Thursday, 31 December 2015

I like to say....


a
HUGE
THANK YOU 
to you all 
for keeping me company on here! 
I know that time is so precious 
& I really do appreciate you taking
 some of that precious time 
to share in my little adventures.
Many many thanks for all your lovely comments, 
I still skip with excitement finding one in my inbox and
absolutely LOVE reading them.


 For 
2016
  I like to wish you a
Golden Year
 
filled with
much

LOVE
SMILES
  HAPPINESS  
 SPARKLES 
SUCCESS
CREATIVITY
&
GREAT HEALTH


See you here in 2016!
 
XXXX

Wednesday, 30 December 2015

Berlin Is....


getting ready for the biggest party of the year!

XXXX



Thursday, 24 December 2015

Happy Holidays....



Well....
here we are, Christmas Eves evening has arrived. 
And as always on this day 
my head has been spinning with  
 a million & one things I still had to do. 
  I knew I need to get some "me" time today, 
so I started the day extra early,
just enjoy a bit of calm before the storm. 
I soOo LOVE early mornings in December,
when all is quiet and the darkness is only broken
by the magical sparkle of fairy lights & glitter.


 The only one keeping me company at this early hour
was the jolliest Mr Claus ever.
Seriously.... who wants breakfast at Tiffany's 
when you can have breakfast with Santa.

 Now as the day is drawing to a close
with the prepping rush mostly behind me....
I thought I share with you
a little heart warming miracle from my home.   
Last Sunday the Paperdolls build a Gingerbread house.


I have to confess we used a shop bought kit,
but when you haven't got enough time as it is
for all the things you like to do in this season,
 then you have to set priorities.
And for the Paperdolls
building & decorating a Gingerbread house
was the priority, not baking it!


Watching the Paperdolls work together with no fuss,
was like watching a little miracle!
So heart warming to see....
It doesn't happen very often
that they can work together without bickering
and the Paperdolls seldom
 managing to agree on anythings.
Not just did they work beautifully together 
they also managed to agree on everything.


They where just having great fun together.
Helping one anther and
giggling together
even as the icing came out the wrong end,
going everywhere.


Watching there happiness
and sense of accomplishment
as the house was finally standing,
was magical for me.


The Paperdolls are of the opinion
no Gingerbread house is a
REAL Gingerbread house without
SWEETS.
LOTS & LOTS of sweets.

 

Just as may sweets must have ended up in there tummy's
as did on the house.
I was informed though building work was hard work
after-all and they had to keep up there strength.


A few missing sweets was a little price to pay 
for the joy they gave me watching them
enjoying themselves & each-other so much. 
Miracles do happen!!!

 

From my home to yours
  ....wherever you are in the world....  
Happy Holidays

 

may your days be 
MERRY & BRIGHT


wish you  
love....joy....&....peace!
xxxx

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

Christmas in Berlin....



Christmas is fast approaching.... 
you just cant miss it here in Berlin.
The City is filled with the smell of the season from 
all the Christmas Markets.
Twinkling lights sparkling wherever
and there are pretty reminders of the 
most wonderful time of the year.

Some bigger....


others smaller....


I loved this sweet little display 
outside a equally cute little shop 
in the Holländisches Viertel (Dutch quarters) 
in Potsdam.


 I have noticed a real shift in Berlin & Potsdam 
away from bright multi coloured lights
 to much more traditional lighting
"back to the roots" so to speak.
And as I have never been a fan of the big flashing lights,


 I'm thrilled to see 
the return to a more traditional German Christmas lighting!!! 
  

Without all these decorations though
you could be forgiven for claiming blissful
ignorance to the fact that Christmas is only hours away,
as the weather is anything but traditional.
 Frosty the Snowman....
has to be in chocolate this year, 
as snow is nowhere in sight.


  The weather really not even giving a tiny hint of this season. 
So unseasonable mild.... 


we can only enjoy frost crystals in glass for now.

Have a lovely day
XXXX



Tuesday, 8 December 2015

Indulging....





December seams to move at lighting speed,
so many things to do....  places to go....
yet oh soOoOo little time left before the big day.
In times like these I can sometimes find myself
struggling to decide what needs my attention most urgently,
 I feel pulled in all directions.
There never is enough time
 for many the beautiful treats this season has to offer....
  really indulge & cherish the whole gift wrapping fun for one.
I sooooo LOVE wrapping presents.
Yet I feel a little guilty at this time of year spending time faffing
when there is so much else needing my attention
and so I have found myself many are past Christmas Eves
wrapping gift late into the night making it less that fun,
more a chore I have come to dread if I'm totally honest.  
Same procedure as last year Mrs Anna....
same procedure as ever year!!! 
 No not this year,
I am happy to say yesterday afternoon I left 
 the guilt behind and indulged....
with candles flickering,  my favorite mix of 
 of vintage & 80's Christmas songs playing and
under the jolly gaze of Mr.Claus
I started wrapping and embellishing my first few pressies.


For me half the present has always been it's wrapping.
I adore beautiful gift wrapping, 
it just make the excitement for the gift inside 
that little more special.
And when I wrap a gift for family & friends 
 I always try to keep the recipient in mind 
choosing a style of wrapping I know they love.


My all-time favorite wrapping papers has to be
plain old brown parcel paper.
I LoVe it's simplicity.... 
When it comes to ribbons on the other hand
luxury all the way is my motto....
I indulge my LoVe for patterns, textures & sparkle   
....together in my book they make the perfect wrapping.   


 I like to add 
a little personal touches....
Baby Paperdoll has been busy cutting
amazingly detailed paper-snowflakes over the past few days.
I LOVE LoVe LOVE them....
they make a beautiful window decoration not just for Christmas
 especially when snow is longed-for but non is in sight.
I couldn't resist though using a few of them for my wrapping.

 

I know the people who will receive them 
will love & cherish them just as much as I do.

 

A few hearts left over
 from my crochet Valentines garland 
have been waiting for the perfect use....

   
A personalized note card
plus a sweet little tags with the receptions initial
finishes the gift parcel off perfectly.


I had a wonderful afternoon....

 Truth be told I LOVED every minute of 
faffing around trying this & that.
Now I better HOP TO IT....
 there still a few urgent thing on my TO DO list....
before the big day.


Have a wonderful week!


XXXX

Thursday, 26 November 2015

My seasonal Mantel....




Oh my.... 
the weather has fast changed around here
....frosty nights with very chilly mornings,
not that I'm complaining 
I
LoVe
crisp air mornings with stunning sky's.


We had our first snow here.
It was literally just a sprinkling though
and it had gone just as fast as it came.

 

My scarf is coming along rather nicely....
hopefully ready to wear within days.

It will be very little like the one I set out to make
....not anything new there
I'm just no good at rigidly following instructions.
Maybe that is why I tend to make my own designs
rather then use someone else's. 
When I use a set pattern I always feel the need
to put my own spin onto it.


With the cold weather my yearning for Christmas started. 
So the first decorations snuck into my living-room
a couple of days ago ....just a few. 
I have to confess I'm rather thrilled
that this year I'm feeling the Christmas spirit again,
I was worried it had left me for good
after my lack of seasonal get-go last year!


My mantelpiece was given it's little Christmas spin.
I'm not a great planner
when it comes to my mantel decorations they just happen.
I take a little from here & a little for there
and somehow I'm always in LoVe with the finished look.
Every year I think that that years decorations are the best ever 
....only to find the following year
I think the same of that years decorations.    

2015 Christmas mantel was made with....
a old Christmas favoured
my little white tea light house & bottle brush trees
mixed with a World-map canvases bought this summer
 for a another home decor idea I had....


adding my trusty little red beetle....

 

 skis made from ice-lolly sticks....


two old jewellery boxes....

I especially love the frayed soft blue silk one,
it was handed-down to me by my favoured great aunt
she in-turn had it from her mother my great grandmother,
both were very stylish Lady's in there day.
The Lady's are no longer with us,
I love the idea though
 they are still very much part of our festive season
 trough the box.

 

 ....oh
and I better not forget the chocolate snowman
 ....just hoping he survives the season,
not end up melting in someone's mouth
(not mentioning anyone's name)
 before the month is over.



My favoured Christmas mantel....
until next year that is!


"NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS" 

XXXX




Sunday, 15 November 2015

Paris on my mind....


 

As the news was unfolding on my TV screen late Friday evening 
disbelieving what I was seeing....
I was feeling
shocked....  dismayed.... angry... sad....
overwhelmingly sad,
that once again, people going about there everyday life
were murdered in cold blood. 

I wasn't surprised though,
I have come to realise years ago,
there are people that just want to hate
 they desire to spread fear & misery wherever they can.
I have long stopped asking why,  
the answers would never make sense to any 
reasonable person anyhow. 
And just like after school shootings I am not interested 
in the perpetrators names, faces or there life stories. 
They are not worthy of my time.


My thoughts are with
....the victims of Fridays atrocities 
....the beautiful city of Paris and its people.


My thoughts are with 
.....people who just wanted to enjoy 
the little things that make life 
beautiful & worth living for....

meeting family & friends 
eating out 
listening to a concert
taking a stroll on a mild evening

My thoughts are with
 ....people that embrace living life
in a free Europe!

"Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité"


 I for one have decided
the best way to honour those victims 
and to defeat the haters is
to 
LoVe & LiVe 
life to the full.


wishing you
peace 


XXXX


Thursday, 12 November 2015

A little blanket Ta-Dah....

my last post made me realise....
I'm very good at sharing the beginnings of my projects
but not so great at showing you the finished pieces.
Thinking about it....
I often get so excited with my finished items
I have to use them
then & there forgetting to take any photos.  


Perfect example of this is my Babushka Rose blanket.


In March 2013 I shared it with you in the making
but I never had a Ta-Dah show-off it is so well worthy of.


So I'm thinking....
no time like the present ....

Ta-Da


 My Babushka Rose blanket in all it's glory.


Gosh.... I like this blanket so much.
No I am head over heels in LOVE with it!!!


Let me give you a bit of a behind-the-scenes to this blanket.
 Firstly let me say
I'm no crocheter by any stretch of the imagination,
I'm a fabriholic and sewing is my first love....
knitting & crocheting are hobby's I dip in & out of.
All that said though I do enjoy crocheting very much
I just find I need my patterns drawn rather than written.

We are a family loving to snuggle under blankets
any time of the year whilst watching the telly.
And no matter how many blanket we have
there is always room for one more.
In the past I have always opted for sewing our snuggle blankets
but after having discovered a little over two years ago
the amazing world of crocheting blogs I was drawn
  to try something new. 


Initially I had planned on a more traditional granny square design
but when I came across a photo of the Babushka Rose blanket by
Heidi from www.sewingdaisies.com.au 
I was smitten,
 then finding the pattern on her blog drawn
rather than written made me jump for joy.
I just had to give this one a go.


Quite a few month's, a couple of changes to the original pattern
and forty-two roses later came my biggest challenge.
Deciding on which method to use for put the squares together.
This is my first crochet blanket (but definitely not my last)
as well as my first exploration into the world of granny squares
so I found it difficult to visualize the finished look, 
holding my project up a few more month.
Sometimes though you just have to allow yourself time
to make the right choice.

 

I am so very pleased I did!


I had at first envisioned a much big fancy border,
but looking at the roses joined altogether, I changed my mind.
Sometimes less is really more,
this border allows the roses to be the stars that they deserve to be.
I loved working on this blanket and
crocheting makes such a nice change from sewing one. 

  
My colour choices for this blanket
were influenced by our other snuggle blankets.
A mix of soft pink with cream pale green & coral muted yellow
and a pooping red framed by baby blue all surrounded
with a dark denim blue.  
Sorry I don't have the actual colour no. any more.

For yarn I used Superfine Marino wool by Lana Grossa,
 

Here you have it

my
very very VERY
LOVELY
Babushka Rose blanket,
better late than never.

SOOOOOOOO worth a little Ta-Dah post!!!

Have a beautiful weekend. 
xxxx