Things I have learned today

About my dog:

- he knows how to open drawers and doors
- he knows where the food is
- when I come home, he does look guilty while I keep standing on the doorstep, totally stunned

- he likes toast and will happily eat a whole loaf plus a whole container of lard
- he dislikes white gummibears but will gulp down some other sweet stuff complete with its packaging
- he doesn’t care for the chewing bone on his blanket though
- stuff he rips open but does not eat: cake mix, flour, baking soda, salt, pasta
- he cannot relate his actions to later puking and/or diarrhea

- secretely he wants to be Taz (to quote Wikipedia: “Taz is constantly hungry and devours everything, animate or inanimate. His efforts to find more food are always a central plot device of his cartoons.”)

- you basically cannot leave him alone because you can never tell when he’s going to behave badly and it’s not a matter of how long you’re gone

- a long walk before leaving him alone will not increase the chances of him behaving
- he knows how to turn a good day into a bad one
- I can actually hate him. Not him personally though, just what he did.

Generally:

- a not correctly installed built-in fridge may prove advantageous
- luckily strained tomatoes come in sturdy packaging
- it’s always a good idea to empty the garbage before leaving the flat
- coming home is not always a happy moment
- painting your cupboards could be useless if you happen to have a dog
- experiences like these make you feel pretty much powerless

So we haven’t talked ever since I got home today. I’m not sure what to do the next time I have to leave him alone (tomorrow for two lectures)… I can’t tie him to the table, I can’t lock him into the bathroom, I most certainly can’t take him with me. Ah, great, I love stuff like that, don’t you just wish you were me… Any suggestions?

No card today, the food has gone away. Sorry.

posters can be bought at http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com

Jimmy was a local boy…

…but he’s seen much more than the change in the weather… *jumpityjump*

Ah well, the Rifles concert yesterday evening was way cool

Today I’m officially pooped out since we had our first Monday conference on the causes and effects of the economic/financial crisis. Complicated stuff, heavy on special vocab and this time each booth (two people) had to cope with the whole thing (1 1/2 hrs). The speaker was very fluent and it was quite interesting, but his sentences were kinda endless and very dense. Phew, at least I survived.

Anyhow, I hope I don’t get sick since on Wednesday Maximo Park will come to Frankfurt – today I took some time to listen to their relatively new album (Quicken the Heart) as a whole and I can’t express properly how happy their music makes me. They truly are my favourite band and I’m super grateful to get the opportunity to see them. Wheee!

To finish, meet some cards I made using Basic Greys Offbeat Collection Pack, some buttons and bobbin lace. Sentiments are Rubons respectively a stamp from SU. In the background there’s some Heather Bailey fabric. Some candy was harmed in the making of these pictures

Hope you like ‘em
I’m gonna lie around in my bed now and beg for not getting sick, puh-leez!!!!
See you around!

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

Just popping by to say hi and to share a card.
On Thursday we saw “(500) Days of Summer” – very cool film. If you think about seeing it, take a look at this fun video (which is not included in the film, they did that just for fun).

Love love LOVE her outfit. And the song you hear is from Zooeys band “She & Him” – yep, not only is she stunning, a great actress, has a neat sense of style AND can dance – she also knows how to sing like a nightingale. Talk about fair…
Anyhow, it was a very enjoyable movie!

Yesterday the notorious Rollercoaster Party took place and since I didn’t catch an awful lot of sleep, I’m going to slouch on the couch for most of the day. Ready for my latest Xmas card?

Bling from Basic Grey, sentiment by Stampendous, tree by PTI, ribbon from BoBunny, patterned paper from stash, Cardstock is retired SU (Cranberry Crisp), inks are PTI Landscape and L’amour Red

Bye everyone!

Il n’y en a pas cent

… but today there are two posts!

Just because I promised to show you the baby album I made for my cousin and there’s a set of two cards to participate in another challenge. I tend to be a promise-keeper, see?!

First up the challenge: A Passion For Papertrey – Inspired by autumn. The Papertrey item is some of their Vintage Cream Topnotch Twill Ribbon. So pretty that I’ve just ordered another roll!

My cards were not only inspired by autumn, but also shamelessly CASEd from this card by Maren Benedict (third picture). When I saw this I was reminded of my poor unused “Haunted” Rubons sitting in my drawer. So I just had to play along!

Soooo, now you’re going to lay eyes on aforementioned album. It’s relatively small (6×6″) and I made it with a template from Amy Celona.

Click on the small pictures to zoom.

There’s too much product involved to list it all, but if you have a question, I’ll be happy to answer it!

Some details about the album:

- In the first small photo you can see two wax sheets with handmade embellishments. I made them so that my cousin can also embellish her photos after she’s put them into the album.

- The large areas covered with patterned paper are for photos and I included quite some journaling lines for notes and thoughts.

- The words on page 3 say “It’s a girl”.

- On the center page I’ve included a see-through pocket for something like a lock of hair or the hospital bracelet of the baby. Above it is a line for the calculated date of birth .

- In the label on the right flap of the center page it says “My name is” and below there’s space for details about the actual date of birth, time of birth, length, weight, hair and eyes.

- And on page six there’s another sheer pocket.

Whew what a lengthy post. Tell me how you like it, I’d really appreciate it!!
BTW the babys name is Mathilda and she’s super cute and super tiny
It’s late, ta ta for now!

P.S. The title’s from the lyrics of “La Lettre” by singer extraordinaire Renan Luce.

Take my hand and close your pretty eyes

Just for the record: this is my 60th post
I’ve got lots to show you, so why don’t we get started…

I’ve received a lovely RAK from the ever-generous Vanessa, isn’t it gorgeous? And we don’t even know each other! Seriously, this is also a reason why I love crafting and blogland so much, because it connects people in such a beautiful way.
Anyway, thank you Vanessa!!

Next up I made a little card for the current Moxie Fab Challenge called “Not your Regular Ruffles”. Hope you like it

Yep, I’ve started making holiday cards – Thorstens comment: “You’re worse than Rewe*…” ^^ I hope that by starting now I’ll be finished when Christmas rolls around the corner

On Thursday some friends and I went to Stuttgart for the opening concert of the new Mando Diao tour. I don’t have the photos yet, but I can tell you that it was SPECTACULAR. The crowd was dancing and jumping and screaming and singing along, the band was fantastic – they played full throttle for over two hours, two encores and a great finale including a shower of glitter. (Everybody was kinda sweaty, so the stuff stuck to us immediately ^^) Natch, on Friday my voice was basically gone and I was super tired BUT it was totally worth it!
Yay for Mando

That’s it for now, catch you later!
*= a German supermarket

Colleagues! Non-flushing is terrorism!

This title was the subject of one of the spam-mails I got some weeks ago – I thought it was hilarious, so there you have it

Anyhow, I’m still visiting my mom (and I’m still sick), she had a great birthday and I managed to get the 24 layouts finished just in time. Stay tuned for pictures from the album, I’ll post them (one layout at a time) soon!

Here’s a list of random thoughts.

#1 – Some really enjoyable movies I watched recently: “Up” from Pixar (super hilarious, esp. if you’re a dog owner), “Benny & Joon” (from 1993 with a very young yet brilliant Johnny Depp) and “Me & Marley” (boy did I cry… is there anything sadder than a dying dog?!!).

#2 – My Google reader currently lists 431 unread articles. Apparently not being online for four days means loads of great stuff to read/see. {insert happy sigh}

#3 – I’m too sick to visit my cousin and her new baby. Dang. But I made her a video message (imagine a camera, lots of smiling and too much head wagging).

#4 – The semester starts in about a week and I have this kind of ambiguous feeling of looking forward to new challenges vs. being scared to death because of the expectations (of teachers, family, but probably of mostly myself).

#5 – I just bought my first-ever paper flowers (Generally not a big fan of Primas and such) – Sprites N° 3. We’ll see how we get along

#6 – My printer refuses printing. The very moment the new semester starts I will have to print stuff (speeches etc.). This means buying a new one. Grrrrr-eat… What is it about all those expensive electronic devices dying?

#7 – In my next post there will be pictures of the baby album I made, so for now just a card (above: with siblings). Enjoy!

ETA: The idea for these cards came from those beauties by Dawn McVey.

World Card Making Day

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day as all of you crafters know, but tomorrow is also known as the The Day of German Unity. So we have the day off

Since I am currently visiting my mom I can’t craft this very day, but I thought I might as well show you one or two cards I made. Enjoy!

PTI Kraft CS, Cosmo Cricket Haunted Collection (DSP, Stickers, Rubon), White Gel Pen, Black Gel Pen, Coluzzle, PTI Dark Chocolate Ink, Button from stash, SU Twine, Crystal Effects, Edge Distresser, Paper Piercer

BTW this is what the postman brought some days ago:

My new wallet!! Also handmade and from Etsy (picture and cute wallet made by jpatpurses). It’s actually really large (4×6″) but I looove the “Polly goes to Paris” fabric, so I had to get it Whaddya think?

ETA: The overall card idea was based on this great one by Debbie Olson.</em>