Mail update!

Hello there!  It's been a difficult week for me so far.  My father was hospitalized on Sunday with severe anemia and had to have a blood transfusion.  Yesterday we were happy to find out the anemia was due to a bleeding ulcer in his stomach which is treatable.  He should be going home tomorrow which is nice since it is his 83rd birthday.  What worries me now is knowing the prostate cancer he has been battling for years has reached the bones.  My father and I have always been close so this news is not easy for me to digest and is making me questions the simple basis of life.  I was really down in the dumps on Monday and finding a letter from my dear friend Lone from Germany really cheered me up.  She is one of the sweetest and most caring people I know.

Lone included some chocolate, candy, photos, stickers, deco tape, decos and a BEAUTIFUL Valentine's Day card (bottom center) with her letter.

Last week I received this nice letter with tea and craft embellishments from my friend Ayaka in Japan.  I love her handwriting.

I also received a letter and FBs from my friend Astrid from Norway.

I also received these decos from a group swap.

I made these Christmas decos for some swaps.

I also made these ATCs for some swaps.

And, I also made these ATCs for some swaps.

It's been nice crafting again!

More mail and cooking!

Hello my lovely blog friends!  I've been having a great week so far despite the freezing cold temperatures (-25 celcius and even lower at night).  Thankfully I haven't had to go out for long periods of time.  Just going out to the mailbox has been enough for me and also a must for any mail lover no matter how cold it may be.  So far this week I have received:

A wonderful letter, craft supplies and decos (below) from my dear friend Kirsten from Germany.

Another great letter, decos and stickers from my friend Sari from Finland.  I love her stationary and the tape she used to decorate her envelope.

Another lovely letter from my friend Stefanie from Switzerland.

And, a pretty "Vintage Family in Winter" deco from a group swap partner.

On Sunday I felt a bit down in the dumps so I had to give myself a firm talking to about being more positive.  I have so much more free time since leaving my job at the music school and I need to appreciate it instead of continuing to to get caught up in the drama still unfolding there.  In fact today I was quite productive in regards to cooking.  I am so FED UP with eating the same foods that I have been trying out new recipes using my crockpot.  Today I made a nice pea soup.  It was delicious!

Tomorrow I'll make a nice chicken recipe using red wine.  I made it a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious.  The chicken was so tender.  Today I also made a batch of pasta sauce but not in the crockpot.  

Until next time!

Mail, shopping and cats!

It's already halfway through January!  Yay!  Spring is getting closer.  Anyway, I haven't had an overly exciting week, just life as normal and I've been sleeping a lot.  Not sure why but I have been so tired.  It seems I could just sleep my days away.  It was a fairly quiet mail week as well.  I only found letters in my mailbox on Wednesday and Friday.  On Monday my sweet mailman even apologized for not bringing me anything fun.

I received a wonderful letter from my dear friend Rosita from Finland.  She included some lovely craft supplies.

I received another great letter and photos from my friend Reiko from Japan.

And, another letter from my friend Christine from France.  She sent such lovely postcards.

I love this postcard my friend Molly sent me.  It looks like my cat Mustang who is always trying to escape.  Wish I could find such cute postcards here!

I have a friend who sells "Stampin' Up" crafting supplies and I often buy stamps and paper from her.  They really have such nice products albeit a little expensive sometimes.  I recently bought these stamps and the paper below.  

I also recently bought these packages of chipboard embellishments on discount at a store near my home called "Winners".

And, I leave you with two photos of my beautiful cats Mustang and Subaru.

News, art class & mail!

Happy weekend everyone!  I have a bit of news to share career-wise.  I have decided to leave my preschool teaching job at the music school to solely focus on my business of teaching English as a second language.  I love my co-teacher Veronique and the children but my bosses are another story.  Let's just say they care more about money than the needs/well-being of the children nor do they appreciate their employees.  I can no longer work in such an environment.  As some of you already know my teaching business has been growing so I've decided to focus on turning it into my full-time career.  January is a time for new beginnings!  In other news, I went to an artists' open house today to see what classes were on offer.  I found a couple that interest me and I'll go back to sign up for them tomorrow.  Take a look at one of the projects I'll sign up for below:

From what I understand these stamped images are made with pencils called Inktense.  I can't wait to try them and see how they work.

And now onto what came in the mail:

A beautiful "Thank You" card from my friend Lone from Germany.  It's from the "Punch Studio" stationary line which I love so much.

Another "Thank You" card from my dear friend Molly from USA.

A wonderful letter, thank you card and postcards from my friend Lieve from Belgium.

Another letter from my sweet friend Andrea from England.

Two ATCS ("vintage Christmas" and "Snowman"), a cute "Suzy Zoo" Christmas card (love those characters!) and various collage pictures from a group swap partner.

And, finally a swap of decos.

Tonight Jeffrey and I will watch a DVD although I'm not sure which one.  We've collected so many during the past year.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I'm back with a mail post!

Well, hello friends!  I haven't posted anything these past couple of months as you know because of blogger wanting to charge a fee for downloading photos.  I've had to delete my entire first year of posts in order to download photos without paying.  I must admit this really annoys me but I have missed blogging.  So, I'm back, for now, and we'll see how it goes.  I'm starting off the new year with a mail post.  This week I've received:

A lovely selection of collage materials from a group swap partner.  She also sent me some lovely decos as part of a private swap.

A pretty "Let it Snow" ATC and pretty papers from another group swap partner.

A pretty "Gingerbread House" deco from another group swap partner.

A wonderful letter and photos from my sweet pal Renata in Germany.

And, another wonderful letter and belated Christmas gifts (a Christmas ornament book and stickers) from my friend Nicole in the USA.

Noah is back at school since yesterday but here he is during the holidays.  He was doodling something.  He loves drawing, doodling and fiddling with paper.  He must get his paper obsession from me.

Here's what one of our cats, Mustang, does with most of his days.

This is the painting I made and gave my mother for Christmas.  I love giving handmade gifts but during the past years I haven't had much time for making anything.  I hope to get back to my creative roots this year.

I also hope to be more regular with blog posts than I have been during the past year.  Enjoy the rest of the week!  :)