More everyday newsy bits.

I have had a super birthday day out in Haarlem! The weather was perfect and we gently meandered around the city centre taking in the sights! We went in to the huge church to listen to the organ playing but only briefly as it was almost closing time. We got a CD anyway, with my favourite piece on - THE WIDOR TOCCATA. It is a triumphant and ringing piece that I have also chosen for my funeral, as everyone leaves the church. This is in keeping with my 'no black, I want this to reflect my life' service that I have got ready to go ( hopefully not for many years yet!!). It is a long story which I don't want to go into here, but I have strong feelings about what I want my friends and family to remember about me, and this needs to be told for the last time, in the way I have imagined and planned. Enough said!! I received 4 gorgeous necklaces for my birthday; Peters and one from Ann in Poland, and 2 others which I chose myself. So I have one for every occasion now! I also got a great bag by TULA from Clare today in the mail, which was one I chose when I saw hers last year. It is ideal for a day out, being small enough for all the essentials, and easily hidden under a coat etc, or for riding my bike etc. I love it! Great colours too - very 'in' this season it seems. Lots of flowers and a wonderful huge dish with olives decorated on it from Loes, and a garden centre voucher, and finally the new JAMES BLUNT CD from Tim, which is SUPERB. I love it! Especially tracks 4 and 5....great music. If I were a technically minded soul I would add it to the blog like so many others do, but I have no idea how!!! Anyway, it is now the no. 1 favourite scrapping CD in this house!!! Last night was also the grand final of MASTERCHEF which we have faithfully followed for several years now. JAMES NATHAN won it this year, and deservedly so, although Iam sure Jonny and Emily will go on to great things as well. A good series every year in my mind. And I am still loving Lark Rise to Candleford every Sunday. Way to go BBC!!!!! I adore all that stuff anyway and sit religiously to watch any costume drama that I can find. 'The other Boyleyn Girl' looks mighty tempting too......................I have to give Becci some ideas for my present from Amazon.co.uk so I am going to see what I can find there now and tell her this evening. Too little time, too much choice maybe...once I start looking that is........................... final word: my 85 year old friend Doris told me in her birthday card to me that " I think I have a toyboy, he is 10 years younger than me'!!! How great to be so alive at that ripe age!!!!!

storage for ribbon

I have finally found a solution I like for my ribbon storage. I got the idea from another blog, but by accident came across the DOLLY PEGS at the Zinkenviool and have started winding them all up! It keeps them nice and flat but no fold lines so it is perfect. I am currently storing them in plastic pots that I have had yogurt in etc. but I want to get enough to be able to sort them out into colours, and in nice pots from Ikea maybe....Jayne will sell them to you for 14,95euro for 50 dollies, which is wonderful. In the shop you need to tell them what you want them for, or that you are a scrapper etc, and Jayne will know what you want!! I bought the first lot nicely wrapped in ribbon and paper for 2.50 euro for 5 pegs, but today I heard that it was so much better to buy the 50 and get more for my money!!! I think they are far easier to find and buy in the UK or the USA, but here they are seldom seen, so this is SUPER!!!! I am spreading the word and already know of a few other folk who are wending their way towards BovenKarspel and DE ZINKENVIOOL!!!!!!!

Thank you one and all.

I have had so many lovely cards already that it is a real feast for my eyes just looking at them above my computer right now! Ineke, what a beautiful creation you sent me!! It is really incredible what you do. I love it! And Ann sent me a hand-stitched cat, which is very colourful and sweet, and the greyhound card from Ann and Max is just great!! I will have to take a better look at it and save it for future reference...........it is so cute! They have greyhounds, well, just one at the moment, which they rescue once they are abandoned after their racing careers are over. They are such gentle and sweet animals, with great temperaments, and such gorgeous eyes........I once had Lurchers when I lived on the farm, and they are wonderful animals too. But now it is Siamese cats who rule the roost here!!!!! Weather is ok for a day out in Haarlem. We are going by train since that is easiest re. parking and prices, and we are booked for dinner at Luca and Lucas's Italian Restuarant which looks wonderful. The diet will be kept to however, so no pasta I am afraid!!! I am doing well now, 5 kilos almost so that is worthwhile. My clothes are starting to feel a little looser; I think it is 7 kils before you go down a dress size (one stone), and I am not quite there yet. I DID manage to completely button up my favourite blouse this morning that I haven't been able to do for years!!!!!! I used to swan around in quite chic clothes in my 'management days' I feel......and so you can count how long ago that was! So, encouraging stuff. I have got a pair of M&S trousers that I am aiming to get into as my first target, plus my pinafore jeans dress as that is also a favourite from ages ago...... but for now, cheerio and for everyone else celebrating today: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

3 more little beauties!!!

As you see, I have got the card-making bug right now! I am not doing much scrapping but mainly due to a lack of photos rather than inspiration. I am looking forward to my DT package from Chantal at Scrapfever this week with the new Dream Street papers in, and hopefully also one with the new Basic Grey once it arrives - yippee!! And with going to HAARLEM tomorrow with Peter, for my birthday, I am sure there is a photo opportunity in the offing! Pete really surprised me last night when he came home from England. He had bought me a birthday present!! A very pretty necklace with a teeny tiny diamond set in a gold heart inside a little silver and glass circle. Thank goodness for shops at ariports!!!!!! It is really my style which is amazing as he is usually at a loss to know exactly what my taste will be, so I am suitably impressed! Still waiting for my other necklace to arrive from the states though...that is more of an everyday one, and this is more special but for now I will wear it all the time, darling! xxxxx I am so relaxed! I think it is that I really love being creative and what I have found from scrapping and card-making is a great outlet for what is in my head. I have always painted and drawn since I was little; my mother used to pack my suitcase when I went to my grandmas etc, and in the bottom there was always crayons and a sketchbook. I took art at school and my teacher - Mr. Croucher - used to try his best to persuade me to go to artschool in Canterbury, but without success. Sorry sir!!! I felt that I was good enough for graphics but I suppose not for a real career or to earn a living doing it, so I stuck with the Occupational Therapy which also involved plenty of creative work especially since I was keen to do psychiatry anyway. So it is a life-long passion and activity that has been passed on to me by my creative genes - my mother and aunt have always been ace in making all kinds of things. Mum would make the christmas decorations straight out of the BLUE PETER programme, tinsel and glitter and 'stickyback paper' galore!!!! My aunt make incredible cakes, with icing that was life-like; beyond description, you had to see it to appreciate her skill and patience. My mother has made lace, spun, crotcheted, knit, gardened, all kinds of things, but now she is into crosswords!!! Ah well, I remember it all so well.............................

2 extra cards!

These are the other 2 cards ( first it was only one but I made another today), so as you can see I really DO love these mice!!! And the text stamp 'young, old, just words' is also from Happy Stampers. I will be 50 next year but I have quite a few friends who are reaching this milestone in the coming months so I am getting prepared! Making their cards well in advance so that I have enough! The largeflower on the second one I cut out of the design paper I was using and then added a paper centre and a pink button. There are fantastic new sets around now that have got various flowers, including felt ones, and buttons in one pack and cost 10euros. There is so much in the set that it is well worth buying instead of all the individual ones that add up to more money.

Anyway, I got interupted as our new oven arrived just now, and is now residing next to the new dishwasher and microwave, at the end of our diningtable!!! They will remain there for a few weeks I fear but after that, joy of joys, the brand new kitchen!!!!!

New cards with new stamps!!

These are 3 cards I have made over the weekend with the new stamps from Happy Stampers. I have got one more but something went wrong with the uploading so that is still to appear! I love these mice. They are so cute and using the terpentine technique and my Derwent crayons relatively easy to colour in etc. The correspondence cards make ideal white card for the stamps, and I buy mine from the Bruna for 1,75euro so for 50 cards it is ok. And the papers I bought on Friday so yes, used immediately! I am so happy with the lovely colours especially green and blue which are my current favourites. I know there is housework to do BUT! this is much more fun!!

The mice stamps are Penny Black by the way..I am going to make a lot of stamped images ready for the card day at the end of March so that I have got plenty to swop for others. I am looking for the MAGNOLIA HOUSE stamp if anyone can send me 2 images please???? I have got 2 friends moving house this week and want to make cards with the house on them. I can send some stamped cards by return of course.

I was reading Ali edwards blog yesterday and it seems we are all in the mood for a 'spring clean' in our scraprooms. Like Ali I am busy sorting out old layouts and deciding what I want to keep etc and what I am missing re. persons and topics. What I notice is that I make a lot of examples for the workshops and not enough about my family. The cats are heavily featured but my 14 year old son refuses to be photographed and my daughter I only see every so often as she is studying in England, and my DH doesn't do a lot that I can call interesting to photograph!!! That sounds bad but he is always working or away so the best times to snap him are in the summer or on holiday and we haven't had one for a while now...............ah!! (last year)....but maybe with the kitchen there will be chances to take more of him in action! I am not very good at all, about scrapping myself, like so many of us scrappers we are quite anonymous, and that ought to change. I am making a little scrapbook about my diet but that is secret at the moment (hush, hush). So there it is: I need to get out and about and take more photos and try to improve my techniques with my Lumix camera. It takes great photos but I am not very adept at getting the best out of it I am afraid. Maybe I need to take a course this year.........................

luvverly jubbley!!

I am really impressed with the speedy delivery I have had this week! I ordered the Art Specially Cards book and within one day I had received it, and also my beautiful stamps from Pauline at Happy Stampers; took 2 days which from Scotland is pretty impressive! Thanks guys! The book is so inspirational, and so many wonderful card designs in it, I have got to really sit and take it all in properly before I start trying my own ideas out. And the stamps are the ones I wanted for making my cards with - cute mice and hedgehogs from Penny Black designs etc. Pauline always includes a small gift and this time it was the pastel coloured dragonfly brads that I had thought about ordering anyway, so good guess!!! So what have I been doing? Sitting down and colouring in the stamps and making cards - yes!!!!! I also went to Simpel Scrappen in Den Helder with Amienke on Friday afternoon and got some new cardstock and papers all in spring colours etc. Whilst there we saw Tiets and decided we would go to the card-day on 29th March after all. It is the first time we have been so it is all very nerve-wracking; a day spent amongst experienced card-makers....nail-biting! There is a workshop with Tiets in the afternoon and a competition (of course) and then the shopping at Carla's. Enough good reasons to go I think, don't you?! Yesterday Hillie and Kemal were here and we went out to the D'Oude Veiling Restaurant in Zwaag. It was a sort of pre-birthday/post-birthday meal for me and Peter but we didn't mention it at the restaurant, but FIVE others had, so it was a case of singing 'Lang zal ze Leven' time after time all evening! Amazing that everyone was celebrating their birthdays in february. The place was full too, but then it is a very popular and good restaurant here in our area. I resisted as best I could and was the 'bob' so no alcohol for me (good girl), and stayed on the water all evening, and tried as best I could to stick to my eating plan. It is going slowly but surely so I am happy. And I know Loes has made wonderful food for this evening but she has also got a plate specially for me - thank you Loes!xx And that is where we are headed right now!x

Mini Album in a box

Since the workshop isn't happening now, I can at least show you what I had designed for everyone to make!!! The first photo is of the top of the box I made; the second is the front of the mini album, and the others are from in the album itself. The gorgeous papers are from Websters Pages which I adore. They were great to work with as they are such good quality and weight. I made the album and the box from the new cardstock which is perfect for this sort of thing. All in all, I think it would have been a lovely workshop..........................

Cheerful Birdhouse!

I spent yesterday making this birdhouse just for the fun of it!! I actually bought the birdhouse for 7euros from a local garden centre because it was in a light pink colour and made in MDF; so the paper sticks very easily to the frame! I have used more of the SEI papers I love at the moment, and added a frilly piece of gingham ribbon around the bottom. The photos show it all the way round to give you an idea of how it looks. It took a day but I am delighted with my efforts! Hope to hear what you think too.