16 loves {July 2016}

Welcome to the next in the series {16 loves} for 2016.

For the last few years, I've been sharing my loves each month - a little bit of everything that has caught my eye or been enjoyed over the last month. So, a new year and new inspiration. I hope you will come back each month to see if there is anything in my list to inspire you. 

To see what's inspired me in the past, click to find all my {13 loves}, my {14 loves}, my {15 loves} and my {16 loves}.

I hope there's something in here to inspire you or maybe just make you smile.

one

My Counterfeit Kit Challenge July kit, Scooped, is one that I just love. I made a layout a few days ago that doesn't look anything like this photo (b-sides) but that's the joy of my kits. I hardly do any scrapbooking without a kit these days!

two

On 29th June, I travelled down to Cologne... THIS never fails to take my breath away. The Cologne Cathedral must be one of the most beautiful anywhere. Love it.

three

The reason I was in Cologne was to meet up with fellow Master Forger, Julene! What a thrill to get to know someone from the opposite corner of the world! We had a fun few hours together while I showed her and her friend around some of the main sights before before we had lunch, including a glass of the infamous Kölsch. So great to meet her.

four

She came bearing gifts. So sweet of her and that bright pink, butterfly printed scarf has my name all over it.

five

I have to get myself a jar of this. Just so delicious - pepper marinated in salt. 

AJ Schaub Spices here

six

There's a discussion going on in the Master Forger FB group about blogging and how it seems to be going out of fashion. For several of us, that seemed sad. I don't get around blogs as much as I'd like to recently and when I do, I tend to binge read and comment, but I do love seeing and reading a bit more in a blog post than over on Instagram (as much as I love IG!). 

S at Snaps and Snippets is one of my favourite stops when I have time, and she never fails to make me smile when I do. 

Snaps and Snippets here

seven

I spent a weekend in the German town of Worms (pronounced Vorms!) and it has an incredible Romanesque St Peter's Cathedral complete with later redesigned Baroque alter and choir. Impressive for such a small town. This is the site of the Edict of Worms - where Luther was declared a heretic. So much history, you could literally feel it when you walked in. 

eight

And the surrounding villages have pretty sights such as this. I'm planning to go down again to drive around to some of the many, many vineyards you can find in the area. 

nine

Another winning collection by Shimelle, Go Now Go. I love travel themed products - which is ironic now that I don't travel as much as I used to! - and this one looks like a great mix of designs, colours and elements. Everyone's going crazy for the puffy heart stickers but I just love the overall look and feel of this. I hope that I'll be able to get my hands on it when it comes out.

Shimelle for American Crafts - Go Now go

ten

This Moonlight collection by Kesi'Art was a no-brainer for me. I just had to order it. I love it. Look at those constellations and moon designs. 

eleven

Not really something that's inspiring me. Rather something that's making me mad. Brexit happened. Unexpected by all. The UK's future is somewhat uncertain. My response? A glass of wine and some time to reflect.

twelve

I have lovely students! At the end of a set of lessons, one group made the trek to the local English shop in Dortmund to pick up some British supplies for me - shortbread, orange marmalade, tea, a copy of OK! and of course, a Union Jack. The gesture touched me greatly.

thirteen

The Scrapbilly kit in July was full of Carta Bella Beach Day products and as soon as I saw the pineapple paper, brad and washi tape, I knew that I had to make this page at last for the Whimsical Musings WM#167 prompt. 

fourteen

I had some fun preparing a batch of flair for something special - and secret - ...

fifteen

... which then found their way into the post and across the miles...

sixteen

As I write this, it's the 15th, which marks my 15th anniversary of moving to Germany. A selfie was called for and the page to mark this milestone will be made. I feel like I've aged a 100 years since I first arrived but I am very much at home here and love it. 

I’d love you to share your own {16 loves} lists with me. Why not link up in the comments below?

{16 loves} is a series that will feature on my blog each 16th of the month

16 loves {April 2016}

Welcome to the next in the series {16 loves} for 2016.

For the last few years, I've been sharing my loves each month - a little bit of everything that has caught my eye or been enjoyed over the last month. So, a new year and new inspiration. I hope you will come back each month to see if there is anything in my list to inspire you. 

To see what's inspired me in the past, click to find all my {13 loves}, my {14 loves}, my {15 loves} and my {16 loves}.

I hope there's something in here to inspire you or maybe just make you smile.

one

One of the things I miss most about the UK is the wonderful BBC so I'm very happy to have the chance to download literally dozens and dozens of podcasts each week to keep me in touch with the great programmes available on BBC Radio 4. This documentary presented by German comedian Henning When (link here to listen) "This Is Me Totally Sausage" is one of the funniest views of the difference between the British (and their language) and other cultures and languages I've heard in a long time and goes a long way to describe why we are "different". It's something I've recommended to my students who are getting to grips with the language and the culture. I laughed out loud several times as I recognised several British-ims that I use with my own German husband. No wonder people can't understand us!

PS. This is me totally sausage makes perfect sense in German - ha ha!

two

I know I say this every month, but this salad is a must for me to try in the next 30 days.

Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

three

Love this layout by Magda Mizera for My Mind's Eye. All those neutrals with the hint of yellow is so appealing. 

Magda Mizera for My Mind's Eye 

four

I went back to the UK for a few days over Easter and dropped in on beautiful Cambridge. When I lived there, I didn't have a camera nor did I do any sight seeing whatsoever so I took the chance to grab a few shots to remind myself of just how lovely it is. Of course, the friends I caught up with while I were there were more important but I have a terrible memory right now and forgot to take photos - yes, I dare to call myself a scrapbooker!

five 

And I stopped by my wonderful schoolfriend Geraldine who runs Gerry's Cakes - amazing!. She rustled up some cupcakes for me and R which were delicious. Once again, I have photos of cakes but not of the two of us :-(

 

six

But I didn't forget to capture my gorgeous nephew and cheeky niece...
 

seven

And my beautiful niece... I miss them all so much.

eight

Next up, I headed "up north" to meet fellow Counterfeit friends Jemma and Lesley. It was simply wonderful to meet them both and cement our online friendship in real life. Hope to do it again sometime soon.

 

nine

Jemma gave me a cute selection of eyelets so that I can complete Whimsical Musings prompt WM#203 which features eyelets. Now I just have to get them onto a page. If only there were time to do more scrapbooking!
  

ten

Even though I tried to get all 4 of my siblings into one photo, I failed miserably and had to content myself with my two handsome brothers who make me feel both small and old! It was so lovely to see them and spend a little time with them. Hope to get all five of us in a photo next time.

eleven

English niece #3 was horribly camera and aunty shy this time around so I will leave you with two photos of sweet niece #4 who doesn't have any choice but cuddle up with Aunty L and have her photo taken! 

twelve

This might be my favourite. 

thirteen

There's somethng about the bold border, the stitching and the layers on this layout which I adore. Another one for me to think about lifting. 
 

Pinterest source here

fourteen

I was delighted to see my layout featured on the cover of the Simple Scrapper membership magazine, Spark this month! What an honour. It's a fabulous Creative Team to work for and a really super membership to be a part of. You can find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to encourage you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, at Simple Scrapper here.
 

fifteen

Happy mail this week thanks to sweet Susan over at Little Things Big Days. I had been admiring all her confetti layouts and look at the delicious goodies she popped in the post for me. My scrapbooking friends are really fabulous and I truly treasure each and every one.
 


sixteen

Sometimes I just need to remember this.

Pinterest source here

I’d love you to share your own {16 loves} lists with me. Why not link up in the comments below?

{16 loves} is a series that will feature on my blog each 16th of the month

15 loves {August 2015}

Welcome to the next in the series {15 loves} for 2015 based on the original concept by my beloved friend, Pam, back in January 2013. I shared my loves (mostly late) all through 2013 & 2014 and now it's time to see if I can continue the series through 2015. I hope you will come back each month to see if there is anything in my list to inspire you. You can see all my {13 loves} {here}, my {14 loves} {here} and now all my {15 loves} {here}

I hope there's something in here to inspire you or maybe just make you smile.

one

Still on the flamingo trend, I found a beautiful set of free printables on Pinterest. I was wondering whether I should print my three favourites (including this one) and get them framed to hang in my room until the next trend comes along!

Find these and other printable here

two

And another trend is of course pineapples. I thought this little stamp was quite cute but I bet my super creative friend, Pam, could whip one of these up in a matter of minutes. I'm wondering if I should give it a try or just buy one...

TalktotheSun etsy shop here

three

The main highlight of the month was a visit to Germany by the ever delightful Lynette! She came over here on her way through to Poland and stopped for three days. We had an amazing time together and chatted and giggled our way through two countries and a very full itinerary.

Here we are on the first day in Amsterdam taking a canal trip. This girl is so sweet. Loved having her here.

four

While we were in Amsterdam, we we around the Royal Palace which I hadn't done before. I fell in love with the main hall with globes, maps, constellations, star signs and even a magnificent statue of Atlas holding up the globe on the wall. Just beautiful. But spotting this on the floor made my day for sure. 

Made me smile - you know how I feel about being a Scorpio.

five

On day two, we just had to stop in at Sylvia's wonderful shop, Scrapabilly, to introduce Lynnette to the joys of having an incredible LSS within easy driving distance. I know I'm spoilt in more ways than one and it was great to see my two scrappy friends chatting away. This hobby breaks down language barriers and connects people in a very special way. 

six

And then it was all over too soon and I had to take her back to the airport. We were so sad to say goodbye but really so happy to have had the chance to spend this quality time together! Until next time.

seven

So true! 

I have four beautiful, adorable, gorgeous nieces...

eight

Feeling a bit adventurous after my trip to London last month and my travels around with Lynnette, I spotted this bookbinding workshop by Paige Evans down in Munich. I'm also feeling a little uninspired with my scrapbooking recently and decided to really brave and do something I've never done before! 

Find out about the workshop here

nine

I'm always pinning. This is gorgeous. One to lift in the future!

Malane at Studio Calico

ten

There was a long summer break for our weekly crops at the Scrapabilly shop and we all missed it! So on the first night we were all together again, there had to be Sekt (sparkling wine) and ice-cream on the cards to inspire our paper snipping.

eleven

Gorgeous. 

Pinterest source here

twelve

We also had a short weekend break to the beautiful German port town of Hamburg. Our hotel was a former water tower and funky inside and out!

Mövenpick hotel - Hamburg

thirteen

On the first evening, we discovered a fabulous fish restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. It was just want we wanted - good food, cold champagne and a great atmosphere.

Jellyfish - Hamburg

fourteen


Hamburg Rathaus (Town Hall) is stunning and this time around (I've visited the city once before), I made sure to catch a guided tour around the official rooms. It was worth the wait.

Hamburg Rathaus

fifteen

To be honest, the main reason we were in the city were a pair of tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera. A stunning performance and a wonderful weekend.

I’d love you to share your own {15 loves} lists with me. Why not link up in the comments below?

{15 loves} is a series that will feature on my blog each 15th of the month