The latest mail, crafts, shopping...

Hello friends! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends. Since going back to work full time I'm finding my weekends go by pretty quickly. I always have so much I want to accomplish but I only manage one or two things which in turns drives me nuts. Oh well! Take for example this weekend, I had planned to answer some letters, do some crafting, plan for the classroom and English classes, and finally re-organize my bedroom but at last I didn't get any of these done. Sigh! The only things I've gotten done are errands and laundry. Now, how is that possible when there are so many hours in a weekend????????????????? Last weekend I did manage to finish up some swaps though which was nice.

Here is a Marie Antoinette themed deco I made for a swap and I like how it turned out. I made other decos but didn't have time to take photos.

I've received some great letters these past two weeks as well. Above is one I received from my friend Agnies from Poland. She also sent stickers and FBs.

Here are two established decos I received from a swap partner for a group swap.

A letter I received from my friend Patrizia from Italy. She sent pretty stationary, stickers and FBs with her letter as we always swap little fun items.

A lovely postcard I received from my friend Lone from Germany who was vacationing with her husband.

Another lovely letter, with photos and a FB I received from my dear friend Tanya from Australia.

A birthday cloth my friend Reiko from Japan sent for my birthday. It's so pretty.

A wonderful letter from my friend Kate from England. She also sent some lovely photos.

Another birthday present from my friend Ioanna from Greece. She sent a shower gel and body lotion made with aloe vera and olive oil. She also sent a sweet letter, postcard and FB.

A beautiful "Paperdolls" deco I received from a swap partner for a group swap.

I received another great letter from my friend Claire from New Zealand. She also sent a pretty birthday card she made.

Another sweet letter from my friend Susanne from Australia who sent along a photo and FBs.

I received another wonderful letter from my friend Aida from Malaysia. She sent along some stickers, a bookmark, stationary, FBs, a postcard and a birthday card.

I took part in another postcard swap and here are some of the lovely cards with inspirational quotes written on the back I received over the past two weeks.

I signed up for another painting class which started last Wednesday night. And, no this is not my finished project. This is the design I am painting on a tea box. My project is far from being done. I have two more classes.

I recently purchased these two magazines that I am slowly getting through. I buy a few more magazines by the same publishing company. They are awesome!

A few more recent purchases in various stores. I've also started buying some little Christmas presents. So, I'm off now to enjoy the rest of my day before it's back to work tomorrow. Have a fantastic week everyone. :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! Well, my birthday has come and gone but I would like to share some photos of what I received from friends. My birthday was on Monday but I didn't do any celebrating at all. I felt so exhausted for some reason and I was as cranky as heck. I've never liked celebrating my birthday and it doesn't have anything to do with aging. I think it goes back to my childhood when my birthday was postponed because it was back to school and everyone was so busy. I guess I learned at a young age it wasn't an important day. Anyhow, below you can see some of the lovely cards I received from friends around the world.

This is a handmade card I received from my friend Claudia in Germany. I think it is so beautiful! She always makes such beautiful cards and also sells some if anyone is interested.

This gorgeous card was made by my dearest friend Rosita from Finland. Her cards are always such works of art and I cherish them.

Another lovely handmade card from my friend Susi in Austria. It is so adorable using one of my favourite stamp lines, Magnolia. I also love the colours Susi choose, so cheerful.

One of my co-workers Veronique surprised me with this sweet bath set.

My friend from Germany Claudia also gave me this pretty stationary set and embellishments for crafting.

My great friend Nicole from USA gave me some nice stationary sets as well, a jewellery set of earrings and necklace and a nice flower bag.

My friend Judy from England sent me this cute Hello Kitty stationary and some stickers.

My dear friend Marjolijn sent me these lovely items from Holland which I love.

My dearest friend Lone sent me some pretty lighthouse stationary, pretty beads of owls and Matryoshka dolls and some crafting supplies.

Along with her gorgeous handmade card Rosita also sent me a Magnolia stamp, some pretty address labels she made and a pretty fall printed cloth.

One of my bestest friends Molly from USA gave me a pretty rock paperweight, a cat ringholder, a gorgeous shopping bag, recipe cards, crafting stickers and a car air freshner from Yankee candle.

Jeffrey, Noah and the cats gave me some handmade soaps that smell so nice and two novels. They also spoiled me with a pizza dinner and cake.

Thanks to all of my wonderful friends, Jeffrey, Noah and the cats for spoiling me on my birthday. It was so greatly appreciated although I was grumpy. See you soon. :)

Mail update & shopping!

So, it was another crazy busy week and I'm loving it! The days consisted of office work at the music/art school as well as time in the preschool classroom, meetings in the afternoon for Noah and teaching my English students in the evenings. I was so happy to get some shopping done in between and I also signed up for some art classes at the artists' open house today. Then I took Noah to the pool and we ran some errands. Tomorrow we're off to the fair while Jeffrey works. I love spending time just Noah and I. He's a good companion although he may be exhausting since he does tend to run off if he sees anything interesting. In regards to crafts and letter writing, well I haven't done much but next week I should have more time. Here is some of the mail I've received in the past two weeks:

A wonderful letter from my friend Nicole from Massachusetts, USA. She included a very interesting travel report of her trip to Trinidad and Tobago this summer and photos. She also sent some decos, FBs and stamps.

Next, I received this lovely ATC (upper right corner) from a group swap with a few extras.

Another ATC I received from a group swap.

A pretty thank you card from my friend Molly from USA.

A beautiful "Vintage Coffee Ad" deco from another group swap.

A lovely letter from my friend Claudia from Germany and some photos from her summer vacation.

Another pretty ATC and extras from a group swap.

Another wonderful letter and FBs from my friend Beate from Norway.

A gorgeous "Marie-Antoinette" deco from a group swap.

A private FBs and decos (below) swap from my friend Kimie from Vancouver.

We also had a private ATC swap and one is for a group swap as well. Aren't these ATCs she made just lovely?

As I mentioned above, I decided to treat myself to some shopping this week. I bought myself a laminator since I make a lot of my own materials for teaching English. It'll certainly come in handy and be cheaper than having lamination done at a shop. I also bought myself a pretty blouse, forest green cardigan, coconut eau de toilette and soap. It felt lovely spoiling myself after being on a fairly tight budget all summer.

I also went to a local art store today and bought myself some supplies. Many of the items were on sale. :)

And, a few more items at a local Dollar Plus store.

And, a caddy to hold all the time used supplies. Aw...wonderful shopping. I still have many things on my list but I guess I've bought enough for now, well...at least for this week. Ha!