New snow and a snow bunny


Not a lot to say about this. A few days before Christmas it snowed like it never does over here. Nick made a snow bunny for Meli, and it looked really cute, even when it melted away.

Buying our Christmas tree


We get our Christmas tree at the same place every year - from Santa Clause. They actually have a huge Santa ballon in their yard, that's why we go there. First time with Meli. We picked the largest one available (actually not, but it felt that way, when we added the 28o (!) Christmas lights).But it looks really nice in our house....

New beads - all 50% off


I actually am very pleased today. I thought the Christmas break (=availability of Nick to watch Meli while I am shopping) was a good opportunity for me to look at some beads. And guess what, Paula is moving to a new location and is only open 2 more days in this spot, so she had a sale on all glass beads. Look at those pretties. I think I will make something for the next Stringing challenge - Night and Day. Just need to think about a nice concept ;-)

Lori's necklaces


So you remember I won one of Lori's giveaways and got a beading set from the Classic Bead. Well, I felt it was quite expensive for Lori to ship it over to Germany, so I decided to buy something from her store, and that way she could ship it together (good excuse, right?). So here are the two necklaces I bought. I love them both, perfect colors for me. And I am really happy and proud to wear some pieces from such a talented artist. Keep beading, Lori.

My new crafts


So with a baby, beading is not the easiest thing to do. You actually need some space, and time to get the stuff out. On the other hand, knitting works good. You can do one row, and then pick up your little girl (again) when she starts crying. So after I probably have 100 UFOs in my house, I managed to finish this one and I gave it to Meli for Christmas. And I am super-proud. I know it is not perfect, but it is made with love from me for her.

Christmas at our house

In Germany we celebrate on Christmas Eve, Dec 24. It was a busy day, with getting everything ready for dinner, and wrapping presents. We celebrated at our house, with my mum, one of my sisters and her boyfriend. We met at 2 and went to church to see a kids play. When we got home, we opened presents (Meli has enough stuffed animals right now to fill up and entire room). Those are the earrings I made for my sister - she really loved them and so did I. They are simple but nice. I will probably make some for myself as well (I guess I always say that when I made something, right?)
Not to forget the bunnies. They got their own special Christmas tree as well.

And later we had dinner. I spend a lot of time decorating the table, and it turned out really nice. We had a very flavorful Raclette (for those who don't know it: It is like a small stove that you put on the table, everybody gets a mini-pan and you melt cheese in there, with veggies etc).
They all left early, but it turned out to be really nice. On Christmas day, we all met again at my (other) sister's place and had a brunch, followed by.... opening presents (more stuffed animals). I still have some unopened ones sitting under my tree. But I got some really great ones. A metal stamping set, a bead book, the new Jamie Oliver - Jamie's America, a Pandora bracelet, and a Digital picture frame (for my trillions of Meli-pictures). And a special mention goes out to Andrew - Nick bought the little bird necklace for me, since he knew I really liked it. Thank you everybody for making this a special Christmas.

Christmas market in Cologne

So I have spent some time those past days collecting topics for my blog, but not posting them. So today you will see a few new ones. This one is about the Christmas market on Roncalli-Place right in front of the Cologne cathedral. It is my favorite one, because the atmosphere is phenomenal. The little booths, all decorated, right in front of the beautiful church - that is just the perfect Christmas feeling. I bought a scarf, some beads, and we had very yummy flammkuchen - a sort of Pizza from Alsace (France, please forgive me). And then we went to my favorite booth, that I get stuck on every year. The Hair-Acrobacy booth. That's how they call it. There are 3 girls making your hair while selling these hair pins. Nick took a photo of me with Meli in the carrier while the lady did my hair.
We also had some Hot Wine (just a little bit for Mummy) - and I couldn't resist to take a picture of those pretty Lebkuchen-hearts (not sure how you call them).























When we were about to leave, we met a group of teenagers carrying signs that said "free hugs". They actually ran into 4 older people, that were totally overwhelmed when the kids started hugging them. You could see the surprise and happiness in their eyes. It's Christmas.

Another german tradition


What would you think you see on this picture? Well it is wax on coffee beans and I have been trying this afternoon to separate these two. Why? There is a german tradition called advent. For this we have an advent wreath which usually consists out of a couple of branches from a pine tree wrapped into a ring, which holds 4 candles. Every sunday before Xmas, we light one candle and on Xmas eve we have all four lit. I made a special version of this thing this year. A tray filled with coffee beans and four candles. Picture will follow. Unfortunately the candles burned down and all the wax spilled, so I had some picking to do.... I could have just bought new coffee beans, but it was so much fun. I know I am crazy.

The first snowflakes


Snow somehow gets a different meaning when you have a baby and show it to her for the first time. It feels like seeing it for the first time yourself...

What am I listening to?

Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins
Hometown Glory - Adele
Use somebody - Pixie Lott
Crack the shutters - Snow Patrol
With our without you - Scala & Kolacny Brothers
My funny valentine - Michael Buble
A waltz for a night - Julie Delpy
Halleluja - Jeff Buckley
Fix you - Coldplay
Keinen Zentimeter - Clueso
Fluorescent Adolescent - Artics Monkeys
Unlike me (Acapella) - Kate Havnevik

Try those if you don't know them - maybe you'll enjoy.....

Xmas gifts for the nursing friends


So when I did the birth prep class, I met 2 girls, Kathrin and Verena who both had their babies close to our birthday. So no question, they needed gifts. But what would they need now they have everything? So I decided on liquor for the guys, toys for the babies, and necklaces for the mommies. I made those with my new stamping set, that I will officially only get on Xmas. First try, so not perfect, but I am in love with those. They say the baby's name, the birth date and the little stones I added are their birth stones. Peridot for Josefina and Kathrin, and Lapislazuli for Verena & Jan and Meli & myself. I can't wait to wear mine.




The best of 2009 challenge


The best of 2009 - a challenge that really made me grow..... was pushing those two cheeks out during "our" 21 hours birth on September 11. And every day that followed. And every day of our future. Can there be anything that would make your heart grow more?


Today is Day 2

Here is a challenge. What is this? You won't find out though..... We have a german tradition during the time before X-mas. It is called the adventscalendar. See this picture below.

It is a "count-down-calendar" that helps us to wait for X-mas. This means that on every day in December, I get to open one of those little doors of this calendar, and behind each door I will find a piece of chocolate. Today's chocolate had the form of a little house - isn't this cute?
So the first picture is actually a variation from this chocolate-adventscalendar. It is a sticker from a book about this little sheep Rica who will eventually have a Xmas party in the forest with her animal friends. But it builds up like an adventscalendar. Every day we get to read a short story to our baby and we can glue a window sticker on the window. So the first picture that we put on the window yesterday shows a little barn. Glancing towards the window, I thought the whole day: " What is this stain on my window?" Well hopefully it will look different soon.

Paperwork that gives me a headache

So today I need to officially declare how much time I want to take time "off" for my baby. It is called parental time. That means I can reduce my working time to anything from working not at all to 30 hours per week (from 40 + overtime in my usual job). Max is 3 years. But that means that I basically have to start from scratch after that. Or take less time off but not spend it with my daughter but at work. My current thought is that I will work from home as of January, for 20 hours per week. Sounds nice. Will still generate enough income. But means also that there will be 20 hours in each week that I won't spend with my little Meli-girl. Horrible! I even can't give her away for 10 minutes right now, how should that work with 20 hours..... she is an angel. Well, we'll see what I will do - the deadline is today.....

I won !!!


YEAH. I won the giveaway from Lori Eurto's blog. I never won anything so far. And this is the most beautiful prize I can imagine. A ceramic pendant and bead set donated by Tracee Dock of The Classic Bead. Thank you so much ladies - you both really made my day.

Do you know Kelley?


I just received this little package from Kelly Wenzel, a really talented glass artist. I have often been disappointed when I ordered something on the internet - the beads are sometimes just not as pretty as the pictures. Kelley's are even better than her pictures. Mine over here does not really do her beads justice. I can't tell which one is my favorite - they are all gorgeous. Plus I got some extras ;-). Check out her Etsy shop and her blog.... you'll love every single bead. Thanks Kelley.

Rain


Some days are rainier than others. Today is one of those. The sky is grey, the sun is not coming out, and there is no way we will leave the house today. It is quiet and calm inside. Baby's sleeping. The new issue of step by step wire came in (it is a bit delayed since I am living in Germany, the shipping takes longer) and I think I will take a tea and read through it. Or do things I should do. Like work on my tax declaration. Organize my craft supplies upstairs. Fold laundry. But... I think I might just take the day "off" instead.

Rain, feel it on my finger tips
hear it on my window pane
your love's coming down like rain
wash away my sorrow
take away my pain
your love's coming down like rain... (Madonna - Rain)

Necklace for a mummy-friend


Oh boy, it has been so long since I made some jewelry. With the baby and all that home improvement, the fun part of making pretty things got a bit neglected. And it was a bit difficult to start again after such a long time - the inspiration block. Plus I made this necklace not for me, but for a mummy-friend, who I didn't know for very long. The given was the color (green is her favorite) and the fact that it should be solid - with my baby I havw hardly worn any jewelry yet. So I picked some resin beads in green and used 20g sterling wire. And even though it is quite simple, I really like it - so I might make it again for me. ;-)

The harvest and how we used it

I think in spring I wrote about the little garden area that Nick made for me in the backyard. Well, I probably did not take as much care as I could have, however, something grew. We got those chilis, a zucchini and a number of mini-carots. Even though they were really small, they were very tasty.

Here is what we did with them. Our two friends were more than happy.....

Our first halloween


Look at this picture from our cutie's first halloween. I haven't been doing much since she came to us, at least not in terms of jewelry or other crafts. But we are signed up to a gym class and a baby massage class, so two appointments per week are ok, right?

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