Last minute Xmas post about last minute Xmas decoration

This is the first time we decorated our place for Christmas. We are never here during holidays, we normally travel to my parents, and do the festivities there. But this year we had to wait for this little guy to land under our tree:

Best Xmas present after my new Canon 50/F1.8 EF lens. (I'm so funny!:)

 Even though I had big plans for Decoration, I did not really have the time, what with being in the hospital + recovering from C-section. So, this is what we came up with in one day we were left with before Christmas.

Happy Holidays to you all! See you in the New Year!

Petra

Design your UGGS - 'Art and Sole' charitable contest - CLOSED

UGG^® Australia invites artists to unleash their creativity on a pair of signature UGG^® boots in the ninth annual 'Art and Sole' charitable contest.  The winner, chosen by the brand, will have their design produced and sold in UGG^® Australia retail stores & online across the US in 2012. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the boots will be donated to 'The Boys and Girls Clubs of America'.
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UGG^® Australia's Choice

One winner will have their design produced and sold at select UGG^® Australia retails locations in 2012. In addition, the winner will receive:

• $5,000
• One pair of the personally designed UGG^® boots
• One UGG^® bag
• Global exposure for having their design featured on UGG^® Australia’s social media channels

Voter's Choice

• The highest voted artist will receive a pair of UGG^® boots

Get Involved

Submit by: December 26, 2011
Vote: December 27, 2011 - January 5, 2012
Winner(s) Announced: January 18, 2012


Click here for more detailed Terms & conditions and to download the template you are supposed to use!

Meet photographer Camelia Pop

A few weeks ago we had our photos taken by a professional photographer, Camelia Pop. And it was AMAZING. I am so excited I get to introduce her and her work to you today of all days, because IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!

I am not a 'photo session' type of girl. I don't know how to pose and I even find it hard to smile on command (sometime I find it hard to smile, period), but I really wanted to have the whole family captured together while there is still only 4 of us (hubby, me, P. + doggy). We wanted a fall/nature session and the weather was wonderful!


So, meet my family:

US

Pavle and Bella

Mean dog - Bella

All together:)

Pavle turned out to be a real model, and he LOVED Cami, so the two hour session came to be a piece of cake.

We really enjoyed ourselves and the atmosphere was so relaxed that we didn't even notice there were people staring at us, and the furniture we brought outside to use as props.

All in all, we had a wonderful time, Cami is an extremely patient photographer. Having her own family and being a mother of two little kids she is very good with children which is in my opinion essential in order to make natural and spontaneous photography. We are definitely doing a baby session with her, very, very soon!

She specializes in baby, maternity and family photo:

Cami's own beautiful family (photographer is never on a photo:)

But she also shoots stuff like this:

These are my own personal favorites, you can check out the rest of her portfolio on her website.
You can keep up to date by liking her page on facebook.

There is also a giveaway going on there, a 2 hour photo session for girls, head on over for details.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMI!

Winners of the 2. Ready-Made Design Contest are finally announced

MiMa: DAS SEIL

malo: ABLAGE RINTINTIN

ELASTIKA: LITTLE POP MACHINE


And a tribute to:

Congrats to all!

12 Days of Holiday DIY

It isn't too late to link up! All colors can be lionked up by Dec. 18th!

Dec. 1st - GREEN - The Design Confidential
Dec. 2nd - WHITE - Domestically Speaking
Dec. 3rd - BLUE/PURPLE ~ Fireflies & JellyBeans
Dec. 4th - SILVER - Freckled Laundry
Dec 5th - GREY - Primitive & Proper
Dec 6th - SPARKLE/GLITTER - a girl and a glue gun
Dec 7th - MIRROR/CLEAR - the DIY showoff
Dec 8th - EARTH TONES - Making the World Cuter
Dec 9th - RED - Its do very Cheri
Dec 10th - GOLD - 504 Main
Dec 11th - CHALKBOARD - WhisperWood Cottage
Dec 12th - MULTI-COLOR - The DIY Club

Advent Day 3- making cookies

Sugar cookies, simple and tasty!

 

Advent calendar with kids

We are in the second day of Advent already, and yesterday Noon I still thought we will simply not have one, and that is it. I've been thinking about it a lot, but no idea seemed to striking. I just don't see the appeal of packing bags or boxes full of sweets..he gets sweets every day anyway, so nothing in it for him really.
I really loved the idea of Childrens/Christmas books advent, like this one or this one. But this is something that takes time to collect and prepare, plus..it is not cheap to buy 20 something books.
So I was clueless...

And then I was saved by MARA factory.

was founded by Mariann Máray and Blanka Radnóti, picture book illustrators.They make authentic reused and redesigned children's furniture, picture books, color books, posters, paintings, wall-stickers, toys and all-inclusive design plans for children's rooms with accessories.They also offer versatile children's programs.
In light of that they created a super cute Advent calendar online, with a   surprise download for each day of Advent.

Why I love this, because it actually gives me something to do with my son, and this is the gift he needs the most these days, what with me working like a maniac in the last couple of months, and with a little brother on the way, who will change a lot here in the hose, whether we want it or not.

So I did this:

I printed it out and stuck it behind the glass of his closet door. The pretty print above the calendar is already a Day 1.

I also printed the same numbers very small and laminated them, so he can play with them for the next 24 days without destroying them. What we do is, we take the small, laminated number (are sorted from 1-24) and we search for its big pair on the door. Each day we will open the next box in the online calendar, to see what is expecting us.







Day 2 was a coloring page. Unfortunately for the cat in the picture, P. is much more interested in cutting than in colouring these days. So here is what we managed to produce:

I am planning to make a folder for him to keep, but let's see what those other numbers will bring us!

Thank you, Mara factory!

Handmade Gift Exchange

                                                                                                 
I participated in a Handmade Gift Exchange organized by Linda from Craftaholics anonymous. She hosts it twice a year and it is fun!!! I mean, really fun, teenage kind of fun...You apply, and she sends you your partners details. Then you write an e-mail to that person and you wait, all excited, for them to reply and you wander...who is this person, who also applied to send a gift to a total stranger, just for the fun of it.

My partner in this round is Catarina from No lugar que chamo Casa... 
Linda has some extremely cool match-making skills, because Catarina and me have so much in common. Just to name two, we both live in a foreign country, and our kids (she has 2 sons, and I am expecting my second son any day now) are almost the same age. We obviously both love the handmade too:)
Catarina sent me an e-mail yesterday saying my present is on it's way. As if it wasn't exciting enough to just know you are getting a present in your mailbox one of these days, I just found she actually posted my present on her blog, and it is amazingly cooooool, so I can't wait!

Have a look at this:

It is just tooo cute!!!! And I love, love, love the color!

I posted my little package to Catarina today, (my photos from today are useless, sorry about that.) taped with handmade tape

 

and filled with this:

 and this

Not matchy-matchy as her present. And she saw this bag, because I already blogged about it here, but I am sure she will now understand why I asked her in my first e-mail if she liked yellow. I made this bag with her in my mind and I do hope she likes it:)

You can see some of the other gifts here, I think I can safely say the present I am getting is THE BEST!