Dec 24
…from all of us! Hoping for a peaceful, loving, cheerful Holidays for my readers. Eat, drink, and be MERRY!
Category Archives: family stuff
May 12
Long time, no see!! Surely you suspect why the absence, even if you didn’t catch a glimpse via FB or Twitter, of what’s been happening in the Chupa household in the last few days… there’s a good reason for that, my most beautiful Mother’s Day present, little Julia.
Born on the 9th, weighing a healthy 3,7 kg, she brought a whole new meaning to my life, lots of joy and cuteness that I could just gobble up. I’m So. In. Love.
She will have all the right to steal as much of my time as she pleases, but in fact she’s been a really good girl and I’m on a good way to recovery from a C-Section and tiredness. Tonight I decided on a short me-time a.k.a. craft session, just fitting it in nicely between the feeds and the hard earned sleep time. It’s all good… I feel so blessed 
So, without further delay, let me show you a new sketch! I opted for a bit more traditional, layered approach. Not necessarily something I’d fall for if I was given to work with, but since I started with the card first and drew the sketch on the basis of the finished piece (my usual method), that’s what I ended up with. How do you like it?
I based the card loosely on the inspiration from Cloud 9 May Blog Hop. Apart from the floral theme, I really was going for the lovely colour palette but ended up with mint & coral instead of aqua & pink. Close enough? lol
There’s not much of WPlus9 here, but I did let the sentiment from Blanket Stitched Blooms shine. Love this font. Gosh, love this whole set, really. I wanted to use it way more extensively, but I figured that I’m strongly on the scrappy side tonight and had to succumb to the magic of my embellies instead 😛
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A few things to keep in mind if you decide to use my sketch:
- You’re kindly asked to save the image onto your computer first, and if you make a card based on it, please link back to this post.
- If you upload your card to an online gallery, use the code SSC96.
- Feel free to share the link to your creation via the Inlinkz widget, so that I can come and check it out!
- The colours/elements mean nothing towards the card. All styles, colours and supplies, as well as slight alterations of the sketch are welcome.
- A new sketch and sample is posted every other Saturday night (American EST time ~ or around mid-day Sunday Melbourne time), but you’re welcome to play any time! Just leave a link in the comments section after Inlinkz widget closes.
- Feel free to share the link to your creation via the Inlinkz widget, so that I can come and check it out!
- The colours/elements mean nothing towards the card. All styles, colours and supplies, as well as slight alterations of the sketch are welcome.
- A new sketch and sample is posted every other Saturday night (American EST time ~ or around mid-day Sunday Melbourne time), but you’re welcome to play any time! Just leave a link in the comments section after Inlinkz widget closes.
Apr 26
Cheers, friends! Uhm… I’m going to get personal in this post. I barely ever do it but this is one of the times that sharing means healing (if only just a little bit), I hope you don’t mind.
It’s not much of a secret how much I miss my parents, who sadly flew back to Poland a couple of days ago, after spending an extensive time with us. It was all too easy to get used to having them around, and especially hard to re-adjust to the emptiness they left behind, the lack of cheerful buzz that they created along with Zuzia. I didn’t expect it to hit me this much, but it’s also the unfortunate timing that weighed extra heavily on everyone. I’m now nearly in my 40th week of pregnancy and expect the little bubs any day now. I’ve been on an emotional roller-coaster, partly because of the raging hormones; the excitement of the upcoming big day and at the same time the painful awareness that two of the most important people will miss it by just a couple of days.
Through the last five months we watched Zuzia get to know, and fall in love with them. Turn from the stubborn and a untrusting girl with no skills in communicating in their native language, to being totally devoted to her grandparents (and the other way around) and speaking with them freely in Polish. It’s a-ma-zing what half a year can do…
The bond they created is unspeakable. She cried when we said our good-byes at the airport. I can see she can’t quite come to terms with the lack of them around yet, either. And we can’t give her answers as to when she’ll see them again - travelling across the globe is a pricey business… Thanks goodness for Skype.
I sat down this morning, browsing through 100’s of photos that we took, and I stumbled across one that captured my heart. This layout happened shortly afterwards.
I’m sorry for the lack of supply list; as it usually happens with my layouts, I used a gazillion of bits & pieces from different collections & manufacturers and it would take me well into the night, trying to list all of them. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions!
See you tomorrow, for a JG’s Nook card, and then the next installment of Sketchbook Saturday. Enjoy the weekend ahead and thank you for joining me today, for this special post <3
Dec 24
Christmas Eve arrived in Australia… Soon there will be hustling & bustling in the kitchen, enjoying the heavenly smells, table-decorating and carol-singing.
For me as a Pole, Eve was always the most important day of Christmas, with its great traditions, and more importantly the air of love and excitement that I always look forward to.
This year will be even more special. My mum & dad are here and it’s going to be the first Christmas spent together in the foreign land and also in my domain, my house. Each side of the family will hopefully experience something new and precious, when the cultures and traditions meet. I wish there was snow, but having both parents in for a Polish-style Eve is well enough to make up for the soaring temperatures
Certainly, food is always a staple in today’s routine and it’s the more awaited, since these delicacies come only once a year. We’ll have ‘Greek fish’ (ryba po grecku — nothing Greek about it, though); beetroot soup (borsch, barszcz); sauerkraut & wild mushrooms dumplings (pierogi), just to name a few.
Apart from a cheesecake and poppy seed cake that will make it to our table this year, I usually make a walnut & honey cake which is a favourite with everyone. Mazurek, as it’s called, is traditionally made for Easter but with its earthy, rich flavour it fits Christmas just as well.
Walnut cake
Base
200g (7 oz) unsalted butter
3 cup flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
2 tbsp natural honey
1 egg + 1 yolk
Knead briskly together, layer the bottom of 28 cm (11″) tin. Slight variations in size are fine.
Coating
250g unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
30g (1 oz) walnuts
2 - 3 tbsp natural honey
Preheat the oven to 180C (356F). Melt butter in saucepan, add sugar, honey and walnuts (broken into med-sized pieces). Stir on medium heat for 5-7 minutes. When the mixture starts bubbling, pour it on top of the base. Bake for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
*Please note, that all measuring is given in Australian standards.
1 cup = 250ml
1 tsp = 5ml
1 tbsp = 20ml
Make sure you adjust your measures, if you use British or American standards. Thanks!
Wishing you all a VERY MERRY Christmas
Jun 15
Well, here I am again
This time I’d like to share the creation, that I prepared for my Guest Designing gig this week, over at the Cardabilities challenge blog.
Here’s the fabulous sketch (love it!!):
…and my card, that I happen to love equally… lol
Supplies: cardstock: SU! (River Rock), PTI (Rustic White), red; paper: Webster’s Pages, My Mind’s Eye; stamps: The Craft’s Meow (Fly Free); ink: Versa Magic (Niagara Mist), Memento (London Fog), Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap); sewing machine; pearls: AnnaBelle Stamps; flowers; Leafy Branch die: Taylored Expressions
Hop on over to the Cardabilities blog, to see the rest of the lovely creations, prepared by the Design Team! There is some serious talent there, folks
I’d also like to take an opportunity, and share a couple of photos from today, of my Chuplet… I don’t care that I’m biased - she’s such a gorgeous, talented, artistic, cheerful and photogenic baby! Oh yes, that and sooo much more
Currently her biggest love is drawing (oh yes, let me add - on just about anything that doesn’t move)
I spy an artist in the making
Smooches,
May 09
Hello lovelies, I hope your Mother’s Day was full of love and laughter!
Mine was great, in fact the whole weekend was awesome… it’s the favourite time of ours, when hubby’s home and we can do stuff together.
It’s my second Mother’s Day (Zuzia is turning 20 months soon), and we went with her to a big playground.
She’s only just started discovering various equipment there, and she was having a blast trying everything out. Befriending the dinosaur,
Swinging her little heart out,
Discovering secret passages,
Or chillaxing, watching other kids play…
Also, I forgot to share the pics from the last week’s trip to the local craft market. They had a pen with baby animals, that Zuzia blissfully roamed through with daddy. I love this photo, with the cutest little goat munching on daddy’s zipper (that’s his favourite animal), and Zuzia expressing her opinion on this She thought it’s utterly hilarious (and it was :))
She thought it’s utterly hilarious (and it was :))
I hope I didn’t bore you yet, I do have some cards to share too!
I apologize to those of you who are tired of me stuffing buttons on just about any card I make… not only they’re cute and versatile, come in many forms & endless colours, but they’re excellent space fillers & accent builders. I can’t resist them, I’m not even trying…
Supplies: cardstock: PTI (Rustic Cream, Raspberry Fizz); paper: Kaisercraft; stamps: Layers Of Color (label), Hero Arts (sentiment), Grace Taylor (butterfly); ink: Memento (Tuxedo Balck, London Fog), Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap); Copics; buttons; sewing machine; lace trim; QuicKutz embossing folder (Retro Diamonds)
The card above was made on the basis of the two fabulous challenges - CR84FN27 (colours), and Card Patterns sketch 114:
I’ve also got this little number, inspired by this card by Jo (Reddydyisco), who’s this week’s Featured Stamper on SCS (FS222).
I also took the colours from Inkspirations Colour Challenge #68 (I only have a little, though… I used white gel pen to highlight the stamens of the roses)
Supplies: cardstock: recycled kraft, white, American Crafts (brown); paper: My Mind’s Eye; stamps: Flourishes (Lenten Rose), Layers Of Color (sentiment); ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa); Copics; buttons; rhinestones; white gel pen (Signo)
Thank you so much for looking! You rock!!
