Weekend preview & last week's mail!

Hello friends!  Last weekend Noah and I went to New Hampshire, USA to visit my friend Molly and family.  We had a wonderful time with them.  We did quite a bit of shopping and went to the Pumpkin Festival which was soooooooooo crowded.  Anyhow, I'll be back tomorrow with a post on our weekend and shopping goodies.  I want to post about last week's mail first but take a look at these sweet pumpkins from the festival.

I received the most beautifully handmade card from my friend Rosita from Finland.  I was so surprised to see they had a Halloween postage stamp since they don't even celebrate it in Finland.  We celebrate it here but don't have any Halloween postage stamps.  Finland always has some of the most pretty and unique postage stamps.

I received another pretty Halloween card and chocolate from Molly this weekend.


I also received this great Halloween surprise from a group swap.

These beautiful Vintage Halloween FBs come from the same partner.

"Country Companions" and "Pap Vintage" decos from another group swap.

"Vintage Family" deco from the same partner.



"Vintage Brides" decos and an extra from another partner.

"Anything Goes" FBs from another partner.

"All for our angels" FBs from another partner.

A beautiful enveloppe with two ATCs inside.

A FB homer I received.  I don't get them very often so it was nice.

This has been the most frustrating post I've done so far because of Blogger.  I don't know why it hasn't allowed me to write where I want, the photos moved over while writing although they were supposed to be to the left.  I guess blogger doesn't know what left means. And, other things happening. Hopefully it will post normally.

On a lazy Sunday...

I started the day by napping with the cats, Subaru and Mustang.  Lucky me I slept until 11:00 am while Noah and Jeffrey watched TV.

I did a little baking.  I made some delicious apple crisp and



some brand muffins to take with me to work for breakfast.  I often have no time to feed myself after making Noah's lunch and getting myself ready in the mornings.  Stopping at the bakery everyday for something to eat gets pricey after a few weeks.

Then it was time for some crafting on my messy craft table.  I have a very tiny space to work on.

Here is one of the decos I created and actually really like.

I also made some materials for the classroom.  This is a parts of the body booklet in French.  



And, onto some letter writing.  I've been in such a writing mood these days.

And, last but not least to end my post, this week's mail.  I received this great letter from my friend Andrea from England.  It's so nice to write to a fellow cat lover.  We write a lot about our cats and their antics.  I love the Vintage Halloween postcard.

A couple of swaps I received from the same partner: "Harry Potter" and "Anything Cats" FBs.

Another great letter from my friend Karena from New Zealand.

And, an ATC supply swap.

I hope to post again before Friday but if not it'll have to wait until next Sunday.  Noah and I are visiting Molly and family next weekend.  We're hoping to spend Saturday in Boston and also go to the Pumpkin Festival if the weather agrees.  Have a nice week everyone!

Wool Festival & mail!

It's been such a gorgeous weekend here and I'm loving it. It's Canadian Thanksgiving and I am so thankful for a three day weekend. :) On Saturday my mother and I had breakfast and went shopping although I didn't really buy much. Then yesterday Jeffrey, Noah and I went to a wool festival. The location for the festival is actually an old wool mill turned museum. It was very interesting to visit and the grounds are beautiful. Below are some scenes of the wool mill and its grounds.

These little sheep were being shorn while we were there.

Noah and I in front of the entrance and gift shop.

Noah and Jeffrey in front of part of the mill.

Here I am sitting at the desk in the office of the mill.

There were also artisans selling their wares made of wool and other trinkets. This artist made some of the most beautiful handbags. I was really tempted to buy one but I already have so many handbags.

More artisans on the outside of the mill.

Along the paths we saw some alpacas. I just love these guys. :)

I did make a few purchases, I couldn't resist. Ha! Ha!

Some lavender soap and delicious mango chutney. We had such a lovely day at the wool festival. It was nice to do something as a family again.
And, now onto some creating and mail news. Here is a "Vintage French Ad" deco I made a couple of weeks ago for a group swap.

And, another deco for a group swap with the theme "Suzy Zoo".

I've had a really fantastic mail week with many letters from friends. Below is a letter from my friend Laura from Romania. She sent papers, embellishments, decos and a beautiful necklace with a cameo (upper right corner) as a birthday present. Wow! I was so surprised and honoured she would send such a lovely gift.

I also received a nice swap of fall coloured art supplies.

A wonderful letter from my friend Judy from England along with some lovely extras.

From my lovely friend Rosita from Finland I received a sweet letter and some of my favourite craft supplies from Tilda and also Matryoshka doll stickers.

A letter from a friend I had lost touch with, Sharon from Netherlands.

A letter, photos and FBs from my bestest friend Molly from New Hampshire whom I will visit sometime this month.

I received this "Animals of the Forest" deco, plus extra from a swap partner.

A wonderful letter, FBs and stickers from my friend Tomomi from Japan.

Another wonderful letter and FBs from my friend Susi from Austria.

Another birthday present and card from my dear friend Gaby from Germany.

And, that's it for now. Today will be a day of letter writing and swaps. Enjoy your day! :)

The usual mail & shopping news!

Hello all of my lovely friends! I have been wanting to post this for a few days now but as I tried loading the photos either my computer, Internet connection or blogger was causing me problems. So, after a few attempts here I am. I have no patience for computers so when they don't do what I ask I become VERY annoyed. Anyhow, I've been really busy in the past couple of weeks, actually ever since the end of August and I am really missing time for myself and my hobbies. I'm thankful that we have a three day weekend coming up. It's Canadian Thanksgiving so I will have some major ME TIME. This week I've also had a cold and I've felt tired but I'm pleased to say I'm on the mends now. I've missed blogging and I want to do different kinds of posts but unfortunately it's the lack of time. :( Oh well...
So, here we go with some of last week's mail.

I received this gorgeous deco as part of a swap. It was made by one of my friends (Laura) so I was honoured to receive it. There are only two more entries and it'll be on its way home to her. I'll sign it and sent it to our mutual friend Johanna. Laura always makes the most beautiful art work and she is so incredibly talented with her jewellery making. Check out the link to her shop on my blog.

I think this is the last of the postcards from the postcard swap I had joined in September. Isn't it adorable? I love it since it is Halloween themed and it is perfect for this time of the year.

Here are some FBs I received from part of a group swap.

More beautiful decos made by Marina, a swapper friend from one of my groups at yahoo. I love the postcard with the girl anf kitties. What a beautiful image! There is actually a store near my home who sells a canvas copy of it and I'm thinking of buying it since I love it so much.

Another adorable deco made by another fellow swapper, part of a group at yahoo. Those Suzy Zoo characters are so cute!

A "Vintage Cowgirls" themed deco from another group swap.

Another pretty deco part of a group swap.

More pretty decos sent to me by a fellow swapper.

Last weekend I met up with my friend Sonia for lunch, shopping and chatting. We hadn't seen each other in a while so it was nice to catch up. Anyhow, Sonia is a Stampin 'Up demonstrator so she gave me some rubber stamps, a small garbage bin and bag, all Stampin 'Up products. I also placed an order for some items. :)

Here are some of the items I bought while shopping with Sonia. I love the papercrafts line by Bo Bunny as well as K & Company (below).

More paper to enjoy, like I don't have enough already. Sigh! Actually the paper will be used on a canvas project for one of my upcoming painting classes whereas the rectangular tags I will use for mail art.

I'm hoping to be back this weekend since I have received some awesome mail this week and I want to share some craft projects. Enjoy the end of the week everyone! :)