My Whole Stampin' World – Nelly's Crafts and Travels

Spring’s Here – Gotta Wash the Windows!

Spring is here with us! If you are like me, then you have been craving those lovely, warm days, and are just done with the winter weather! In preparation for the new season, one thing you should really consider doing is to wash your windows. Why?

To have a front-row view of the changes

When winter comes to an end, the next season is a sight to behold. Trees are just starting to grow new leaves, flowers begin to bloom again, and it is all just becoming nice and bright! If you have a beautiful view of trees or flowers, you want to watch this new season unfold and not miss any of it.

You can watch the flowers and leaves grow back but only through nice, clean and shiny windows.

Get rid of winter debris

You are just from the dreary, gloomy winter; your windows are probably dirty and grimy from the storms, the ice that accumulated all kinds of dirt. And you couldn’t clean your windows during winter because it would be pretty useless, but now you have your chance.

Spring is the perfect time to get out those cleaning supplies and get working on your windows, welcome the season with a nice, clean set of windows.

Bugs

The one downside to the warm weather is the birds and bugs that will show up for sure. Chances are you might find excrement on the windows.

The How

The good news is that with a quick and easy window cleaning session, you will have clear windows, and enjoy the view from them. If you’re feeling really lazy, just call the pros – window cleaning services are rarely expensive. Here are a few tips to follow to make your experience fast and easy.

Choose a day when the sun isn’t out, one that’s a bit cloudy will be perfect. The sun can make your work harder drying out the cleaning product too fast and leaving marks on the windows.
Dust the windows off with a soft brush first. Don’t go straight into the washing with soap and water; this might make some stains harder to remove. Dusting off lets you remove most of the dirt and makes your final cleaning easier.
When cleaning with soap and water, choose a cleanser that isn’t harsh to avoid damaging your windows. Clean gently with a cloth, don’t rub too hard; you don’t want to leave the windows with permanent scratches.

Don’t ignore your windows this spring. Clean them up together with the rest of your space and enjoy the beautiful, clean house.

Home

Why I Decided to Have My Kitchen Remodeled

My House

A couple of years ago, I was able to finally purchase a house of my very own. It was an amazing feeling! I loved my little two-story in the outskirts of the city. It’s located in a safe and quiet subdivision. Most of my neighbors are retirees or families with older children. I got a good deal when the previous owners decided to sell as soon as possible and took the first offer that came their way. Lucky me.

The Kitchen

I fell in love with my house at first sight. I left it almost as it is, except for the kitchen. That, I chose to remodel. I’m quite the foodie. I don’t really like cooking but I strive to be good at it. How else will I be able to make delicious food, eh?

The previous owners probably aren’t fans, though. The original kitchen was tidy but bare and almost falling apart—cracked tiles, leaking faucets, broken cabinets. What little appliances there were, were outdated. I was also dissatisfied with the use of space. I wanted energy-efficient appliances, wider windows, bigger cabinets, more work space and so on. I have no idea why the kitchen is so shabby when the rest of the house, while admittedly old, was very well-maintained.

The Planning

And so I decided to remodel. I took my time in choosing my people. I interviewed several general contractors, checked references and even viewed some past projects. I also made a point of checking the subcontractors they hire. In the end, I chose a remodeling contractor firm with a solid, established reputation.

After numerous consultations with the designer, we settled on a plan. The final designs were of an energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly kitchen. The company I hired has built a good reputation for creating these green kitchens. I don’t consider myself an eco-warrior but I’ve always been environmentally conscious. I make sure to do my part for the environment every way I can. Since I had the budget, I decided to go for it.

The Green Kitchen

There were some delays and the timeline was longer than I originally planned but here I am standing in my newly built kitchen, feeling really satisfied with myself. Now, I really do have the perfect house.

I now have my wide windows and a skylight. Both provide plenty of natural light. There’s the big, sustainable kitchen cabinets, stylish, recycled countertop and eco-friendly, linoleum floor. We’ve installed a solar-powered water heater, high-efficiency refrigerator, low-energy induction cooktop and so on.

I couldn’t be happier with the results! I can now make my famous Shrimp Avocado Salad in my sunny, nature-friendly kitchen. See yah!

Crafts

Some Cool Kids Crafts Ideas for All You Busy Moms :)

Summertime is just around the corner. I can almost smell the sun in my skin. And hear the noise of stir-crazy children. Last year, the kids where at summer camp but we’ve decided to go to the beach this year. Time to list the entertainment. Here are some cool kids crafts ideas.

Make Butterfly Plate Feeders for a touch of fairytale fantasy and some educational fun.

Use a small, colorful, attractive plate and a plate holder made of wire. Thread colorful glass beads to the four strings that will hold the plate holder up. Make some DIY butterfly food and watch the butterflies come. You can also have fun taking pictures of the butterflies that visit the feeder and try identifying them with a butterfly book.

Wee Tin Lanterns that can be held on to while strolling on the beach at night with the family. They make great table lanterns too.

Have the younger children make tiny dots around the tin bucket with a marker. Carefully supervise the older children in nailing holes on the bucket using the dots as a guide. You can opt to fill the small buckets with water and freeze them prior to this step for easy nailing. Defreeze and dump the water. Glue a candle inside and lights up!

Create Glowing Jellyfishes swaying in the sea breeze at night.

Have the youngsters paint paper bowls and strips of paper with child-friendly glow-in-the-dark paint. Let them dip pieces of yarn on the paint the too. Allow them to go crazy with whatever colors they like. Turn the bowl upside down and this shall be the head. For tentacles, make holes at the center of the bowl and thread the paper strips and yarn on them.

Dreamcatchers are a hit with the little ladies. The gents will like them too.

Find an easy, generic dream catcher weaving guide on the internet. The older kids can help with weaving. Gather color sprays, feathers, glitters, rhinestones, beads, colored sand, yearns, etc. Then have a free for all! Let everyone design their own dream catcher according to their personality and style.

Travel

Kenya was Amaaazing!

Hi all! I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I have good reason now! Recently got back from Kenya – located in the eastern part of Africa on the coast of Indian Ocean.

My trip started on December 7 and ended 19, so that is about two weeks.

My travel program was as follows:

1. Arrival in Nairobi, departure to Safari for 4 days.

Day 1: Arrival in the capital Nairobi, departure for Safari. Photo Safari in Masai Mara Park, dinner and overnight at Camp Lenchada.

Day 2: Continuation of Masai Mara Park, dinner and overnight at Camp Lenchada Tourist Camp, visit to Maasai tribe village.

Day 3: End of Safari in Masai Mara Park. Transfer to Nakuru, overnight at the hotel Lanet Matfarm Resort.

Day 4: Game Drive in Nakuru Park, visit Lake Nakuru, return to Nairobi.

2. Fly to Mombasa, check in to the hotel in Mtvape.

I took a flight from Nairobi to Mombasa with the local airline and then went to the hotel by taxi.

Then there was a regular beach holiday.

The beach was a motorcycle ride away, as the hotels on the shores of the Indian Ocean were very expensive.

One day I went on a tour to Mombasa – a small town, where the main attraction is the fort of Jesus, and the Arabian market.

There are also there very unusual local minibuses (“Matatu”), which deserve special attention.

If we have to wait for the minibus, then in Kenya, the minibus will find you!

In minibuses work people who not only collect payment for travel, but also run out of a minibus with the purpose to find new passengers from a crowd of people.

In addition to motorcycle and “Matatu”, there is another unusual for us mode of transport-it’s “tuk-tuk”. “Tuk-tuk”-covered wheeled means of transportation.

Driving in the center is the driver, and the rear can ride up to three people-passengers.

Prices in Mombasa and Mtvape are quite reasonable and not as expensive as in London. The markets have quite a large selection of clothes at nice prices, loved that!

Crafts

Been busy making my own stamps!

Yep, that’s right, that’s the latest project of mine. I’m trying to make my own DIY stamps to use in scrapbooking and tag making and other papercrafts.

Basically I’ve so far only been watching videos (see some below) and trying to find all the supplies, but I think I have all I need now.

Will post some pics of the results, if there are any!

Uncategorized

25 Days of Christmas: Tags and Stamps

I’m so excited to tell you all about my current craft project!

I got this idea from Kelly’s blog last year and kind of developed it in my head. When I told John about it, he was totally supportive, so here I am.

The project is this: create 1 Christmas tag every day for the next 25 days, until it’s Christmas! I can then give them as gifts to friends, relatives, and anyone else I care about. I could even sell them in my Etsy shop, though I don’t know if I’ll make it in time before Christmas.

Here are just a few ideas I found on the web. I’ll need to come up with many more if I’m to do this successfully: I definitely want to make an angel one, for example!

Crafts

Oh my, just discovered Lawnscaping!

I’m completely taken in by this new craft I discovered yesterday. I had had such a boring day, but what a wonderful evening: I found out about lawnscaping! Just watch this video below – that’s the first one I saw. I just love the result, the colors and everything. She has quite some skill, but I guess it comes with practice.

They even have these blog hop challenges for lawnscaping, where the idea is to mention other blogs and share entries so that everyone benefits. I just need to buy supplies and then I’m definitely up for it!!