Sketch Challenge: Picnic by the river

This is my contribution to the Imaginisce Sketch Contest at the Page Maps blog. It's a photo of me and MisterT from a bike trip and riverside picnic in 2008.

For the background, i used one of the sheets i purchased on Ebay last week. It is an older page from the Sparrow collection by Glitz Design, but that doesn't make it less pretty and I couldn't care less about the age of a collection.
In fact, this specific sheet of paper is the prettiest one i have ever seen! The colors and patterns are so incredibly beautiful- I could stare at it for hours.
One could stick nothing but the photo to the sheet, and already have the perfect scrapbook page, and it would also make a gorgeous wall decor for a nursery or living room if framed or glued to a canvas.

Sometimes when i receive an item that i purchased online, it looks different than it did on the website's photo, which is always a bit disappointing. But not this one; this one looks even prettier in reality and exceeded my expectations by far.

I just LOVE Glitz Design! But enough swooning...

I also included striped pink paper from the OTC, a mini clothespin covered with the same paper, yellow "Beach Bum" alphabet stickers by Fancy Pants, aqua Happy Travels Bicycle from Glitz Design, alphabet stickers from the Traditions Kit by K&Company, and i think all the birdie stickers are by Recollections.

And this is the sketch my layout is based on:

Wordless Wednesday: Dreaming of Spring

Happy Sunday

1. And it kept snowing and snowing and snowing...

Remember what our bird house looked like last week? Even more snow this week:

2. Two sweet readers of mine nominated my blog for the Liebster award. I'm a bit too busy at the moment, but thank you so much, Emily and Natalie!!!

3. The lavender sachets i bought on Etsy arrived- and they are adorable!!

You can find the listing here - I was the seller's first customer, so there was a little gift in my package:

Such a cute fabric flower! I just love all those wonderful people on Etsy!


4. When this happens to your box of "After eight"...

*sad face*

...you will recieve this as a compensation:

*happy face*
admittedly, we already ate a piece or two before i took this photo 

Nice. Thanks, Nestlé!


5. Shy screechy-bird Rambo ate cucumber out of my hand! Sadly, i couldn't take a photo, but this one (taken last month) is super cute too:

No, this bird is neither sick nor half-dead, she is just a lazy potatoe.


6. We have been saving money for months now, and this week we finally did it: we splurged on.....

... a new TV!!

As you can see, its size is phenomenal! Our old TV wasn't that small, but the new one looks gigantic in direct comparison.

And what's even better is that it was a real bargain.
Marked down to 735€ ( from 949€) at Amazon's Warehouse Deals, plus we received an additional 100€ discount when MisterT complained that the TV is in a much worse condition than described ( there were only supposed to be minor scratches at the frame, however there are two large but hardly visible scratches at the display and a bump in the metal of the backside)
Additionally, thanks to changing our electricity provider last month, we received a 150€ cash-back bonus that we used towards paying the TV- so all in all we actually paid only 485€ - AWESOME!

7. Since we saved big on our new TV, which is more MisterT's toy rather than mine, i splurged again and spent ca. 130€ in scrapbook supplies and washi tape within the last 15 hours. Am i insane, or what?!?


Happy Sunday!

Framed Silhouettes

Obsession "stripes" meets obsession "frames" in the aisle at TKMaxx. Within the thousandth of a second i find myself holding this:

Sketch Challenge: Spring

This is my contribution to the March challenge of Scrap 365 Magazine. The layout is based on this sketch by Kim Woods:

I used a variety of patterned paper on a plain white background, as well as washi tape ( solid yellow, mint stripes and yellow chevron), dotted fabric, paper flowers, flatback pearls and cut-outs from one of my favorite designers, Heidi Grace.
The yellow morrocan-style background is a basic shape that is included in the Silhouette Cameo software.

Wordless Wednesday: Snow

Pinned and Purchased: Z Lamp

This pin:

And my new lamp:

"Z" lamp by Leitmotiv, on sale in white for 19€ instead of 35€, and free shipping- a great deal!

Happy Sunday

I just got home from work and my brain is already in couch mode, but i'll try my best to come up with seven positive things.

1. This tuesday i finally had the opportunity to go to the farmer's market and buy some eggs and a cucumber- a completely new experience, on a very warm and sunny day
2. I am still super happy about the frames i found at TKMaxx on Monday
3. We booked our flights to Marseille
4. This live webcam of a hummingbird's nest is absolutely wonderful!

5. My new table lamp arrived. I will share a photo tomorrow.
6. On Saturday we got hit by a snow attack- look at this beautiful winter wonderland:

And our little bird house:

7. The perfect meal on a cold and snowy day: a hot soup

A postcard to Vermont

Last month i stumbled upon this article:
http://janedavies-collagejourneys.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-post-office.html

When i read that blog post I was immediately reminded of a TV show about a tiny post office in the US we watched some time ago. Not sure if it was actually the same little white hut, but at least it looked identically.

There was no doubt i would send a handmade postcard to Rupert, Vermont, in order to help save the post office.

I am not an artist and my postcard is definitely not a masterpiece- creating it was a challenge, but also tons of fun.
I used a simple junk mail postcard and painted it with acrylic paint in two shades of turquoise, purple, orange and pink, and golden laquer.

And a sketch of the little post office:

Wordless Wednesday: Self Portrait

Happy Sunday

1. I found a lucky penny.
2. My Etsy sales have been extremely slow the past few weeks, but today i already sold two items, yay!
3. Is it ok to be utterly in love with my own packaging?? Hope my customer loves it, too.

4. I received tulips and a box of chocolates from a co-worker in honor of his country's national Women's Day- such a sweet gesture!

5. This fun flamingo cheers me up every time i sit at my desk. I originally created the flamingoes as cake toppers, but once they were finished i got the idea of using them as plant sticks. Flamingoes are fabulous!

6. I purchased a draft snake and lavender sachets on Etsy- can't wait to receive them.
7. It's sunday and i got to spend the day with me Sweeto. We went duck feeding and had coffee and a slice of cheesecake afterwards. I can't remember the last time we went out for coffee- it must have been at least a year or so ago.

So, how could i not be happy today?!

Happy Sunday to you, too!

DIY Lace Napkin Rings

Have i already mentioned that i am was recently accepted as a DIY contributor for Polka Dot Bride, a wonderful australian wedding blog?

My latest contribution, DIY Lace Napking Rings, was published this week. Those napkin rings can not only be used for weddings, but also any other event or at home, so i thought it would make sense to share it here on Ann-Kay Home as well.

It's a super easy and fast DIY, and you can find the full tutorial here at Polka Dot Made, the handmade section of Polka Dot Bride.

Wordless Wednesday: Birds

Happy Sunday

Finding seven positive things is extremely difficult this week. But this is exactly the reason i brought back Happy Sunday: as a challenge to myself, so that i acually sit down and force myself to ignore the negative aspects and concentrate on some good ones instead.

Ok, i'll try:

1. You can find me on Instagram now! Still trying to figure out how it works- a nightmare for people of my age, lol. 

2. I finally, finally, finally have a cake stand- thank you so much MisterT! 

Photo by Tchibo

3. MisterT finished reading the book i gave him on christmas, and decided to grow a new kind of mustache

4. Cutting one's finger is not a bad thing if you have a fancy funky clown band-aid

5. I started decluttering. It's a long and seemingly neverending process, but i already managed to throw out tons of some empty boxes and unused glassware.
6. We have 10€ left to buy groceries for the rest of this month- but that's ok, we can make it...
7. ...with a fridge full of pudding, thanks to The Coupon King ( aka my husband)