16 loves {December 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.

Obviously, this is late for the last {16 loves} of the year. But I thought it would be great to finish off the 2016 series so that tomorrow, I can kick off the new list for the new year!

one

 We had daily posts up at The Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog during December on the theme of A Counterfeit Kit Challenge Christmas Carol. I loved having a variety of ideas on the blog written by the wonderful Master Forger team. I'm behind on checking out all those yummy ideas but with the amount of Christmas paper and products I have, I'm determined to use some of that inspiration over the next few months.

two

Being a part of the Scrapabilly Advent Swap always puts me under pressure to up my game and produce pretty packages for everyone including elements that they can use for their December albums if they wanted. Overall, I was pleased with the outcome.

three

And this was my bounty that I took home with me at the end of the evening when we swapped all our gifts. It was so lovely to have a gorgeous little gift to open each day. Everything features on a scrapbook page that I made for Simple Scrapper for February so I'll be sharing that soon.

four

We enjoyed a Feuerzangenbowle (flaming mulled wine) with friends which is always cosy, delicious and a great sign of cooler days and longer nights.

five

I woke up on my birthday to blue skies. It certainly doesn't happen every year, but more often than in the past. My spirits were instantly lifted and I set out for an adventure filled day with a smile on my face.

six

I headed down to Cologne for some much-deserved me time which included a gazillion calories at Törtchen Törtchen - a wonderful patisserie. We'd seen it featured on TV and a birthday which was going to be spent alone seemed a perfect excuse to go and check it out. It tasted even better than it looks here.

seven

I wandered around the Christmas market outside the Cologne Cathedral at the end of the day and, as always, marvelled at the beauty of this incredible place. I take photos every time I go and never get bored of this view.

eight

Then started a period where we had three different visitors over the next three weekends - Christmas Markets were visited, I went back to Cologne twice, we ate a lot, chatted all the time and laughed till we cried. First up was my camera-shy mum but we wandered around Cologne and went on a mission to track down the Love Lock that the Chances had left on the Hohenzollernbrücke. And we found it which was such a thrill. 

nine

I created an Advent candle decoration which ended up being my only Christmas decoration and enjoyed lighting the candles each weekend.

ten

Another weekend, another trip over to Cologne to show my delightful scrappy friend Kathy the sights of the city and all of the pretty Christmas Markets. It was such lovely day and as the lights went down it just got prettier and prettier.

eleven

I took Kathy over to meet Sylvia and marvel at the Scrapabilly shop. I love being able to bring different corners of my life together. 

  

twelve

Having Kathy for a long weekend was a good excuse to check out some other markets which I've heard a lot about but never made it to. Raesfeld moated castle market was a success and I'm just so happy that we got the chance to hang out together and that I had the chance to show off my adopted homeland.

thirteen

Somewhere just a few kilometres down the road, but where I'd never actually been, seemed the ideal place to just spend a few minutes watching the sun go down. A perfect end to a perfect day.

fourteen

And then my bestie came along and we just enjoyed hanging out. We didn't really do much except catch up and even though we planned to get some photos, managed a big fail on that. We have a handful but as you can see, not the best. It doesn't matter, this sums up our friendship!

fifteen

Love that Google had this beautiful Arctic banner on this day - it was animated and simply gorgeous. This made me smile.

sixteen

And a favourite layout I made with the December Scrapabilly Kit des Monats featuring a birthday selfie. Always a good time for a little self-reflection. And, excuse me? Constellation paper??? It had my name all over it. I loved making this page. You might still be able to get your hands on one of these kits featuring Pink Paislee "Moonstruck" collection here. But if not, then you can get papers and embellishments in the collection at Scrapabilly here. I'm late sharing my December makes so I'll try to catch up on that soon

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 {November 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.

This time, they are all experiences I've had this month and in date order too. I hope you'll forgive a little self-indulgence!

one

This one does not offer kisses and cuddles very often. Especially to an auntie she rarely sees. So I was thrilled that my Lilifee wings, wand and sticker book was a suitably good enough present to warrant such a show of affection!

How can it be that she's four already?

two

Yes, I think the wings were a success. She insists on wearing them the whole day we had together looking around Rotterdam when I headed over there to see my sister. What a thrill for me and what a cutie she is.

three

What more can I say - I adore the colours of autumn. Trees like this make my heart sing.

four

I headed down south again for the long 1st November weekend and we stumbled upon this simply gorgeous water tower which has been turned into apartments. Now the really freaky thing is that my baby brother had a German work experience exchange some years ago and stayed down in the city of Worms, working in the architect's office who planned the conversion work. This was long before I'd even heard of the name of the city and I didn't even remember the connection until he reminded me. We kept meaning to find the tower and then one day, took a wrong turn and there it was.

five

I wandered around the Jewish cemetery, Heiliger Sand, early in the morning and discovered the most beautiful light and scenery that I could have imagined. This is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe dating back more than 1,000 years and it felt like stepping back in time. A perfectly wonderful, peaceful start to the day.

six

Somebody won't allow me to take a photo nor to post it, so this one will have to do. I'm not quite sure what has caused the hunchback I appear to have developed but for now, I'm happy with this one.

seven

The palace in Karlsruhe. A great panorama but one that doesn't fit on the blog too easily. Unfortunately, it was heavily bombed in the war and is no longer open as a palace to view, although it now houses the Baden State Museum - something for another time perhaps. But this walk down memory lane for him and a catch up of his history for me was a lovely day out.

eight

The weather is cold enough for a coat and a thick scarf. Yes, this also makes me happy.

nine

I wore my Remembrance Day poppy with pride. As I try to do each year. I was mortified to realise that I'd missed my two minutes of silence at 11am and just made sure I made that time later in the day, on my own, with time to think.

ten

The 1st Essen Light Festival took place and some of the lit up buildings were right in the area where we live which was lovely. All too short at just a week, it was great to see the lights changing and to hear the soft splash of water in the ponds, installed especially for the light festival. A light show to check out again next year for sure.

eleven

My first TNL which is always to be celebrated. Even without the appropriate red cups. Hopefully, they'll soon hit the shops but the red sleeve was a good starting point.

twelve

I miss Bonfire Night in the UK a lot. It's really something I can't copy over here - I think the city might be a bit annoyed if I just built and lit a huge bonfire on the public green outside our flat. So an English Guy Fawkes Night dinner party was the next best thing. It was a great success and beef wellington is now a family favourite.

thirteen

I'm not going to discuss the US election, the result or my feelings about it. But this picture goes a small way in describing those feelings. 

Part of my month of selfies which isn't going so well. There might be half a dozen or so at the end of the month.

fourteen

I was invited to a lovely, girlie, birthday celebration and I broke out my pretty Cadbury purple shoes and matching bag. Forgot the selfie of me with going-out make-up (a rare sight these days) but seemed to remember to take a shot of the shoes. That's the way I'm rolling these days.

fifteen

I'm thrilled to be part of the Scrapabilly Advent Swap again this year. With a limited budget and the fact that I'm just not that crafty at making items for my presents, I tend to cover up the lack of content by going all out on the packaging. I think they turned out well. The ribbon is actually gold and not green as it looks in this photo. Swapping this week. 

sixteen

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Just a couple more days until the Christmas Markets open. With lots of visitors in the next few weeks, I think I'll be going here for poffertjes and a tipple more often. 

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 {October 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.

A day late for this because of my really über-late posting of the September version!

one

Loving the autumn skies these days. #watchmesmile

two

Found this on Pinterest and it spoke to me. I need to get to the coast before the year is done. I especially love the seaside out of season. Maybe my love for that "sharp salty smell of the air" is due to me coming from a city that's just about as far from the coast as you can get in the UK!

Pinterest find - source here

three

The October Scrapabilly kit features the Posh collection by Simple Stories and the layouts practically made themselves - such a pretty selection of papers and embellishments which I hope to share in the next week.

This detail of a page about the wine festival I mentioned in the 16 loves {September 2016} features a pocket full of pretty beads and sequins. I was inspired by something I'd seen online (sorry, just a layout in passing and no reference taken so I can't give credit). 

four

Google informed me that it was 358 years since tea was first advertised in the UK. Fun facts that no-one needs to know!

five

I'm back on the treadmill. Again. Got to do something to get rid of this mid-life flab and this appears to something that might work.

six

There are some gorgeous autumn/thanksgiving decorating ideas in this post over at diys.com but this is my favourite! Not that I think I want real antlers as part of my table decoration but isn't it gorgeous!

seven

*sigh* autumn leaves just make me happy #watchmesmile

eight

I've heard a lot about the concept of hygge recently - it's part of what makes Denmark one of the happiest places to live apparently. This Pinterest find was interesting, as was the BBC article about hygge here.

Found via Pinterest - YesandYes.org

nine

There was a challenge prompt last month at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog for us to be inspired by Kate Spade. My wonderful scrappy bestie Pam introduced me to Kate Spade and her wonderful colours so I instantly printed out these photos to make into a layout only to realise that I need to use my NYC kit rather than a CKC one. Not to worry, they will be turned into a layout sometime soon.

ten

Happy mail all the way from the US. Another sweet package of happiness from my mint-green-washi friend Coda Kathy! She's visiting at the end of the year, and I'm excited to show her a bit of my part of the world!

eleven

A recent Whimsical Musings prompt asked us to be inspired by flamingos (WM#231). I was rather surprised at just how many items I found featuring flamingos in my scrap stash. Making a page proved easy and simple but I'm going to have to make a full album full of flamingo pages if I have any hope to getting through it all! There's even more than in this photo. Oh well, time to get creative.

twelve

Another journey south to the city of Worms meant some more local sightseeing. Speyer proved a lovely town and one to head back to again some time. The beautiful cathedral, which is the largest Romanesque church in Europe, is a highlight and it simply shone out on this gorgeous, sunny afternoon. 

thirteen

Simple food with a glass of local wine seems the perfect choice when you're in the Rhineland wine country.

fourteen

And on the road again to visit my adorable sister and her sweet family who are staying in the Netherlands for a few weeks at the moment. We headed out to Delft which is just gorgeous - I'm such a fan of Dutch culture and their pretty towns. It was a fun day - baby P wasn't so impressed by the look of it.

fifteen

Little P didn't really want to have much to do with me but even she couldn't resist this blue heart piece of art in Delft. 

sixteen

Further to my quote about being busy in my 16 loves {September 2016}, this short BBC podcast series about the same topic seems rather appropriate. I say I'm busy all the time. Apparently, that means I'm one of the least busy people around. Food for thought.

Find the podcast series 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

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