Happy 2010!

Right, here we are - we've reached the end of 2009! There are only a few hours left of the old year and we're getting ready for the New Year's Eve party! We're spending the evening with a bunch of friends at their house, the children will be playing their games and Mums and Dads will be joining in the fun as well. A yummy dinner is being served - fondue is on the menu!


The give-away goodies are neatly packed, the envelopes sealed and addressed, and I'll put them in the post first thing Monday morning! That's next year, of course...

I hope you have a lovely celebration tonight and may the New Year be filled with all sorts of blessings, may you have many opportunities for creating some truly magical moments and may you have at least one good laugh every day!

Surprise with Success!

I blogged about another surprise package a while ago (as you can see, I love pleasant surprises!). Today, finally, it reached its destination. And, may I say, it served its purpose! It was a surprise indeed! I'm happy to say that it lifted the spirits of the recipient in a much needed time. And that's what pleasant surprises (and friends!) are for.

I crafted another bracelet, based on the idea from Eclectic Shock. I really like their bracelets, but, as I love crafting, I prefer making them myself to purchasing them. Many of my friends (and my Mum!) have asked me to craft one for them as well and I'm only too happy to do so.

Fancy one yourself?

Give-Away Update

Remember my pre-Christmas bloggiversary give-away? There were three comment entries altogether which is why I've decided to present all three of you bloggers with a little something! The goodies I'll post to you have been hand-made by me - I'll post the pics on the blog after you've received your little parcels as I don't want to spoil the surprise! Alison, Franca and Jane, thank you so much for following my blog. I really appreciate your feedback and most of all, your blogs are an inspiration for me!

P.S.: Don't worry, these are not the prizes! Just another pic of our Christmas decoration...

Away In a Manger

More Christmas decoration! As promised, here's the pic of our Christmas tree - we put it up on our (glazed) balcony and it is pretty much the same every year. The children helped with the decorating and I really like the result. It's natural and fresh and very 'Christmassy'!

We usually place our Nativity scene under the tree. The figures are very old, 'vintage', you'd call them; they belonged to my Mum's family. Most of them are broken or damaged, I don't think there is a single sheep here with four limbs (apart from some newer additions, that is) but I don't mind. I think they're lovely.

This fabric wreath was made by - me! It's quite old, I made it when we got married, which was fourteen years (and Christmases!) ago. I saw a similar one in a shop and I fell in love with it. I didn't want to buy it, though, I sewed a lot back then and I found it challenging to make my own. It's not difficult to make, it just takes a lot of time, as you have to fill long 'snakes' of fabric with soft material. I hang it on my living-room door every year and I still find it enchanting.

Last but not least, to feel the spirit of Christmas, I need some poinsettias in our home. We've got two this year, one in our bedroom and one as a centrepiece on our table - instead of the advent wreath.

We had a lovely Christmas. On Christmas Eve we all went to church - first for the kids' 'midnight mass' at 6pm. After the mass we blessed our home and had dinner. At midnight, after the kids had gone to bed, I went to the 'proper' mass - I sort of had to, as I sing at the local church choir. But I enjoy Christmas service so that was no problem.

On Christmas Day we all went to the morning mass together, spent some time with friends, and in the afternoon, after festive lunch, we visited the grandparents.

On Boxing Day we celebrated our 'family name-day' - it was the feast of St Stephens and our family name is Stefanic - which would be something like Stephens in English.

The kids were happy to find piles of presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning - and even Mum and Dad got a little something, too!

Merry Christmas...

..., my fellow bloggers!

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve,
wake up into a happy Christmas morning,
and embrace the time you can spend with your loved ones!

Deck the Halls...

...with all sorts of bits and bobs from all around: with pretty Christmas fairies and trees from Gisela Graham, with colourful fabric Christmas trees from Rice, with beautiful gift bags from Caspari,

with lovely fragrant Christmas candles from Portmeirion,

with Christmas angels from Andrea Fontebasso, and last but not least, with my precious Christmas angels, who are now 'all grown-up' (well, they're eight and five respectively...).

We're decorating our Christmas tree tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, and we're putting up the Nativity as well; we've got some lovely 'vintage' figures which belonged to my Mum's family. I promise to post a picture of both!

P.S.: If you're interested in my three-month-bloggiversary Christmas giveaway, check yesterday's blog entry!

Christmas Crafts & First Give-Away!

I made these Christmassy ornaments in the course of the years - they're not recent work - but they always put me in a Christmas mood. They might do the same for you! Which, three days before Christmas, is not too difficult a task to achieve...

I made the snowman keyring nine years ago when I was expecting my first-born. I saw a similar item in a French magazine called 'Marie-Claire' and I totally loved it. I used to put it on my keys at Christmas for several years after that. Now it just lives in a drawer...

The tissue holder was made even earlier, I think. I can't even remember when. It's old.

The red hat was knitted by my Mum, I made the poinsettia corsage. My daughter wears it now.

The Christmas tree brooch was made last year. I got the idea from the lovely Ana of Fensismensi - hers are much more professionally looking, of course. But I quite like mine as well. I think I could list it as my first give-away presie! It's my three-month bloggiversary today and if you're interested, drop me a note in the comment section!

Enjoy the count-up to Christmas!

Winter Wear II.

My collection (a part of it, anyway) of my winter accessories - scarves, gloves/mittens and hats. For the sake of the photographs, I've put them together in ensembles that I usually wear but that doesn't mean I don't mix and match, of course. There are more items in my closet, I'm afraid, but these are worn most often and they're considered my favourites. You will definitely see the other ones as parts of my winter outfits.

scarf - Robert Mackie of Scotland
hat & mittens - Kokoska (local boutique brand); handmade in Bosnia

hat - Barts
leather gloves - Marks&Spencer
scarf - Ika (local boutique brand)

knitted beret - Benetton
gloves - Benetton
scarf - Tait & Style

scarf - Barbour
gloves - don't know, but they're 'Made in England'

I wear these with my white down coat, camel coat, brown tweedie coat, black coat, navy duffle coat, Barbour jacket, chocolate down jacket... I love all of the above ensembles and I couldn't really pick my favourite. Can you?

Winter Wear I.

It's winter. Officially. We've had a cold week. Lots of snow. I don't like snow. I would love to stay indoors until spring comes again. I wouldn't be bored, I promise. There are so many things I'd do. Read. Create. Nap. But, (un)fortunately, life goes on - even in winter. As long as I'm warm I'm O.K. Which means that I practically live in this coat these days. It's long and warm and you can't really see what I'm wearing underneath. And I can't be bothered. I'm wearing sweats, would you believe it? Not that I'd blog a photo of myself wearing sweats (actually, that's exactly what I'm doing...).

Anyway, this is what I've looked like outdoors this past week. I love my hat and mittens set, it's hand-made (knitted and embroidered) by my Mum. It was a Christmas present nine years ago when I was pregnant with my son. I also like my cream embroidered pashmina, I've had it for years and I've been using it a lot, not only in winter.

These days I've been wearing:
shoes - don't know
leg warmers - Benetton (I've had them since university years)
coat - C-jeans
scarf/pashmina - Kokoska (local boutique brand)
hat & mittens - gift, hand-made by my Mum
(pics are always clickable!)

Saying all that, I must say that there are many more hats and many more pairs of mittens and gloves in my closet, and I won't even go into scarves... I love accessories and they're the only thing really that keeps me going in winter! I plan to do a special post on my winter accessories, so I'll let this be it for today. I hope you're somewhere warm and cosy as you're reading this and that there's a cup of hot tea/coffee/chocolate next to you. Enjoy!

The Brown Hat

Right, here we are - at last! My brand new chocolate brown hat! A very early birthday present from my Mum & Dad! I really love this hat, I think it looks fabulous (I don't mean it looks fabulous on me, it just looks fab on its own!). And to make things even better, I found this absolutely gorgeous Boden skirt with applique birds - what more can you wish for?

I wore this outfit to church yesterday. It was cold and miserable and wet. My outfit made me feel lovely and cosy and warm. And that's what it's all about, right? To feel comfy?

coat - Benetton
belt - not sure (the coat came with a matching belt)
boots - Bata
scarf - Etsy (AliceCaroline)
handwarmers - Etsy (Crafts2Cherish)
leather gloves - Marks&Spencer
hat - Seeberger (early b'day present from my parents!)
suede purse - my Mum's, vintage

Under the coat my lovely birds were hiding. I kept everything else pretty simple (if I don't count the accessories, of course, I always go heavy on those...).

skirt - Boden
tights - Polzela (local brand)
sleeveless roll-neck - no idea
cardi - TopShop
belt - came free with a pair of tweedie Orsay trousers
angel pendant & bracelets
corsage (hair clip, actually) - H&M
brooch - self-made; spare button from green Boden coat & dangling bird & bird-house

So, this was yesterday. Over night, we got snowed in (almost). My exercise today wasn't a walk around our lovely lake, it was shovelling snow at my parents' house. Even though I lift weights on a regular basis I'm sure I'll wake up with sore muscles in my arms tomorrow morning. I don't mind, though... we're having a white Christmas!

The Lake

I've been complaining about the weather recently, haven't I? One of the reasons is that I like to do my daily exercise outdoors. I usually walk or jog and when it's really cold and wet I don't feel like stretching my nose out of the window (I have to, of course, as one of my' jobs' is being my kids' taxi driver...). I quite like my home town, in the south of Slovenia, it's a place surrounded by woods, some of them are even virgin forests. There's a lot of green colour around and there are many spots where you can go and relax.


One of my favourite spots is this lake on the outskirts of our town. There used to be a coal mine there, but the shaft was covered with water many years ago and - voila - we have a lake! I used to swim in it when I was a teenager, and the lake freezes when the winters are really cold so I used to ice-skate there as well. I don't anymore, but these days (in the summer, to be precise) my boy likes to go fishing here with his friends.


It's a beautiful spot, and the best thing about it is that there is a path round and round (not directly on the shore all the way but never mind). This is where I usually go walking or jogging - because it lies on a small hill above the town the sun stays there longer than anywhere else. And I do like my fair bit of sunshine, thank you very much.



It's been ages (it seems that way, anyway) since I last went for a quick walk - and I mean quick, it's my favourite exercise. I think the pics were taken in October. I do hope there will be more sunny days this winter so that I can enjoy my place of tranquility on a regular basis... You are kindly invited to join me!

Singing in the Rain...

I wore this outfit to my choir practice last night. Nothing dramatically new from what I usually wear these days, but I liked it and felt extremely comfortable (I should probably say 'which is why I liked it and felt...'). It's December and we're rehearsing my all-time favourites (O Holy Night; O Little Town of Bethlehem; In the Bleak Midwinter; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing... - all in Slovenian!) - I enjoy this time of year so much! Apart from the weather, of course. It's been really wet and cold these days, I almost wish it would snow (at which point I must say that I really dislike snow). I feel much better with lots of pretty little things around me! And on me...

boots - Humanic
tights - Polzela (local brand; I managed to make a big hole in them today, so good-bye, tights! You can actually see a run in them on the pic...)
embroidered skirt - Labod (local brand)
gray roll-neck - don't know
cardi - Wallis
corsage (on cardi) - H&M (it's actually a hair clip; I added a green leaf... I need green leaves with my corsages!)
button brooch - self-made (spare button from my beloved Boden green velvet coat)
belt - H&M
angel pendant & bracelets!

For the miserable outside weather I added:

jacket - Comma
belt - Jack Jones
scarf - H&M
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
handwarmers - Etsy (Crafts2Cherish)
leather bag (hidden behind my back) - my Mum's, almost vintage!
shopper - LaMarelle (from a lovely little shop called Sisi - Life in Colours in Ljubljana); check the front & the back - they're totally different!

I love this shopper. It makes me smile. :)

Another Surprise Package

Hello, everyone. Before I turn around twice the week does it for me - or is it instead of me? I had the best intention to blog every day last week and see where my good intentions got me... I did get some work done, though, between my feeling poorly and my son's feeling even poorlier for a couple of days...


The result of my 'work getting done' is another surprise gift for a dear friend - this post will only reveal the package and in a few days you will be able to see the contents!

I hope you had a fun weekend, what with St Nick going round and bringing gifts to little ones and not so little ones... We put our plates on the kitchen table on Saturday evening and left a mug of warm tea and some biscuits and chocolates there for him; the plates were full of goodies yesterday morning , the mug was empty and the biscuits and the chocolates disappeared... My boy and my girl were absolutely thrilled! The only problem is that it didn't occur to me to take some pictures of the whole 'happening'. Maybe next year!

Wreaths

I love wreaths. They're basically... rings. And what girl doesn't like a nice, shiny ring? I mean, honestly, don't wreaths / rings make waiting easier? An engagement ring makes waiting for your dream wedding easier... An eternity ring makes... everything easier, because you know that someone will walk hand in hand with you for the rest of your life. An advent wreath makes waiting for Christmas so much easier! Each Sunday you light a candle and the week between the Sundays vanishes so quickly you don't even notice... A wreath on the door welcomes you into your own cosy home and makes waiting for your loved ones easier... There, that's what I think of wreaths and rings and families!

Here you can see our family wreaths for this year's festive season. The advent wreath on the table is covered with fresh moss (which of course will dry eventually...) and my Mum is the expert behind it. All I did was put it on the cake stand, added a tartan ribbon, some walnuts and four candles. We lit the first one last Sunday.


The wreath on the door (again courtesy of my Mum) is embellished with some greenery, a Nutcracker, a tartan bow (of course) and it hangs on this gorgeous holly ribbon I bought at Harrods...fifteen years ago, I think! And I still have it! That's how pathetic I am, I actually keep things from Britain until they disintegrate...


Anyway, I make a different wreath for our door every year, a couple of years ago I made one of pop corn! It was lovely, everyone admired it, and I'm really sorry I didn't bother to take a picture of it. I might make another one next year...

Until then - or, hopefully, until the next post - night night!

Carpe Diem...

Well, here we are, the festive December has begun. We lit the first Advent candle on the wreath, three more to go; these few weeks will pass in a jiffy and we will be celebrating the arrival of 2010...

I remember, when I was a teenager, how far away the year 2000 seemed to be then. I used to calculate my age and thought that 28 (the age I turned in 2000) was OLD. We're approaching 2010. All of a sudden, I feel so young. I feel great, I have a lovely family, and I wouldn't want to be 18 again for the world!

What I do miss from my BC (before children) time is travelling to Britain each year but I'm sure that pretty soon I will be lamenting - on a remote island off the Scottish coast... - how my little ones don't want to spend time with me... So, carpe diem!

Nothing spectacular on the outfit front. I still feel a bit poorly (haven't I just mentioned that I feel great...?), in fact, I'm running a little fever this evening. This was yesterday's outfit:

boots - Alpina (local brand)
corduroys - Mana; I changed the buttons
top - Laura Ashley (old!!!)
argyle vest - S. Oliver
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
earrings - freebie from Etsy seller BeadsByEvelyn
angel pendant & bracelets!

I put on a jacket and a scarf to go outside, of course:

jacket - don't know
scarf - H&M

Have a lovely last month of the year, everyone!