Hello!! This is my first time on Simon Says Stamp! I just got a new Gemini Crafter's Companion and I am excited to try my hand at making cute cards. I must admit I have wanted to join the Challenges for some time, but then I see everyone else's awesome creations and feel well a little inadequate, but I really want to jump in and play, so here goes.
First let's talk about the Dies that I am cutting from my Gemini, I had no idea how delicate and awesome they are, and they cut out so well. The Thanks on the left is just 1 paper cut, but I followed Jennifer McGuire Ink example of gluing several layers together (which is harder than she makes it look) and the Thanks on the right is 4 layers! It looks so different from the 1 layer.
The first one is using the diecut Thanks along with some Diecut Fabric Washi trees, that I sell in my Etsy shop.
I sell red fabric washi Christmas trees in my shop as well.
For my second card I wanted to experiment with the Thanks and used the Nuvo Aqua Shimmer and Ranger Glossy Accents, this technique is something I will need to work on, hehe.
This is also using fabric washi from my shop I was inspired by a Christmas pillow I saw on Pinterest.
I owe you these videos, I realize unless you speak Greek, you won't understand a word of it, so enjoy :)
There was a lot of singing at the beginning of the play.
getting ready
And Katerina's teacher made a speech.
the Principal on the left and Katerina's teacher on the right.
So my computer is running poorly and Arthur tells me I need to get rid of some of my photographs, so you may be seeing lots of post in the next coming weeks, so I can put all of my photos somewhere.
Starting with the most recent, this post will include pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas day 2016.
On Christmas Eve I made a Kiwi tart, why Kiwi, well at the kids school they sent home each child a big bag of kiwi's, I'm guessing it was around 3 Kilo's or 6 pounds per bag. If you do the math there are about 100 kids at the school, yeah, that's a lot of Kiwi's
The kiwi's in the bowl are the leftover's from just one bag, the other bag of kiwi's I left at KokaRoka.
It was pretty good, if you want the recipe I will have to make it again since I was just goofing around and made up my own thing.
Katerina's godmother dropped by that evening so we ate Katerina's and Ero's favorite food, Spaghetti and Meat Sauce. She brought presents for the kids, she is always so sweet in remembering Nik as well, they both just adore her.
A Barbie Farm Veterinarian
And a Helicopter for Nik
She only got to stay for a little bit before going to visit her mother, she is living in Athens right now and Thankfully has a job, unlike 50% of the rest of the young people in Greece, so that's good.
Having fun playing.
Christmas morning we woke up to having the stockings stuffed by Miss Molly Mouse, I had just finished Nik's stocking the night before around 10pm, I know I love a deadline, haha.
Just like my Mom I like to put some mandarin's in the stocking (no walnuts) and the morning juice, a lollipop, this year the inside present was pretty fancy with some additions from Amanda (see previous post for all of the gifts she sent) Katerina was up first and had all of her stuff open by the time Nik came out, lol.
The Christmas Pickle hiding in the tree decided who got to open the first present, Katerina found it first, Arthur started pouting because I corrected him when he called it a Pepper and said it was a Pickle.
We always have the tree down at KokaRoka, there is more room and well I prefer it that way.
I asked what they would like to open first, present from Mommy and
Daddy, present from GeGe and GePa, present from mommy's friend Amanda or
present from Santa, and surprisingly enough they went in the order that
I suggested, I thought for sure they would say Santa's first, these
kids never cease to amaze me.
Katerina's gift from us was a Fairy coloring book with Fairy stickers and some neon markers she had been wanting.
Nik got a plate, bowl and cup set from Mommy and Daddy, you can see the excitement on his face, hehehe, but I got this for him because he was always complaining about using the "kiddy" cups from IKEA (they are plastic and he wanted a real cup).
From GeGe and GePa a Playmobile Hair Salon, Katerina spends hours playing make believe with her Playmobile and after playing teacher, doing hair and make-up is her next favorite topic.
Nik's gift from GeGe and GePa a game called Stratego, Nik's favorite thing to do is play games and especially military style games or Minecraft and he loves anything that requires some Strategy. So this was a perfect gift for him, now he just needs a whole bunch of cousin's around to play with him all of the time, Mommy is kind of Strategied out.
The Third present to be opened was from a swap I did with Amanda, she sent the kids a Handmade gift and I sent her kids a handmade gift, you can see the items swapped here on this blog post.
Mr. Pouting Scrooge was on his computer the whole time, I was so pissed.
And his mother's usual position in the Kitchen, of course if she had been out she probably would have been yelling at the kids so it was better that she just was around but not involved.
The kids opening their gift from Santa, Katerina got her much asked for Barbie house that folds up, we do have a small house and Nik got a Playmobile Farm, that I was very surprised he asked for. On both gifts Santa got a good deal, Katerina's was on sale from 40euros to 34euros and Santa had a coupon that had expired but that they still accepted for another 8euros off, so it came to a saving's of 14euros. Nik's gift Santa had a flier that said it would cost 40euros, but when Santa went to the toy store they wanted 58euros, Santa showed them the flier and they called the company "Playmobile" and then they honored the deal, so a savings of 18euros, Santa greatly appreciated all of the good deals.
For lunch we had pork in the oven with potatoes (also ate this on New Year's day) only Nik and I ate, since ΓιαΓια Katerina yelled at little Katerina and made her cry so she went home and Arthur was still pouting so he went with her.
Nik loves eating all things green, in fact we almost have a hard time getting him to eat meat, as soon as he taste any fat, he will stop eating the meat, so we have to be real careful in cutting the meat for him.
My little vegetarian, eating Horta, wild greens from the garden, he does NOT get this from me.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, does anyone else have a Scrooge in the Family?
I am addicted to swaps, and now my kids are too!
They love it when mail comes in but get very sad when they find out that it's not for them (mommy gets most of the packages)
So how about we do a swap that is just for our kids or gandkids!
In order to participate in this swap you must have an OPEN IG account,
I'm sorry no Private accounts, I realize some people don't want
family/children's photos out there, and you can make an account just for
swapping, but I also believe especially in this swap that you will want
to see at least one photo of the child you will be sending too. Thank
you.
This will be an open swap this year, YES, this is the second year doing this and last year was very successful and fun, but last year we did it as secret partners, but I really enjoyed getting to know the lady who was making for my kids since I assigned partners I knew who had me and she of course knew she had me and it was really nice and simple for her to ask me more questions about the kids. SO technically this is for our kids it will still be a big surprise for them and that is what it is all about.
What we will be Swapping:
1. You will make one
medium SEWN item, ie. pillowcase, dolls, hoop art for the wall, purses, bags,
on the go art bag, etc.
2. Now lets include our kids and make something together, that doesn't cost money. If your child wants to learn to sew maybe a mugrug with your scraps. Or for example last year one of the participants had their grandkids make Christmas tree ornaments together, it looked like so much fun.
3. Okay
now we will spend money, $5-$10 , purchase a small gift item and have it
nicely wrapped for the child, this is a Christmas swap, in fact try to
wrap all the items, this item can be a few things adding up, say a
small toy and candy. I will leave the price set up to you guys to discuss I know last year I really wanted to buy my partners daughter something that cost $10 but since I set the cap at $5 I didn't want to look like I was trying to show off or something so instead I limited, so please discuss this with your partner.
4. Send
some information about where you live, a post card is good, or maybe a
magazine clipping, so they can see where in the world their gift came
from.
5. For EACH child you sign up for you will also send a FQ
(Fat Quarter, or same amount of scraps) for the sewing/swap addicted
Mama/Grandma/Man.
Okay, got it, 3 gifts PER child, you
sign up to swap with 2/3/4 children you will be partnered with someone
who has 2/3/4 children and you will be sending 3 items to EACH child.
You don't have to send a postcard to each child, but the gifts need to
be separated AND labeled, but of course can be shipped in the same
package. The only time this is not the case is if you sign up for just
swapping for 1 child and then you send 3 gifts to just that one child
and one FQ for the mama. For each child you sign up for you will be
sending 1 FQ (or equal amount) of fabric to the mama, (hey I also like
presents too!), sign up for 1 child/1 FQ, 2 children/2 FQ's, 3
children/3 FQ's, 4 children/4 FQ's.
How do I sign up?
Please send me an e-mail at grecomara at gmail dot com and in the subject line write how many children you want to swap with. I have 2 children but this year I will only be doing this for one, my daughter really appreciates all things handmade, I can't say the same thing for my son he just like to play with bottlecaps, his military men and things he finds for free, lol.
I will send you a link for filling out a Google form, sign ups are open from August 25th to September 4th, I have extended the sign up till September 9th a Friday and will send out partners over the weekend.
Shipping Time
Please have International gifts shipped by November 20th, for same country still try for an early shipping date, but I will put the shipping date at December 11th. RULES: Very important and I am a stickler to rules and will
contact you via e-mail if I feel you are not participating correctly or
following the rules, you will have 5 days to respond to me and if not
you will be dropped from the swap. I will also try you on IG, 5 people got dropped last year, but everyone got presents and it was a wonderful Christmas! Got it okay!
You must make a post/mosaic
about your childs/childrens desires and loves before signing up, I love
using Pinterest, but you can also write a blog post or make a mosaic and
let your partner know about these options via a picture or post to your
OPEN IG account and use the hashtag #4kidschristmasswap2016 I have written a Flickr post on how I like to do my mosaics here.
I did Katerina's this year with PicMonkey, it allowed me to do her favorite colors in each box, cool huh!
Post a fabric
pull or a pattern design/ free tutorial idea that you think would look
wonderful for the child you are making FOR by September 25th.
I
want to see a progress shot by October 25th, this is important, if I
don't see anything by this date, I will give you five days to contact me
(I will be contacting you, trust me) and if you do not contact me with
some kind of communication (really I am open with the communication,
e-mail, IG DM, or just even a comment on one of my pictures to let me
know where you are at in this swap) you will be dropped!!!
SHIP
DATE: International shipping date is November 20th. Same Country ship
date: December 11th. We want these packages to arrive before Christmas,
so if you can ship early please go ahead and do so and let me know (@mara.creates) know when you have shipped. Thank you.
Please,
Please if you can respond/heart/comment on at least 3/4 or 2/3 of the
photos shared to the hashtag, input, praise, and
friendship is greatly appreciated in this swap. I will really love this
to happen and if you feel you have an especially quite partner, please
inform me and I will give a friendly nudge to them so they can
participate in this fun for the kids swap!!!
Are you ready!
You are making something beautiful for a kid!
Please make sure that what you are sending to this child is of a quality that you would like your child to receive.
Trim away all threads, ensure that all thread ends are tied off, sunk in. (a real pet peeve of mine, come on, how easy is this)
That
all seams are finished and stitched in properly. (kids are really hard
on their stuff, and this is very important, they can't be constantly
warned to be careful)
Have FUN! And include your own children as you see fit!
Send me an e-mail at grecomara at gmail dot com
Also be sure to follow me on IG @mara.creates
I love making these Hexagon Fabric Tray's, they are a quick and easy sew up project. The tutorial for how to make them can be found on A Spoonful of Sugar Blog! Her hexagon tray template makes the small sized hexagon, the large size comes from my article in The Make Modern Magazine Issue 8 for my Hexagon Pouch.
My kids and I sewed up these pouches, again another fairly simple sew.
For the medium sized hexagon I just made a template in between my large hexagon and A Spoonful of Sugar small hexagon shape (I will try to have links to both the large size and medium size below, but I am not very computer literate when it comes to doing that kind of thing) The large hexagon measures 5" on each side, it works great with layer cake's, the medium size is 4" on each side.
My kids think that an elf comes in the night to fill up the advent calendar, this is what he has been bringing, chocolate coins and Rabbids figurines, and a few markers.
We also have this beautiful wooden tree, that is decorated with small ornaments, the kids love putting them on and taking them off, and yes we are already missing 2, I'm sure I will find them eventually.
This gorgeous fabric advent calendar that can be used year after year and that I will pass down to my children so they can use it for my some day grandkids is a pattern from Anne Boundy of Said with Love. More pictures can be found here.
I will be working on a way to get the PDF file up for the larger and medium sized hexagons, if you want them immediately send me an e-mail, grecomara at gmail dot com I am able to forward the pattern since it is a friend you made it up for me in the first place, see not so good with the computer.
Linking to QuiltShopGal for the #NightsBeforeChristmasParty
Hello Everyone, From the title you probably guessed I am getting ready to Celebrate Christmas Early! And I am so excited that it is only 3 months away, can you believe it? Are you ready to celebrate? Do you have a hand made Advent Calendar to help you celebrate, or would you like to make one?
This is the Advent Calendar created by Anne Boundy of Said With Love.
Anne is hosting a Sew Along to make your own Advent Calendar, it is a relaxed Sew Along and there is no pressure, but I know I will be so excited to hang mine up on December 1st, here are the dates for the Sew Along.
Our Sew Along Schedule
26th September – purchase the pattern (a PDF will be emailed to you), select your fabric and start cutting 3rd October – start making the pockets 10th October – finish all the pockets (there are 25 of them to make!) 17th October – make the tree main section and borders 24th October – sewing on the buttons 31st October – catch up 7th November – quilting and binding 14th November – round up of the sew along If you are on Instagram you can show your progress with the hashtag #SWLAdventCalendarSAL
I must admit my favorite part was decorating the tree, it went from this
to this.
added some buttons on the tree with metallic thread and little puffed up presents underneath.
The big buttons were fun to put on too, especially with my button pins, haha.
Taking photos of it was hard, since it does come out to a fairly large size, I had to stand on a chair in order to get a full picture of it and our little stray kitty was wondering just what I was doing.
I have it all packed up right now and can't wait for the next 68 days to pass so I can hang it up properly.
I was a pattern tester for the Said With Love Advent Calendar, but I do love this pattern, it is charm pack friendly and you use all of the little pieces of fabric, and this will be a family treasure. Are you going to join us in the Sew Along? You can find the pattern here.
First let's talk about the Dies that I am cutting from my Gemini, I had no idea how delicate and awesome they are, and they cut out so well. The Thanks on the left is just 1 paper cut, but I followed Jennifer McGuire Ink example of gluing several layers together (which is harder than she makes it look) and the Thanks on the right is 4 layers! It looks so different from the 1 layer.
The first one is using the diecut Thanks along with some Diecut Fabric Washi trees, that I sell in my Etsy shop.
I sell red fabric washi Christmas trees in my shop as well.
For my second card I wanted to experiment with the Thanks and used the Nuvo Aqua Shimmer and Ranger Glossy Accents, this technique is something I will need to work on, hehe.
This is also using fabric washi from my shop I was inspired by a Christmas pillow I saw on Pinterest.
