Monroe Monday

Merry Christmas

Monroe Monday

The Christmas Gift for Myself

You should give yourself Christmas gifts, so you get what you really want! :) And when I give myself a Christmas gift it is usually something special, and that is exactly what it is this year - a custom made nail stamping plate with my own motifs from FigTreeJewellery:

Here is the picture she sent me for my approval. The rulers at the sides are smart, because you can scale your screen to actual size and check if the motifs fit your nails.

I thought for long what to have on my own plate. My car and my son of course, but since there were room for six motifs I had to come up with some more. I ended choosing my hero, Indiana Jones, and my childhood heroine, Modesty Blaise. Here is the finished plate with her tests:

If you want her to make photos to stamping motifs it costs about 8 dollars extra per photo, and it is definately worth it. Here is the photo of son three years old, I sent her:

And here is son 18 years old:

So my plate cost me about 40 dollars, and I think I will be back and order another one when I have figured out which motifs I miss.

Monroe Monday

Giving and Receiving

I love getting gifts! Yep, I am still that childish, but I think I love giving gifts even more. Since 1981 I've made a Christmas calendar for my parents. This year it was glittery green with red bows, so nice. They love it very much:

Dad has taken the photo with his iPad, because as usual I forgot to take one myself.

Son has got Advent gifts since he was 11 (now he is 21), here they hang from the curtain rod:

He visits us every Sunday, so I can see him open his gift. I also suspect he would open all four, if I gave him the gifts to take with him home.

Dear Husband (DH) also gets Advent gifts, and this year I also have bought a licorice calendar from Bülows:

So he does not complain.

And I found this fabulous Christmas Calendar at Etsy for my sister:

Tanja Braun (in Germany) makes charm bracelets as Christmas calendar. The first day she got the bracelet, and then she each day take a little golden bag from the big brown bag, and find a charm in it. There are many different themes and you can also write to Tanja and ask for special charms. Sister is very happy, so I will not disclose more here, but you can take a look at the link.

I rarely get neither Christmas calendar nor Advent calendar, but this year I was lucky, because look what DH gave me for my birthday:

A super girlie calendar full of cosmetic and skin care gifts all through December! :)

Monroe Monday

Buy of the Year 2014

I use to nominate Buy of the Year, just for fun.

The opevious winners are:
In 2009 a vintage immersion heater
In 2010 a vintage Pyrex measuring cup
In 2011 a lovely notebook from Etsy
In 2012, I forgot, oops
And last year it was my iPad on which I read my blogs daily.

I have never defined the nomination precisely, but in general it has to be something I have been especially happy for and which have made a difference in my life. So which buy fulfills the criteria this year? Well, it has been extremely expensive, but also incredibly fantastic. On 1 March I started working part-time, having Wednesday off, so it became my creative day. On Wednesday I relax, I am creative and my stressed brain calms down. So although it cost me about 20% of my salary (fortunately son moved just a months before, and believe me, teenagers do not come cheap), it is worth every penny, and I hope it will never end. Last spring I got my own creative room (son's old room), so now I have all my things and stuff at one place and can work on my projects while I listen to old records.

What I make? Well, many different things, a.o. this copy of a Kate Spade clutch, which I also made a tutorial for:

I play a lot with my old seed beads, which my beloved grandma gave to me as a child. I am so happy I have kept them. Here is a gift for a dear colleague:

Necklace and bracelet after a Russian pattern found on Pinterest. You can find many free patterns and tutorials there.

I paint and draw:

And I have made lots of Christmas card and to-and-from cards:

Decorated with glitter, rhinestones, and pearls.

And I've started sewing again:

On my old sewing machine, which my dad thrifted in a container about 30 years ago and repaired for me. It is so good.

Here I have sewed a top from a fifties pattern. PDF-patterns are brilliant, because it is instant-download, so you can buy a pattern and sew it right away. The fabric cost me about 3 dollars:

Yep, it is me! Finally, a photo of me on my blog. I hate photos of myself, so normally it is on Instagram you can see photos of me, because the photos are so small so you cannot see how old and unphotogenic I am. ;)

And here is a skirt sewn of fabric I bought about 25 years ago:

I really like it and would love to use the same pattern for another skirt in some wintery fabric.

My latest project:

A houndtooth skirt with big pleets:

Really nice and it doesn't need a petticoat since the fabric is very thick. It became a little too large at the waist, but I can change that next Wednesday. :)

Monroe Monday