Good bye 2014...

This has been a very strange year. So many emotions and quite a bit of struggling, from the beginning of the year and all the way to the end.

I lost my Dad in an accident in early November, and I really didn't need another reminder of how fragile this life of ours is. I don't have words to express how I feel. I just miss him so very much.

This year I took the huge step of taking some time off from my job and going back to the University. The goal is a totally new career as a teacher. I've loved it so far and I really hope that I'll still feel this way at the end of 2015.

Here's a page that I made using the mica flakes and the texture paste (white crackle) in the December Project Art kit from Cocoa Daisy. I glued down strips of fabric to my page and painted them with gesso and acrylic paint. I drew the feathers on a gray paper and cut them out.

The writing simply says: "I wish for a good year."

Happy New Year!

Taking a decent photo of all 5 of us isn't all that easy... but I think we did pretty good on this one. :) 

2013 came and went... welcome 2014! I wish you all a very happy new year! 

We are back...

...home again after a wonderful week of fun family adventures. Relaxing, exploring, hanging out together...

The two big kids go back to school tomorrow and I'm trying hard to catch up on everything. I go back to work on Monday but I don't really want to think about that just yet. I can't believe how fast these weeks have gone by. I have had a fabulous summer!

Busy, busy...

This week is a very special week and May is a very special month. Three of our four kids were born in May. Actually, Linus was supposed to be born around May 15th too... but ended up being born on April 2nd instead (due to my preeclampsia)...

It's not just that we have three birthdays in May - we have three birthdays in a week!

On Friday the 17th we celebrated Tuva who is now 2 years old! She is fabulous... chatting, singing... making jokes and making us happy... :)

 

Yesterday was Hugo's day. 8 years with and without him. We put some ballons up at the grave, but I have to admit that I haven't really had the time to feel and think everything that I probably need to feel and think. I'm choosing to accept that things are the way they are though - busy. Hugo is always with me and I know that those feelings and thoughts will show up, eventually.

 

We spent most of the weekend outside, working in the garden. There are still a million dandelions in our front yard and there is still so much to do, but it felt so very good that we got as far as we did and to spend so many hours outside in the lovely weather.

 

Friday is Alva's birthday! She is very excited and I wonder what Tuva will think when all the presents are for Alva and not for her. She didn't really know what a birthday was before Friday, but now everyday is her birthday I believe. :)

 

That's what I've been up too... but I promise you that you will soon see some scrapping and art journaling in this blog too!



10 years...!

Happy happy birthday to my wonderful boy Linus! :) Ten years ago today you were suddenly here... So very tiny and so very fabulous... I love you so much!

Smått och gott... och en kurs!

Jag var själv med barnen stora delar av helgen och vi hade det mysigt men intensivt! Det känns som om jag "glömt" hur man gör, sedan jag började jobba. :) Jag är ju mer borta än hemma nuförtiden och det är J som tar hand om... typ allt... :) Det var galet stressigt att få iväg oss allihop när Alva skulle spela tennis igår morse. Jag tog det lite väl lungt där på morgonen, innan jag till sist insåg att det var dags att sätta sprutt om vi skulle komma iväg alla fyra. Orutin, helt enkelt! På det stora hela var det en riktigt bra helg! Vi fick ju till och med se hösten från sin finaste sida, med blå himmel och sol och allt.

Jag har glömt att berätta att jag för ett tag sedan blev intervjuad av goaste Marja till tidningen Allt Om Scrap. Ni kan läsa den jättefina tidningen här och på sidorna 50-63 är det lite extra spännande! ;) Tusen tack Marja!

En annan jätterolig nyhet är att jag ska gästdesigna för Pyssloteket ett tag framöver. Imorgon dyker mitt första inlägg upp i Pysslotekets inspirationsblogg. Titta gärna in där! Butiken ligger på Valhallavägen och är alldeles fullproppad med godsaker! :)

Som om det inte vore nog med spännande saker så tycker jag att ni ska kolla in det här - jag ska nämligen hålla en liten kurs på just Pyssloteket, den 17 november. Några bilder och lite mer info kommer att komma snart, men så mycket kan jag säga som att vi kommer att göra ett minialbum utav tags, med några olika typer av färg (gesso, akrylfärg, Glimmer Glam mm) och grundläggande tekniker inom mixed media. :)

Glimmering texture...

It's been a bit quiet here on the blog... Going back to work last Wednesday has been a huge change. It doesn't matter that I had plenty of time to mentally prepare. It's still so many new routines and so many adjustments to be made. I'll get the hang of it, I just need some time. :)

Here are another couple of projects that I made for Tattered Angels in August, using texture paste. For both the layout and the canvas I used one of the Tattered Angel screens together with texture paste to create my background.

When creating the layout I then covered my page with gesso and misted on top of the dry gesso using Simply Sheer Light Blue and Pink, Chalkboard Glimmer Mist London Fog, and Glimmer Mists Silver Sugar and Graphite. I also splattered some Glimmer Glaze Pewter over the background and painted the chipboard numbers with Glimmer Glam Smooches.

This layout is about me right now, and how I wish I was better at focusing at the positive side of things. Actually, "right now" was more like 3-4 weeks ago and I do feel a bit more positive at the moment. I guess I'd better do my best to hang on to that feeling... :)

I used the same screen when creating this 6x6 canvas. I used a Chunky Burlap Canvas from Canvas Corp and coloured the background with Chalkboard Glimmer Mist Valencia and Glimmer Mist Sun Sisters.

The star was misted with Key Lime Pie and the wooden cameras were painted with Glimmer Glam Organic Garden.

I hope you're all having a good week! Tomorrow is Friday... yay...!

Första skoldagen...

Fjärilar i magen, både hos mamman och barnen... :) En tredjeklassare och en tjej som nu tagit klivet upp i förskoleklass. Det var en spännande och rolig dag och imorgon blir det ännu mer spännande. Om några veckor är allt det nya redan gammalt och vanligt, men än så länge är allt nytt, nytt, nytt...

So very busy...

...with family stuff... summer stuff... :) We've had friends visiting and we've been visiting friends. So many lovely moments!

Today we actually had some real summer weather - for the first time this strange and rainy summer - and we spent some time by the lake. The water is still quite cold and Tuva was happy to stay out of the water and watch her brother and sister swim. I tried to dip her feet but she was very clear that she didn't approve... :)

 Yesterday we took the train to Stockholm, to visit the Technical Museum where we had lots of fun.



Every now and then I try to sneak some scrapping in too. :) Right now I'm working on my August Cocoa Daisy layouts. The Santa Fe Sunset kit is gorgeous and I hope to get some sneaks up on the blog tomorrow!

Tattered Angels Giveaway!

We're back home again, after a few days away. Summer is nice, but veeery rainy so far. Still, so much fun has been happening and I love that we have a whole bunch of weeks left together, before things get serious again. ;)

You need to check out the Tattered Angels blog, because you don't want to miss this giveaway!

Wedding...

My little brother got married last weekend! It was a beautiful wedding and they were so happy and gorgeous! It was such a special and fabulous day... and I am so happy for them!

I am pretty sure that you'll get to see some more photos, later on... :)

Legoland...!

Vi är tillbaka efter en liten resa till Danmark, med två fartfyllda dagar på Legoland. Vi har haft det toppenbra! Nu ska vi packa upp, kurera oss från en dansk dunderförkylning och sen ska jag minsann sätta igång att scrappa! :)

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We're back after a lovely trip to Denmark with two amazing days at Legoland. Now we just need to unpack and get rid of a stupid Danish cold, and then I'm ready to scrap! :)

Birthdays, birthdays...

My sweet, funny, stubborn, strong and fabulous girl.... six years old last week...! The time is flying by. Today she is visiting her school, where she'll be starting in the middle of August. She is so excited and I think it'll be great! (But first, we'll be having a wonderful summer with lots of fun....!)

Intensiva dagar...

Jag har haft några otroligt intensiva dagar och därför har bloggen varit alldeles tyst. Maj kommer alltid vara en väldigt speciell månad. Under de senaste 9 dagarna har jag hunnit med Tuvas ettårsdag, Hugos dag, då han skulle ha blivit sju år, Alvas sexårsdag och min fina farmors begravning.

Det var förra lördagen som det var sju år sedan vi fick vår Hugo. Fick och förlorade, på en och samma gång.  Det känns overkligt och avlägset och känslorna har också hållt sig lite på avstånd, ända fram till farmors begravning igår när det blev lite mycket av allt.

Jag är så tacksam över min fina familj.

The very short English version: I've had a very busy period. May will always be a special month. During the last 9 days, I've celebrated Tuva's first birthday, experienced the day when Hugo was supposed to turn 7, celebrated Alva who turned 6 and attended my grandmother's funeral. It's been some strange days... I am so grateful to have my family.

1 year...

She is 1 today...! It's crazy... time has gone by so fast. We love her so much!

The party was a success...

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans...

Bat poo, blind cat eyes and blood worms...

Dragon eggs... :)

Wizard hat cupcakes... I found this idea somewhere on the internet... :)

The kids were happy, it was fun and now we are soooo tired! :)

Preparations...

...for our Harry Potter-themed birthday party on Sunday... :)

Tomorrow he is 9...

...and yesterday we celebrated with some family members. Since he could hardly sleep the night before yesterday, I'm a bit worried about the upcoming night... :) I can't believe he is 9 already! Last year I wrote a blog post (in Swedish) about when he was born... 6 weeks early and pretty tiny... You can find the blog post here.

Linus 3 months old...

...and 9 years minus 2 days... :)

A bit tired and sore...

Yesterday I had my stomach decorated with four new holes... ;) I had my gall bladder removed and the little stones that have been causing me trouble are now safe in a little jar at my desk, rather than in my stomach.

I was able to go home on the same day as the surgery (yesterday) and I was feeling better than I expected, only a few hours after they said good night and anaesthesized me. When waking up I first felt the exact same pain that made me end up at the emergency ward at the hospital only 2,5 weeks ago, when I had a horrible gall stone attack. I didn't like that feeling, not at all... and I was a bit worried until it disappeared and was replaced with a more general soreness.

I was able to sleep pretty ok tonight and today I am pretty sore, and also tired and a bit dizzy, but still feeling kind of ok. Johan is staying at home for a few days, taking care of the kids, and it feels good to be able to rest and recover properly.

A bit busy...

School's off this week and we're all at home, Johan too. Unfortunately Alva had a fever Sun-Mon and now Tuva has a fever today. :P Sort of typical. At least it's not a very high fever so far, and I hope it stays that way. I've been doing a little creating... things that will show up here later on... :)

But today I've mostly been looking at these... longing to open them and play... They look so yummy, don't they?!