GIVEAWAY!!! --- A little Good-Bye :) --- And Papercuts on Etsy!

Dear friend,

I will be away for a bit of time in order to focus 100% on a series of important things that are demanding my time :)

But I wanted to leave with a happy thing and that is this sweet papercut that I will be giving away at my return. If you would like to win this Alice in Wonderland papercut just leave a comment in this post (It is 5 inches tall)

I don't know exactly when I am going to be back, for sure I will need the rest of April plus the whole month of May. Please, wish me good luck and lots of energy! I already miss you but it is always a happy thing to come back from a "trip". I can't wait to be back with you!

Lots of love and I wish you all the best in these comings weeks. I will be a little older at my return because my birthday is on May 9th. The next time I say hi to you I will be 38.

But I also have some good news for you today: I just listed a group of original papercuts on my Etsy store!!! The paper is 100% cotton, acid-free and the color is ivory. Super sweet in person!!!!!

Lots of love!!!!

Elsita :)

Home Sweet Home :)

Good morning my friend!

Would you join me in a little home tour today? Yay! Our home has been featured in one of my very favorite design blogs ever: DESIGN SPONGE.

You can click HERE to see the feature :)

I am so sorry that the pictures over there don't look as sharp as the originals, I think that the files that I sent were too small. But I promise to do a more extensive and detailed home tour over here in this blog or at The hidden Seed in the future. 

And today is a very special day for me for two reasons: 

*Today it is my friend Margie's birthday! Happy birthday Margie from the bottom of my heart!!! I hope that you have a wonderful time today with your family. Lots of love from the Horbergs! 

*And also today my Blossom Buddies book has been officially released! Yay!!!!! A lot to celebrate!!! If you pre-ordered one it should be in your hands very soon! Yay!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Elsita :)

On the Hidden Seed today: Story of my Dream Dress (part 1)

Interview :)

Dear Friend,

Today I am excited to tell you that I had the honor to be interviewed by DISCO UNDERWORLD, an inspiring digital magazine filled with profiles of diverse people from all over the world. Answering all the questions was a real pleasure. HERE is the direct link to my interview. In order to read it, just click on the arrows to pass the pages, it is very easy. And right at the end of the interview (in a pink box with this color) you have the option to vote for your friend Elsita. Thank you so much!

You should also check out the previous issues, there is a lot of inspiration in its pages :)

But I also wanted to let you know that my friend Kirsten is having a WONDERFUL GIVEAWAY THIS WEEK! Yay!!!! You're going to love the prizes! Hurry up to leave your comments!! Yay!!!!

Have a wonderful day!!

Elsita :)

And on The Hidden Seed today: My First Dress :)

Adelaida :)

Buenos Dias!!

Today I am so excited about this one of a kind dolly that I just finished :) 

Her name is Adelaida Ramirez :)

And she is a Librarian :)

Her favorite book in the whole world is a little one that she got with her own money at the age of 5. Very soon she will be at my Etsy store waiting to be adopted. She is really cute in person :)

Have a great Monday my friend and see you tomorrow!

Elsita :)

On The Hidden Seed Today: My brother :)

New Little Ones!! :)

Yay!! More one of a kind characters! They just arrived from planet Cute carrying their "blank passports"!!!

These four little friends are already listed on my Etsy store.

I promise to make new ones soon!

I have a whole bunch of them lining up in my mind quietly, waiting for me to give them a body (and a little book too :)

Have a great Friday my friend!

And a wonderful weekend!

Lots of love and see you on Monday!

Elsita :)

******************************************

And also, I wanted to let you know that this year Bill and I are working hard in order to raise some money for the research to cure Autism. The annual walk is going to happen this month and all of us will be there representing Diego. If you would like to make a donation we will be forever grateful! 

HERE IS THE LINK TO MAKE A DONATION.

Thank you soooo much in advance!!!! We know that this economy is hurting everyone a lot. If you're not able to make a donation at this time I want to thank you a lot anyway for your support regarding Diego in all this time. Lots of love again!!

Elsita, Bill, Diego, Natalie and Miro :)

Letter to Margarita Sanchez. My teacher from the 1rst to the 4th grade. She passed away many years ago.

Dear Teacher Margarita,

You taught me how to write and read and only now I am writing this letter to you. I am so sorry that I didn't do it before! But you have been in my heart for all these years.

With this letter I want to thank you sooo much for teaching me some of the greatest lessons that I ever learned from a teacher. 

Remember that day when each kid was supposed to talk about his/her mother's profession? Betty talked about her Mom who was a Doctor, Nelson talked about his Mom who was a Singer...each mother had a fancy profession and when my turn arrived I didn't know what to say. At that time my Mom was working as a janitor in a place where they cooked food for hotels, very close to the school.

You realized that I needed help and then you gave the most beautiful speech about my Mom. You talked about how she made the best empanadillas ever, about how happy and friendly she always was, about how hard she worked everyday...The rest of the kids felt that I was so important for having such a great Mom. What you did that day had a deep impact in my life later and I want to thank you so much for it!

There were so many things that I loved about you! Here I am going to list some of them:

* I loved your sense of style: the way you styled your hair, your sweet outfits and most of all your smile. Your teeth were far from perfect but that didn't stop you from smiling all the time.

* I loved how fast you sharpened your pencils with the knife, I was fascinated with it. I have always tried to imitate how you did it and only now I am getting close to you in speed :)

* I loved when you discretely called us apart from the group in order to correct us or point at something that we did  wrong. You never ever did this in front of the other kids because you knew how sensitive we were. 

* I loved how you listened to each one of us, you really wanted to hear what we wanted to say, that made us feel so comfortable expressing ourselves.

But I don't want to finish this letter without saying THANK YOU SO MUCH for that set of 12 color pencils that you gave me as a present when I was in the 4th grade. You really moved me to tears because I never thought that I was going to own such an important treasure. My Mom couldn't afford something like that. You knew that I loved to draw and you encouraged me to do it all the time. I remember how you used to call me Elsita la Artista :) You always said that I was going to be an artist in the future.

I am happy to tell you that you were so right! I became an artist and I owe it in great part to you. Remember when you signed me up for the after-school art classes? That really changed my life back then. You got me all started in my creative adventures, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

I just want to finish this letter saying that your life was very meaningful. You made of the world a better place and you made a huge difference in the lives of your students. Being a Teacher is a profession from the heart and you were a real teacher; so caring and modest and sensitive and giving.

I send you all my love and a big hug!

You will always be in my heart Teacher Margarita!

The proudest member of your class!

Elsita :)

On the Hidden Seed today: In the Middle of the Road

Mary Had a Little Lamb :)

Today is the Mary Had a Little lamb day! Yay! I just created my own version of Mary and her little lamb. You can see the original papercut and learn more about Mary HERE. We will also be discussing a name for Mary's lamb over there :)

This small print as well as the original papercut can be found on my Etsy store now.

Have a great day my friend! But remember, if you have a little lamb don't take it to school because it's against the rules! :0

Lots of ove!

Elsita :)

Letter to Natalie (for her to read when she turns 18)

Dear Natalie,

As I write this letter you are 5 years old and I already know a lot about how your future is going to be. To say it in a few words: I am are sure that you will make all your dreams come true. Everything about your personality tells me that. We have known this since May 16 of 2003, the very day when you were born. But let me tell you more about yourself.

Being pregnant with you was the easiest thing in the whole world. I used to run upstairs to my studio and you liked that a lot, once I got up there you started kicking me, that was your way to say: I like this Mommy, do it again! We really had a great communication via your kicks :)

 

I remember May 16 of 2003 so well! We still had 5 long weeks ahead of us before your arrival. That day Bill and I were getting ready to go to bed, he was supposed to travel to London the day after and just as a little joke I told him: Billy, how about if the baby is born when you're in London? That's impossible- he said :) But then a couple of minutes later my water broke, well, you broke it and I just started laughing! Can you believe it?

I said: Billy, you're going to think that I am kidding but my water just broke!. What? Are you sure???? And the race started right away!I arrived at the hospital with a big smile on my face. One of the nurses said: this is the first time that someone in your condition arrives here in such a happy mood! 

You didn't even want to wait for the Doctor. The nurses had to take care of the whole delivery because you started showing up too soon! It was the quickest delivery ever. From that day on we realized that you were not going to be the girl that waits for things to happen, you were going to make things happen by yourself. And that has never changed in this five years. 

But let me tell you some of the most remarkable things about the way you are:

1.More than asking for things you have always had an instinct for providing yourself with what you need or want, that has made you a very independent girl.

2. You never ever take no as an answer. Once you know what you want you never ever give up and you keep exploring all the possible ways for you to get what you want.

3.You always apologize when you think that you have done something wrong. You do this without being asked for it and that's great.

4. You are an amazing and caring sister to Diego and Miro. Remember that day when Diego was in the playground and another boy came to bully him? You came running from nowhere and stood up in front of the boy and with the loudest voice ever you said: STOP IT! DON'T YOU SEE THAT HE IS MY LITTLE BROTHER! GO! The boy run away because you scared him so much!

5. You spend a big deal of your time drawing and writing letters for everyone in the family, for friends and teachers. You are so generous.

6. Your heart is full of love and passion, you have recently fallen in love for the first time. He loves you too and it has been an amazing thing for us and for his parents to watch. As adults we forget that love has no age. You are a real inspiration.

And since you should be reading this letter on May 16 of 2021 you are going to be celebrating your 18th birthday! Happy Birthday Natalie! Today you are becoming an adult and life is right in front of you full of new things and surprises. I just want to say from today, April 7 of 2009 that you should be so proud of yourself! You are a very special girl and we know that you are going to have a great life. We know that the hard side of life is not going to scare you at all, it is going to teach you important lessons and the happy side of it is going to be the prize for all you gifts, your talents and your qualities. Go ahead and follow your dreams, they are waiting for you!

I love you with all my heart and that I am so lucky to be your Mom!

Un abrazo grandisimo!

Tu Mami :)

On The Hidden Seed today: Mademoiselle Elsita :)

Sweet Little Amigos :)

Hola my friend!

Today I am sooo excited to introduce some new amiguitos to you!

I made them with lots of love. Each one is one of a kind and there are two things that make them special.

1* I drew each character directly on the fabric using permanent ink, that makes them some sort of 3-D drawings :)

2*And also each one comes with a little book made by myself where we can create the character's story with drawings and/or words.

The inspiration for these new characters came from Natalie. I am always looking for ways to stimulate her imagination and this is a great way to do it.

I can't wait to make more as soon as I have time. Once you make one there is a whole school of them showing up in your imagination. 

Right now I only have these 4 to share with you but I promise to make new ones soon. Yay!! I will list them later today on my Etsy store.

The dollies are already listed on my Etsy store!

Have a wonderful day!

Elsita :)

On The Hidden Seed today: Botanical Girl :)

Welcome Home Mister Volkswagen Jetta Mora Horberg!

Yay!!! My nuevo carro just arrived! I am so happy! Just look at his facial expression and you will notice what a nice smile he has :) Yay!!

Our dealer said that they are getting lots of requests for this car and most of them are from women :) My previous car was also a Volkswagen but a little bit bigger than this (a Passat) and the color was light blue. This one is smaller and the color is black. 

Maybe tomorrow we will drive all the way up to the mountains in my new car. We haven't been to the mountains in a long time. 

Have a great Friday my friend and a wonderful weekend!!!

Lots of love!

Elsita :)

And today I am also here :)