Scrapbooking Plans for 2017?

Yes, I am going to change things up. I have summarized the topics here, but if you want to know more about the whats and whys you should watch the video.

1. I am not continuing Project Life in 2017.
2. Start a "Project Me" journal in a Traveler's Notebook.
3. Documenting our family adventures in mini albums, layouts and journals - there are no limits.
4. Continue working on my sons' albums.

What about you? Are you changing things up? And why?

On my ears: podcast recommendations

I have tried to come up with a catchy introduction phrase to this blogpost forever but the more I write the crazier it gets. I only wanted to recommend two podcast episodes to you that I listened to just recently. They both talk about kids. I don't know how you raise your kids, but I struggle the most with raising our firstborn son. Not because of him (turns out he is actually the "easiest" of them), but because we practice our parenting skills on him. There is always trial and error, expectations set too high, rules too strict and rules too loose involved. And every time when we think, we found our groove and everything goes smoothly, the child matures some more and everything is out of order. Again. It is like trying a computer game for the first time and the moment you think you finally got it, you get to the next level and you start all over ...

This year our next level is middle school. The difficulty level is high because Micha and I both have grown up in another country, in a totally different educational system. So middle school is not only new to our son, but also new to us. I was very happy when I stumbled upon this episode from "This American Life" that centers all around middle school. It tells and reminds us of the struggle most middle schoolers go through - finding their place in society and the world and physically and emotionally growing their bodies and minds to become an adult. If you have a middle school child - please take the time to listen to this episode: This American Life -#449 Middle School.

Every night, I get an email from my son's middle school showing his grades. In most subjects, everything he does, gets graded: every assignment, every homework, every paper he produces in class. His grades are always changing. He is a good student, but it is so tempting to define this child only by his grades. To ask: "Will I be surprised, when I look at your grades tonight?" Or: "Why did you forget to put your name on an assignments twice? Are you crazy, your grade is going to drop?" And yes, I have asked these questions, and I assume, I will ask them in the future. It is hard to let go of habits and it is very convenient to intervene at an early stage, isn't it?

Last night, I watched Julie Lythcott-Haims's TED talk on "How to raise successful kids without over-parenting". She delivered a powerful speech about what really matters for our kids. And it was a great reminder that we all should give ourselves from time to time. What our kids need most from us is our unconditional love and a tool set to master their lives by themselves instead of mapping it out for them. If you have 15 minutes, please let her convince you. Julie Lythcott-Haims: "How to raise successful kids without over-parenting".

Journaling in a Traveler's Notebook: Summer Journal 2016 Pigeon Point and Half-Moon Bay

I really enjoy journaling in my Summer Journal. This is why I am trying to work on it constantly. I am remembering so many details and want to preserve them all. The details of this specific trip are not so great, because I had a really bad day and picked a fight with my husband because I forgot to check the weather forecast and forgot my sweater at home. If you want to see the process, there is a video on youtube.

Planning in a Traveler's Notebook: October Review and November Setup

I would have never thought that I needed a monthly overview, but when I decided last month that I wouldn't use it, I actually went back and filled it in about 5 days into October. So this month I made sure I filled in all the events and get a good feeling for the month.

How do I utilize the monthly overview? I mark birthdays, holidays, school breaks. I add appointments, regular activities (in the mornings) and events. I do not need exact times because I don't use it for accurate planning. As I said before: the monthly overview gives me a feeling for the month, this is where I can find out if my goals align with the ongoing events. This is where I notice: "Shoot, THIS is actually November, if I want my kids to have an adventcalendar by December 1st, I have to do it BEFORE that day." Or: "I am reading in the classroom on Friday, there is two other appointments in the mornings that week, don't plan on getting any crafty time in." Or: "If I want to send a postcard for that birthday, I need to send it by that date because it takes a week to get there."

Are you using a monthly overview in your planner? And if so, how are you using it? If you want to see what my October planner pages looked like and see how I decorated Novembers planner spread, here is a video.

The story of the quilt. Or: Patchwork blanket that is far from perfect.

Two or even three years ago, I gave my husband a voucher for a handmade blanket. I did not specify exactly what it would look like but I actually had an idea in my mind. He is a big fan of the San Francisco Giants and I would make him a blanket out of different orange, grey, and black fabric squares, a very simple but also (in my opinion) very sophisticated fan-blanket.

Then I started collecting different fabrics in the colors of the color scheme and I thought about the construction of the quilt. I wanted it to be a real patchwork quilt. But if you know me and know me more than just soso, you might also know that sometimes what looks like procrastination is in fact perfectionism. I wasn't able to start because I didn't know how to start. I knew that I would have to put a lot of time and effort into construction a quilt that would meet my own expectations. And I also knew that even if I tried very hard, I would still not be satisfied because I just don't have enough experience.



Fast forward to last week, when I realized that it was not about making the perfect quilt and that it was not about the neatest mitered corners or the most intricate quilting or even about sewing straight lines. My husband wouldn't notice any of these things. He would however see that I chose the team colors of his favorite team, he would appreciate the time and effort that I put into making something for him and he would also snuggle in that blanket each and every night.



It took me about 3 days to finish cutting out the squares, assembling the quilt top and then quilting along each column. I had already found the perfect backing for the quilt last winter at Jo-Ann's. I then went ahead and cut a wide binding strip so that I would not have to worry about the edges and used my sewing machine to bind the quilt. Done! Not perfect in the eyes of a quilter. But perfect enough for me! I am so happy that I finished this project and it fills me with such a warm feeling seeing my husband toting his new blanket around like Linus from the Peanuts.

Project Life youtube series

I have started a new youtube series on my youtube channel where I share a new process video every Saturday. There are already several videos on my channel for 2016. Here is a link to the playlist:

Planning in a Traveler's Notebook: What is in my Fabric Dori.

Somehow, I can't keep up with blogging. That is why I am keeping it short and just directing you to my busy youtube-channel. I am trying to upload a video every Monday with planning content, here is my latest planning video.

Planning in a Traveler's Notebook: What is in my Midori.

I have posted a video on youtube where I briefly show you my planners and walk you through my Midori Traveler's Notebook. I mainly use it as a calendar on a daily basis. If you want to take a look, here it is:

Planning in a Traveler's Notebook: September flip and October setup

I have a new video up on my youtube channel where I show you what my September looked like. How successful I was in reaching my goals and what I liked and didn't like about the calendar pages I used. I will be changing up my weekly spreads in October because I want to find out what works best for me.

I am also trying out what kind of videos I like to make, what I am comfortable with and that is why I will only be sharing one Plan with me video in October - making these videos is very time consuming and doesn't leave much room for anything else. So before I am committing to a specific type of video on my channel I want to try them all. Please bear with me. I have started filming shares of my Project Life Album for 2016 and would like to make a series to catch up on my album. I am still stuck in May. I hope to start this Saturday, so stay tuned.

Mini-Album: Marilyn's Stories.

On Saturday I was able to spend all day working on this mini album. I love how it turned out. I even used ribbon which I rarely do as you might have noticed. But someone commented on one of my photos where I was wondering what to do with them, that there will come a time where I would have a use for them. And it has come! I am still surprised about that change!

When constructing the album I didn't follow any instructions, I just winged it. But I guess, next time I will first take a look at this amazing woman's blog where she shares so many ideas on how to make different kinds of mini albums. My album came out ok, but it could be better, if I had a little more background knowledge in bookbinding. But for a first, I am very satisfied with the outcome.

In my video, I talk a little more on why I made it, who it is for and how I went about constructing the album, so if you want to know even more, just go ahead and watch. I would love to hear your feedback! Thank you so much!

Cardmaking. 5 Cards. Edition 2.

When I stopped blogging in the end of March I didn't stop being creative. During springtime I made several sets of cards to give away as gifts. Often I would use leftovers from my scrapbooking kits and try to make a matching set of five cards. For this set, it just didn't work out the blue "hello there" card stands out no matter what. But I like it nontheless.

I usually take a leftover branding strip and wrap it around the cards, then seal it with this stamp that reads: "For you - handmade with love."

Scrapbooking Process Video #1: favorite stories

Yes, you read that correctly - after getting comfortable with filming, editing and voicing over videos, I branched out last week and filmed a scrapbooking process. It was a long wait over the weekend to finally finish it and upload it to youtube. But I am done and here is a link to the video.

Plan with me: Week 38

I'm just popping in to let you know that I have yet another "plan with me" video up on my youtube channel! I really like the way my Mondays start to take shape: the first thing I do after everybody left the house is setting up my filming station and then decorating and planning my week. Then I do the meal plan and shopping list and off I go to go grocery shopping. After I get back, I have lunch and in my lunch break I edit and upload the video to youtube. It's a tight schedule but it's something I enjoy doing.

Unboxing the Cocoa Daisy September Kits: Lunch Break

If you want to have a closer look at the kit - here you go. It got here Monday, but I was just able to do the voiceover today.

felicity jane: paperexchange 2016

In August I participated in the felicity jane paper exchange. If you don't know what it is you can read more about it here.

My partner had just recently gotten a webster's pages traveler notebook planner and so I thought that I would make a themed package for her. I started with a pencil case and some crochet flowers, went on to make paper clips using fabric scraps and tried to crochet a flower onto a paper clip and then I made her a folder for the planner that I then filled with several goodies from my stash.

Unfortunately, the folder was a little bit too short and I only noticed when I went to wrap the gift and saw that it was shorter than the notebook inserts I had also made for her. So I made another one, but I included the folder that I had originally made since it matched the pencil case so perfectly.

Here is a short video showing all of the things I included in the exchange package.

Plan with me: Week 37.

I don't know about you, but I really love watching youtube videos while doing chores or cooking dinner. That is how I found plan with me videos - people showing their decorating and/or planning process on video. I have been watching youtube since the end of 2014 and always wanted to give back to this awesome community. Scrapbooking videos felt so daunting and when I started decorating my planner (yes, I never thought I would do that), I felt that making process videos about my weekly planning process was something I could manage. Sort of like: starting out slowly.

So I have been filming my process for the last weeks and hopefully learned a lot every time I edited, voiced over and uploaded a video. This is already my 4th weekly plan with me. If you want to check it out, please follow the link. And if you like what you see there is even more: Plan with me. Week 35. And last week's video: Plan with me. Week 36.

weekend scrapbooking.

I had a very productive weekend and made two layouts for Theo's album. I am still trying to find my own style therefore I am dabbling in all sorts of things. This was my first go at 8.5x11 layouts. The first one was made for the September Sketch Challenge over at Cocoa Daisy and for the second one, I was very much inspired by Danielle from Banning Lane and her minimalistic style leaving room for longer stories.

Project Life: Album Share November and December 2015

This is the last part of my album share of 2015. Right now I am working on 2016, trying to catch up because there was not much crafting going on during my summer. I am continuing doing album shares for my 2016 album, but before I film the next one, please tell me: do you like these kinds of videos? How could I improve? What do you like about them? What doesn't appeal to you? Thank you for your feedback!

Project Life: Album Share September and October 2015

I have another Album Share video up on my youtube channel. I mainly used the kits from felicity jane for my Project Life in October and tried to see how I could work with these beautiful scrapbooking kits in my Project Life album. Tell me what you think!

Plan with me: Week 34

I am rocking it. At least for now. I would so love to continually put out content on my blog and youtube channel. This is why the Supergirl was stuck in my planner. If you want to see how I plan, I did a plan with me video last Friday and just added some photos to the end. I hope to do one every week so I will show you how the week turned out next Monday.

Project Life: Album Share August 2015

I have been living life and just did not have the energy to keep up this blog. But I am back and try to get back into a routine that balances my real and virtual life so that I can have both. I have great plans, the boys are back in school and I want to be more creative and share my creative endeavors with you again.

I am beginning with a series of videos that I filmed in March and just uploaded to my computer yesterday. They are shares of my Project Life 2015 from August all the way through December. I divided them into smaller videos and this is the first one.



When I listen to myself talking I cringe everytime, it sounds so strange. All of the seasoned youtubers I watch just seem to be talking so easily and they have so much to say. I don't. Maybe I have to take notes and read a script? I hope this will get better, just like everything else at my beginners' stage: the setup and the editing. For now, I hope you bear with me and smile at my first try and come back for more. Let's go on this journey together and watch me get better with every new video. (At least that's what I hope will happen. ;-))

San Francisco Mini-Album.

I started this Mini-Album in November, then put it aside and didn't finish it till the middle of January. There was only some embellishments and the journaling missing. I have a hard time journaling, I always want it to be perfect and so it often sounds stiff and meaningless.



I used the leftover papers and embellishments from the felicity jane October kit and bits and pieces that were laying on my desk. I used three binder rings to bind the mini so that I was able to include smaller 3x4 cards as well. For the front I used a postcards that I received from my friend Tina. This was my first Mini-Album that I made and I had lots of fun making it.



DEUTSCHE VERSION***
Das Mini-Album habe ich im November begonnen, dann auf die Seite gelegt und erst im Januar fertiggestellt. Es musste nur noch Text und ein paar kleine Verzierungen hinzugefügt werden. Mir fällt es manchmal total schwer zu Schreiben, ich möchte es gerne perfekt haben und dann klingt es oft hölzern und inhaltlos.

Ich habe die restlichen Papiere und Embellishments des Oktoberkits von felicity jane benutzt und halt so Sachen, die auf meinem Tisch herumlagen. Ich habe drei Buchringe genommen um das Album zu binden, damit ich auch die kleinere Karten ordentlich einfügen konnte. Als Titelbild habe ich eine Postkarte genommen, die ich von Tina bekommen hatte. Mein erstes Mini find ich ziemlich gut und es hat mir (nachdem ich die Texthürde überwunden hatte) auch richtig Spaß gemacht.

My April goals. Meine Ziele im April.

As I said yesterday: I am trying to keep this short. So let's dive right in:

• get up at 5 am and work out every day for the month of April
• sew one (or two) Charliebags, just because.
• participate in our #dudelfritzen-Challenge
• take part in the Cocoa Daisy monthly challenges
• blog once a week
• finish "Tuesday with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
• write two letters and two cards
• stick to cleaning routine
• stick to budget - no impulse buys
• PL 2016: finish February, sort March photos
• PL 2014: pick out events that I want to have in my album
• continue working on Theo's album

Baseball has taken over my life. I spend most afternoons and Saturdays at the fields and I don't have a lot of time for myself. I am so tired in the evenings and go to bed right after I put the kids to bed, especially since I started this new challenge with my husband to get up at 5 am every morning for the month of April. So my crafty time is very limited, resulting in A to make room for crafting in the mornings I will have to work very efficiently. And B I will keep it low key and indulge in things I know I will love.

***** DEUTSCHE VERSION *****

Wie gestern schon geschrieben: Ich versuche mich kurz zu fassen trying to keep this short. Also lege ich gleich los:

• jeden Morgen um 5 Uhr aufstehen und 30 Minuten Sport machen
• ein (oder zwei) Charliebags nähen, einfach so.
• an der #dudelfritzen-Challenge teilnehmen
• an den monatlichen Cocoa Daisy challenges teilnehmen
• einmal pro Woche bloggen
• "Tuesday with Morrie" von Mitch Albom fertiglesen
• 2 Briefe und 2 Karten schreiben
• an den Putzplan halten
• die Budgets einhalten
• PL 2016: den Februar fertigstellen, die Fotos vom März sortieren
• PL 2014: die Ereignisse aussuchen, die noch ins Album sollen.
• an Theos Album weiterarbeiten

Baseball dominiert gerade mein Leben. Ich verbringe fast jeden Nachmittag und die Samstag auf dem Baseballplatz und habe nicht viel Zeit für mich. Abends bin ich meist so müde, dass ich direkt nach den Kindern ins Bett gehe, ich versuche sowieso früh ins Bett zu gehen, damit ich mein Ziel jeden Tag gemeinsam mit Micha aufzustehen und zu sporteln auch schaffe. Deshalb ist meine Kreativzeit sehr reduziert, woraus folgt, dass ich erstens vormittags sehr effizient arbeiten muss, dass ich dort etwas Kreativzeit unterbringen kann. Und zweitens nehme ich mir nicht so viel vor und mache das, was mir Spaß macht.

March review.

OK. This is taking a lot of time, actually too much time of my life right now. So I will try to keep it short.

• sew a pillowcase for Theo, it's on his birthday wishlist - Accomplished. Find the accompanying blogpost here.
• start a watercolor journal: I have finished my first journal and want to try and journal through sketches, I have watched some inspiring artists during February and want to try this out - Failed miserably at this, not because I didn't want to but more because I just didn't do a lot of crafting in March, Baseball took over my life and I went to bed early most nights.
• sort through my knitting and crocheting supplies - Done that. But it didn't really result in more knitting or crocheting as I had hoped.
• participate in our #dudelfritzen-Challenge - The girls chose my picture and then I didn't have an idea - at all. So I tried to make a page that retold the story of why I took the photo in the first place.
• take part in the Cocoa Daisy monthly challenges - March Sketch Challenge. March Designer's Challenge.
• blog once a week - Except for this week, this has been one of the easiest tasks.
• read "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty - Same problem as the watercolor journal: I was too tired to read.
• write two letters and two cards - only sent out one letter this month
• work out four times a week - I accomplished two weeks with 4/week, the others were 3 or less.
• stick to cleaning routine - Trying to keep it as minimal as possible. Hahaha.
• stick to budget - no impulse buys - The more I try, the worse it gets.
• crochet bunny found on instagram - Yeah! Put them into the letter.
• PL 2016: finish January, sort February photos - Check.
• PL 2014: pick out events that I want to have in my album - Didn't happen. I did something else instead.

***DEUTSCHE VERSION***
Dieser Bericht nimmt wirklich viel Zeit in Anspruch, momentan fast zu viel Zeit. Also versuche ich mich kurz zu fassen.

• einen Kissenbezug für Theo nähen, das steht auf seiner Geburtstagswunschliste - Habe ich gemacht. Der Blogpost dazu ist hier.
• ein watercolor journal anfangen: Ich habe mein erstes Tagebuch in meinem Midori gefüllt und möchte jetzt das journaling ein wenig anders angehen: mit Skizzen und Wasserfarben mein Leben festhalten. Ich habe im Februar einige Künstler gesehen, die das machen und bin total fasziniert. Ich will das auch mal probieren! - Das hat überhaupt gar nicht funktioniert. Baseball hat mein Leben im März übernommen, ich war abends immer so müde, dass ich einfach ins Bett gegangen bin.
• die Strick- und Häkelsachen durchsortieren - Habe ich gemacht, aber ich habe deswegen nicht mehr gehäkelt oder gestrickt, wie ich das gehofft hatte.
• an der #dudelfritzen-Challenge teilnehmen - Die Mädels haben mein Foto ausgesucht und ich selbst hatte keinerlei Idee dazu. Also habe ich versucht eine Seite zu gestalten, die das zum Ausdruck bringt, warum ich das Foto damals überhaupt gemacht hatte.
• an den monatlichen Cocoa Daisy challenges teilnehmen - March Sketch Challenge. March Designer's Challenge.
• einmal pro Woche bloggen - Bis auf diese Woche, war das echt die einfachste Aufgabe.
• "Big Little Lies" von Liane Moriarty lesen - Dasselbe Problem wie beim watercolor journal: ich war abends einfach zu müde zum Lesen.
• 2 Briefe und 2 Karten schreiben - Das habe ich diesen Monat nicht geschafft, ich habe nur einen Brief verschickt.
• vier Mal pro Woche sporteln - Zwei Wochen habe ich geschafft. Die anderen Wochen waren es 3 oder 2 Mal.
• an den Putzplan halten - Ich habe wirklich nur das Nötigste gemacht.
• die Budgets einhalten - Je mehr ich es versuche, desto schlechter klappts.
• den Hase häkeln, den ich bei farbstoffteilchen gesehen habe. Jawoll, ich hab sie in den Brief gesteckt und verschenkt.
• PL 2016: den Januar fertigstellen, die Fotos vom Februar sortieren - Erledigt.
• PL 2014: die Ereignisse aussuchen, die noch ins Album sollen. - Ist nicht passiert. Ich habe aber etwas anderes gemacht.

Layout Catch up.

After moving and getting back into being creative I wanted to also start scrapbooking full 12x12 Layouts again. It didn't happen, so in January I decided to take part in the challenges issued by Cocoa Daisy. There are two challenges each month, so it is not too overwhelming. I started with the February Sketch Challenge and came up with this Layout about a winter day spent at the beach.

***
Nach dem Umzug und nachdem ich langsam wieder angefangen hatte, kreativ zu sein, wollte ich auch gerne wieder ein paar 12x12 Layouts machen. Aber einfach so hat das nicht funktioniert. Also habe ich im Januar beschlossen, bei den monatlichen Challenges von Cocoa Daisy mitzumachen. Davon gibt es jeden Monat zwei, das könnte ich schaffen. Ich bin mit der February Sketch Challenge eingestiegen und habe einen tollen Wintertag am Meer dokumentiert.



For the next challenge we were supposed to scrap our fur babies, this was a hard one, since we don't have pets. So I decided to use the February Kit to scrap about my oldest sons furry friends. And guess what? When we packed his suitcase for Science Camp the other day he made sure one of his all time favorites was in there. I know that when taking part in a challenge and there are prizes one might win, but since this is not the reason I am doing them, I was very surprised when I acutally won that challenge! Yeah!

***
Für die nächste next Challenge sollten wir unsere Haustiere verscrappen. Das gestaltet sich bei uns leider etwas schwierig, denn wir haben keine. Nachdem ich eine Weile überlegt hatte, beschloss ich die Kuscheltiere des Ältesten zu dokumentieren. Und ratet mal! Natürlich hat er einen kleinen Bären mit in den Koffer geschmuggelt, als wir am Montag fürs Science Camp gepackt haben. Natürlich weiß ich, dass man einen Preis gewinnen kann, wenn man an einer Challenge teilnimmt. Trotzdem war ich ziemlich überrascht, dass ich mit diesem Layout gewonnen hatte! Yeah!



As I had expected: when playing with pretty papers something else might spark an idea. This totally happened with this page where the "This is bliss" ephemera piece just called my name. I wanted it centered and made the rest of the page to fit the embellishment. I totally like what I came up with.

***
Wenn man mit schönen Papieren oder einem Kit spielt, dann formen sich beim Arbeiten bereits weitere Ideen. Darauf hatte ich gehofft und genauso ist es auch passiert. Der tolle "This is bliss"-Schriftzug gefiel mir total, ich hatte die Idee ihn als Überschrift auf einem zentrierten Layout einzusetzen und habe dann den Rest der Seite passend dazu gestaltet. Die Seite gefällt mir total!



I can't imagine that I had so much time in the beginning of the month. Right now my life consists of Baseball and trying to keep on top of family life. But I went to the hairdresser and the stylist did a great job, I felt so good afterwards, that I took a selfie. Then I went home, sat down and scrapped it. My attempt at a loose grid layout.

***
Ich kann es gar nicht glauben, dass ich Anfang März so viel Zeit zum Scrappen hatte, zur Zeit besteht mein Leben nur aus Baseball und die Familie am Laufen halten. Zu Beginn des Monats war ich beim Frisör (zum ersten Mal hier in der neuen Heimat) und hatte wohl einen Glücksgriff, denn die Frisöse hat mir meine Haare richtig gut geschnitten. Ich habe mich danach so gut gefühlt, dass ich ein Selfie gemacht habe und dieses tatsächlich sofort auf einem Layout festgehalten habe. Hier habe ich mich an einem "lockeren" Raster versucht.



Then there were still some papers left from the kit and I just went on and did a Layout of the field trip that my sons' kindergarten class went on. I actually didn't talk much about the event itself. It was such a great experience seeing my youngest interact with his new classmates and having no language difficulties whatsoever. I think I watched a video by Shimelle right before doing the layout because I tried to stick to her rule of putting the same/similar embellishment in each embellishment cluster.

***
Dann waren noch einige Reste und ein großes Papier übrig und ich habe einfach noch ein zweites Layout über den Ausflug der Kindergartenklasse meines Sohnes gestaltet. Ich habe nicht wirklich über den Ausflug an sich geschrieben. Es war einfach nur schön zu sehen, wie er mit seinen Klassenkameraden interagiert hat, keinerlei Verständigungsprobleme vorhanden waren. Ich hatte in diesem Moment das Gefühl, dass er angekommen ist und das wollte ich festhalten. Ich glaube, ich habe davor ein youtube Video von Shimelle gesehen, denn hier habe ich versucht mich an eine ihrer Design-Regeln zu halten: In jedem Embellishment-Cluster sollten die gleichen Elemente vorkommen.



My February Cocoa Daisy kit was done by then. So I pulled out January's felicity jane kit and used it for the March Sketch Challenge. I had a hard time using that kit (and cancelled my subscription after the January kit), so I only made this Layout.

That is all the 12x12 Layouts I made since the beginning of the year. Right now I am struggling with the March Designer's Challenge. I know I have so many funny stories of my kids, but I am drawing a blank. I guess, I need totake out my March kit and start playing.

***
Von meinem Februar kit war nun nicht mehr viel übrig, also habe ich mir das Januar kit von felicity jane für die March Sketch Challenge vorgeknöpft. Ich bin mit diesem Kit nicht so gut zurecht gekommen (ich habe mein Abo nach dem Januar kit auch gekündigt), deshalb habe ich auch nur dieses Layout damit gemacht.

So. Das waren jetzt alle Layouts, die ich seit Anfang des Jahres gemacht habe. Momentan knobele ich noch etwas, wie ich die March Designer's Challenge umsetzen soll. Ich habe einige lustige Geschichten von und mit meinen Kindern, aber gerade ist mein Kopf irgendwie leer. Vielleicht sollte ich einfach mein März-Kit herausholen und loslegen, dann kommt die Idee von alleine.

11, 9 and 7.

Today we are celebrating the last birthday of the season. Then we have a big break until we start again in November. The seven year old had a very precise wish list for his birthday which included a pillowcase by mom, going to the beach and strawberry cheesecake. We are planning on making cheesecake this weekend and maybe go to the beach, but the pillowcase needed to be done today. So I pulled out fabric on Monday (I already knew which would be my main fabric, because he said several times before that he loved it so much.), thought about my ideas Monday night, cut the fabric yesterday around noon and sewed the pillow last night. Yes, this is the way I roll. Why start early when we need it by Wednesday?! On a sidenote, after I finished I came to realize that we didn't have any wrapping paper in the house. I know, I could have gone and bought some last night, but I was too tired. So a paperbag and a big old bow made do.

***
Heute feiern wir den letzten Geburtstag der Saison. Jetzt haben wir erstmal eine große Pause und dann geht es im November wieder los. Der Jüngste hatte sehr tolle Wünsche auf seiner Wunschliste, die einen selbstgenähten Kissenbezug, einen Besuch am Strand und Strawberry Cheesecake ("der Kuchen, wo Du die Erdbeeren gekocht hast") beinhaltete. Wir wollen den Cheesecake am Wochenende gemeinsam backen und vielleicht schaffen wir ja auch einen Besuch am Meer. Der Kissenbezug, der musste aber heute fertig sein. Also habe ich mir am Montag Stoffe zusammengesucht, der Hauptstoff stand schon lange fest, der gefällt ihm nämlich schon lange, überlegte abends wie das Kissen so aussehen sollte, schnitt den Stoff gestern Vormittag zu und nähte dann am Abend den Kissenbezug. Ja, genauso funktioniert das bei mir. Bloß keine Sekunde zu früh den Finger krumm machen. Ach, übrigens: als ich dann gegen 23:30 Uhr mit dem Kissenbezug fertig war, stellte ich fest, dass ich gar kein Geschenkpapier im Haus habe. Ja, ich hätte einkaufen gehen können, aber dazu war ich zu müde. Also musste eine Papiertüte mit großer Schleife ausreichen.

Instead of doing something very elaborate I chose to let the fabrics and colors work on this one and simply cut big squares. I pulled fabrics that coordinated with the printed flannel and showcased the flannel by using two squares of that fabric. I also pulled out some of my hoarded embroideries and ribbon. Before moving I had a huge collection and downsized dramatically, realizing that I really need to use these instead of hoarding them. So I made a point and used this beautiful fox which fits the forest theme of the fabric.

***
Anstelle eines aufwändigen Musters, habe ich die Stoffe für sich sprechen lassen und einfach große Quadrate zugeschnitten. I hatte mir Stoffe herausgesucht, die gut zum Flanell passen und den besonderen Stoff zweimal eingesetzt. Außerdem habe ich meine gut gehüteten Stickis und Webbänder rausgeholt. Bevor wir umgezogen sind, hatte ich eine große Sammlung und diese drastisch reduziert und mir außerdem vorgenommen, nicht mehr weiter zu horten, sondern diese tollen Sachen wirklich zu benutzen. Das habe ich auch gemacht und diesen wunderschönen Fuchs ausgesucht, der perfekt zum Waldthema des Stoffes passt.

I didn't pay attention when I was ripping a seam and cut a hole in the almost finished piece. So I had to be creative and added a patch of fabric to cover it up.

***
Ich habe natürlich nicht aufgepasst als ich eine Naht nochmal auftrennen musste und mit der Schere ein schönes Loch in meinen fast fertigen Kissenbezug geschnitten. Da musste ich kreativ werden und habe einen Flicken aufgenäht.

For the back I also used the flannel. Yes, it is pretty and yes I could have used something less pretty for the back but the fabric just doesn't get nicer by piling up in my closet. And I might as well use it now and use it all up as long as my boys still like handmade presents and these kinds of patterns.

***
Für die Rückseite habe ich auch den Flanell genommen. Ja, er ist total schön und ich hätte etwas anderes dafür nehmen können und noch ein paar Sachen mit dem tollen Flanell nähen können. Aber auch hier habe ich dazu entschieden, meine Stoffverlustangst aktiv zu bekämpfen. Der Stoff wird im Regal nicht schöner und irgendwann wollen meine Kinder nicht mehr benäht werden oder sie haben andere Stoffvorlieben und dann ist es zu spät.


Thank you for reading my little story. I really enjoy telling a story and have found joy in blogging again instead of just showing one thing after the other. Yes, this is the same. But it's not. I would really appreciate it if you took the time to leave a comment. Thanks again!

***
Danke, dass ihr meine kleine Geschichte zum Kissen gelesen habt. Irgendwie hat das viel mehr Spaß gemacht als einfach nur ein Teil nach dem anderen im Blog zu zeigen. Auch wenn das Bloggen und auch das Lesen so viel länger dauert, ich hoffe Euch gefällt es auch. Ja, es ist natürlich im Endeffekt auch nur ein Zeigen. Aber es ist anders. So. Ich würde mich freuen, wenn ihr mir einen Kommentar mit Eurer Meinung hinterlasst. Vielen Dank nochmal!

12 of 12 March 2016

1. Starting the day with reading. *** Den Tag mit Lesen beginnen.
2. Yep. This is me on the weekends. *** Ja. So geht es mir immer am Wochenende.
3. All dressed for his first game of the season. *** Fertig für sein erstes Spiel in dieser Saison.
4. But first: to the farmer's market to get some bread from Beckmann's bakery. *** Aber zuerst: auf den Markt um Brot von Beckmann's Bakery zu kaufen.


5. Play ball! *** Play ball!
6. See back there. That's where the middle one is playing. *** Schaut mal da hinten. Da spielt der Mittlere.
7. He is juggling them all. *** Guck mal, was ich Tolles kann, Mama!
8. Raspberry-Mango-Yogurt-Peanutbutter. *** Himbeere-Mango-Joghurt-Erdnussbutter.


9. "It is fun to have fun..." *** "Es macht Spaß, wenn man Spaß hat..."
10. Done. *** Fertig.
11. Warm roasted butternut and quinoa salad. Nice try. *** Warmer Salat aus geröstetem Butternutkürbis und rotem Quinoa. Netter Versuch.
12. Watching youtube while doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. *** Youtube gucken während ich die Küche mache.

Caro sammelt wieder alle Teilnehmer in ihrer Liste.

Cardmaking. 5 Cards. Edition 1.

I really love receiving happy mail and since I am so far away from my friends and family back in Germany, I thought it was a great thing to send them a little bit of happy mail every now and then. (And maybe get some back ... *hinthint*) Since sending international mail is so expensive here, I am always trying to find "flat" stuff. This set of 5 cards was sent to a friend in February.

I pulled out several pieces from my stash and worked only with these papers, embellishments and stamps, so that I would end up with a cohesive set. I used different techniques: using a single piece of paper as a background, piecing different papers together as a background, stamping and watercoloring, ... I just played. And had a lot of fun!

*** DEUTSCHE VERSION ***

Ich bekomme total gerne Post und weil ich ja nun so weit weg von meiner Familie und meinen Freunden wohne, dachte ich, ich könnte immer mal wieder jemand anderem eine kleine Überraschungspost schicken. Hahaha! Guter Witz, wo es in Deutschland das schöne "Großbrief"-Schlupfloch gibt, mit dem man für 7 Euro ganz schön viel über die Meere schicken kann, hat die amerikanische Post gerade noch einmal das Porto erhöht und ich zahle Unsummen ... also versuche ich meine Briefe schön flach zu halten. Stoffgeschenke sind da eher hinderlich, aber Papier ... und sich verbrauchende Karten ... die sind optimal.

Ich habe mir aus meinem Vorrat ein Kartenkit aus Papieren, Embellishments und Stempeln zusammengestellt, so dass am Ende ein stimmiges Set herauskommen würde. Ich habe ganz unterschiedliche Techniken angewandt: ein einzelnes Papier als Hintergrund, einen Hintergrund aus verschiedenen Papierstreifen, Layer mit Papierschnipseln, ein Hintergrund gestempelt und mit Aquarellfarben ausgemalt, ... ich habe einfach gespielt und probiert. Und dabei viel Spaß gehabt!

My March goals. Meine Ziele im März.

Don't you just love the letter stamps? This is one of the things I treated myself after surviving winter break. This month I have several new things on my list and I am very exited to plunge right in:

• sew a pillowcase for Theo, it's on his birthday wishlist
• start a watercolor journal: I have finished my first journal and want to try and journal through sketches, I have watched some inspiring artists during February and want to try this out
• sort through my knitting and crocheting supplies
• participate in our #dudelfritzen-Challenge
• take part in the Cocoa Daisy monthly challenges
• blog once a week
• read "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty
• write two letters and two cards
• work out four times a week
• stick to cleaning routine
• stick to budget - no impulse buys
• crochet bunny found on instagram
• PL 2016: finish January, sort February photos
• PL 2014: pick out events that I want to have in my album

I will be blogging about the watercolor journal, where I drew inspiration for it and how I am coming along when I have started and got a little acquainted with it. I don't know if I will succeed or whether I will like it, but I want to try it and thought, that limiting this experiment to one month might give me enough insight to decide whether I would want to abandon the idea or go ahead and get serious.

Baseball season is about to start and I need something in my hands (at all time), so I thought this would be the perfect time to sort my knitting and crocheting supplies to take stuff along for instance the cute crochet bunnies. They are perfect to stick into letters, too.

My 2016 album is coming along nicely. I am quite confident that the pace I am working in is good. I have still got about 8 weeks in my 2014 album left to finish. Rather than strictly sticking to weeks, I am going to look at the photos and decide which events I want to include. I just want to get it done and over with.

I hope March will be similarly successful as February. Have a great start and tackle your goals!

***** DEUTSCHE VERSION *****

Wie findet ihr die tollen Alpha-Stempel? Die habe ich mir fürs Ferien-Überleben gegönnt. Für den März habe ich einige neue Dinge auf meiner Liste und ich freue mich schon total darauf, sie anzugehen:

• einen Kissenbezug für Theo nähen, das steht auf seiner Geburtstagswunschliste
• ein watercolor journal anfangen: Ich habe mein erstes Tagebuch in meinem Midori gefüllt und möchte jetzt das journaling ein wenig anders angehen: mit Skizzen und Wasserfarben mein Leben festhalten. Ich habe im Februar einige Künstler gesehen, die das machen und bin total fasziniert. Ich will das auch mal probieren!
• die Strick- und Häkelsachen durchsortieren
• an der #dudelfritzen-Challenge teilnehmen
• an den monatlichen Cocoa Daisy challenges teilnehmen
• einmal pro Woche bloggen
• "Big Little Lies" von Liane Moriarty lesen
• 2 Briefe und 2 Karten schreiben
• vier Mal pro Woche sporteln
• an den Putzplan halten
• die Budgets einhalten
• den Hase häkeln, den ich bei farbstoffteilchen gesehen habe
• PL 2016: den Januar fertigstellen, die Fotos vom Februar sortieren
• PL 2014: die Ereignisse aussuchen, die noch ins Album sollen.

Ich werde mal noch ausführlicher über mein watercolor journal berichten, woher ich die Inspiration habe und wie ich damit zurecht komme, wenn ich dann angefangen und mich damit angefreundet habe. Ich weiß nicht, wie gut ich sowas kann und ob es mir am Ende gefällt bzw Spaß macht, aber ich will das ausprobieren und dachte, wenn ich das Experiment auf einen Monat beschränke, dann sehe ich am Ende hoffentlich, ob ich es dabei belasse oder mich noch tiefer mit der Materie beschäftigen möchte.

Am Samstag fängt bei uns die Baseballsaison an und ich brauche ja dauernd etwas in meiner Hand, das ich tun kann. Also dachte ich, wäre jetzt die richtige Zeit um mal meine Häkel- und Stricksachen durch zu sortieren, Bestand aufzunehmen und dann immer einen kleinen Strick-/Häkelbeutel parat zu haben. Zum Beispiel die süßen Häschen, die sich gut als kleines Briefhäschen machen.

Mein 2016 Album läuft ganz gut, ich glaube, wenn ich in dem Tempo weitermache, dann passt das. In meinem 2014 Album sind noch etwa 8 Wochen frei. Anstatt mich jetzt auf ein wochenweises Arbeiten festzunageln, schaue ich die Fotos durch und suche mir die Ereignisse aus, die ich dokumentieren möchte und dann ist das erledigt. Dieses wochenweise Arbeiten funktioniert bei mir nur, wenn ich die Fotos recht zeitnah verarbeite und der Alltag auch noch präsent ist.

Ich hoffe der March wird ähnlich gut wie der Februar. Habt einen guten Start in den Monat! Ich wünsche Euch viel Erfolg beim Hinarbeiten auf Eure Ziele!

February review.

This is what was on my list for February (I have linked projects that have accompanying photos or blogposts):

• continue working on Micha's blanket. - I didn't touch it all month. I did an inventory and it is not as overwhelming as I thought. But I will definitely drop it from the list for now.
• finish my San Francisco Mini-Album I started in November. - Done.
• participate in our #dudelfritzen-Challenge. - Done. Check out this post.
• take part in the Cocoa Daisy monthly challenges - they have two each month. - Sketch Challenge. Designer Challenge
• blog once a week. - Done.
• read "Mondscheinblues" by Katrin Koppold. - Done. Also read Silber 3 (Kerstin Gier), Briar Rose (Jane Yolan) and Summer Rental (Mary Kay Andrews).
• write two letters and two cards. - Even sent out two letters stuffed with some goodies.
• work out three times a week. - Ah. Well, there was a school break and I didn't work out during that week.
• stick to cleaning routine. - Ahem. Same as above.
• stick to budget - no impulse buys. - I was really good in the beginning of the month. And then I had to treat myself after surviving the week of school holidays.
• journal daily. - I am still journaling, but not daily because it felt like a burden: it was either journaling or being creative. And then I missed crafting so I did both = crafting and journaling therapy.
• make 4 Project Life spreads from 2015 or 2016. -For now, I'm done with 2015, I have August to December in my album. The missing weeks will be a separate project. I also started my 2016 album, I have put together the first two weeks and printed photos up until two weeks into February.
• no computer or iphone in bed - This is when I got all the reading done.

I feel very accomplished. I got a lot done this month, however I have to rethink one or two of my goals.


*** DEUTSCHE VERSION ***
Das war meine Liste für Februar (Ich habe einige Projekte mit ihren passenden Fotos oder Blogposts verlinkt):

• weiter an Michas Decke arbeiten - Ich hab die Decke kein einziges Mal angefasst. Heute habe ich sie hervorgeholt und geschaut, was genau noch zu tun ist. Es ist weniger als gedacht. Ich lege sie jetzt trotzdem erstmal beiseite.
• das San Francisco Mini-Album fertigstellen, das ich im November begonnen habe - Erledigt.
• bei der #dudelfritzen-Challenge mitmachen - Hier ist das Ergebnis.
• an den monatlichen Challenges von Cocoa Daisy teilnehmen - es gibt jeden Monat zwei - Sketch Challenge. Designer Challenge.
• einmal pro Woche bloggen - jawoll
• "Mondscheinblues" von Katrin Koppold lesen - Ich habe noch einiges mehr gelesen.
• zwei Briefe und zwei Karten schreiben - Hab ich geschafft.
• dreimal pro Woche Sport machen - Wir hatten eine Woche Schulferien. Da ging nix.
• mich an meinen Putzplan halten - siehe oben
• an unser Budget halten - Am Anfang des Monats hat das gut funktioniert, dann habe ich die Ferien überlebt und musste mich belohnen.
• täglich schreiben - Das Schreiben tut gut, nur beim täglichen Schreiben kam mein kreatives Leben zu kurz. Im Februar habe ich dann angefangen alle 2-3 Tage zu schreiben, das war auch gut, aber ließ etwas mehr Spielraum für "therapeutisches Basteln". ;-)
• 4 Project Life spreads von 2015 oder 2016 - Das Album für 2015 ist jetzt von August bis Dezember vollständig. Die fehlenden Wochen im Frühling bearbeite ich im April oder Mai als eigenständiges Projekt. Ich habe mein 2016 Album begonnen, die ersten beiden Wochen sind fertig, die Fotos sind schon bis Mitte Februar gedruckt.
• kein Computer und kein iphone im Bett - Sehr erfolgreich, so konnte ich nämlich so viel lesen.

Diesen Monat bin ich sehr zufrieden mit meinen Ergebnissen. Einiges lief noch nicht, da muss ich noch etwas an den Zielen schleifen.