Happy birthday...

to me! Yep, I'm turning 34 today - and I've got the powertools to prove it! Big S and little H came singing the birthday song to me, H had made me a plastic canvas bookmark with thread and needle and all, and there was this big square box, quite heavy too. I open it up, and what did I find? A Bosch cordless screw driver! It's so small and cute, now I too can screw together stuff in a jiffy :)

My parents are coming this afternoon to celebrate, and little H is all over the place with excitement - we're turning on the disco lights this evening!

I've got a ton of birthday cards this year; mainly because I've joined a birthday card and floss exchange over at Brooke's Books Interactive (yahoo group) - and the cards have been coming all month long. A month long celebration, who can resist? Here's a pic of the cards I have gotten, with the floss next to "mount cards".

Thank you SO MUCH all of you - there are some truly crafty people out there, some of the cards are handmade... It's my living room table, in case you were wondering - and yes, we have put up our easter decorations.

Other news: Our house is now up for sale, even though we're not buying any of the houses we went to see. We're thinking of building a new one instead - less hassle, great fun and perfectly customized for US. If so, we will be building in big S' home town so little H can have the family near by. Exciting times, folks!
I'm now on the next course, which is "Human learning and development in a changeable society" - in plain speak, we learn how to teach people about stuff (ie. their illness) and how to customize our information to the individual. It's all about the individuality of people, all the time, folks! Remember: You are unique in your own setting, with your own values and your own set of hopes, dreams, abilities and shortcomings. I'm supposed to understand all of them. ;)

The promised pics!

Sorry about the delay, but with school and all... The pics got too big for Blogger, so I've made the biggest pics links to Photobucket instead - in case you were wondering :)

This portemonnaie is for my niece Amanda, who's turning 13! I've now filled it with nail fixin' things, nail polish, file and such - I hope she'll like it. (Kinda hard getting a good picture of the gorgeous curves in this one.) I found the pattern on the web somewhere, if anyone wants it let me know, and I'll see if I can find it again. (Most likely a link from something on craftster.org - and it was a french blog.)

Barbie looking warm and cozy in her new winter (bath)robe:


Barbie's vest (yes, knitted by me - my own pattern too!)


Vest from the back (who'd thought that Barbie would have too big a b*hind for her own jeans?!?)


And finally, the bag I made for S' niece - it's actually a cat toy bag, can you tell? ;) This one made me understand why homemade bags are so expensive to buy - it took forever to sew with the fleece lining, but at least I've finally made a bag that can stand on it's own. Fabric courtesy of Ikea :)

Have a nice weekend, y'all!

New semester, new class

So the new class has started - principles and methods of nursing II sounds very interesting, doesn't it? Well, so far it looks like another tough one. All work and almost no play - but that's what studying on a higher level is all about, isn't it?

The saturday exam went well, thank you for asking. :) Not a full score, but I should pass with flying colours - with the usual disclaimer of "if I haven't completely misunderstood something". (But of course I got a feverish H back from daycare on Friday afternoon, so no celebrations this weekend, or yesterday.)
But saturday was ALL MINE!!! After the exam I went to see an ex-colleague now friend, M. She's recently divorced, got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (and bad too) and gluten intolerance, and lost her job - yep, she had it all happen at once... Now she's afloat again, but the arthritis isn't treating her very good, with the pain and all. This is a VERY active woman, she now works as a PT at a gym; do you have the Duracell (batteries) bunny commercials where you live? If so, that's how she is - she'll go and go and go and go until she's all drained out and needs a snack - and then she'll start over.
We had the best time - a true girls' night (read: afternoon) complete with ice cream and nail varnish. And still I was home before I was due in bed for my beauty sleep ;)

Yesterday I was at home with H, so she could recover from the weekend, and we got great things done: A bag for S' niece, a portemonnaie (fancy word for coin purse) for my niece - and I completed Barbie's winter (bath)robe!!! Pics will come in due time, I have some pressing to do still. Today after school we made two kinds of cupcakes, so I guess you could say I'm on a roll... I have a feeling this happened last year this time around too, this feeling of actually getting some crafty business done, and I believe I have now learnt to just relax, enjoy the ride and use the camera frequently - this too shall pass, sadly.

RAK

I made a small purse for Angela as a combined christmas and birthday present, and today I got word that it had arrived, so I can post a pic!


The Popcorn bear is a freebie that came with some mag a while back - Angela loves Popcorn, so it was just perfect for her.

I added her/my initials on the lining inside - so she remembers I made it, and that it belongs to her! (Quite practical when the initials are the same... ;) )


I really loved this one - so much so, that I might make myself one very much like this. I think I'll use another design on the front though - I want Angela's purse to be one of a kind! :)

It's almost christmas - I have no presents left to wrap (I think?) and all the Christmas gear is out, but the feeling hasn't come yet. Maybe after my last lecture this year (on Monday) is over, and we've had glögg (almost like glühwein, for those of you who know what that is) and gingerbread men afterwards?

Life got in the way again...

I promised you pics and left you hanging - here they are!

First, the SAL at Caro's place:


Second, the picture I made for my friend the computer geek: