Saturday 10 September 2011

Cherry Nest - School Memories

Hello from Athens (holidays are over... boohoohooo...)

Back from holidays for me... and back to school for the children these days!

What with schools starting these days, I couldn't but prepare a school related card for Cherry Nest!



Cherry nest has a new school-theme line. As soon as I saw it I fell in love with it! Once I saw the apple, I remembered an "old-time classic" phrase used at Greek schools a few (?!?) years ago, when children were learning to read. (Just in case you are wondering, it just means "Lola, here is an apple"). And the alphabet is sooo cool, I love the old typewriter feeling and the colours as well...

The Cherry Nest papers I used are:


The wise owl stamp I used is from the Paper Smooches Chubby Chums stamp set.

For the complete list of the supplies I have used, you can check the list below.

I hope you like it!

Anastasia
Supplies Pin It

Thursday 8 September 2011

LSNE Sep 7: People you don´t get along with might still surprise you in a positive way





Yeap, this is what I learned yesterday... And I really have to keep it in mind...

Tomorrow I will be travelling back home, so I won't be able to post anything...

So, until Saturday!!!

Hugs,
Anastasia Pin It

Wednesday 7 September 2011

LSNE Sep 6: The sunset is beautiful even when it's cloudy





Yesterday we finally went to see the "best sunset in Skiathos", at Agia Eleni beach.

At first I was disappointed because when we arrived it was a bit cloudy and we wouldn't see all the amazing orange and red colours of the sunset.

However, this blue-grey, and sometimes pale pink colours were amazingly serene... It was simply wonderfully relaxing in a bitter-sweet nostalgic way... Definitely different from what we were expecting to see, but such a nice surprise.

Until tomorrow,
Anastasia Pin It

Tuesday 6 September 2011

LSNE Sep 5: With exercise, every little helps






The last few months I have been trying to find a way to do some exercise I can keep - ideally being funny, not too hard, possible to do even when I'm travelling. (Haven´t found it yet...)

Until now, I "knew" that, with exercise, every little helps. There are serveral advices on that respect, such as "Use the steps instead of the elevator", "Walk 30 minutes everyday" etc... Sometimes I follow the advices, others I don´t.

I've been on holidays for 8 days now. And last night I realised that the last couple of days I had started feeling long-forgotten muscles on my arms, legs, even the abdomen. It was quite surprising and I was wondering why was that so. Then I realised - it has to be the result of my daily swimming! So, just by having fun and getting refreshed from the hot sun, my body actually started exercising without me even noticing (or getting tired, or getting bored...)

That goes to show that, with exercise, every little does help. This is something I have to remind myself everytime I go for the elevator's button...

It's one thing to "know" from what others say, and another to know from your own experience (come to think of that, this could be another learning for the day, right?)

Until tomorrow,
Anastasia Pin It

Monday 5 September 2011

LSNE Sep4: My favourite time of the day







During the first days of my holidays, I would wake up at 9am. Then, I would wake up earlier each day. Finally, yesterday I woke up at 7am!

A few years ago I would be really frustrated. After all, holidays were about sleeping until late, right?

This time, I had my first coffee and cigarette of the day in the balcony while enjoying the first light and the silence and serenity of the early morning. And I admitted to myself that this is my new favourite time of the day: really, really early in the morning, when everything is still quiet... and if that means that I'm getting older... well, who cares, right? ;o)

Till tomorrow,
Anastasia Pin It

Sunday 4 September 2011

LSNE Sep 3: Remember to laugh!






This lesson came from three people from Spain that stay at our hotel. They look like 20-someting years old and they stay just below our room. One of them has a really loud voice, which means that, whether we like it or not, we hear everything she says (both my brother and I speak Spanish). And all you can hear from her is either a criticism or a complaint about something. It´s really tiring, let me tell you (well, I can't avoid some criticism myself sometimes!).

These last three days they have been here, there are several lessons that have come to my mind. The main topics are respect and life satisfaction - or the lack of them to be precise.

However, all lessons were on the negative side and a kind of criticism themselves and I didn't feel like going there. What is more, I didn't want to remember any of the details in the future!

Then last night my brother made a comment that surprised me. While she was again critisizing a friend of theirs, George told me "have you realised that we have never heard them laughing?". I hadn´t realised that to be frank. And it made me think - people so young at age, having their summer holidays in a foreign country and such a beautiful place, you would expect them to have some serious fun, wouldn't you? Yet, in three days we hadn´t heard them laugh, not once!

So I said to myself that every once in a while I should try to remember when was the last time I had a good laugh. And if it was a while ago... then I should do something about it! Watch a funny movie, talk with a friend of mine, or even play with my cats. Something that will make me laugh!

Laugh is healthy, laugh is natural, laugh is... fun!

So please, my friends... I know some days are more difficult than others... but still... don´t forget to laugh!

Ah, I forgot to mention that inside the pocket I will add photo(s) of my favourite comedians...

Till tomorrow,
Anastasia

PS: I would also like to thank Natasa Tsouf for her tutorial on how to make blog buttons. That way I learnt about Picnik and I can retouch a bit my photos while I am on holidays (and as long as the strong sunlight in the balcony allows me!). Pin It

Saturday 3 September 2011

Exciting news!!!

This is my second post for today, with some exciting news!!!

First, I just found out that I won the August challenge in Get Creative! I am sooo happy!

And then... a new tool is launching today by Inlinkz!

Now, you may ask what this tool is about...

Have you seen the way I am linking the supplies under each of my cards? Yes, those thumbnails... You can also see an example below, where I list my favourite tools and products.

Did you ever wonder how I do it? Well, I had a little secret, but it's finally time to spill the beans.

The Link Manager by Inlinkz is a new service, a tool where you can make a pool of all your supplies and then create lists of products just by dragging and dropping. So easy and convenient to use, such a time saver!

Here is a short video by Kristina Werner that will walk you through the tool:


I also have a coupon for you if you want to try it for free:

22532560

This coupon will let you in for free until December! So go ahead, join and play around. I am sure you will love it as much as I do!

Here is an example of what you can do with Link manager: I have a list of my favourite tools and products:


Give it a try using the coupon above to see how it works... Cheers! Anastasia Pin It

LSNE Sep 2: Summer holidays...







Good morning!!!

Yesterday I learned/realised something that I am going to try to follow from now on... To have at least two consecutive weeks of summer holidays, away from home every year!

I don´t even remember when was the last time I was on summer holidays for more than a week. Probably when I was still a teenager. Be it work, financial issues, other issues - mine or my friends' -, I could never leave for more than a week. Of course, I do take two weeks off work every summer, but I would only leave Athens for a week or so.

This year I had an interesting conversation with someone who knows about these things and she told me that we need at least two, ideally three weeks of holidays to really get some rest. I was thinking of my holidays earlier this summer to Corfu - for five days. I had a really great time, but the truth is that I got back home and to work as tired as I was when I left. I had the feeling that it only lasted a weekend. On top of that, last year I didn´t manage to go on *proper* summer holidays (for me that means to a Greek island!) and I promised myself never, ever to do that again. So at the end I decided that on September I should go to a Greek island for two weeks (well, almost, actually it´s 12 days lol).

Yesterday was the fifth day of my holidays. 5. While we were having our dinner, I kept thinking that in previous holidays, by now I would be getting ready for my return, but now I still have one whole week of holidays! Really unbelievable!

And the truth is that since yesterday I feel a different kind of relaxation. I am not worried about anything, I am not thinking constantly of the day's programme as I did during the first days - "where are we going? which beach? what time? where are we going to eat? what time? when will I write today's blog post? one more day passed by and I didn´t do any crochet, when will I finish the baby blanket for my niece? etc etc etc". You get the feeling. Now... I'm just relaxing and do whatever I want to do!

Oh, and for the first time yesterday I forgot to "quickly check" my business emails... :D

So I have decided... from now on, each year I will leave for at least two consecutive weeks on summer holidays... even three if possible!

To the half-finished tag of today's learning, I will add the following picture, which is the view we have from our hotel balcony...


Thanks!

See you tomorrow,

Anastasia Pin It

Friday 2 September 2011

LSNE Sep 1: Don't be fooled by happy faces and smiles



Here's my first lesson for September 1st: "Don´t be fooled by people's happy faces and smiles. They might still feel terribly scared inside".

This thought came up talking with my pregnant friends in that last two days. Three friends of mine wanted a baby. All tree of them are pregnant now. And they have all felt, or still feel, a strong fear. What have I done? Was it the right decision? How will my life become now with a baby? And many other that you mummies will know much better than me.

Not having a child myself, but thinking of the possibility of becoming pregnant, I can understand them - in theory. Other people (including myself) are so happy for them, and they assume that they should be flying to the moon themselves... But let's never forget that behind the happy smiles there might be other strong feelings as well.

And this does not go only for pregnancies. Have you ever seen one of your dreams come true, only to feel really scared about the future and how your life might change? I sure did a few times. When I moved to Spain - a dream come true, but oh so scared about whether it was the right decision and how my life would turn out after this change. With every new job - even finding my "dream" job - but then the fears started, would I be up to their expectations? Was it going to help my career, would it be too stressful for me? I don´t say this can be compared with a change as big as having a child, but I hope you know what I mean...

It always helps to think that whenever you feel overwhelmed by fear, a few months or years later you will be thinking of that period and smile... At least this helps me.

Well, I hope I didn´t overdo it with my very first lesson! lol

Now, on to the creative part...

I prepared the basics of the day, but haven´t finished it yet. This will have to wait until I go back home in a week's time. This is what I prepared so far:




The space I had to write the day's lesson was too small. So what I thought I would do from now on is to prepare a kind of envelope for each day. On the envelope I will be writing a short phrase, the "essence" of the lesson, while inside the envelope I will explain it a bit further - not only for a better explanation, but also for me to remember where the lesson came from...

What I need to do to finish the page when I get home is:
- Prepare the date that will go to the left of the page. For this I need my Big Shot and Tim Holtz's alphabet die cut.
- Prepare the explanation part as a small tag, and a hole and a ribbon

That's it for today... I hope you like it!

Anastasia Pin It

Thursday 1 September 2011

September - Learn something new everyday month

Hello my friends!

Happy, happy September!

This year I signed up for Shimelle's online class "Learn something new everyday". In case you haven´t heard about it before, this is an online scrapbook class that encourages you to observe the world around you and learn from your daily experiences and findings.


I find the idea of journalling everyday for a month something new that we have learnt fascinating. A good exercise to focus our attention to everyday life and all the small and big things we can learn. Kind of appreciating life, if you know what I mean?

Given that I am currently on holidays, I want to commit into blogging my daily learnings everyday. However, although I have brought some basic supplies with me, I´m not sure if I can "scrap" my learnings everyday... and for sure I won´t finish the pages while on holidays, since I would need my Big Shot for the journalling days - and no, I haven´t brought that with me! lol Also, in case I do include pictures of what I have done, the quality won´t be the best possible, as I have limited capabilities of retouching the photos with the laptop I have with me, so I do apologise for the photo quality during the next few days ;o)

Now... today the class officially starts, but of course, I don´t have today´s learning yet as the day is just starting. So everyday for the next 30 days I will be posting the learning of the previous day. What I can share with you today are the preparations and the front cover I prepared one day before my holidays.

Because I want to take this "seriously" in terms of completing the whole month, I decided to keep it as simple as possible and do some preparations (which is not something I usually do I have to confess!). So I decided to work with a small tag-shaped album. I prepared the album base by cutting a 1.5mm thick cardboard with the Tags and Bookplates die cut from Tim Holtz. You can see the result in the following photos:





Then I primed the tags, as I will probably also use light-coloured papers and didn´t want them to look darker than they are...


And finally, I prepared the front page:


And that's all for now... Good month and good learnings!

See you tomorrow!

Anastasia Pin It