The Stamper

Two Worlds

It's funny living in two worlds. When we are here in Arabia we miss the things that are USA.  We miss the restaurants and the shopping and being able to pick up and go wherever and whenever you want without having to find a driver and work around when the stores are open.  We miss the food and of course getting together with friends and family. 

The odd thing about this summer was while we were in the United States, we missed the food and the friendships and the relaxed life we have in Saudi Arabia.  We even missed the warmth and the sunsets and the feel of the middle eastern people and the laughs we get when driving.  It is kind of strange living in two worlds.

Life in Saudi, Fish Market

I wrote about the produce markets earlier this week and I thought I would share the fish market today.  I have to be honest the only reason I ever went into the fish market is because the ladies I shop with actually purchase and eat fish which is not something that is done at my home but I love the adventure of these local markets. 

The fish markets are in a large building not like the produce markets that are outside.  I have to tell you though the produce markets are much cooler than the fish markets because you have at least a breeze that blows past you in your "black dress".  By the time we leave the fish markets we are all glowing with that special glow you get when you are just too darn hot. 

The fish market is broken up into stalls and each stall have somewhat of the same kind of fishes but each are a little different.  Some stalls have live fish and others you find them fresh but sitting on beds of ice.  You can find most kinds of fish and a lot that we really don't know what they are.  My girlfriends often just "try" one to see if they will like it.  

After picking your fish and finding out the price you ask them to prepare them for you.  They cut, fillet, skin and even kill the fresh ones for you and then bag them up in plastic bags for you to take home.  This week one of the ladies chose a live catfish, it was an adventure watching them scoop it out of the bucket, chop it in half and wait for it to die and then prepare him to come home with us.  Yikes, really not my thing.

  It was amazing watching the men skin 3 kilos of shrimp in less than 5 minutes.  When we got out of our driver's van he said, "now ladies watch your hems, it is wet and slimy in there." He is right about the wet part, they drop fish on the tile floors, run water over everything, splatter "stuff" but the smell is not as bad as you would expect.  I guess because it is all fresh fish. 

The first time I went I felt out of place but the more you go the more "normal" it all seems. 

Can't wait to scrapbook these pictures and another one of my adventures here in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia Produce Market

I promised when I moved to Saudi Arabia that I would try and write a little about life here.  That was easy at first because everything was so new to me and I was overwhelmed with the differences.  But now that I have been here a while, I have adjusted to the life style and just go about my everyday life without thinking about how different it is from where I came from. 

This week I went to the fresh produce and fish markets in Dammam and remembered to take a few pictures to share with you. 

The fresh produce markets are where you can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from the suppliers.  They have difference sections, some areas you have to purchase it huge quanities.  the section we go to they will let you purchase by the kilo or box.  We often purchase boxes of items such as avocados, mango, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, etc that we share between two or three of us.  Over the past few months we have our favorite "guys" who take care of us.  Usually these are those who can speak English and smile at us when we come. 

When we pull up to the market someone with a little cart will come up to us and we will hire him to wander around with us.  Today it was a boy, fresh off the boat.  He could not speak english but he followed us around and collected our produce.  We pay him at the end of the shopping trip about 2 or 3 dollars.  Usually when you get a older man they watch to make sure you got all good produce and make the sellers replace spoiled items. 

We share a Driver and purchase enough for 2 to 3 weeks when we go.  I think I figured I can throw away 1/2 of the stuff I purchase and still be ahead money wise.  Also the produce seems to last longer because it was fresher when we brought it.  I have found that I have to bring a lot of small bills with me.  They don't like making change so they will just keep the change or throw in something you don't want to compensate you.  You can dicker them down a little if you purchase a lot from one seller but I think they see "Americans" and they know what they will charge us because everyone has about the same prices for us. I know I have watched locals who get a lot more for their money but they know how to do it and really know what things are worth. 

A Saudi Valentine's Day

 I was asked if they celebrate Valentine's Day here in Saudi and I was not sure until Ted brought home the mail and this Valentine's Day statement came in the mail.  I was a little shocked at what they believe we believe as far as Valentine's Day and I could not resist dressing my girls up in all red and taking photos of them exchanging red flowers.  I must say it was a disapointment that they could not be in all red including shoes, we did not bring any red shoes with us to Saudi.   

Chaylee came home from school telling us that the guys who don't live here in Dhahran was begging for those who do live here to purchase red flowers for them to give their girlfriends because I guess you can't purchase red flowers anywhere but on camp.

Now for the important stuff, the scrapbooking page.  This is one of the two page spread I created for my first scrapbooking class here in Saudi.  I loved how it turned out. 

I punched a piece of cardstock using the scallop border punch and then sponged over it with white craft ink on the page to give the edging.  A strip of desginer paper and then a ribbon punched strip on Old Olive.  I added one of the key from the mini catalog with the jump ring right to the ribbon punched strip. 

Punch a couple of hearts from the glitter paper and I added them to help the key pop.  The title is Love with a glitter 3/4" circle punched center to the "o" and a stamped heart to accent the word.  The flower is created with a piece of a ribbon punched strip for the stem, a couple small heart punches for leaves and sour large red punched glitter hearts that were glued so their tips met.  I added a stamped image for the center and a tag accent. 

My next class is March, 12th at my home in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.  I do two classes: one at 12:30 to 2:30 and the other is a repeat at 5:30 to 7:30 at night.  I hope you join me for more scrapbooking fun.

My Craft Room

One of the hard things about moving to Saudi was downsizing my craft supplies because one; we were over weight and could not ship them all and two; we knew we would be in a smaller home and would not have the space to store it all.  I was worried at first that I would not have a craft room but once we got moved into this style of home Ted said I could have the front room for my room and I love it.  This room faces the street and has three large windows that let in the light.  Because this room is normally a formal type living space there is no closets for me to hide my junk so we purchased these closets units from Ikea and put them along the one wall.  They have rolling drawers and shelves that work great for storage what stuff I brought.  I still have my bookcases full of stamps and you can't see but my scrapbooking center is in the right corner of the room.  I have my desk right in the middle and did not know if I would like it but I love it.  I use every inch of it sometimes.  We also added a chair and a Saudi book shelf (a new piece of furniture) so that if you come in the front door you have something nice to look at and somewhere to sit for a minute.  We might add another chair but that is up in the air currently. 

I love my craft room and hope to have new friends over to scrapbook and stamp with me soon.

Traveling Again

I am so excited that we are getting the chance to travel again.  This is the best part of living here is the opportunities to see the world.  It is another Saudi Arabian Holiday and we are going to Sri Lanka for 10 days.  They have a travel group here and they offer trips throughout the year that you can sign up to take.  Someone else plans and makes sure all the travel arrangements are made and we get to see some wonderful place.  I must say that the longer we live here in Arabia the longer my list of places I need to see gets.  I did not even know where Sri Lanka was before moving here. 

I hope to take great photos to share with you on facebook and maybe a few on my blog.  This month of Thanksgiving I am thankful for the opportunity to live here in Saudi Arabia. 

Arabian Flat Stanley

Some of you probably have heard of Flat Stanley, it is a book about a boy who gets flaten and then travels all over the world.  Abby, from Georgia sent him to us here in Saudi Arabia to decorate, photograph and collect some items from here to send back with him.  We had so much fun creating him and Abby loved him. 

I thought I would share him with you all.  The picture is of my two daughter here in their Abayas holding flat Stanley.  They looked so traditional with their Abayas on and the head scarfs.  I had to laugh because when we first moved here none of us could keep the hair things on, they kept falling off but over the past few months my daughters have watched and talked to their friends that wear them and discovered several ways to wrap them so they won't fall off. 

Ted wrote a letter to Abby and I decide to include it here because you all might be interested in some of the things we have learned about here: 

Dear Abby –Here is Stanley, back from Saudi Arabia.  While in Saudi Arabia Stanley picked up a book about Al Hasa, the largest oasis in the world. It might be a little hard to read because it is written in Arabic.  Not only does Arabic look a little funny, it is read from right to left, and from the back of the book to the front.

While in Saudi Arabia Stanley went shopping and bought the traditional dress for Saudi men.  He is wearing a white thobe, which is a loose, long-sleeved, ankle-length garment.  He also is wearing a Ghutra, the red and white scarf, which is held on by a Agal, the thick, doubled, black cord. 

Stanley brought some left over money from when he went shopping.  He has two coins, a 10 Halalah and a 50 Halalah, and a couple of bills, each 1 Riyal.  There are 100 Halalahs in 1 Riyal similar to 100 cents in 1 dollar.  The difference is that it takes 3.75 Riyals to equal 1 dollar, or 1 Riyal equals 27 cents.  While in Saudi Arabia, Stanley visited with his friends, Brynli, Chaylee and Wendy.  They live in a city on the east coast of Saudi Arabia called Dhahran.  Dhahran is very close to the Persian Gulf.  Stanley had a couple of photos taken with the girls in front of an old unused Mosque.  The girls are all wearing Abayas, the black, traditional robe worn by many women.    Before Stanley left Saudi Arabia to return to Georgia Brynli gave him a set of blue prayer beads. Stanley had a great time while in Saudi Arabia, and hopes that he can come back soon.We hope you enjoy hearing about Stanley’s trip to Saudi Arabia.   We love you,

Halloween quilt and Saudi perspective

Since I am still waiting for my stuff to arrive I am learning new quilting techinques, and I thought I would share one of the projects I just finished.  I might even purchase a new sewing machine.  I have had mine for over 20 years so maybe it is about time to upgrade. 

I promised to write more personal stuff on my blog and last night I was thinking about all the things there are to do here and how differently we think.  Ted and I were sitting in a middle school meeting on the trip options our child will have to travel the world this year it all seemed unreal that even 9 months ago I would not have had time to quilt or Bryn the chance to ski in Switerland, or sail up the coast of Turkey, or hike and raft in Napal, or sitesee and stay in childrens homes in Japan/Korea, or help out in villages and orphanages in Zululand as well as Safari by Elephant, or go on a beach in Malaysia and learn about Biology and save a few turtles or maybe Spain  would be a place you want to see.  All it takes is money and time.  

It is a little hard for me to adjust to the changes and a little bit of me wants to hold onto my old way of thinking so that I never take these opportuinties for granted.  I know because I live here I appreciate the freedom to run to the mall in the middle of the afternoon and find the stores open, I appreciate the freedom to attend church and worship God the way I feel is right for my family, I appreciate driving and the freedom to speak up, I appreciate being able to put up Halloween decorations and celebrate Christmas,  I appreaciate the differences in people around the world, I appreciate those who reach out and those who welcome.  I appreciate the opportuinity to live here and see the world a little bit differently.

Beach Fun and My Digital Studio

One of the fun things about living here in Saudi Arabia are the beaches.  The water is clear and the sand is soft and they are so clean.  Aramco has several private beaches but we love getting on the bus and going to another camp like ours called Ras Tanura, this camp is built right on the water and the beach is along side the other amenities like the library, cooled swimming pool (yes, they cool their pools here because they would get too hot if they don't), snack bars, bowling alley, etc.  It take about a hour on the bus and we stay for a few hours and then come home. 

I am sure we will enjoy these beaches more once it cools down here a little bit.  The sand on the beach between the picnic tables and the water is so hot that you either run really fast or wear your shoes down to the water's edge. The water is very salty which makes you float really well but really stings if you get it in your eyes.  

These pages were created using My Digital Studio.  I used a pre-done page that was created for birthdays and changed the words, added a background color on the second page and a few more photos.  My Digital Studio is a great way to create beautiful projects very quickly.  To order My Digital Studio you can go to my Stampin' Up! web site at wendythestamper.stampinup.net

Pennant Big Shot Quilt & new Quilt house

I visited my friend Wendy this summer and we talked quilting.  I love that Stampin' Up!'s big shot dies work so well to create easy and unique quilts.  This one is created with the Pennant Die, using all the pieces to create both the diamond shape and the blossoms intersections.  I can't wait for all my fabric and supplies to arrive, (I know it will still be months, somewhere around the first of October, but I can dream about all the quilts I want to make until then).

The fun thing about living here is even though my house might be small I have access to a wonderful quilt house.   

It has several rooms that with a yearly fee of about $24.00 us dollars you can access it anytime day or night.  They have lots of matts, rulers, irons and ironing boards and work spaces, places for you to keep your sewing machine under lock and key if you are coming back soon, copy machine, kitchen, fridge stocked with cold drinks, a library of quilting books and magazines, they have tables that are raised for laying out your quilts. 

The other day I was alone for the first time since coming here to Arabia and I just went over and curled up in a chair in the Quilt house and read quilting magazines for a hour or two, it was so relaxing and motivating.

The quilters here meet every week, and they also have on going charity quilts being made that they give to the hospitals outside of camp for those in need.  It is a great program that provides something wonderful for those who don't have much.  I love this quilt house and plan to spend some time there in the future.

Wedding Dress Art

Wow! Is what I thought when I saw this wall hanging while shopping in Khobar this week.  I have been into this little gift shop several times and they always have some unique and wonderful things to shop for.  The worker knows me by face and could tell me exactly how many times I have been into his shop.  I was impressed with that and I love that he always shows us multiple items knowing that soon one will catch our eye more than another and I won't be able to leave the store without it. 

The tapestries are that way.  They are up some dangerous stairs, very tall and not evenly spaced, they are all stacked on top of each other and look okay but nothing you would think of purchasing and then he starts to open them up and lay them all over the room so you can see their true beauty. 

I was not going to purchase anything even though I have looked at smaller versions of these tapestries in the past but this one was so me I had to take it home.  The patch work designs are all unique, these are coming out of India and the fabrics are all embedded with jewels and sparkle (I thought of my friend Susan who would love all the glitz) each piece is cut from old wedding dresses and the bead work is unbelievable.  The corner pieces on this one is all hand threaded seed beads attached to silk.   

I love to just look at each piece and see the different designs that someone wore on their wedding day.  Each piece is an antique and fascinating to me.  One of my favorite is the snowflake patch above, there are two of them on this piece.  Can you just imagine someone decked out in a white dress that was covered in snowflakes?  The colors on this piece caught my eye because they are muted enough I could hang it anywhere in my home and it will match.  I am getting excited to decorate this place with all of the unique things I am falling in love with here. 

Arabian Card Making

I went shopping here again.  A driver told me that it is my job here to shop.  I like that idea but it takes so long to go anywhere and I am limited on how long I can stay because women don't drive here so it means taking a bus.

But even with all the extra work it is worth wandering down the streets of Khobar and I happened into a gift shop that had handmade cards and I could not resist purchasing one. 

The base papers are a stiff mulberry and they placed a skeleton leaf on top and the the medallion is created with a light weight medal and antiqued and the words look painted on.  What a treasure.  The shop owner had several different designs and he had framed them and of course sold them for more money. 

These creations were not cheap just over $4.00 American money.  I decided we don't ask enough for the handmade products we make and sell or even value what we give away that we have created with our own hands.  Labor is cheap here and they still charge $4.00 per card.  I also thought framing some of our cards for wall art was a fun idea.  I had a friend years ago that framed all the cards I sent her and I loved going over to her house and seeing them hung up and enjoyed over and over again.  

If you are inspired to create check out the Summer mini catalog and don't miss out of these product.  We have until the end of August to purchase out of this catalog because starting September 1st the Holiday mini catalog will be here.  To order from these catalog you can go to my Stampin' web site:  wendythestamper.stampinup.net

BBQ time!

BBQ are not the same here as we find in the states even though I am sure when we get our BBQ from home we will have some traditional BBQ's just like home.  The Middle Eastern BBQ's we have been to here feature foods like stir fry, shawarmas, mutabak and traditional bread with spices on it.  We have not had anything we did not just love. 

Shawarmas are like pita breads filled with shaved chicken that has been cooking on a spiral stick for hours and lettuce and pickles and a special sauce. 

Mutabak is a soft dough spread out really thin and fillings added then it is folded on top of itself and cooked on a giant grill.  You can have chicken, chicken and cheese, cheese, bananas and honey.  We have tried them all and love them.  Mine favorite is just chicken and cheese, Tysha loves to add hot chilies to hers.

I loved this card that was created by Michelle for our last meeting.  It is created using punches and creativity.  I love the steam which is created by stamping the swirl from the stamp set Priceless in white craft ink.  Add a few brads and you have a fun card to share with your friends.

Come to Bethlehem

I had to purchase this stamp set today just for the camel shadows so I can use if for not only my Christmas cards this year but for some scrapbooking pages I am excited to create as soon as I have a permanent home. 

As some of you know we are living in Saudi Arabia and are in a home that has plumbing problems so we are waiting for another home to be ready for us to move into.  We received our air freight boxes yesterday and a lot more of my stamping stuff which was exciting except we boxed them back up again so it is ready for the move when they tell us we can move.  We are hoping next week sometime.  But in the mean time we are having the time of our lives, like a long vacation where spending time together is what is most important. 

This past weekend we took our first real trip to discover Saudi Arabia, we visited a place called Al Hasa which mean Oasis.  Al Hasa is a natural Oasis that is made up of several villages.  One of Ted's co-worker's family lives in one of these villages and he and his brother in law and their boys showed us around Al Hasa.  It was one of the best days ever. 

  We went to the open markets and dickered for fresh fruits, then to the camel markets to ride camels and we tired dried camels milk (I would not recommend it) and to the Gold Markets that were so overwhelming I did not purchase anything which was a shock to my family.

We took rest time in a traditional Arabic rest area where they hold weddings and other events, the girls had the experience of using traditional bathrooms for the first time and the best traditional feast which was the highlight of the day.  We learned to eat with our hands but I must say we need more practice to eat as fast and as neatly as our guests.

We finished the day discovering the caves and seeing Al Hasa from the top of the caves which is an unbelievable site.  It was a great day full of interesting sites, great food, and the best company one could ask for.  We were truly blessed to spend the day discovering Saudi Arabia.

Overwelmed!

It is amazing how in just a few weeks your life can go from normal everyday to something you don't even recognize anymore.  I guess that is what has happen to me.  For those of you who follow me you know that I have not posted in a week.

It is not because I have not been in my craft room handling paper and more paper and more paper.  I  have been going through 15 years of samples. (I had over 20 boxes of different sizes and shapes filled to the brim with 3-d projects, card samples, 12x12 scrapbooking pages and that is the stuff that has already been stamped on) You might ask why I would do such a thing since I have never done such a complete job in the past.  (I promise you I have cleaned out every 6 months or so along the way but never looked at everything I just thought I had to save before). 

Well, here is why... Ted has a job offer from an oil company called Aramco and if all goes well we will be moving in July.  I know, I know I have moved many times in the past but never like this.  The job will move us to Saudi Arabia.  If you are like me it might take you a few minutes or weeks to get your head around that one.  We will be living on the Persian Gulf in an Americanized camp (it's a small city).  I will still be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, (I got the approval from SU! on Friday).  I will still have this blog and will be able to sell on line to any and all of you my customers as well as have workshops when I come back to the states.  The problem lies in that fact that we will have to ship our "stuff" slow boat to Arabia and we are limited on how much weight we can take.  (I hate to guess that even after cleaning out my craft room the bulk of the weight will be in crafting supplies.. ha ha)

Well, I have promised a few of my customers that heard about this possibility a couple weeks ago that I would put more personal stuff on my blog.  They want pictures and information about Arabia and the lifestyle there.  So for those of you I am raising my right hand and promising to do that.  (We had to raise our right hand today getting passports for my younger daughters so I thought I would do that here).

In cleaning out I decided to create this page.  It was using an old 2 page spread I have had stacked here to use someday and an email my daughter sent me one night that touched my heart.  I really miss this daughter.  She is serving a Spanish speaking church mission and they were planning to keep her in Arizona until August 19th but with all the changes going on with us they are letting her come home on her early transfer so she will be home July 8th.  Yea!  We will be moving soon after.  The page uses Rose Romance cardstock, for those of you who are old like me... that was a color they discontinued last time SU! made a color change and a stamp set I can't even remember it's name.  I do love the pocket I tucked journaling into.  It was perfect for this page that the major part of the journaling is the email from my daughter and yet I wanted to add my personal thoughts as well. 

For those of you who are interested, some of my scrapbooking two-page spreads are now available for purchase at my other blog http://wowscrapbookkits.wordpress.com and I hope to get some listed here as well in the near future.