to a new and very happy year!

.

i made my annual account

and it was almost as awful as i thought it would turn out

but your orders (especially around Christmas time) 

put a silver lining to an otherwise disastrous calculation

but i guess this is what working freelance is about

you have to wait if it takes off or stop it

not stopping yet

maybe the new year gets better

.

found a sleepy lady bug in the TINY BOUQUET #28 NEW YEARS EVE

this certainly means best of luck

the flowery wall painting is the only pretty thing

in this suburb i live in

and it fades away more each time i walk by

.

a little package from TI made me very happy

next to a wonderful smelling tiny wreath 

there is a small vintage stamp saying "gold"

it´s so lovely - thank you so so much!

.

BUCKWHEAT BUTTER COOKIES with white chocolate

.

i´m so lucky to have met all those lovely and kind people

with a little help of this blog in 2012

so this makes up for a financially bumpy road

thank you for all your support

you are the best!

this morning i finished the last orders and put them in the mail
such a busy week
with so many surprises in my mailbox
some waiting under the tiny pine Christmas tree
some opend right away - like RIKEs wonderful package
a tiny tree to stamp my wrapping paper and a wreath stamp (she knows me so well...)
thank you all - i´m over the moon!!!
.
can´t wait to open this beautiful little box from OLGA
presents for my sisters and myself
.
finally got to make JULIEs berberis candy
it´s delicious
(thank you for the recipe and the ingredients)
. 
whoever designed this fun moon cookie cutter
is a great artist, it´s my favorite
.
now i want to wish everybody a lovely Christmas time
may it be merry and bright
i´m going to white torture my sisters with my Holiday samplers now
(since i started to watch Homeland a few days ago i know how it´s done
additionally i´ll turn up the radiators real high - they are not used to this warmth
since they have to heat with coal)
for making me buy my own Christmas gifts
.
some things i liked:

CHOCOLATE SEALED CAKES

a FLORISTS HOME
a CARVEN JACKET (not available in my size...)
DECEMBER ROSES (Saipua again - can´t help it)
Rike´s HANDMADE post

have you seen the wreaths over at SAIPUA - aren´t they most beautiful?!
HERE is a tutorial

now the one from the last post has to go to therapy because of self esteem issues

.

got a lovely surprise package form NINA

(will show you what´s actually in there some other time)

but the bees wax candle alone made me very happy with its lovely smell

(also: golden raffia and a wooden mold with a squirrel looking like a monkey)

.
she also found a recipe for tiny SNOWBALLS
the big ones are from MILAS DELI
very delicious and both gone in an instant
.

and i have to thank you for your orders

yesterday i had to tape my fingers to bear a few hours of filing

next to a wood burning stove

having quite some trouble to get the workshop warm

since someone forgot to fire it up in time...

.

my work area looks kind of weird

it´s kind of makeshift but awesome

since i work standing not sitting

and W built it with all kinds of found things
.
the sun comes out
and makes my vintage glass walnuts shimmer golden in the light
.
have a lovely advent weekend everybody
.
two gift guides i like: 
EVENCLEVELAND

MISS MOSS

today, a year ago, my grandmother died

the way she always wanted, almost in an INSTANT

gone so fast

.

now my goal is to always make her the most beautiful WREATH (in her opinion)

on the whole graveyard

this one turned out a bit too monutonous for my liking

made of her favorite berries, cuttings from her yew tree (poisonous, but soft and easy to work with)

and some flowers i dried after shooting them in a VASE

(a good excuse for being a severe flower hoarder)

next time i need to get a bit more adventurous

.

a quite unusal christmassy picture of her

dressed up as St. Mary

although at that time she was kind of a wild tomboy

with a even wilder nickname - Waldl

playing the guitar, winning ski races and all
.
we miss her very much
there is so much i want to show her
.
since we gathered so many twigs and berries
i made an other wreath - for the living
don´t know where to put it yet
.
 either my mum gets it or i find a place in my flat for it
there´s not much room left
since i went overboard with all the decorations
that was what i wanted to do when it happend last year
and i think she would have liked it
.
cold and snowy






 

now i´m - allowed to listen to tacky Christmas songs
and decorate the kitchen (birch wreath inspired by NINA)
.
since it´s getting quite cold
i try really hard to lure the little black ones into the house
but they are not very adventurous
even though they do not like the snow
.
it´s also time to make a (lot of) wish(es)
so here we go:
these BOOTS in black

this COAT in olive and this CARDIGAN

and since i´m literally living in those since October i might get another of these JUMPERS 
(looks good in "tan", doesn´t it)

a MEMOIR by Grace Coddington

the Sprouted Kitchen COOKBOOK

i admit it  - i do love FRIENDS

the BOOK about the Makers Project

i wish W could make this BRACELET for myself

time to come up with ideas and actually make some furniture for my bedroom and kitchen

(all i know so far is that brass and marble should be involved)
a festive KINFOLK magazine (already arrived thanks to a...)
the BLANKET from Zierrat und Gold
CHRISTMAS CARDS by Hanna Konola (swapped last year, put up now) - also JOULUKALENTERI
a closet full of these WIRE HANGERS
meals shared with sisters and friends
to be continued
probably
...
.
have a nice first Sunday in Advent