The end of 2011

2011...What an amazing year this has been. Just to mention a few great things that has happened: we got our very own LSS (local scrapbook store) in our little village, I've been featured in Inzpira Magazine, we've seen a full year come and go at the farm and its surroundings (I wish I could have added that we had moved out there too, but we're not there just yet) and I got to be mentor for a very sweet class at work. There is so much more to add, but if I did, you would most likely stop reading here, long before we got to the point with this blog post - scrappy 2011.

I normally don't do this - put my ten favourite projects of the year on parade - but since so many others are doing it, I thought why not?

First, a layout I made for Scraplagret, my DT-store. I'm really happy to be on their DT, because Emma, the owner, is the sweetest, and I really love every single DT-kit she's sending. It's also a fabulous store, and I honestly can say that there's nothing I can possibly wish for that isn't in that store.

Next up is a thing I made while on the Graphic 45 DT. Sad as I am that I didn't make it to another round on that team, I still feel blessed for having been on it for one year. That was my ultimate dream come true, and I'm pretty sure G45 forever will be one of my favourite brands.

I also got a new big DT-spot this year, at Riddersholm Design. You know, I'm a big fan of everything Danish, and I try to go to Copenhagen at least once a year, and now I can proudly say that I have added Riddersholm Design to my list of favourite Danish things. Their Chantilly Dawn is one of the prettiest paper lines I've designed with so far, and here is one of my favourite cards with that line.

This layout has found its way in here simply because I adore this little girl, and this photo, which is so "her". Ida is a daughter to a dear friend of mine, and she's as sassy and silly as they get. You just gotta love her, she totally cracks me up. Just this afternoon her mother posted a photo on facebook of her after a close encounter with some mascara. Se sure knew how to use that.

This is the K-house I made for Kristin at KiAs butik, who spoiled us rotten with opening up an LSS, in the middle of our little village. I love spending time on Kristin's loft, scrapping away and chatting with other scrapper girls (and guys too, for that matter).

This layout is here because this is what lazy summer days are all about for me - Albin in the hammock in the shade under the apple trees at the farm, just enjoying the moment. It makes me long for summer again...

This is another project I've made for Scraplagret. It's totally different from everything else I make, and I still like it a lot. Different is good, most of the time.

Here's a layout of my silly girl and her making faces. It's almost impossible getting a decent shot of her some days, so why not doing something fun out of all the crazy shots you do get. This is her, in every little way.

This is another fun project I made for the Petaloo Color Me Crazy contest. I think I won third prize in the altered class.

 I'm not sure I've shown this layout before... This is Agnes taking a ride with my sister on her quad. Agnes thinks her aunt is the coolest aunt in the whole world.

That's it. Ten projects, my favourite ones from 2011. It's New Year's Eve, and I'm going to continue the preparations for tonight's dinner with friends.

I wish all of you, blog readers, a very happy new year 2012.

After Christmas

I hope you all had a very nice Christmas. I had. I was so stressed out right before Christmas that I decided to take it very, very easy over the holidays. So, we have just been hanging out with family, taking the days as they come and just relaxed. And, believe it or not, I haven't scrapped one bit. However, I plan to get my stuff out tonight. I now have two weeks off from work before it's time to start up a new term, and I plan to enjoy every second of it. And perhaps scrap a layout or two.
In the meantime, here is a layout I made for Scraplagret, with wonderful papers from Pion Design.

Have a great Tuesday night, everyone!

Workshop

I've been invited by Kristin at KiAs Butik to teach a class in how to make birdhouses, like the ones on the photo below. So, if you're interested, follow this link to Kristin's blog for more info.

WORKSHOP

med

Jenny Svensson

hos KiAs Butik på loftet.

Jenny är aktuell i senaste InZpira
som kreativ profil.
http://jejas.blogspot.com/


Kurs i att bygga fågelholkar

lär dig bygga från grunden.

Allt material samt fika ingår.

Antal: sex platser

Tid: Torsdag 29 December 2011
kl. 18.30 - ca 21.30

Pris: 250 kr

Gingerbread

Twice, we've been baking gingerbread so far this month, and I suppose we will have to make it once more before Christmas Eve, if there's even a slight chance that there will be enough. You see, the three other people of my family all love gingerbread, and for the moment, we are having a "stay-at-home dad", and that's bad. The gingerbread jar gets emptied very fast because of that.

But that's OK. We love making them, so we're happy anyway, the kids and I.

Here's a layout I made with papers from the Nook December kit, using a sketch from the awesome challenge blog Challenge Me Happy. I LOVE that kit, it's so perfect for scrapping photos of all the preparations we make for Christmas.

Oh, and speking of preparations, right now I'm busy preparing a class for after Chistmas, so if you are local, and interested in learning how to make houses like I make them, stay tuned for more info!

A great day!

Today is a great day. Not only did I have the best of days at work, I've also got some alone time at home, and finally managed to catch up on some photo editing and design team blogging. I still have a pretty hard time with photography, because it's so darn dark all the time! For these photos I've used my external flash, and bounced it against the ceiling. It will have to make do, but I can't wait for brighter times to come. Or, I might just need to get a lightbox of some sort.

Anyway, like I said, it's been a great day at work. I've finished up my grading, and we've wrapped up the courses for this term. Now there is a week of fun stuff ahead, and next Thursday, it's time for a well deserved Christmas break, part of which I will use to scrap, because I've deserved that :)

Speaking of Christmas, here's a few things I've made with my last DT-kit from Scraplagret. First of all, I made a few ornaments from old wooden spools.

 And here's a Christmas card.

And now I'm so done blogging for one day! I'm going to dive into my paper piles again and do something creative.

Have a great evening, and a fabulous weekend.

How about some Echo Park?

The thing I really hate about this time of the year is that it's virtually impossible to take good photos of layouts and cards. By now, it gets dark around 4 in the afternoon, and that's about when I leave work, and after picking up the kids and finally getting home, it's pitch black outside! There's absolutely no light, and photography business have to wait until the weekends, when I'm home during the day. But that is no guarantee that there will be enough light. Some days, the sun doesn't seem to be around at all, and all there is is a vary faint light that barely finds it's way through the windows that are still fairly dirty since the last storm passed by (I had just cleaned them! I was so mad!)

Anyway, I try to make do with my external flash and a cupcake liner, so I've managed to get a couple of half-decent shots this evening, of two layouts using the November kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring Echo Park's LOVELY Times and Seasons. What's not to love about Echo Park?

The first one is about my sweet boy, and the second one is of my girlie, giving her little cousin a farewell hug before he took off with his family to the US. This is such a darling photo, and I've had it printed on my desk since August, trying to find papers to match the somewhat difficult colors of it. When the Nook kit landed, it turned out to be perfect for the task.

So, how are you all doing with your Christmas preparations? I thought I had it all pretty well covered a couple of weeks ago, when the kids were sick and we had to stay at home for a few days. I almost caught up with all the work that was overdue here. However, this place is once more a mess, and between all the grading I'm trying to get done at work, and all activities involving the kids (it's Lucia-time, with all the commotion that comes with it) I don't know how I'm going to be done. However, so what if the windows are still dirty after the storm? You won't notice since it's so darn dark all the time! I didn't send out tons of handmade Christmas cards last year, and guess what? Nobody died! I think I'll just stop here, light a candle and enjoy what Advent is all about - waiting, not wearing yourself out. Right?

I know I won't be able to do just that, though. I'm too deeply rooted in the traditions not to have my whole house spick and span in time for Christmas Eve. But I'm sure as h*** not cleaning the windows again!

In a Christmas mood

Tomorrow is the first of Advent. Wow, what on earth happened to this autumn? Where did November go so fast? I haven't even felt a touch of the usual November dreariness, although last week was very dark and dull. I spent most of that week at home with my sick little ones. To tell the truth, I haven't been feeling all that well either, we've had a rather bad cold which has surely taken its toll on oss. Anyway, tomorrow is the first of Advent, and I've got both my houses ready for it, with bright white stars in every window, wreaths on the doors and white hyacinths in cups and bowls here and there. It's the first year ever I have two houses to decorate, and even though it's tons of fun, I still wish there was only one house, and that we were settled in the farmhouse  instead of going back and forth between the houses, realising that the one thing you need when you're in one house is in the other one.

Still, tonight I'm sitting in front of a nicely sparkling fire in the farmhouse, listening to some wonderful Christmas music by Tommy Körberg (he has the most magnificent voice there is) and really getting in the mood. And while I'm in the mood, I thought I'd show you something a little bit Christmassy - a way to upcycle a dead plant to a decoration for Christmas.

I'm by no means a gardening wiz. Quite the contrary, I kill every plant I get in my hands, or onto my windowsill, that is. Like this olive tree. When the last leaf fell, and I realized that it probably hadn't got any water for at least a month, a little idea came to me. Why not make something funny out of it instead of throwing it away? So, I painted the whole tree white, put it in a wooden spool and sprayed it with Glimmer Mist Pearl to make it shimmer like a vampire in sunlight (yeah, I saw Breaking Dawn last night) Then I decorated it with snowflakes punched out of Graphic 45 papers and a chipboard sign, and now I can still keep it on my windowsill even though it's dead. Pretty nice, huh?

So, now I can keep killing plants without feeling bad about it... LOL. Everything I used (except for the tree itself) can be found at Scraplagret.

So, if you're in a Christmas mood too, and are working on your Christmas cards, why not checking out the ongoing Christmas card sketch challenge at the Riddersholm blog. This card is from this week's sketch.

 Just go here to find the sketch and to upload your card.

Have a very nice Saturday evening, and the very best first of Advent, everybody! Myself, I'll be spending tomorrow watching the kids taking swimming lessons, to start with. Then we will go out and have a Christmas meal with P's parents, and since it's also P's 40th birtday, there's all the more reason to celebrate.

A Christmas tag

Good evening, everyone!

Thank heavens it's Friday, at last. I've had a busy, a bit scary, but great week at work, with a really bad cold, a concert that I had to get out of because it was too loud to my infected ears, a parent-teacher conference after hours, a day in Kristianstad at the course in entrepreneurial teaching I'm taking (totally fun, but I got home way later than usual). Add an almost non-existing voice in trying to make oneself heard in a classroom with twenty-or-so teenagers, and some sleep deprivation to that ("someone" snoring, kids running around at night making noise and not putting out lamps after them etc) and there you have me now, Friday night, ready to tip over on the couch. Exhausted. Wishing the day had more hours. Wishing the weekend had more days, for that matter. And wishing my head didn't feel like it was about to burst. And the scary part of the week - let's not even go there.

Still, I'm trying to work up the energy (chocolate works, at least for a while) to write a short post here on the blog today, showing you a little Christmas tag I made last week, with supplies from Scraplagret.

The papers are Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium (yeah, I know, the first G45 stuff posted here in ages... I still love G45 to bits, I just haven't had the courage to work with their stuff since I failed so miserably in trying to get on their DT for a second round)

Here's the back of the tag. See that snowflake? I got that punch in my DT kit from Scraplagret, and I LOVE it! You can connect the snowflakes into garlands, but I think they are adorable using like this too, one at a time.

There. Now I'm off to fix something to eat. The kids ordered tacos tonight, so that's what we're getting. Spicy enough for me to feel the taste!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Christmas is closing in on us

And it's moving fast... I've no idea if I'm going to have time to make enough Christmas cards to send out to people this year, or if I will have to do like last year, and buy some. Anyway, this is a little box I altered using papers from the wonderful Christmas collection The Day Before from Riddersholm Design. I LOVE this collecrion.

In the little bubble on top of the lid, I have decorated with miniature Christmas trees, also made from patterned paper, and a whole lot of glitter.

So, that's it for today. We're preparing for a new school/work week, if my daughter is feeling OK tomorrow morning, that is. She has a sore throat and she is coughing a little, poor girl, but hopefully she will feel a lot better in the morning.

Happy Sunday night, everyone! I will be spending it in front of the TV watching the True Talent final (Exciting, that one) and folding sheet music stars for the Christmas tree.

Glitz Mini Album

Hi everyone!

Today I've been bustling around, blogging on every blog I'm supposed to, and now the time has come to do something about my own blog. I changed the header this morning - it's about time, the old one has been tagging along for quite some time now.

*edit* I changed the entire design while I was at it... I'd grown so tired of the old, all white one. Please, let me know what you think, OK?

I have a envelope album for you today, with the most adorable papers from Glitz - Vintage Blue, which I got from Scraplagret to create with. Oh, how I adore these papers! Just look at the toile pattern on the cover! I'd like to wallpaper my bedroom in that!

Here's a closeup on the front cover. The big blue flowes are diecut with Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, and then I've rubbed them from the back with a stylus.

I love how this collection comes with coordinating trims - like this one with pom poms on the ends. It's super cute!

 I've covered all the envelopes in different patterned papers from the collection

 and then I have decorated the pages with coordinating stickers.

Have a very nice saturday evening, everyone!

Pink Ribbon

This layout is also for a challenge at Scrapptorget. It's a challenge to use a pink ribbon on your layout, to acknowledge breast cancer. I felt I had to participate in this challenge, because I think everyone has been affected by this disease in any way, either lost someone from it, or know someone who has. Myself, I have a close family member who is a breast cancer survivor, and of course, we all are very grateful for that. Many people aren't that lucky.

So, that's it for today. I'm heading back to do some more painting in the veranda. I'm getting close to seing the finished result now, and it will be so light and airy! It will be the perfect background for the Christmas tree, because that's where I plan to put it.

3 stamps

Today, I've started repainting the veranda at the farmhouse. It's quite a lot of work to do, but I'm hoping the result will be lovely. Right now the first coat of paint is drying and I can't do anything out there, so I thought I'd take a break and update the blog.

In Scrapptorget's cybercrop there was a challenge to make a project and use three stamps on it. So I did. I stamped on shrink plastic with a stamp from Stempelglede, and baked it in the oven for a couple of minutes. Then I layered the ready piece with another paper, stamped with the same stamp, plus a couple of punched-out patterned paper circles. Then I stamped directly on the patterned paper with a background stamp from Unity Stamps, plus stamped a journaling spot and cut it out. So, all in all three stamps, and very few other embellishments.

So, now I'm heading back to the paintbrush. Have a great Saturday evening!

TGIF!

Yes, thank God it's Friday! For some reason, this week has taken it's toll on me. I'm wasted. I've never been this tired in my entire life! It was such a relief getting home from work this afternoon, packing up the car and heading out to the farmhouse. And now I'm sitting here, in front of a crackling fire in the old tile stove, feeling completely relaxed. The kids are upstairs in bed, P is snoring on the couch, and I finally felt inspired to do some blogging.

I made a completely flat layout the other day. It's for a challenge at Scrapptorget, where they wanted you to make a completely flat layout. No layers, no embellishments, nothing. The thing is... I really love layers, and I love 3D-elements on my layouts, so here I had to retink everything. 

I printed the photo plus the title directly onto the cardstock, and then I got busy with stamps, masks, ink and pens. And that's about it. As you can see, it's completely flat. I haven't glued anything on there.

It's good to do things differently once in a while. Making this layout really got me thinking about making more of this. I really like how it turned out, and I will most definitely be making more flat layouts. I also think the photo looks gorgeous, printed straight onto the cardstock.

Well, that's all I have to share tonight, I'm afraid. I did, however, bring my external harddrive from home, with a few scrappy pics on it (I'm on my job laptop here at the farm, with no photoshop or any other photo editing software) so don't be surprised if there will be another update or two here on the blog over the weekend.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Riddersholm Forever!

This is a very tired Jenny with a short post for y'all.I made this card a couple of weeks ago, with papers from Riddersholm Design, and a few odds and ends I had lying around in my stash. I love this release, Chantilly Dawn.

So, that's it. Very short, like I said :) It's way past bedtime, and I have a busy day at work tomorrow, with a lot of things to think about, and a couple of worries that keep bugging me and need sorting out. So, off to bed I go!

Good night, everyone!

Albin in 2nd grade

Am I the only one getting grey hairs because of Blogger lately? I can't put links in my texts, or at least not more than once in every blog post, I can't change the fonts, and it's acting really, really weird! My first guess was that it was my laptop that caused this disturbance somehow, but I've tried blogging from three different computers, and it's the same everywhere, so that's not it. These things are supposed to just work, and it's really annoying when they don't.

So, anyway, I'm going to use my only link in this post for ScrappTorget, a site that is hosting a cybercrop at the moment. I made a layout for one of their challenges last night, a challenge where you were supposed to make a layout with a lot of white space on. This is my take. Yeah, I know, there could be more white space, but I figured I also needed to keep it balanced.

The papers and decorations are from the Nook October kit, fabulous MME Lost & Found II. Love it!

Have a great week, everyone!

Saturday night blogging

Good evening, world. It's Saturday night and I'm sitting at my beloved farmhouse watching the fire in the stove. P is at the movies with a couple of friends and I just got back from the neighbours, where the kids and I have spent the evening. Now, the kids are in bed, and what better thing to do than updating the blog while the fire burns down.

I'm on my job computer, so I don't have access to my photos, but I can show you a few cards that I've made for Scraplagret, using one of my favs lately - Victoria Gardens from Echo Park. This collection is absolutely adorable, and the colors are fabulous. Echo Park has made a whole bunch of lovely collections lately, and it has become one of my favourite brands.

The sentiment of this last card really got to me when I read it. "When you stop and look around, life is pretty amazing." Isn't that just so true? We tend to always move ahead, and set up higher and higher goals for ourselves and those around us. We really need to slow down, and see what we have right now, and that's pretty amazing, for sure. Myself, I have my family, my two precious children who give me so much joy every day. I have a university degree, a job that I love, and a hobby that allows me to be creative and meet amazing people. I have friends that I like having around, and I know which ones I can rely upon. I'm strong enough to keep out of all drama going around everywhere, not letting malicious people get to me, and I'm confident in who I am and what I do. I have, not one, but at the moment two, pretty amazing homes, one of which is the place I've always wanted, in a pretty amazing area. I have the financial means to give my children everything they need. Moreover, I have a fantastic journey overseas to look forward to. So yeah, life is pretty darn amazing, I'd say.

There's only embers left in the stove now, and I guess it's time for me to go to bed. Have the best of Sundays, dear blog readers.

How about some Riddersholm and a Blog Candy?

Last week, I received a package with the magnificent new lines from Riddersholm Design, including this one, Chantilly Dawn. I am completely in love with this line, it has the softest colors and the pretties patterns ever. I love it.
My son was invited to a birtyhday party, so I decided to make a couple of gift boxes and matching cards with Chantilly Dawn for the two birthday girls.

Now, how about winning some Chantilly Dawn of your own, plus tons of other goodies? It's really easy, just click on the button below to see the the Blog Candy, and read the instructions.

What are you waiting for? ;)

Crop at KiAs.

First of all, long time no see. I guess I got swept away by all the commotion about school starting over again. The students walked in at work, and I've been busy since. Albin and Agnes are back to school and daycare, soccer practice has started, gymnastics practise has started, and I'm back to doing laundry, packing gym clothes, school bags and all that stuff. On Sunday, both of them are back to swimming practise, and on top of it all, Albin has decided to join the scouts. I'm guessing we'll be really busy this fall.

Oh, and I forgot - we're painting windows at the farm. Today, P wanted me to paint. I grabbed the bush and I painted. When it comes to paint, I'm a perfectionist, whereas he isn't. He litterally paints the windows, meaning the glass. I paint only the frame. So I painted, carefully and perfekt - not a drop of paint ended up where it didn't belong, and I was really pleased with the outcome. Then P came along and had the guts to tell me that I painted too slowly! I almost threw the brush after him. But I guess I deserved that, since I had the bad taste of going cropping at KiAs Butik yesterday instead of painting windows.

I got tons of stuff done at the crop, among them this papier mache torso, which I altered using papers, stickers and trinkets from Bo Bunny's lovely Et Cetera line.
There was a challenge during the crop - to scraplift this layout, which I did last time I was there. The photo is from this summer, when we visited Glimmingehus castle. Agnes loved to sit by the window, very high up in the castle, and fantasize about whether there was ever a beautiful princess sitting in that window waiting for the prince to come riding on his noble steed... Thence the title - awaiting the prince.

And so, I scraplifted my own layout also here using Et Cetera. This photo was taken after a long, warm, dusty day at High Chaparral, our own Swedish wild west town. On our way home, we stopped by a lake to try and cool of a bit. I got this photo of Albin running along the platform as the sun was setting. The water was so warm that night, and the kids just loved it. They didn't want to get out of there.

So, that's it for tonight. I'd better be getting to bed soon. I thought I'd sit around for a while, finishing up a layout I started yesterday, but I think I'm too tired.

I wish you all a very good week.

The Rose

The ongoing challenge att Once upon a... sketch is to combine the sketch with at least two lines of your favourite song. My favourite song, ever, is The Rose by Bette Midler. I've been singing that song over and over again since I was like... ten or so. I've always loved it, and I still do.

So I decided to print the entire song onto my layout.

Sweet little sheriff

One day this summer the kids and I, and some friends, went to High Chaparral, our little part of the wild west. We took a ride on a riverboat, we were involved in a train robbery, we visited the indians and Agnes got her face painted, we watched the buffalos and we learnt how things were back in the days. It was a great day, and the kids loved it as much as I did when I was a little girl. Of course, they had to get dressed up, and Albin wanted to be a really fierce sheriff. But how can you look fierce when you are that cute? Impossible. He was the sweetest little sheriff, really, don't you agree?
I've used a lovely sketch from Skissedilla.

Sassy Lil' Sketches August week 2 sketch

Our auntie Anna, she's a cool one. She has her own motorbike, and the kids loved taking a ride on it this summer. I made this layout with a sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches, and I really love how this tuned out. I'm not usually a big fan of these kinds of bold colors, but mixed up with som kraft colored elements like this, they're quite OK. I was inspired to this by fabulous scrapper Carina Lindholm, of course, who makes marvellous layouts and cards bursting with color. And speaking of summer... today is officially the last day of our summer for us. Tomorrow we are all back to work, school and daycare again. It's, as always, a tiny bit sad, but we're hanging in there. Agnes is really happy about going back to daycare. I called them this morning, making arrangements about time for her this week, and after I had hung up, and went to tell her that they are really looking forward to having her back there tomorrow, she was soo happy. She cant wait to see all of her little friends and the teachers again. And to be honest, I miss my colleagues too, so it will be fun tomorrow, seing them and catching up with what they have been up to these past weeks. And I do look forward to next week, when the students get back. It will be a blast. :)