Latest Posts

Happy New Year’s Eve

Published by Sula H.

We’ve made it! The year 2010 is over and done with! I hope looking back, you don’t have too much to regret and a year full of great memories. My wish is that you all will have a nice time of celebrating tonight, too!

Here in China, New Year’s isn’t that big of a deal, since the “real” new year’s celebrations will take place at Spring Festival. So, while in Germany at around midnight all hell breaks lose and fireworks shoot up everywhere, nothing much usually happens here. In fact, when some of my colleagues were trying to fire up some fireworks around midnight last year, they were stopped by some considerate school guards, telling them to discontinue, because it would disturb the students in their sleep!

Luckily, we are living in the land where fireworks were invented (gunpowder). So, while in other places people are allowed to have fireworks only on New Year’s Eve, here in China, we usually can have them anytime, anywhere we want!

Happy celebrating everywhere!

Freebie Friday: Celebrate Christmas

Published by Sula H.

My favorite time of the week: Freebie Friday, and today I got a whole lot for you!

First off, my own template, based on my page “Celebrate Christmas”:

Click on the image to download.

Comes in a layered psd file. Simply open in Photoshop and clip your papers to the template.

Please don’t re-distribute this template in any way (you may share the link to this template) and when you use this template, please make sure to credit it to Misty Hilltops Designs.

Cookies 4 Kids

Also, today is the last day of the Sweetshoppe’s Cookie Exchange, so you don’t want to miss out on your final chance of getting another template for free.

Gold Sparkle Alpha

Finally, I got another sweet surprise. Eva Kipler offers a gorgeous free alpha on her website, so make sure you also grab it before it’s too late!

Well then, Happy Friday everyone!

Fun with Chinglish: City Wall Instructions

Published by Sula H.

Sign at the Xi'An City Wall

Earlier this week I told you about the city wall in Xi’An. However, if you want to go on a bike ride there, lots of things should be considered, as this sign clearly tells us!

Note: When posting anything in the Fun with Chinglish section, I don’t mean to criticize anything or anyone in any way. I’m simply sharing the fun we get to have with all those great signs!

DIY: December Daily 2010

Published by Sula H.

 

I promised you I would keep you up-to-date with my December Daily project. Well, time got the better of me, and with all the Christmas celebrations going on, there was hardly enough time for anything at all, but I did manage to get a couple of pages done, and I’m still working on some more.

 

As I told you already, it is a rather interactive book – with lots of background information about Christmas. But as there is lots to discover, I hope it won’t get my readers too bored (once it’s done).

Generally, I went for irregular page sizes. This makes assembling for me easy, because I don’t have to have each page matching perfectly. It has a really random feel to it and I’m glad I decided to do it that way.

I’ll keep adding to the December Daily photo gallery, as I get more pages done, so make sure to come back later to check it out.

Around Town: In the store

Published by Sula H.

So, guess what! I went shopping in the supermarket on campus that I always frequent today and encountered a curious thing: all the Christmas decorations were gone! Vanished! After most of that decoration had been up for over a year (or even  more?), collecting piles of dust along the way, now – just a few days after Christmas – it’s all gone! Now I don’t get to look at little Santa Clauses and Christmas baubles at Easter or in the summer holidays. But I guess, that’s a good thing, right?

Enable Me: Photography

Published by Sula H.

It’s about time that we’d talk about photography a little more. For us scrappers, photography goes hand in hand with scrapbooking – after all it’s about preserving the memories that go along with the pictures we’ve taken. So, when it comes to digiscrapping it’s not only that we want to keep improving with our graphic designs skills, but also with our photography skills. And there is a great website I’ve found that talks about

12 Ways to Add Randomness and Creativity to Your Photography
To find out more about their creative ideas, check it out here: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/adding-randomness-to-your-photos#ixzz19e03MYwG

Food Corner: Christmas Dinner

Published by Sula H.

It was the biggest meal I think I ever had in my life! (Note: I’m not saying “the most I ever ate” lol; when you eat buffet style every day, you get to learn to choose what you want to eat and what’s better to be left alone.) Still, taking into account all the weddings I’ve been to, all the other occasion where big meals are the order of the day – this Christmas dinner topped it all. Never have I seen so much food to choose from in one single meal. (I literally only ate a fraction of what was offered!)

My colleagues had taken over the kitchen and worked together to whip up this most amazing Christmas dinner. And there it was: anything from different salads, to various casseroles, to bread stuffings, rice and pasta dishes, etc. The list could go on and on. And then the desserts … How can you even try to taste all of what’s being offered!?

Over all, it was a very international mixture of food, too – since my colleagues come from all different parts of the world. Being able to only eat so much, you had to choose well and wisely, and only get tiny portions of each dish. The good news is: there was food in such an abundance that ever since Christmas day we get to eat leftovers – which means I get to taste a lot more of what was offered in the first place!

Places to Go: Xi’An City Wall

Published by Sula H.

Xi’An is one of the few cities in China where the old city walls still are visible, and in recent years they have even been restored. With a circumference of 14 km, they form a huge rectangle in the heart of the city. Each side of the wall has gateways, marked by three towers on top of the wall. At each of the four corners is a watchtower, and all along the top of the wall there are defensive towers. The wall is 12m high, 12-14m wide at the top, and 15-18m wid at the base.

Riding the Wall

In recent years, great efforts have been made to restore the wall to its former glory, and now it is accessible for visitors during the day time. The best way to explore the city wall is by renting bikes and riding all around this ancient structure. You get to enjoy a great view of the center of Xi’An and there is lots to discover along the way. There are several places on the wall that offer bikes for rent, though the time frame they give is just enough to complete the round without allowing much time to get off the bikes and explore the surroundings. Still, it’s a great way to get another perspective of the city.

Behind the Scenes: Year in Review

Published by Sula H.

It’s that time of the year again – some people call it “between the years” – when it’s good to look back on the past year and reflect. Reflect on all the good memories we made, as well as learn from the mistakes we made.

For us scrappers, there are lots of different ways to review our year and keep the memories that matter most to us. We can do double page spreads and try to fit as many pictures in as possible, we can even do single page year reviews.

Some designers offer great templates to help us scrap our pages just as we prefer them. Let me show you just a few of the products that are available on the market: