used some butterflies instead :)

i seem to love these studio calico stamps all together, because this is the second time i have used them as a group! i took this photo during our first outside meal of this summer season!
i am not super happy with using that patterned paper as my background...

and i wanted to give you a peak of my newly done wall that i talked about in my last post. i hope to show you the whole shabang this week sometime!

randomness

2010-06-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

todays post will be very random (as most are!)

* i spend the weekend in gothenburg celebrating my grandomother and grandfathers birthdays. we ate at my sisters house surrounded by lots of kids and laughs. i gave my mother a late mothers day gift; a photobook with photos from our trip to budapest in april. she loved it!

* i have been making these (see photo above) necklaces for me, my husband and daughter. i love that they are wearing them! my husband has my name and my daughters name and my daughter has all our pets names on hers :) my friend J gave me the metallic stamps for christmas 2 years ago and i have seen so many cool washer necklaces around the blogs lately. i love making them!

* this weekend i am hoping to get to play with some concrete. i bought some this past weekend and am totally inspired my benitas latest blog posts! go check them out!

* todays inspirational word over at creativity boot camp is drizzle and even though it did rain and drizzle today i have not felt inspired to take any photos. and that is ok for me.

* i did a movearound on my walls last night. i am not finished yet, but when i am i´ll show you :)

ok, that is all for now. tomorrow i´ll have some scrapbooking layouts to share!

fluid + ornament {creativity boot camp}

2010-06-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

i have been out of town for the weekend, so these "fluid" photos are a bit late, but fluid nontheless! there are some really good photos in the creativity boot camp gallery, have you checked it out?

todays inspirational word was ornament. i chose to take a photo of my braclets. they ornament me :)

i am still struggling to get a photo with "fly" which was yesterdays word...i´ll be back with that!

coming up this week:

a possible giveaway

some craftiness

a book share

and hopefully some sunshine!

schools out!

2010-06-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

i am so happy for my darling that schools out and that she has so much to look forward to this summer ♥

grow (creativity boot camp)

2010-06-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

grow is such a big word, really. my first thought was to go outside to my garden since it is very much growing, but then i didn´t. then i realized that at work (kindergarden) we are all growing everyday. but i got not photos from there that day either. when i came home i was looking at all the little piles that were growing on my work table, i ended up cleaning my desk, but no before photos. so at last i went with this photo of love yellow flowers that makes my heart grow.

summerlist number 9

2010-06-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

number 9 on my summer list (see a few post down) was to make a new windchime. well, it doesn´t really chime :) but i love how the wind moves the different fabric strips.

while i was cleaning the backyard i found our old grill and i used the actual barrs (?) to tie the strips of fabrics to. i bought rolls of fabric strips at a yard sale a while ago so i had them just laying around. i love the summery feeling that it has!

here comes the sun and 11 years ago

2010-06-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

ok, so shall we get started on that promised scrappy post?!

i made this layout after a warm day now in june. and it just marks the fact that we all love when summer and the sun gets here every year. the photo is of one of my daughters older drawings. i love these colors!

you know the other day i had a post about how to scrap your right now? well, this layout is the opposite from that. i have been looking hrough my daughters baby pictures and this one is one of my favorites. she is almost 2 months old, i am just 20. i have had this photo right infront of me for a while and it speaks to me. tells a story about a very young woman that really has no clue of what life is about. a young woman that has really just realized that she has a baby of her own and have just started a new kind of love. sometimes i ache to go back in time and record everything, to savor every single detail and moment. i can´t belive that this photo was taken almost 11 years ago...i am so happy that i got this down on paper!

i look so young!

i used the photo of our feet during a recent weekend getaway. for the journaling i used a piece of transperency, i almost never use that!

elin and markus

2010-06-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

i know i promised a scrapbooking post today, but i just had to share a few of the photos i took during a test run for a wedding i took yesterday.

these guys are getting married in july and we all wanted to make a test photoshoot. i am so happy that they brought their little one with them! we got somereally cute familyshoots too!

multilayered {creativity boot camp day 3}

2010-06-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

multilayered was the word of inspiration for today. i went most of the day pondering on how i could challenge myself for this one. then when i went inside after a walk in the forest, i looked over in the flowerbed and saw this. i thought, well that is multilayered, right?!

i have a scrapbooking post coming up tomorrow! yay!

picnick {creativity boot camp}

2010-06-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

picnick {creativity boot camp}, originally uploaded by elisabet ottosson.

it was raining cats and dogs today so an outdoor picnick was out of the question and since we were all late home from school and work we didn´t have time for an indoor one, i plannd one for thursday instead. this is my twist on creativity boot camp day 2 where the word was picnick.

{creativity boot camp: ivory}

2010-06-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

i took this photo for the first daily prompt of creativity boot camp!

my mother in law always has the most wonderful gifts for me. she knows i have a soft spot for angels and she found this lovely tealightholder for me. i fell in love ith it at once and i love the light it gives.

right now kinda scrapping

2010-06-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

today is all about "right now" kinda scrapbooking. i love to record the things and events of our life that is happening right now. a time that will not ever come back.

the title and concept of this page is actually plain and simply " right now". i started with that frase and filled in things that are us in that moment. i urge you to do that too, it is kinda fun! on a different note, this is the first "familyshot" since new years eve last year! yikes, i need to be better at that!!!

here i used the same concept of beginning with at frase. this time it was "you are..." and filled in the blanks with things i think my daughter is.

don´t you love that patterned paper?! i do! it is from pink paislee ♥

how are you doing on recording your "right now"?

summer list

2010-06-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

well, i have seen some awesome summer-will-do-lists buzzing around the blogs i read. among others; on whatever and madeline bea. since i already have my 31 list i didn´t want to make a very long summer one. so i went with 10 things i will do this summer:

1. read lots of books

2. swim in the lake

3. pick strawberries and make lemonade

4. sleep in the hammock

5. grill as often as possible

6. eat outside

7. sit outside at night

8. make something with concrete

9. make a new windchime

10. have a garagesale

do you have a summer to do list? please share!

again

2010-06-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

i have been ranting forever and ever about making photo mosaics using the easy peasy tool over at bighugelabs and using them to scrapbook. and i still love it very very much! just to show you like the easiest scrapbook page i have ever done i have used 2 different mosiacs on this 2pager. i love how clean it is! and all i did was add the text in WORD and the flower accent by hand.

have you used photo mosaics in your scrapbooking? i´d love to see!

forced scrapbooking

2010-06-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

i am sharing with you today the results of scrapbooking that i physically forced myself to do! i have been in such a rut, and i thought well i did the cleaning thing and thinking thing and doing nada thing. now i just did it. i sat down and did these (and some more) pages just to get something down on paper that included glue and pretty paper.

i took a bunch of photos of our cherry tree at different stages in the blooming process. i wanted to use them as a reminder of that spring comes bit by bit. this page is actually about A5 in size. i randomly cut the paper in my cutter and used it as my background. i wanted to use lots of flowers so i did kind of a grid thing.

during our trip to budapest, hungary earlier this year, my daughter kept doing this thing with her fingers on.every.photo! i drove me nuts!!! i knew i wanted to keep that memory. for the photos i did a mosaic over at bighugelabs.com and cut the individual photos out.

for a long time i have loved the lyrics to "beautiful" with james blunt. i especially love these words. so i took special photos and did a mosaic (again at big huge labs) and used them as my "photo". added the lyrics and voila a gentle reminder to myself!

this is the page where i record how much fun my photoshow was! i love these different patterned papers ♥

my new favorite quote

2010-06-02T03:38:00.000-07:00

"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination." ~Robert Fulghum

A.M.E.N

our weekend

2010-06-01T01:35:00.001-07:00

this past weekend we finally made our way to the westcoast and our hotelstay just the 2 of us. the girl went to her grandmother for the weekend. and we spend the weekend laying in bed, taking hot baths, lounging and moviegoing. we also took a drive up the coast and stop where we wanted and took long walks in nature. just reconnecting, being in love and resting.

today, i have all the intention to scrapbook!

creative blocks

2010-05-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

i have been having kind of a creative block lately. i am itching to do something, but then i never get to it. then when i do get to it, i am not feeling very creative. i have done all sorts of things to try to unblock me, i even cleaned of everything from my desk. everything. my husband came into my room and just stopped! haha he was impressed.

so, one of the things was to do nothing. i had a whole week when i didn´t do anything crafty. it was like being on detox for me. i could gather my thoughts, make some lists and plan some mindful crafts i want to do. i had a feeling of uselessness when it came to my crafts lately. you know, i want to try so many things, but when i finished them they were all just laying around and not being used for anything. and as i am trying to get rid of things i really don´t need, it added to my dilemma.

i also organized. i sorted my bits and pieces. did a big donation to the local school with tons of craft supplies that i don´t use anymore. i decided what i wanted to have at hand and boxed the rest. it is always easier to get started with something when i am organized and can find everything.

then i went through my scrapbook albums. that took a while :) i love to do that. i do that to rarely. as i am a fast scrapper, i do my layouts in a bunch and just put them into the albums. i don´t really give myself the time to enjoy them. i am going to make that into a new habit, to flip through my books more often.

and after that i decided to scraplift myself. as i looked through the albums alot of pages stood out and for now i chose this page.

the page is personal to me. it is all about how my body looks after my c-section and pregnancy. i have had a lot of feelings around this and i love that i did a scrapbook layout about it and that it is right in there between the others. i also love the actual lay-out (design) so i challenged myself to lift it in some way.

i am not in love with my result, but it did kind of unplug me from my block.

i on the other hand love the story. the title is what love looks like around here. i listed things like doggie kisses, small notes and hugs, to amuze me when i ask for photos, many i love yous and massages. it was fun to think of small everyday things that we all do in our family to show that we love eachother.

what does love look like at your house?

what do you do when crafting doesn´t come easy?

what crafts are you itching to try?

please share!

maybe this is something for you too?

2010-05-28T01:54:00.000-07:00

Creativity Boot Camp is a two week intensive e-course designed to take your creativity to the next level. The course will consist of daily creative conditioning exercises to shift your life patterns allowing for a full embracing of your creative selves leading to higher levels of creativity.

Who: You
When: June 6th - June 18th
Where: Right Here
How: You show up here everyday and I provide you with your daily creative insight, motivation, and assignment

Cost: FREE

{only your willingness to participate is required}

Are. You. Ready?

I have designed this e-course for people who wish to take the next step in their creative lives. Whether you need a creative boost, need the motivation to begin that large creative project, or simply wish to lead a more creative life, the exercises provided in this course will help to pave the way for maximum creativity in your life.

text from here.

when i saw this by accident the other day, my comment was just; i am so in!

a boost in my creativity is just what i need right now.
and that the e-course is held by the very lovely and talented miss Maegan just added a special bonus! i have been a fan of her photography for some time. have you seen it?

what do you say, wanna join in???

a¨new project

2010-05-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

ps. i am aware of the type-o´s ;)

_____________________
visit my etsy shop to get your polaroid bliss!

2010-05-26T08:42:00.001-07:00

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
- Roald Dahl

i love the quote above and really believe that you need to keep your eyes and senses open, so that you can see the secrets in those unlikely places. i am a happier person since i decided to see beauty in the small, ordinary and (for others unlikey) places. while at the art event this weekend, i had a few people commenting my photo of the dandelion. positive comments mind you, but they always seemed to have to say that they thought dandelions were lovely but not in their garden...i cannot understand why! i absolutely love them! when people came up to me and talked about the photos, i said that the dandelion is my favorite, that followed by: i guess you see things in an other way. and i guess i do. and i am so happy that i do.

the aftermath

2010-05-23T03:12:00.000-07:00

wow. it is over. the weekend i have been preparing for since october. it was so cool to chat with everyone that came by. i got lovely comments and also sold lots of postcards and bookmarks. and a few prints aswell! the weather was superb and the people were out and about and joined up all around the events that took place all over the island.

in the same gallery i was in, there also were 4 others. among them there were a guy who showed some fantastic origami pieces! and a woman that did japanese stitching. and a doggy fan aswell :)

a friend of mine also showed these very cool re-used material flower arrangements. check them out and see of you can see what everyday reused items you see!

and this was my spot. and that is my personal assistant :) i am happy with how it ended up looking and there were many people standing infront of the photos saying that they felt energy beaming out from the colors. that made me happy.

as my status on facebook says; i am tired but happy!

2010-05-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

this is what i have been doing the last past hours. setting up the photos for the big event tomorrow. i didn´t think that it would take this much time and work for all this, but apperently...it did :)

i am tired. so tired. but happy. and excited all at once. i will share photos and stuff on sunday.

i am here

2010-05-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

but still so busy.
my exhibition is coming up this saturday.
so many small things to get done.
so many phonecalls.
having a rough time at work, especially with one coworker.
tired.
tired husband.
some broken promises.
because i am tired.
i layed among the dandelions.
it felt like magic.

busy bee

2010-05-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

i am so busy this week, so i wanted to leave you with some of my flickr favorites!

1. Coquelicots, 2. red onions, 3. Let me experience "Summer" aside from the sweltering heat!, 4. d cubed, 5. this is what I call a haven, 6. 315/365 - pretty., 7. Party?, 8. Don`t leave me. (93/365), 9. Drowning men. 9.365, 10. Untitled, 11. finger paints, 12. picture summer, 13. Lunch, 14. Classic VW-Buses, 15. baby wisher, 16. 141/365: everyday, 17. and i'm spent..., 18. 313/365 - sweet tea with my sweet boo, 19. VW, 20. Sneak peek...., 21. love grows slowly, 22. blue violet and the bike, 23. red fiesta, 24. happy mother's day, 25. Untitled, 26. little flowers among the grass, 27. <3, 28. kiss the sun, 29. ghost stories?, 30. her flowers, 31. Untitled, 32. ., 33. So Happy, 34. on the grass., 35. Yoga mats, 36. happy thanksgiving, friends.

and here are mosaics of my some of my favorites favorites :)

carmen farell

1. Yellow, 2. A new morning {day 136}, 3. homemade ginger ale and strawberry consomme bubbles, 4. her flowers, 5. positively.100, 6. momentarily distracted, 7. Istanbul Modern, 8. baby wisher, 9. Boy. Truck., 10. happy mother's day!, 11. Untitled, 12. Wasp Nest, 13. FRYD + DESIGN Magazine, 14. FRYD + DESIGN Magazine, 15. Happy Weekend!, 16. Untitled, 17. Kansas sky, 18. playland, 19. the mermaid hair, 20. week twenty four, 21. Untitled, 22. ., 23. because cold nostalgia chills me to the bone, 24. Untitled, 25. the spider man, 26. Empty Basket..., 27. Greg Berg., 28. mia flies, 29. Girls at Sundown, 30. hopes, 31. ., 32. polaroid ♥, 33. Naturally Scented fabric softener, 34. yellow flare fence bokeh, 35. day 81::365 gratitude::light, 36. magic

{rosina}

1. rain of brass petals, 2. Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all., 3. all aboard~~~, 4. Untitled, 5. Just finished cleaning the office..., 6. ~ the light divine., 7. Things I Love Thursday {Moody}, 8. 19/52 Bench Monday {Red Bench Edition}, 9. evenings in a small town, 10. Reading Doisneau., 11. Reinvention 16/365:: Bench Monday ;), 12. The Bopper {my nephew Quinn}, 13. treasures from the PNW~~~, 14. ~ For My Mom., 15. Happy Mother's Day!, 16. Birthday Ladybug, 17. fair, 18. huh - 118/365, 19. Untitled, 20. cookies anyone?, 21. I ♥ Vintage, 22. LEMONS for sale...., 23. Retro girl, 24. Back from Paris, 25. "running wildly into the spring wind chasing down all the dandelions before they turn into just weeds in a couple of years" ~ story people, 26. spicy little bundle, 27. Love Breaks Through, 28. You and Me, 29. ~Who's behind the camera?~, 30. 116/365, 31. to facebook...or not to facebook..., 32. Learning to Love Yourself, 33. l-o-v-e, 34. Curly Sue - 112/365, 35. Ruby Red Boots!, 36. -change-

mainmomma - kristin

1. 313/365 - sweet tea with my sweet boo, 2. adam and sarah, 3. Barely a Curl, 4. I'm feeling sleepy, 5. hello, honey., 6. Untitled, 7. it's time ..., 8. 1 2 3 4 5, 9. positively.100, 10. the pink argyle wall that is simply too good to resist, 11. Untitled, 12. Leading ladies., 13. Untitled, 14. succumb., 15. "it seems paradoxical that to walk the warrior's path through life, we must first surrender"...mark waldman, 16. the poop eater turns 4 today!, 17. . . ., 18. homemade muffins for breakfast, 19. macro wish, 20. dandy dreams, 21. Rainbow Cupcakes, 22. Hallie's Pretty Hair, 23. Sarah's Flowers, 24. makes you think all the world's a sunny day, 25. morning through the trees, 26. Untitled, 27. Hey there!, 28. Emily's, 29. Purple Dandelion, 30. thanks, random reminder., 31. Untitled, 32. Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. Mother Teresa, 33. bright eyes., 34. masked, 35. Becca and Elmo, 36. le mon day

i promise to be back soon!

scrapbook sunday

2010-05-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

this is just a photo page, where i wanted to save the photo in my album. i used erica hernandez wonky photo mask which is so much fun! and then i got inspired by the ever so awsesome jennifer johner with the paper strips!

i love this photo! my daughter was in the backseat begging me to take some photos of her making silly faces. i did. but i am most happy that i captured this one of her pure happiness ♥

for the background i used both transperencies and the doilysticker. i think it made for a sophisticated look. the whole thing is straight in real life!

yes, i did finally settle with a design for this layout! i cut the small photos into squares of 6cm. and spaced them in to a grid. the title is cut from a font called "just another font" that i printed onto some kraft paper. to get the2 pages together better i did my journalling on kraft paper aswell. then i added some odds and ends.

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visit my etsy shop to get your polaroid bliss!

help needed!

2010-05-15T03:49:00.000-07:00

i don´t know if it is just a whole mojo thing or if its just with this project. i am so stuck with my "aday in the life" photos. i think i havechanged everything up like 5 times already. today i am going to work on the journalling instead to get some distance. i am also doing to do some garden work, that always inspires me! if you have any great ideas for me, please let me know!

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visit my etsy shop to get your polaroid bliss!

what is in my bag?

2010-05-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

ever since my friend J sent me the link to the very awesome "persona flickr set" i have been wanting to do a "whats in my bag" post. i didn´t get a snap of my very very awesome camera bag that the very same J gave me for my birthday, but this is from the photojojo webstore.

all i can say is that this bag is fantastic and i have been carrying it around ever since i got it!

so, what is in my bag?

notebooks and pens

medicine

an absurd amount of lipbalm!

lipstick and lipgloss

job papers

ear plugs

mints

wallet

planner

buisnesscards

keys

handcream

and ofcourse my camera ♥

what is in you bag?

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visit my etsy shop to get your polaroid bliss!

a day in the life

2010-05-12T03:50:00.000-07:00

with all the delicious "week in the life" projects floating around the web, i was super inspired to do something like it. i already knew that i am not ready to make it a whole week, so i did a mini version with only one day.

i picked monday may 10th and i think i did do quite well. i had my camera and a notepad and a pen with me throughout the day. i jotted down small notes and times. what did i see? well...

* i dedicate quite some time to care for our dogs with several walks, petting and playing.

* i love my job (i already knew that though!)

* it was hard to remember to actually do document things that you do without thinking about it.

* that i tend to do lots of things at once (i need to work on mindfulness!)

* that i love the relaxed atmosphere that we have at home.

* i am happy that i chose a workday.

* i drove 2 times before 8 am in my pyamas :)

now i want to start doing some pages about this. and as i said before, there are a lot of inspiration all around the internet!

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come scrap with me!

2010-05-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

there you have it, a page about the different technical supplies i use everyday! i made the journaling + the card here.

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visit my etsy shop to get your polaroid bliss!

scrapbook sunday

2010-05-09T01:11:00.000-07:00

i went through my albums the other day and came upon a layout i did a few years ago where i had asked my girl a few of her favorites, you know music, food etc. i thought to myself that it was time to make another one of those "right-now" pages. so, once again i asked her the same questions and she answered. i knew i wanted the journaling to be as in a form that you´d fill out. so i first went on the computer and wrote the title (makemealpha) and the favorite categories (rough typewriter) and printed it out. then i just simply handjournaled her answers. for the photos i wanted a recent photo ofcourse and used danielle thompsons awesome carnvivale photobooth kit and added the same photo to the frames. printed it out and just cut it out. added this and that and...done!

i am not particulary happy with this page and wasn´t sure first if i would share it or not. but then i decided that i would, because i do have pages like that and they still make their place in my albums. they tll the story nontheless. this story is about how no one can be more snuggly and comfortable on the couch as dixon. he is so sweet when he holds that pillow near and just snuggle as it was his teddy or something :)

the title of this page is "lately..." and it is about how lately me and my husband has been even more comfortable with eachother and even more in love even though we celebrate our 10th year of being in love this year. isn´t it funny (and wonderful!) how love works...it does grow stronger each year and it is such an awesome feeling to have to catch my breath sometimes when i see him and feel the love from him...

that is all for me this scrapbook sunday!

and happy mothers day to all of you celebrating today!

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a little pause before regular posting

2010-05-08T00:45:00.000-07:00

a little "getting to know me thing" i found at the copy and paste blog:

Everyone knows that I am creative but you'd never guess that i cannot draw.

I'm proud to admit that I like veggies but my guilty pleasure is chocolate.

I'm inspired by grafitti and it surprises me when people get furious over it.

I'm always trying to be nice to others but I'm never nice to myself...well, almost never.

I've got lots of things but I've always wanted more...

I tried to pierce my nose and it HURT, but was worth it!

If I never hear about war and injustice again it will be to soon.

I didn't go be an au pair when i was younger and now i can regret that.

It's not that I don´t like to travel but I'd really rather stay home.

Doing nothing makes me giddy and then after a while panic.

Someone once told me "i love you" and then i broke up with him :(

I'm happy to say that life is great and even if i do complain a bit i love it very much!

now, copy the black text and paste to your blog and fill in the blanks! don´t forget to link it here in the comments so i can read it!

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random crafts

2010-05-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

i did some other-than-paper-and-glue crafts lately. i thought that i´d share some of them now. first, sadies collar broke the other week and we just haven´t been into town to get her a new one, so made her one.

i used some thrifted fabric for this and a ring from one of my curtain holders :) i had bought the closers a while ago for something else. i will have to take a photo of her wearing it soon.

next up is some easy peasy keyholders or just something to snazzy up a handbag :) when i first sewed them i just stuffed them with quilt stuffer, but they were a bit light. so for the next few ones i filled them with rice. i use mine on the car key and it is nice and "heavy" in your hand.

i just realized that both these projects are great ones if you are new to sewing and to use up those bits and scraps from other projects, and god knows i have alot of those!

i also made an apron kinda thing. i plan to use it at work where we have a lot of really young kids right now, so they have pacifiers and stuff, and i think i blow noses like 50 times everyday :) so those kinds of things are going into the pockets. but i guess it would be equally awesome while shopping or even crafting!

lastly, a friend is having a baby like any minute now, so i thought i´d do something to put in a basket for her and the new little one. i have made these in the past, but this time i filled the "label-chewy-thing" :) with sime quilt filling. the ribbons are actually from 2 of my shirts that i don´t wear anymore. instead of throwing it away i saved them and use them as fabrics in my small sewing adventures :)

so, there you have it!

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i was thinking...

2010-05-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

from time to time it hits me that i have all these awesome layouts on my shelves. i mean, i always know that they are there because i see the albums everyday. but i am so bad at acctually flipping through them and see what i have kept as memories over the year. this time i was looking for a particular layout because i had a little journaling i wanted to add to the back of the layout. as i was flipping through the books, i found the album that has the layouts from may last year. i stopped and sat down to really look and read. it filled me with the most awesome feeling inside. these 2 below is 2 of the favorites, but there are so many more.

i love dandellions and was so excited when my daughter said ok to a quick photoshoot on our way home from school! i remember that it made me ridiculously happy to play among the flowers :)

i am so happy that i have started to include the fact that i am sick (cronical depression) into my layouts,since that is a big part of my and my families life everyday. this layout tells the story about how i have had some downs, but that my garden has helped me very much. that is still very true!

just wanted to share my thoughts today!

the weekend that never happened

2010-05-02T07:42:00.001-07:00

i ♥ water, originally uploaded by elisabet ottosson.

well, we were supposed to go out of town to celebrate our anniversary and we did it all the way to the gas station...then i started puking! bleh! so, we had to turn back and i was so damn sick i wished i would pass out! and i am sooo disappionted that our weekend didn´t happen, i had planned for it for months...

oh, well i am happy that i do feel much better now!

happy scrapbook day!

2010-05-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

i will not be able to take part in any of the festivities around (inter)national scrapbook day because i am out of town. but i did make a few layouts this past week and wanted to share them with you!

this photo above makes me smile! can you believe that she made that hat herself?!! i was amazed when i say it!

while on holiday in budapest we walked by a flowershop on the street and she saw this feather boa. and i cannot believe how happy she was when she got it!!! these photos shows how she is nowadays, very glamourous! :)

also during our trip to budapest, we suddelny realized that the grass was green :) and snapped a photo ofcourse, beacause as you know i love to take photos of feet!

i can´t wait to go on my blog hop when i come back, and see what you all did on national scrapbookday!

it´s here!!!

2010-04-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

my scrapbook inspirations ideas book that is! and as you already might know, i am in it!

twice actually! the layouts are both in the "about me" section of the book.

i made this early last year and used my facbook updates as the journaling.

i wanted to just state that life at 30 was grand!

i am so super excited about being in the same book as so many talented people! now i am off to read it from cover to cover!

one way to spend an afternoon

2010-04-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

we took the dogs and some blankets and headed to the beach. the weather was so and so, but we had such a wonderful time. the dogs played and my daughter played with her animals in the water, i picked rocks and just layed down and enjoyed everything!

8 years

2010-04-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

today me and my husband celebrates 8 years of marriage,

8 years of ups and downs,

8 years of love,

8 years of deciding it is us, really us against the world.

it is a glorious feeling to be crazy in love with my husband

still after so many years and days!

today 25/4-10

2010-04-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

so technically yesterday :)

photo from april 2009

outside my window: spring has sprung and even the wind feels warm!
i am thinking: about what a joy gardening is for me.
i am thankful: that my daughter feels better, the warm weather and lazy mornings in bed.
i am wearing: sweatpants and a t-shirt
i am creating: a new collar for sadie and a headband for me!
from the kitchen: pancakes
i am going: to make a new to-do list
i am reading: reginald hill + jan guillou
i am hoping: that neither me nor my husband gets the stomach flu!
i am hearing: the birds chirping.
around the house: it´s a bit of a mess, but only because we have been cleaning out stuff and organizing.
one of my favorite things: snuggles in the morning.

i can´t wait to see your list!

ps. i made a flickr set for these kinds of lists!

photos from the weekend

2010-04-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

this poor one got down with the stomach flu during the night to saturday. i felt so sorry for her because she was sooo sick. the weather was nice though, so she layed outside sleeping most of the day. she is so much better today and now i am just waiting to get it myself, since i always do!

while she was sleeping i did some major gardening! yay! i am so happy it is that season again.

it doesn´t quite show in this photo, but the cat came with a mouse he had...well killed. i guess that was his way of cherring her up :)

these are the flowers that makes me happy when i see them in the livingroom :)

this one was out playing all night between saturday and sunday, so she has been asleep all day :) lucky cat!

she got some company ;)

how was your weekend?

scrapbook saturday - sharing

2010-04-24T01:13:00.000-07:00

So, as i told you in my last post i have some new goodies to play with! yay! actually i did some paper + glue playing like 1 hour after the package arrived :)

i amazed myself with this one. i almost never use the color blue in my layouts. it is not that i don´t like the color, becuase i do and i can´t really say why i tend to walk away from it when i create. anyhow, i am loving how this turned out though!

the layout is about selfconfidence and the fact that it just hit me the other week that i always say i have such a low selfconfidence, and really i don´t. i am confident in so many ways and let me tell you how much of a burden has been lifted from my shoulders since i realized that!

i busted out my sewing machine for this one! i punched some circles from a few of the yummy papers i got. i first just sanded the edges and atached them to the patterned paper background, but then i just thought it needed something more. so a few stitches it was!

the story behind this page is that dixon tend to just pop into photos suddenly :) do you remember this? :) this time i was getting the camera ready for some self portraits and i guess he was curious about what i was doing :)

we has some serious snow this past winter and after tons of reports on roofs collapsing we decided to clear our roof from snow. we have never had to worry about this before, so it was an adventure :)

again with the blue! :)

happy mail!!!

2010-04-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

during my vacation i emailed back and forth with the lovely mya. she had cleaned out her studio and had tons of goodies to sell! yay! and today 2 packages arrived on my doorstep and yum is pretty much all i can say! :)

i started playing with the papers right away and will show you some projects this weekend!

can we all say yum!

10 on thursday

2010-04-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

Hm...what will my 10 on thursday list be about today??? i have nothing prepared and my mind is blank...i think i will link you up to my 10 latest favorites on flickr!

ok, here i go!

snutur uploaded this amazing photo and i loved the colors!

rosina shared a bubble photo that is amazing!

i wish this was my clothesline!

this wip project is so sweet!

you just have to see this dress! i so need it!

love these rocks!

i am on a yellow high right now and this is so beautiful!

so pretty colors on this grannysquare blanket!

oh, i so want to try a project like this!

my bike is pink, but i might need a blue one now :)

ok, was that 10? i have so many favorites :)

one year ago...

2010-04-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

i read somewhere that someone was urged to look back on what they did one year ago. i got curious and went back to this month and almost the same day last year. apperently i had a bad day and turned to some garden work to cheer me up. i used to do that alot last year, garden work that is. now i am just itching to start working in the garden, but it is still alittle to cold to start putting seeds in the ground. i have, however, made plans for the work to come and have started taking care of the seedlings inside.

i also made some easy photo documentations of the everyday.

we were out in the woods everyday with work and i was feeling so lucky to have a job where i could be outside so much.

me and my husband got married on april 27th 2002, so last year around this time, we celebrated 7 years as a married cuple.

i might do a scrapbook page about how life has been this year, this month!

scrapbook sunday ( day early )

2010-04-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

i can´t remember if i have shared this one with you or not...anyway it is highly inspired by wilna which made an awesome page in february. i have printed a bighhugelabs mosaic of lovey dovey photos in my flickr favorites. i then added a little bigger black and white photo of my own.

i guess i am not the only one who gets super inspired by song lyrics, and sometimes those lyrics goes right into your heart and is perfectly describing what you feel. this was the case with this layout. my daughter is getting so big and i really do feel that time is "slipping through my fingers", so i printed the lyrics for the old abba song slipping through my fingers and then i added my photo (mat inspired from here) and embellishments. i also added short journaling in which i explain that sometimes my words are not enough and then i do use song lyrics.

ugh, this was my first ever try at mist and well, i have learned to accept it :) i really don´t have acctual mist, but watercolors that i attempted to squirt onto the paper :) i will do more of this though!

studio calico blog has had a few posts about misting among others this one.

hi, i am lisa and i am addicted to making layouts with photo mosaics.

again with the help of bighugelabs :) for this one i used spring photos i had in my flickr stream.

signs of spring captured by me :)

a photo someone took of me and my daughter while on vacation. i love it!

i hope that we can go on an all girls trip very soon, just the 2 of us!

i used my new letter stickers from websterspages.com

while dog walking one day i took a photo of my husband, and then handed over the camera to him. it resulted in this layout where the quote : beauty is in the eye of the beholder is the whole point! i think he is, and he thinks i am beautiful and that is really all that matters, right?! i love making pages with odds and ends that are left on my table from previous projects!

that is all for now!

craft party over at shimelles

2010-04-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

i am checking out the scrapbooking party over at shimelles this weekend. i am looking forward to see what she has in store for us tomorrow!!!

i hope to show you something tomorrow and also throughout the weekend!

ps. both photos are from shimelles blog.

10 on thursday

2010-04-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

this weeks 10 on thursday will be my cratfy to do list, things i am dying to make but haven´t still!

1. cupcakeliner flowers

2. clay gift tags

3. a layout based on what i am good at

4. make a "whats in your bag" project

5. sew a headband

6. garden markers

7. make fabric flowers

8. cute shadow box

9. a blog button

10. storytelling frames

instant happiness

2010-04-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

we are home from budapest and it is so nice to be here with my love and the pets :) i missed them so very much while we were gone! i am now working through the many photos that i took during our trip. while i did, i came across some random photos that weren´t touristy at all, but is like instant happiness to me. here they are:

i have some new photos up on my flickr account as well!

will be back very soon with some craftyness ♥

me? a tourist? yes, ma'm!

2010-04-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

we have see budapest both by bus, boat. by day and night. we have seen fun stuff. we have seen interesting stuff. we have eaten good food, and we have eaten some not good food. we have had a good vacation and tomorrow is the last day. we are flying home monday at midday. it will be so good to be home. i miss my love.

walking on sunshine

2010-04-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

i looked out the window this morning and saw a blue sky and the sun shining. i took a break from sightseeing today and care for the kids all day. which was a very good choice since it was so much fun at the playground and park with lots of laughter, sun and icecream!

i will try to get together a "1o on thursday" post tomorrow!

a little hello and a freak out :)

2010-04-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

we are having a good vacation down here in budapest. it is fun to visit a country that i have been to so many times before as a child, but never before as an adult. the weather could have been a little bit better, but today was gorgeous! we are real tourists wandering the streets and taking photos. no one misses us as we are 9 people and there is always at least one fussy kid among us :) me and my daughter did some shopping today and as we love shopping we are extra happy today :) we did walk down the famous vaci utca but only bought a souvenir since it is an expensive street to shop at :) since we do have 4 kids with us , we do spend quite some time down in the park so that they can play. there is a very nice playground just where we live!

in other news...

i just about freaked out down here in budapest, when i checked my bloglines and ez had picked one of my photos in the inspriation daily feature!!!

i love that these things happen now and then and that i can have a smile on my face all day just because of it!

what made you smile today?

remember!

2010-04-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

i wanted to remind you that my shop is still open, although i am on vacation! all orders will be pakced and shipped right away when i get back home.

i also still have the offer on these postcards:

the prices for a set of 7 postcards are:

10 USD + 4 USD for shipping

5 euros + 2 euros for shipping

45 Swedish krona + 20 swedish krona for shipping

just email me your order and you will recieve an invoice via email!

have a wonderful week!

scrapbook sunday

2010-04-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

i can´t tell you excited and nervous i am for the trip we are taking tomorrow! it is so strange, because i have been on my share of trips and travels before...

before i leave though, i wanted to share the 2 layouts that i managed to crank out this week.

i had to capture the delight and hard work of prepping for an photo exhibition. i have seen so many lovely layouts with white writing, so i had to give it another try.

i did make a few layouts before with the white pen i got from my very best mel ♥ they have worked really good.

dixon loves his water and he was thrilled to see that the lake had opened up from the ice. maybe this page is a little to simple?

i also made 2 birthday cards, one for my mom and one for my mother in law. i rarely make cards but these were actually quite fun to make!

ok, i´ll see you soon, maybe i can post from the trip?!

it is such a wonderful day!

2010-04-03T04:41:00.000-07:00

the birds are chirping, the sun is shining and it warms me up while i do alittle last minute cleaning before i leave to gothenburg and my family. i wish i could add some spring birds chirping to the blog today :) instead i will leave you with a few springish photos of mine and wish you all spring and a happy easter weekend!

1. Untitled, 2. Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books., 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. rainbow clothes, 8. new projects, 9. for the love of color ~ sunny yellow, 10. Untitled, 11. cherry blossoms, 12. adding one of my faves from 2008, 13. boats14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

project: spring wreath

2010-04-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

i thrifted this pre-made willowtree wreath at a second hand shop for like 1 dollar. i wanted to hot it up a bit! i wrapped green yarn around the wreath making a little bit like a lawn :) then i had these fabric cherry blossoms that i chopped of. i almost took out the hot-glue gun to attach it, but i ended up sewing a few stitches around the stem with the same yarn. when i was done, i thought that it needed something more...i then remembered i had a few pearls laying around. i stitched them to the yarn too.

this wreath is making it´s way to my mother in law tomorrow! i love that i am blessed with an eye that sees beyond an ordinary willowtree wreath at the bottom of a bin in a thriftshop :)

10 on thursday and an easter project!

2010-04-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

thank you so much for the love about yesterdays post! here is the link to order the book again!

today i am sharing my 10 on thursday list and an easter craft project. first here is the list that is a "what i look forward to in april" edition:

1. our trip to budapest, hungary that we leave for on monday!

2. celebration 8 years of marriage with a hotelweekend with my love.

3. attending my junor high school reunion! it is 15 years since i left 9th grade.

4. celebrate my mothers 60th birthday.

5. welcome spring properly.

6. making more sales in my etsy shop!

7. becoming better at understanding everything that is "tweendom".

8. taking lots of photos in budapest and seeing J again!

9. going to a soccergame for the first time this season.

10. finding out if my daughter does have astma.

________________________

ok, and so for the little easter craft. i made some blinged out eggs for the easter tree. i had

a few papier mache eggs

paint

sticks

rhinestones

first i just put the sticks in the eggs so that they would be easier to paint and dry. i chose a yellow color. when they were dry i attached a rhinestone to each one.

then i attached a string to them and hung them right up inmy easter tree! easy peasy!

when i saw the eggs drying on those sticks i actually made a few that i am going to put in my flower pots outside!

i´ll be back tomorrow with another spring craft and i think i might have something for scrapbook sunday aswell!

very exciting news for yours truely!

2010-03-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

scrapbook sunday - yay

2010-03-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

ok, here we go. a true sign of spring is when the kids are out on the trampoline. i love the laughter that comes from the back of the garden. this year the snow was still on the ground when the temps were up. i finally bought a butterfly punch :)

another layout where i celebrate the fact that spring really is here. i added text to the photo in Photoshop Elements easy peasy. the font is called rough typewriter and is a free font.

i love this one! i used sharilyns gracious free pattern download from february as the patterend paper part on this layout. isn´t is cute. the layout is about how impressed i am that my daughter actually has hold on to her intrest in horses and riding for a long time.

and she is good at it too!

some nintendo ds love :) during a ferry ride my daughter was sorting her games and i asked her to make a list of her favorites. i love when i can use her handwriting in projects! i am not loving the rub-on words on the to, but hey what do you do!

what have you been creating lately?

this past week

2010-03-27T01:51:00.000-07:00

this past week has been an ordinary week in our lifes really. and as i want to start celebrating everyday life more again i wanted to just savior things that are indeed ordinary in our extraordinary sweet life. so here are a few things from this week.

* monday was the first day back at work for me since my "breakdown" last week. it felt good to go back, since i love my job so much and also it keeps my mind on other things. working with kids is my blessing, it really is.
i also had a night meeting with the culture group that i am in. we are hard at work for our big event that takes place here on "my" island may 22-23. it is going to be 24 hours filled with different cultural activities such as theater, exhibitions, rock conserts and guitar hero at the library ;) my role is to get my own photos together for my exhibition (alot of work, belive it or not) and i also manage the website, adds, pamflets and such. it is fun work, but takes some time.

* we have had some rainy days, but it sure feels like spring. the air is warmer and the sun rays warms up really fast when it is not windy. i have seen the first spring flowers and it is an awesome feeling. we thought that spring would be very late this year since we have had so much snow for so long. we are happy we were wrong :) and today after we had just a touch of rain it smelled like after a summer rain ♥

* my daughter has been in such a variating mood this week. i guess it is the age ( she is 10,5) and i am sure things are happening inside her that she can´t understand or put words to. i am lost sometimes when it comes to her. maybe i am just not used to this, but then on the other hand i went through my old scrapbooks and stumbled over this layout and that was almost 3 years ago!!! oh, and i also think that there are way less litterature on tweenies that there are about babies, toddlers and teenagers, why is that??

* i felt such an amazing feeling on tuesday as i loaded up the trailor twice with branches and other stuff from the garden to take to the recycling place. it was the first time i had done that on my very own!!! (for new readers, i got my drivers liecens this past august!) when i had finished i just about high fived myself!

* my daughter got a bulls eye on her weekly english glosary!!! she is such her mamas girl :) the only bad thing about her learning english is that me and my husband need to learned a new language so we still can have a "secret" language haha...

* my husband has worked so very hard on our new heating system all week. and it will be so good when it is all installed and working without any fuss.

* i have worked on some news for the shop. also i have researched how to get the buisness going. it is faschinating how a well known name can make a huge difference. i mean even though your products are average you´ll make huge sales if you have the "right" name. makes me frustrated.

* today (saturday) i am going to make my contribution to the swedish child cancer association. today is the day for the big "spin of hope" event. you basically need to have a spinning bike running 12 straight hours with a team of bikers. so each biker "spin" one hour and we paid a fee for having a bike and the that goes straight to research of child cancer. during the day there will be different ways to make a contribution. i am looking forward to this, perhaps my butt will be sorry tomorrow ;)

* we have had really good homework time this week. my daughter has one hour of homework everyday, sometimes even if she doesn´t have homework for the next day. and it worked so well this week and it makes me sigh of relief.

* i actually had some time and mojo to do some scrapbooking this week also! i am so happy that i am able to show you in scrapbook sunday tomorrow!

* for tomorrow (sunday) i am looking forward to this weeks rerun of grey´s anatomy which is the one show on tv i follow now that project runway is over. sunday afternoon is special to me because of greys :)

ok, i hope to see you here tomorrow for scrapbook sunday!

10 on thursday ~ what love looks like around here

2010-03-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

inspired from this post, may i present this weeks 10 on thursday list!

"what love looks like around here"

1. dog-greetings and wagging be-hinds :)

2. lovenotes on the bathroom mirror

3. lots and lots of "i love yous"

4. tea in bed on weekends

5. dog cuddles

6. cat purrings

7. food time

8. to say kiss kiss when you leave

9. the car windows defrosted in the morning by someone thoughtful

10. late nights

wordless wednseday

2010-03-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

prepping for my very first photo exhibit!

2010-03-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

in late may i am going to have the opportunity to show a few of my photos in public! yes, i am very exhited about this ;) i have been prepping for this a while, but now when it is coming nearer i have started to really think about which direction i would like to go with the exhibit. i first thought that i wanted to go with a wintery theme, since we have had so much snow and a cold winter this year...and then i pondered over using my photos from my "on walks" set on flickr...and then i freaked, because i just couldn´t make up my mind!

i went to some friends and asked for their opinion and their advise was; "go with the photos that you love the most!" and i felt such a peace with that. i have chosen photos both from the "on walks" set and the "flower close up" set

1. cherry blossoms, 2. Untitled, 3. night walk, 4. night walk, 5. night walk, 6. traces in the sand, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled, 13. swirls14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

what do you think? i am also loving the photos in my "happy things" set, but i guess they are more personal...

at the photo exhibit i am also going to offer postcards from a few of the photos. you can also purchase them right here, right now! the prices for a set of 7 postcards are:

10 USD + 4 USD for shipping
5 euros + 2 euros for shipping
45 Swedish krona + 20 swedish krona for shipping

just email me your order and you will recieve an invoice via email!

please let me know any of your opinions on this!

a proper scrapbook sunday - yay!

2010-03-21T02:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, let´s just kick this started, right!

i am so thrilled that though i have had pretty much a rough week all around, that i still managed to scrapbook a little. it makes me happy! i guess a little like therapy, but the paper and glue kind. when i was sick another time i buried myself in my scrapbook room and i don´t thing i have created so many layouts ever in just one month. 53!

when i had taken this photo i had a week of "i will give dixon away and pay the people who take him"! hehe he can be a handful sometimes. but the truth is that i do love him so very much!

number 11 on my list is to simplify my wardrobe. so one day i made such a mess in my bedroom, but then it resulted in one giant bag to charity and a rainbow wardrobe for me ;)

oh, and that red patterned paper is so beautiful, i bought it last week and it is bo bunny called love bandit bee mine ;) oh, and the journaling tag is from the download area over at the container store site which i printed on the same craft paper as my background.

edited: i cannot seem to find the download area anymore, but f you are interested i can email you a pdf!

as most of you know i live on an island in one of the biggest lakes in sweden. it is also a very deep lake which means that it freezes very rarely. but this year, as we have had a very cold winter, it freezed enough to be able to go out and fish on the lake and to take long, long walks on. you can see some more photos of my winter here.

the page is inspired my the lovely kristens photos here. i loved that she used paper and glue to make the photos pop even more! and i though that a yellow banner would be lovely on this page.

this is part of a 2 page layout, but i couldn´t stitch them together properly to show you. this layout started during a sick week home with my daughter. we did all sorts of arts and crafts (it is the best therapy after all!). among others we did handprints together. mine is the blue one and my 10 year old daughters is on the right...see anything strange? i know! how the heck did she get almost larger hands than me in 10 years!!!

i love the fact that we did them though and i know that i will cherish these handprints all my life!

ok, that is it from me today!

my faves right now!

2010-03-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

once again i wanted to share with you my favorites from flickr! that place blow me away all the time! making these mosaics makes me happy and looking at them makes my belly tingle just a bit ;) i hope you enjoy these as much as i do and tomorrow, please come back and see what i have to show you for scrapbook sunday!

1. $1.00, 2. Everything But, 3. my first pysanka, 4. Four crayons, 5. i know this to be true, 6. Untitled, 7. Spring beauty!, 8. { gerbera } love, 9. DSC_6119, 10. Look!, 11. city blooms, 12. IMG_3620, 13. ~, 14. BMW in Texas, 15. march bed sneak, 16. peony, 17. Attention, 18. mac n cheese., 19. 3mars2010,5, 20. Untitled, 21. lemony bench, 22. 57/365..., 23. choose happiness, 24. bench monday - trolley., 25. sixty-four colors :: mac and cheese, 26. hilarious outtakes, 27. Hello my name is, 28. Bench Monday::I <3 Camera's! Edition., 29. Untitled, 30. chillax., 31. . b u t t e r f l y ., 32. 21 :: 365, 33. 10 tiny hearts, 34. “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”, 35. IMG_3448, 36. this is how it looks!

1. Snow fun!, 2. TILT--in love with these tones, 3. LOVE {A Haiku}, 4. just say it like it is..., 5. spaghetti scarf, 6. hearts for little hands, 7. our meal plan, 8. the finished products, 9. Note to self..., 10. Ode To Yogi Tea, 11. fuji*love, 12. 42/365, 13. {bench monday - this skirt won't zip up edition}, 14. Hope scarf, 15. ..., 16. *full heart* {2:52}, 17. bench monday ~ month of love ~ edition, 18. Bench Monday : : Valentine's Day Edition, 19. <3, 20. Week 21/52: How can I follow my heart if it refuses to move on?, 21. handmade chalk board, 22. 32/365, 23. 39/365, 24. No one will be good enough for her..NO ONE., 25. nifty fifty in the am, 26. Flare Friday Dance, 27. IMG_1866, 28. Thread, 29. Sillón naranja, 30. mr lovely, 31. Paris - Tips, 32. Untitled, 33. Untitled, 34. sunny heart, 35. Untitled, 36. Untitled

love

2010-03-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

essentially love is the thing that helps the most. my love holding me very tight during panicattacks, my little love comforting me after crying, my netlove (that is YOU) sending hugs from the other side of the world, facebooklove that gets me everytime.

yes, love is all you need!

thank you all for helping me getting better!

love

10 on thursday and a sorry!

2010-03-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

i am sorry to have been abscent for so long, but the beast called depression an anxiety got sort of a grip of me once again. i am working on getting back to the state where i have been for so long, but that means i can´t promise posts regulary. i hope that you bear with me, because i have all sorts of fun posts in store for you!

for now, here is my 10 on thursday the "things i want to do" edition

1. go back to paris

2. visit the states

3. finish my bathroom mat (more on that soon)

4. go on a trip abroad with just my daughter¨

5. have more kids

6. sew another quilt

7. sell my photos

8. do more everyday photos

9. make a banner
10. go on a library tour of the world

i´ll be back very soon!