Your Room

Very last minute I played along with Page Maps 3rd Anniversary Contest. I had no expectations of winning anything, but it was a good excuse to create something. I initially wanted to make a paper layout, but ended up making a digital one.

We've been out all day. I'm exhausted and off to bed! Until tomorrow.

Pubbed Mother's Day Cards

This morning we went to Kingston to buy some bits and bobs. This afternoon we took my dad to the airport as he was returning home. It was lovely to see him again and for him to see where and how we live.

Today I'm showing you two Mother's Day cards that were published in Cards Only 6 as well. On the first one I did the sentiment in Dutch:

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock | Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box for K&Company patterned paper + die-cuts | Heidi Swapp alfabet stickers + bling | Doodlebug Designs Paperfrill

And on the second one in English:

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock + Just the Edge | Scenic Route patterned paper + die-cut Providence | Making Memories Puffy Alfabet Stickers | ribbon | button | Woodware corner rounder

I haven't been crafting for a few days, and won't have any real opportunity this weekend either. However, I do need to make a card for my mother-in-law as it's her birthday on Sunday. Weather permitting we'll be having a barbecue on Sunday to celebrate it (fingers crossed). Enjoy your weekend!

RHS Wisley + Just for You

After lunch we went out to RHS Wisley Gardens. They are only a short drive from us, but I've never been. It's so beautiful and the grass looks artificial that's how perfectly green and cut it is. Very inspirational and so many beautiful flowers. Here's a small impression what it looks like:

The Wisley Shop also had a lot of inspiring things. I loved how they wrote creatively on this little bag.

And loved everything about these gorgeous wrapping papers. Didn't buy any though.

My card for today is another one that I did with flocking on the background, but I also flocked the butterflies, which I then cut out.

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock Lily White | Basic Grey 'Euphoria' patterned paper + butterfly clear stamps | Hero Arts rubber stamp 'Just for You' | Staz'On ink Jet Black | KaiserCraft pearls | Martha Stewart leaf punch | Woodware + EK Success Flower punches | Doodlebug Design flocking | EK Success corner rounder

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow.

Two Spring Cards

Today I'm showing you two cards that were published in CardsOnly 6. The first one I did flocking again. I've used the same papers from Scenic Route for both cards.

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock | Scenic Route patterned paper + chipboard Lynden | Hero Arts stamp S5032 | Doodlebug Designs flocking | Autumn Leaves Spring Swirl clear stamp | Stampin’Up ink turquoise | Prima Marketing flowers | Making Memories brad | SEI button | ribbon | Blokker floss | Spellbinder Nestabilities scallop square | Cuttlebug embossing folder Swiss Dot

Bazzill Basics Cardstock | Scenic Route Lynden patterned paper + die-cut shape | Doodlebug Designs Paperfrill | Autumn Leaves Spring Swirl clear stamp | Stampin’Up ink turquoise | Brilliance ink white | Queen & Co. brad | Marvy Uchida scalloped punch | Fiskars circle punch | ribbon 

As the weather was wet most of the day, we had a quiet day at home.

Tower of London + Another Pubbed Card

The morning started off with heavy showers, but around 10.30 a.m. is started to dry-out. We decided to go to the Tower of London. It turned out to be quite a nice day. There were many places where you weren't allowed to take pictures, e.g. the crown jewels or in many of the exhibitions of the armour of King Henry VIII, but here's a collage of today's events.



Also, here's another one of my published cards from CardsOnly 6. I did some flocking on the background of this card:

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock Lily White + Kraft | American Crafts, 7Gypsies patterned paper | Hero Arts stamp Flourish | Autumn Leaves Spring Swirl clear stamp + buttons | Stampin’Up ink Chocolate | Ranger’s Distress ink Antique Linen | Prima Marketing flowers | McGill baby blooms punch  | Woodware flower punch | Doodlebug Designs flocking yellow | American Crafts ribbon | Basic Grey buttons | Karen Foster floss

That's all for now!

Baby Boy

We arrived at Gatwick this morning around 9.15 a.m., but my dad's flight was an hour delayed. The kids were thrilled to see him. We had a lovely day in the garden.

Today I'll show you the baby boy card that was published along the baby girl card from yesterday in CardsOnly.

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock Lilly White | Making Memories patterned paper Paperie | Basic Grey buttons | American Crafts Thickers | Tulip puffy paint | ribbon Spotlight + local haberdashery | twin Notonthehighstreet.com | Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels Two | VersaColor ink blue

That's all for today. Until tomorrow.

I'm going to cheat

There are still 8 days left until the Ultimate Card Showdown at 2S4Y, but I'm probably not going to be creating many cards anymore until then, as my dad will be visiting this week. However, I'm still going to show you a card everyday. Today one of my cards that was published in CardsOnly.



Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock Lily White | Making Memories Patterned Paper + Puffy Alpha + Ribbon | tag | Stampin'Up stamp 'girl' | VersaColor ink pink | Michael Miller flower | Queen & Co. mini flowers

Today was the hottest day this year, a lovely 25 degrees Celcius. After we went to see Night at the Museum 2 this morning we spent the rest of the day in the garden pruning and clearing. We picked Rebecca up after the movies, as she went too. She slept quite a few hours more last night, but she was still awfully tired today. Tomorrow we need to get up bright and early to pick-up my dad from the airport at 9.00 a.m.

Kazan's Sketch 19

At 9.15 a.m. we picked up Rebecca from her friend's house to go to her swimming lesson. She'd only slept for about 4 hours, and you can imagine she was rather tired. We suggested to her to crash for a couple of hours after lunch before she had to go to her next sleepover, but she was afraid she wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight. After I mowed to lawn after lunch I created a card for Rebecca's friend Ella, where I dropped her off at 4.00 p.m. along Kazan's sketch 19.



Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock | Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper | Basic Grey button | baker's twine | Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels Four + Blossom | American Crafts Thickers | brown marker | tissue paper | Martha Stewart border punch Dots | Making Memories ribbon Paperie.

We are finally having some warmer weather again. Ruben and Renee spent most of the day outside in the park. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Gift Card Holder Folder

Back in January when I was over for a weekend in Holland, Ingrid gave me some gift card holder folders to try out (thank you, SIL). I imagined them being larger than they actually are. They measure only 4 1/4"x3" and are very cute. I wanted to play along with Ingrid's challenge a few weeks ago, but just didn't seem to find the time.

This weekend Rebecca is having two sleepover parties back-to-back. This evening she's sleeping at a classmates house. I bought her a gift card for GAME, so this was the perfect opportunity to create one. I used Kazan's sketch 17 as inspiration.

Supplies: SheetLoad ShortCuts GCHF | Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper + chipboard die-cut element| American Crafts Patterned Paper | ribbon local haberdashery | brads | twine | Hero Arts clear stamp | Staz'On ink Timber Brown.

Wishing everyone a very good weekend.

Color Inspiration #52

Today when I was creating my next catch-up card along Kazan's sketch 24, I used Kristina's color inspiration #52.  I might have actually used a few more colours than required, but that one patterned paper just happened to have all the colours in there (plus a few more, lol).

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock | Sassafrass Lass patterned paper | Crate Paper patterned paper | Making Memories patterned paper | Autumn Leaves clear stamp | Prima Marketing flowers | Martha Stewart butterfly punch | Martha Stewart starburst punch | Papertrey Ink clear stamp | Staz'On ink Timber Brown | Fiskars border punch Uppercrest | Button SEI | twine

Paula Pascual contacted me yesterday whether she could feature my Spring Clean Monday posts on her Crafty Storage blog. I love that blog, it has such great ideas for storage and it features many different studios from well known scrapbookers, so I was happy to say 'yes'.

Today I'll be posting my first layout which will be published in Scrapbook Inspirations magazine. Last month Shimelle contacted me whether I would be interested in contributing. My first assignment was to create a layout along a sketch. Unfortunately I won't be able to show you anything until the issue (#56) is on the newsstand, and this won't be for another couple of months.

I've changed my mind

I was browsing the 2S4Y blog the other day and realised that there are far more sketches I haven't played with than the days in the countdown. Rather than showing you my old DT cards, I've decided to create a card a day along one of the past sketches. Today, I've created a card along Laura's sketch 24:

Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock | Creative Imagination + Love Elsie + Scenic Route patterned paper | Vandoros ribbon | American Crafts embellishment | Papertrey Ink clear stamp Damask Designs | Martha Stewart border punch | Staz'On ink Timber Brown.

All patterned paper I used on this card came from my scrap drawer. Only 12 days until the Ultimate Card Showdown. Until tomorrow.

Laura's Sketch 26

13 Days and counting... are you getting excited yet? Last night after 24 (series 7)... I created my card along Laura's sketch 26. Since this week's sponsor is ShortCuts I decided to make a clear card as well. And by clear I mean clear... take a look:

Supplies: Sheetloads ShortCuts clear card | American Crafts, Creative Imaginations + Basic Grey Patterned Paper | Basic Grey button (pink) | My Mind's Eye button (pink flower) | Fancy Pants crochet flower | Hero Arts clear stamp | Heidi Swapp clear stamp | Staz'On ink Jet Black + White | cord | Martha Stewart border punch | ribbon local haberdashery | Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels four.

I only put a piece of patterned paper behind the die-cut shape on the inside. I struggled a bit with the white stamp on the clear card as it's quite slippery. In the end I pressed the card on top of the stamp, rather than the other way around to avoid it from slipping.

Have you made your card yet? See you let's say... tomorrow?

2 Sketches 4 You First Annual Card Showdown

Have you heard the news already? 2 Sketches 4 You is celebrating it's first birthday in a big way. Everyone's invited, including you:

It all starts June 1st and the Grand Prize is worth over $500. Curious? Keep your eye on 2 Sketches 4 You and get ready to play along.

All the designers of 2 Sketches 4 You, current and past will be counting down until June 1st. While I'm counting down the days, I'll be taking you back down to memory lane and repost my cards that I made as a DT member of 2S4Y on alternating days. On the odd days I'll be creating a new card along one of the sketches that I haven't played along with in the past. Sounds like fun? Up today is my card I created along Kazan's sketch 6:

Now I'm off to create a card to post tomorrow ; ). Thanks for stopping by.

Goodbye Oma + Polka Pots + Another Wall Art

Yesterday my mum went home after five lovely weeks of being with us. Friday evening all the children were sitting in bed with her, spending the last night reading and playing with her.

We will miss you lots, mama.

Today we went to Polka Pots to pick-up our creations that we made last week on Mother's Day. This is how they turned out:

Aren't they cute. I had to hurry up with taking a picture as it was just starting to rain again.

Lastly, Friday evening I also started on my other wall art that I wanted to create. I was looking for a particular butterfly punch, but it seems that it's been discontinued. I decided to use a Quickutz butterfly that I cut with my Silhouette instead. It was a lot of work as I needed to cut it out of 20 different pieces of paper. After a lot of noise (those machines aren't the quietest) I managed to cut them all. Last night I calculated where I needed to stick them to evenly space them on a piece of 12"x12" cardstock. This is the end result:

And here's a close-up:

The frame was purchased at at IKEA. I used patterned papers from: Scenic Route, Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye, American Crafts and Making Memories. I also tried Jenni Bowlin, but the paper was too thin to cut. I used foam dots to adhere the butterflies to the cardstock to give them some dimension. I hung the frame in the hallway to replace the Christmas frame that was still hanging there.

We've had a lovely weekend, ready for another week at school before they have a week off again. Enjoy!

Fiji Album

In January I started on a mini album from our holiday that we took during Easter 2008. I then put it aside until two days ago. Having found new inspiration to finish it -  as our next holiday to Mauritius is only two months away, I got to work. I finished it this morning. The album was inspired by this album by Ali Edwards. I purchased the kit from Cocao Daisy, but didn't decide what to use it for until this.

I took pictures of most pages, but not of all of them. To include lots of journaling I've added my blog entries of the daily blog I wrote in the time we lived in Australia, which I slot into pockets that I made out of each page. I haven't photographed all the blog entry pages.

I also made a video of the pictures of the album, but the quality isn't great, but as I went and found some traditional Fijian music with it, I still think you should watch it to get a true feel of what it was like.



Now, are you ready for some picture overload!

Supplies: Tinkering Ink chipboard album | Making Memories patterned paper + epoxy stickers + canvas alphabet stickers + canvas tags + chipboard letters + flowers + brads + metal clips + ribbon + clear stamps Passport | Ali Edwards clear Travel stamps | American crafts metal hinges | Three Bugs in a Rug clear date stamps | Staz'On ink Jet Black | red + black marker | Kikki.K white pen | Woodware corner punch | Catslife Press rubber stamp | Fiskars circle punch | EK Success circle punch

Are you still there? I hope you liked it. I'm very pleased with the end result, especially since I got so many pictures (59 I counted quickly) as well as so much journaling in such a tiny album.

Have a great evening!