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Christmas … Almost!

Published by Sula H.

To go to the flower market, we set out today. Because, along with me, almost all of my foreign friends had decided that they needed to get new plants for their apartments. (Remember, we just had a big move into the new foreign faculty residence, and most of my friends were among those privileged enough to move into the new building.) So, we organized several vans and off we went … to turn our vans into literal jungles. And to realize that it’s Christmas. Or almost Christmas. Christmas season. For the big mall where we went first to have our lunch gave it away all too clearly. And since the Christmas season is my favorite time of the year, and because nowhere else you can see any signs of Christmas (which is usually generally the case around here), seeing all those fancy Christmas trees hanging from the ceiling and some other actually really pretty decorations was a welcome sight to me, and once again I thought what a happy thing it is that Christmas is around the corner yet once more.

Windows And Other Luxuries

Published by Sula H.

Having spent a good part of my youth in a room with windows that had a great panorama view of the surroundings and allowed the sunlight to stream in from sunrise to sunset, I always knew how important it was for me to have a home with a lot of windows. Something that most people in my home country (and certainly I in the past) take for granted – namely the luxury of having an apartment with windows – was something that I had to give up when moving recently, and it was one of the main reasons why I probably wouldn’t have moved had I had a choice in the matter. Now, I have to learn to not only live with a lot of noise and a bad smell, but also to live with a living room that has no access to daylight, which at the very thought of it seems depressing to me. I guess, this is another one of those life lessons for me (to which there never seems to be an end in my existence), and it’s a great opportunity for me to understand that there are many much less fortunate people in this world who’d wish they’d only have to deal with windowless living rooms and would consider such problems a luxury.

Thanks, dear attitude check, for helping me put things back into perspective. And I promise, I’ll try my best to keep working on that attitude of mine!

 

greeting card, autumn

Hybrid Hub: Autumn Card #3

Published by Sula H.

Thursday, lately, is always a happy occasion, because I get to share my latest card creations with you. And since autumn has everything in its grip where I live, it’s the perfect time to show you another one of my fall cards.

This little beauty is a very simple one – just plain blue paper combined with a striped one, a little accent piece added, plus a ribbon, and it’s another token of love that will make someone happy.

Supplies used: Autumn Essence by Julie Billingsley, white card stock, ribbon, white tack

Enable Me: Creating Sewing Stitches in Photoshop

Published by Sula H.

The other day, I was looking for a tutorial on how to create your own realistic looking sewing stitches, and I found this neat website HERE. Of course, for stitches you can always buy one of those element packs some of the designers put out (e.g. see Traci Reed’s, Anna Aspne’s, Erica Zane’s stitch packs, to mention just a few).

But sometimes, you want something that none of the designers offer – an odd shape, a letter, etc. That’s when this tutorial (and the actions it offers) comes in handy, so I recommend that you hop on over and check out what cadjunkie has to say about sewing stitches and photoshop.

Fighting the Screen

Published by Sula H.

Guess what happened here the other day! Suddenly there were a bunch of workers busying around the old entrance (the one we used before the new lobby was ready), and before we knew it they’d set up a big fat screen right at the wall to our residence building. First, I didn’t think much of it, but on second thoughts something dawned on me: Wait! That screen sits right on the same wall which is also the wall of my living room. And sure enough, only hours later I knew exactly what that meant: A steady stream of noise began to invade even the quietest corner of my home. And that’s also when I realized that that was in fact a really bad thing. Who wants to have constant music and noise from clips you can’t even see, but which repeat every half hour or so to pervade their home and deprave them of any peace and quiet? Not only that, but the noise from that screen outside is so loud that I can’t even hear much of my own music (or TV sound), and I realized: Oh boy, I have a big fat problem. One, which is about the size of that huge screen which should have never even been put up at a residential building in the first place.

Now I don’t just have a very smelly new apartment. But I have a very stinky, noisy new apartment – a fact that doesn’t sit quite well with me, and I’ve been thinking … maybe it’s time for people around here to learn about noise pollution …

 

Behind the Scenes: Must-Haves in My Scrap Stash

Published by Sula H.

Let me get really basic in my Tuesday Tutorial today. As my external hard drive (on which I keep all of my digiscrap supplies) has been acting up recently and I haven’t been able to access my stuff without the hassle of first having to copy what I want to use from the hd to another device before I can use it on my computer, I came to realize one thing: There are some things I can live without ready access (i.e. kits because I’ll use them once initially, and then later maybe again), and there are some digiscrap supplies that I just can’t live (and scrap) without. They are filed in my folder named “embellishments”, and include a range of different products. And while I use some of these element packs rather rarely, there are those, which I check out almost every single time I create a page (that’s not for CT purposes) to see what I can use on my layout.

Here’s a list of what I found to be indispensable additions to my scrap stash:

  1. alphas
  2. stitches
  3. brushes (paint splats, photo masks)
  4. photo pockets
  5. tags
  6. templates (for shapes, etc.)
  7. labels
  8. handwriting fonts

And while I have a lot more than that in my embellies folder (date bits, doodles, frames, paper packs, word art, to mention just a few), it is the alphas and stitches that I use more than anything else, because I find they add variety and dimension to my pages.

Maybe you could share what are the essentials in your scrap stash? (Simply leave a comment and share your thoughts.)

When Leaves Fall …

Published by Sula H.

Remember I told you about the bake sale the other day? Well, what was really sweet (aside from all the sweet treats I got) was the fact that afterward, I got to put my hands on a couple of really pretty autumn leaves. Fake, of course – they were only used for decoration – but now I get to take pictures of them, and I get to keep some of them till next fall, so I can decorate my home and give it a touch of autumn. I know that might not seem very special to you, if you live in those parts of the world where people generally keep their homes nicely decorated according to the seasons. It is a really big deal here, however, because here there is not much available for decoration that looks homey, and cozy, and natural.

Have I told you yet? I like fall. And I like when leaves fall … into my hands (even when they’re fake)!

 

Journaling Café: November

Published by Sula H.

Well, we’re well into November already, and so I thought it would be a great idea to stop and think a little about what November (aside from Thanksgiving) has in store for us. Why not journal about the day to day mundane things as well as the big milestones we experience this month? Here are today’s journal prompts:

And since I love all things Christmas, I thought I’d scrap about my anticipations concerning this year’s Christmas season. So, here’s my page:

The font used for the prompts is my own handwriting font DJB Squirrels In My Pants by Darcy Baldwin (available at the Sweetshoppe).

 

Bake Sale, Hurray!

Published by Sula H.

Bake sales are a fine thing. Especially in November; especially when the holiday season is drawing near. So, of course, we were all waiting excitedly for the bake this semester’s first bake sale. And today was the day. Armed with a big container, I joined the line of those waiting, and then we had the joy of indulging ourselves in cupcakes and cookies, in pies, and brownies, and fudges, and everything else a sweets-loving gal like me could desire.

Yes, bake sales really are a fine thing. Because you finally get eat things that normally are hard to come by here.