little treats

a new one of cathy cullis' beautiful brooches - these faces speak to me of all the voices in our heads. they do it in a good way, sort of embracing the madness and making it beautiful and wrapping it all into a coherent whole. i'm in a navy blue period clothing-wise (i think everything has to match my glasses), so a little splash of red is welcome.

chanel nail polish is always an affordable luxury. especially if you get it onboard a ship in the duty free. i got the two dark, rich colors of autumn, a beautiful deep green and a luscious dark brown.

salted chocolate caramels from my friend shelly of #stuckinplastic fame - a welcome surprise in the mail.

and another beautiful cathy cullis brooch - if one is good, two is better, right? and finally, the scarf i ordered ages ago from skinny la minx showed up. i think i said this before, but i do wonder where it was hiding all these months. where does lost mail go?

and my most recent addition? a fine little ceramic cat brooch. you can never have too many brooches. or cats.

100 happy days :: day 23

a really good cup of coffee. 

a mug that fits perfectly in my hand.

pretty afternoon light.

birthday weekend catch-up

it was a fun-filled birthday weekend. i don't usually much care about my birthday or make a fuss, but this time, with a visit from my first cousin once removed (that's my first cousin's child, if you want to know), we made a festive weekend of it! good food, plenty of wine, lots of laughter, accidental dressing alike, a trip to louisiana, a scavenger hunt to find my birthday presents, more good food, more wine and more laughter. oh, and cake, delicious cake, that i didn't have to bake myself. even tho' the weather turned colder again, it was a lovely weekend.  i collected lots of happy days, so i've got to catch up on my posts for that as well!

i'll be back soon to process all of the weekend's experiences...but now, it's finals week on australian master chef and i've got to watch it! i don't follow much television, but australian master chef rocks.

* * *

i love these beautiful photographs of prosaic soviet-era locations in siberia.

100 happy days :: day 22

my birthday presents from my family - a chemex coffee carafe, organic coffee and four new coffee cups made by a nearby ceramics artist named nina lund (i wrote about her atelier here). best of all, these were all purchased locally. the coffee carafe in a little interiors shop called bark interiors where the owner has just got great taste and has gathered an awesome collection of beautiful things, beautifully displayed. the coffee from a brand new little organic shop that just opened in our little town. and then, ceramics by a local artist. it makes a big difference in your community when you shop locally. (my dad taught me that.) and this was definitely one of many happinesses on my birthday. not least of all because my family put together a scavenger hunt for me to find the presents - it involved invisible ink, a long, long string, a climb up into the treehouse, a couple of maps and a brass bucket hoisted up in the rafters. a most happy (birth)day.

and on another note, ikea hacks

and to sort of smooth over my earlier ranty post, i thought i'd share something bright and cheery. i had some fun embellishing some ikea pillow covers for the big girls for christmas and now i can share them, since they've been given. i added felt circles to these simple linen covers for k's couch at her new apartment. the pillows have colorful printed circles on them already, which i just covered with the felt, sewing a simple line down the middle, so they have a bit of dimension to them.

and i added thick black felt details - mustaches and an m for mathilde to these cute rainbow covers. i didn't get as much handmade done this year as i wanted (do i ever?), due to paralysis induced by waiting to hear about my new job (i got it, you know, so the paralysis is over), but i did manage a little bit and that makes me happy. there's always next year.

* * *

creative amazon reviewers strike again.

this time, hilariously reviewing a book called how to avoid huge ships.

the best one is from the point of view of a rock,
it's by jamie and is about the 5th one down.

perfect present

husband gave this present with trepidation, afraid that is a bit too much truth in it.

i personally think it's perfect.

but so is he.

so we'll keep him and the cat(s).

for now.

* * *

we had our quiet little family christmas today.

in my view, it was perfect.

family descends upon us tomorrow.

that will be perfect too,

just in another way.

* * *

this taking time out to celebrate and be together in the midst of the cold, dark winter is good, don't you think?

all wrapped up

professional wrapping job by the sweet guy in the shop in germany.

he said he'd studied wrapping for 5 years.

it's so beautiful, we're thinking about not opening it at all.

i am not known for my wrapping skills.

but using my own little felted acorns and keeping it simple

with silver and gold-toned kraft paper, string and a few little aspen cones,

i think i've finally managed a wrapping job i don't have to be ashamed of.

this acorn cap, i experimented using purchased felted balls. 

they were a bit too big.

i'm so glad i gathered these little cones and acorn caps

out in the yard while they were there.

it's about time i grew up and learned to wrap.

i'm so proud of sabin.

she put together totally handmade presents for her friends.

she made the boxes, filled them with wood shavings from far's workshop.

and she made homemade body scrubs, body butter and lip balms.

a couple of my homemade honey soaps

and these are little pamper kits fit for teen divas.

we're even going handmade for the cats.

these felted toys have bells inside.

about time they had some felted things they're allowed to play with.

they've been hard on the bobbaloos.

tomorrow it's christmas in denmark.

it'll be just the three of us.

we're going to bake cookies, watch home alone, eat some good food.

and then open presents in the evening.

hopefully, husband will finish the chimney so we can use our new wood-burning stove.

on the 25th, otherwise known as real christmas,

husband's big girls will come, as well as his danish sister and her family.

we'll have turkey and all the fixings, according to my traditions.

modified for my location, of course.

in that our turkey came from the danish butcher stuffed with minced pork and cream.

it's a lovely bird and i can't wait to see how it will turn out.

merry christmas, one and all!

may your loved ones be close, the wine be plentiful and your stocking full of goodies.