Summer Flies By…

I have not posted in a few weeks and my only excuse is the Summer is flying by! While I have not been posting online Mr. C. and I have been traveling, working and enjoying our life of adventures.

Starting August 1st I plan to be online again full time, and you can look for posts about our Summer adventures…here is the preview of what’s coming up!

Stay tuned for the upcoming adventures this August!

Monday Inspiration: Your Own Backyard

We have a houseguest this week which means I have had a lot less time for my normal routine. Usually a houseguest does not cause so much upheaval but when the houseguest is your first in a new home, first in a new country and is staying for a week it takes more time to prepare. You may be thinking, does she not like house guests? Not true! I love them. I especially love how a guest can cause you to look around your surroundings with fresh eyes.

Instead of simply riding the train, you are realize how cool that must seem to someone who doesn’t take it every day. Instead of rushing to the store to buy what you need you stop and look at the beauty of you every day. Having a houseguest reminded me of how cool the city I live in, Stuttgart, Germany is and how we need to find things to remind ourselves of this fact. Mr. C and I have only been here a few months and I already forgot!

I took these pictures while showing our guest the city. I love the clouds and clean lines. Have you taken pictures of your own backyard to inspire your art? Maybe a restaurant logo, the flowers in your garden or simply the rays of the sun this Summer?

Monday Inspiration: Jenn Olson

I found Jenn on twitter last week, then her blog and then her ravelry account. I also found that Jenn makes amazing art journal pages. Unfortunately Mr. C. and I are working on the house hard this week (he is staring at me with pictures to hang at the moment) so no studio time for a while, but Jenn’s inspiration will be waiting!

Jenn’s Blog: Jenn Olson: Evolutions

Make sure to visit Jenn’s blog!

World Cup 2011

Mr. C. and I drove out to the FIFA Women’s World Cup game in Augsburg today, we had a blast. I have not been to a Stadium in Germany before so a new experience is always and adventure!




Lessons Learned:

1. Arrive early if going to the Augsburg stadium, really early or better yet drive to a nearby train station park, and ride the train from there. Parking was horrible!
2. Don’t expect numerous food options, like sushi and Thai along with your hotdog vendors like we do in the States. The stadium had a lot of food stands but they all sold the same thing some really good pork sausages that Mr. C. and I enjoyed.
3. Same goes for memorabilia. Multiple stands, all selling the same items (at least at the World Cup games). If you find what you want in the size you need buy it. Don’t keep walking hoping to find a stand with different items as they might sell out while you look!
4. The crowds are really, really excited. Scream, stamp your feet and go crazy excited. I have been to a lot of games in the States but this was definitely one of the rowdiest, which made it a lot of fun.
5. I really like going to games with my best friend, Mr. C.

Elle’s Studio Savoring Summer Kit

I posted a few weeks ago about how excited I was to receive my Elle’s Studio, “Savoring Summer,” mini-album kit. Now that summer has officially started I have begun journaling our summer activities! The page below was based on a sketch over at www.shimelle.com hop on over to check out the other entries!

Studio Calico Pinterest Challenge

I had a lot of fun last week working on a page for Glue Stick Girl's challenge on the Studio Calico Forum. I chose the following two pin’s as my inspiration:

Using these two examples as inspiration… I created this layout from our recent trip to Portugal.

The layout was created on Stampin’ Up Whisper White card stock and I used ink, pencil, oil pastels, crayon, acrylic paint and hand embroidered felt to carry my feelings and memories. Rather than traditional journaling I used little clouds to represent the thoughts that flitted through my head that day: Joy, Happy, Fun, Love, etc… It was such a peaceful and relaxing day. I wish we were there now!

Pretty Little Studio Design Team Member, Me?

YES ME! For those of you who read my blog post Pretty Little Studio Design Team post you will remember that I put a lot of work into my design team member submission and it paid off! I am really, really proud of myself. Why? because I almost gave up.

I almost gave up when I first decided to start sharing my passion for memory art.

I almost gave up when I realized I was still unpacking from an overseas move and my studio was a mess.

I almost gave up when I tried to create but was completely exhausted after my second week at a new job in a a foreign country.

I almost gave up when the sewing machine ripped my submission’s background paper, and the felt lace I was embroidering ripped.

I almost gave up when the little voices in my head said are you really good enough?

I almost gave up….

Then Mr. C. said, “Why don’t you just give up?” Hearing him say the thought that had been swirling in my head gave it real meaning. And I knew that giving up meant giving up on myself. I could not give up.

Inspired I ran upstairs to adhere gaffer tape and applied button’s to hide the seam where I attached additional felt. I spent hours taking photo’s, editing and revising my application. I submitted and spent the next few weeks wondering…then I found out…I was a new member of the design team! I was so happy…happy that I won and happy that I did not quit because not quitting is the biggest victory.

Monday Inspiration: Pretty Little Studio

The first time I visited the Pretty Little Studio store it made me want to create. I love their bright colors mixed with cute vintage graphics. It seems that a lot of the time vintage=brown not vintage=rainbow! (click on the below images to see more of each collection).

Why is it good that these products inspire me? Because I was just picked to be part of the design team!

Happy 4th of July from Germany!

Mr. C. and I headed to the American military base to celebrate our Independence Day holiday. We snapped a lot of photo’s (still liking my new camera!) see if you can find the differences in the photo’s between an Independence Day in Germany or an Independence Day in the U.S.A.


We had an albeit brief, but fun time. Photo difference? Did you notice the German flag on the baseball hat? The no alcohol served to customer’s under the age of the 18 and the food vendor truck’s written in Germany? We also noticed both languages being spoken and pork and sauerkraut being served right a long the American-style burgers. Different form’s of celebration but still patriotic, still supportive of the soldiers, and still flying the red, white and blue.

Happy 4th of July!

No worries...Inspiration Monday will be here on tomorrow due to the holiday!

4th of July Overseas

I love 4th of July…My family loves 4th of July and every year we have a huge party, and the occasional little one *grin*. We dress up…go see several set’s of fireworks, eat food at my parents and have a great time.

This year is different…living in Germany means that when you walk down the street to buy groceries at the little Summer market on Saturday you don’t pass rows of house dressed in flag bunting, or stands selling fireworks. Traffic is easy driving home from work on Friday because people aren’t heading north to celebrate by the lakes for the weekend. Monday, their won’t be the smell of BBQ’s and squinting at the sky to see if you can see the next town’s fireworks.

While it’s different I would not say it’s bad, but I think when we move back to the States someday we will be even more patriotic on the 4th of July!

So how are we celebrating? I spent last weekend creating a 4th of July mini-album for my mom. Printing out and looking through all the photo’s of the past year made me feel that I was there with her. This weekend Mr. C. and I are making a big effort to keep calling this our “vacation” and are taking time to watch the Tour de France and go to Legoland Germany with our neighbors. On the 4th we are heading to “little America” aka the local Army base to celebrate at a picnic. Next weekend? We are going to the WORLD CUP! I am so excited to wear my red, white and blue and shouting “GO USA” while the soccer team plays I have not had much opportunity to do that lately!

Happy 4th of July!

Making the Best of it…

Did a web-site, boss or significant promise you a magnificent hotel and you arrived to find it was…eh… Don’t let it get you down you can always play on the luggage cart I guarantee it’s a good time!

Just make sure before you sell a friend on the idea that the luggage cart is in working order and not missing a wheel before you push them down the hall on it… and yes I did do this to one of my girlfriends... Happy Travels!