Christmas in Germany

After almost 2 years of waiting, my mom and I are finally on our Christmas Market River Cruise through Germany. We are having a great time!! We are truly 2 Christmas shoppers at heart.

After flying and enduring transfers we finally arrived in Cologne, Germany after 19 hours. We immediately went to our first Christmas market in Cologne. The picture of my mom (in the green jacket) is standing in front of one of the streets with these temporary buildings that are decorated for Christmas. At night (it gets dark at 4:30 pm) everything lights up and all the people come out to enjoy the atmosphere and the food that is available at about 2/3 of the booths. The food for them is probably similar to fair food for us. Every few steps there is a booth with hot liquor and they serve it in ceramic mugs that you pay a deposit on and the deposit gets returned when the mug is returned. They stand around these logs that are stood up on their ends with lights wired in the middle of the logs. It is really interesting. They have all sorts of handicrafts, items from China, and a few booths with Christmas decorations. They have fun Christmas foods and candies and gingerbread is big here. I purchased a number of food items for our Christmas eve feast. Wood carvers are big here and the picture of the man with the carved items in front of him is the actual wood carver that I purchased a beautiful Madonna and child from.

The ship is sailing down the Rhine and will end in Basel, Switzerland. The cruise is about 8 days long and makes stops through Germany, Strausborg, France, and Basel Switzerland. We are interested in seeing if the Christmas markets are any different in France and Switzerland. I am having fun buying gifts for the children and of course a few special items for myself.

I am sorry I haven't posted cards lately, I was so busy getting ready to leave on this trip and with Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with most of our family (Brandon and Rachel were in Kansas City with her family) and everyone helped with the Christmas decorations on Friday. I wanted to get the majority of them up before I left. I will be home Monday night and I hope to get some more cards up then along with some more pictures of our trip.

Snow is on its way!

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It snowed last night - not much but winter is definitely in the air. This cute penguin was downloaded from the Silhouette group and the cute small bell came from Hobby Lobby. I have been working hard getting ready for the next quarter classes. Here is a sneak peak of one class I am doing in January.

Joyful Greetings

Here is another card I have been thinking about a lot, finally I made it and I feel it turned out really cute. Cardinals seem to be in this Christmas and I particularly liked this paper. The card is plain inside. I am not selling these at the store, so if you would like some please email me and I will let you know the price structure.

I am getting ready to leave for a monthly work meeting and I noticed the weather is starting to change. It has been beautiful for about a week and a half with sun and 65 degree weather. The leaves are absolutely beautiful. I think we are looking at snow later this week - good for my son-in-law who is starting a snow removal business but not so much fun for the rest of us.

This last weekend was busy, we had family from Houston in town to see the BYU modern dance company perform. Of course, the best dancer ever is my niece from Houston and it was great fun watching her perform and I truly think she was the best dancer out there and for a sophomore that is really saying something!!

This weekend we are off to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the BYU football game and we are taking my daughter and her husband with us to visit all the art sites - it is a really strong art hub and my daughter being an artist, it gives her an opportunity to visit.

Well, off to my meeting - have a nice evening.

Vintage Santa

Just wanted to show the latest card that I have done. It is going to the store today for card kits. The inside reads, "Believe in the spirit of the season".

Twilight Christmas Card

I finished the Twilight Christmas card last night and I have to admit, I think it is pretty funny. I will be selling them in whatever quantities people would like (a minimum of 4). Email me at thewrightteresa@mac.com if interested!

Birthdays during the holidays

Just a quick picture of the birthday card I made for the store which will be out on Thursday. I used the new Basic Gray line and for the first time used a Basic Gray Doilie which I thought worked really well on this card. I don't love the cupcake paper but it is the cutest that we have right now and it's new, new, new. The Basic Gray Doilies are beautiful but are expensive. This Doilie worked well because it was horizontal not the all over scrolls or flowers which are difficult to use on a card. If you want a card pack held for you give the store a call at 801-294-7172. Off to work - not my normal day but I am filling in for a mom that is on a field trip.

Christmas Cards

I can't believe Christmas is already upon us! In the crafting world, Christmas has passed and we are now working on Valentine's crafts. My mind has been racing thinking about the new year and the classes I need to have ready.

I have been disappointed in the Christmas paper selection this year. The blues and pinks and lime green are all the rage except in my experience dealing with customers all they want are traditional colors. Our homes are generally decorated in traditional colors along with Christmas outfits for pictures. Graphic 45 has used the more traditional colors and this is some paper from their Christmas line. I love the vintage look of the paper. It is easy to use and we can't seem to keep it in stock at the Heartland Paper. On this card I embossed a great red and then used some older Making Memories ribbon and as you notice I used a border punch - Love those Border Punches!!!! The sentiment is stamped. I love Christmas!