thank you to milena of  von herz und hand  in switzerland! the angel, your beautiful piece of art, is home. we love it very much and have found the perfect place for it. von ganzen herzen, vielen dank.

…and my winged messengers arrived on thanksgiving day-  thank you, thank you  susanna! i am thrilled to take part in your wonderful  project!

i  have been daydreaming of the possible places they may land but until then, they are hanging above my desk, being admired.

i am conducting an artzperiment for the occasion of an art trade which is going to lilie in france.

this all started last week when tinker was goofing off after she spilled her drink  and then decided to launch an art spill  challenge  an artzperiment because she had had so much fun. interesting, i thought and it was  just in time for the art trade which is currently going around the world. 

so i brewed some sweet love as i can only drink tea at this time and sat down to start my artzperiment. the only problem was, i could not figure out how to casually, and purposely knock over my cup of sweet love. i left everything at my work table all morning and afternoon until it occured to me that i could just pick up my bag of sweet love and drop it right smack in the middle of the canvas (i hope that counts for spilling).

so the fun begins.

thank you to jenny who was kind to include me in on all the art trade fun this week! this work of art will soon be on it’s way to lilie .

thank you too to my friends who are joining in on the fun (those who considered it too) i am looking forward to all the art that i will get back in return!

hanging out with my sweetheart: playing king of the castle, enjoying orange spice tea with honey on cold, wet, afternoons

candlelit mornings:  starting cold, dark, days with a warm heart

girls night out: a friend’s brilliant idea/invitation to a bookbinding workshop evening

the weekends: staying in bed late playing and talking with my boys, i love late, slow, breakfasts with fresh bread from the bakery, i love not rushing to get the them out of the house

being let in on happy secrets: knowing plan details to a marriage proposal

~ these are just some of the simple things that have made me smile/happy this week ~

enjoy more simple things:    christina at soul aperture

simple things that make me happy

music of arthur russell

blue skies, sunshine, and a view of the alps

finding and picking wild flowers on long walks

my new mountain crystal ring from india

sound of my boys singing wenn alle brünnlein fließen, german folk song

taste of fresh spinach from my garden

diski dancing and this south african tourism advert

dulcet voice of our son when he runs into our room every morning to announce: mama! papa! ich glaube die liebe sonne lacht/i believe the dear sun is smiling! it’s the best part of waking up!

enjoy more simple things with christina at soul aperture

i am daring to play match maker! my treasure this week for vintage thursday thingies is a product of 1972, my sweet, beautiful cousin daniel  , who lives in stockholm, sweden 

because i know how wonderful he is, because i love him, because my biggest wish for him is to find true love, i am advertising him on my blog today

i’m also doing it because we live over 1000 kilometers apart- i know for sure i have at least 24 hours to plan my escape

daniel with my son, the moon in 2007

i wholeheartedly and sincerely describe him as a gentle, kind, and caring person

he is unselfish

with his time, thoughts, and words

he is honest

bold and brave about the stuff that really matters

he is genuine

his word is his bond

he has an attractive mind

very smart,  penetrating intelligence and intellectual curiosity

and his spirit is incredible

daniel and my son in 2008

daniel has lived most of his life in sweden and spent years studying in the states. he is a talented architect living and working in stockholm.  he is also a distinguished portrait artist and spends his time working, volunteering, enjoys traveling, spending his time outdoors in the nature.

i am also taking the liberty of listing requirements of what i know for sure he wants in a woman:

straight female, non-smoker, a self loving woman who is not masochisticly stuck prefering the classic bad boy

daniel is a truly nice guy which we all know can be a rare breed- who will stay nice days, weeks, months, and years after you meet him

THE GIVEAWAY!

2 sets of authentic german vintage wedding china just like my green ones- all you have to do is leave a comment- it is not necessary that you are interested in daniel . there will  be a drawing and announcement on on june 18!

but if you, or someone you know would be interested in getting to know him, meeting him, please leave a comment here and or  send me an email   for confidentiality. i would also appreciate if you link to me and spread the word

i am on a mission here….

you can find others with priceless treausres participating in vintage thursday thingies, at coloradolady 

suprise fresh snow this week after weeks of this - just in time for the moon’s birthday- perfect for a walk that lifted our spirits -

just in time for a polar festival over at be.dream.&.play - in eb’s words: create whatever comes most naturally to you -  a photo, a journal page, a painting, a story, a poem… whatever you would like to share...get more details here

a big smile, a huge hug and a thank you to dear amy (check out her wednesday whispers this week)- she awarded me the you cheer me up award last week - she perhaps has no idea that she puts a smile on my face everytime i’m over at petticoatlane- so i am re-awarding it to her and to steph, constance, corey, melanie, somepinkflowers, and the original snow queen herself eb! thank you to all of you for being genuine-for being who you are- it cheers me up!!!!

to spread love around the world, lisa oceandreamer, is hosting the 2nd annual one world- one heart giveaway today. each participant is offering up something to give away- something handmade, something special you don’t want to keep anymore, or even a charity donation in the winner’s name- all you have to do to win is leave a comment here and at all the other participants/blogs who have fabulous things to giveaway- the list is here

”chocolate doesn’t make the world go around … but it certainly makes the ride worthwhile”- anonymous

i am offering 3 pieces of delicious chocolate bars- a german, an austrian, and a swiss (not pictured above)-  click here  check out what else there is to win- have fun!!!

________________________________________________________________________

my giveaway contest is closed. it is not fair and not very nice to do this without warning but i will not be available after today- feb 10th in order to announce on the 14th- i apologize. 

at 91 comments i decided to pick 2 winners instead of one which i did using a random number generator that my darling husband programmed for me-  : )

the winners are number 9 and number 73!

congratulations to angie of quillysillys vintage paper boutique (too funny, she lives in my home state of texas) and melissa of altered faireys -   i will leave you with this quote- i wish i could remember who said it-

strength is breaking a chocolate bar into four squares and eating just one

enjoy your chocolate bars ladies!

 work of the sun                                              and the moon

here are some staying warm inside fireside creations- i present the first of the winter 2007-2008 masterpieces by the sun and the moon.

and……… 

better late, than never- i was tagged by somepinkflowers a couple several weeks ago and never got around to it- but i did not forget! here are my answers

four jobs i have had

i waited tables- which was a lotof fun- not to mention the biggest lesson: how to treat your waiter/ess. everyone should wait tables at least once in their life!

i then was a kindergarten teacher’s assistant until

i landed a research analyst position at an executive search firm where i conducted corporate research and did the foot work for recruiters

which propelled me into a technical recruiting career throughout the nineties until we started our family

today i employ myself- i provide new business development and marketing communication services in english. i incorporated myself last october and started the new year with 3 clients- not bad for a one woman show!

four places i have lived

dallas, tx

athens, greece

jeddah, saudi arabia

asmara, eritrea

four favorite foods

pico de gallo. that’s all i can think of right now- probably because it’s hard to get your hands on fresh cilantro in the winter here.

four places i have been on holiday

montafon, austria

south tyrol, italy

guadelupe mountains national park, tx

ocho rios, jamaica

four places i would rather be

nowhere. there is absolutely nowhere that i would rather be!

i am tagging traute, over at spirit’s soap art and amy at petticoatlane

bette davis

my love for the great gatsby ignited into a love of many things from this bygone era: the clothes, the silent films, the music, the dancing,  and the hair!!! ever wondered how to get 1930s fingerwaves? new zealander amy over at petticoat lane posted a “how to” last week (which i will definitely try on my big hair).  you can see more of her “i love everything retro and vintage” collections here. she also features wednesday whispers every week, my absolute favorite! it’ll take you down memory lane for sure (recently brought me memories of my holly hobbie tin lunch box i carried to school as a kid!)

word storm::tinker art

tinker serenades her art with her writing, or vice versa. which ever way it is, she is one hell of a creative writer….deeply wise, wonderfully insightful; and delightfully humourous.  i especially love what she would do if she were queen of the world.  she is also currently working on the next great american novel and i know, it will be great!

dreaming paris::shin of a mermaid

thanks to constance helping me override my blogspot problem, i was one of the three winners of a mermaid’s challenge. woooohoooo!!!  i will recieve a handmade gift prize! the challenge is to pick three people and send them handmade surprizes. so much fun!!

shin of a mermaid is a dutch artist of korean descent (very interesting) and a mother of three that currently resides in england. check out her beautiful art , and must, must, see her daily blips- no dissappointments here, she is a wonderful photographer too.

natural historie::jenny vorwaller

last but not least, queenthings is now natural historie.  wear a slice of nature! jenny in beunos aries has updated her online boutique,  you can now buy direct. one of my favorites is the geometric necklace, truly one of a kind!