My Scrappin' Point of View

Time for a challenge

2012-01-22T11:02:00.000+01:00

At the Hobby Farm blog you will find the sketch for the January challenge.

Here's my take on the sketch.
The story about this layout is that my brother and his family were in Holland last summer. Eline likes to tinker and here she's working on a figure with ironing beads. It was great to have the family around and spending a lot of time together.

The stuff I used for this layout:
Core'dinations - ColorCore cardstock (snowflake).
Me & My Big Ideas - Modern Milan (paperpad).
Tilda - Autumngarden (paperpad).
Tinkering Ink - Trofiette (papier).
Basic Grey - Doilies (paper), brads and clear stamp.
Fancy Pants - Rub-ons #462.
Prima - Flowers #537456.
Webster Pages - Bloomers.
American Crafts - Thickers (Poolside).
Ranger - Distress Ink (Peeled Paint).

Have fun and join the challenge and create something nice based on this sketch. You have the change on winning a € 10,00 voucher to spend in the Hobby Farm store. Email your layout before February 15 to hobbyfarm@pandora.be. Please take a look at the blog and see what the other girls created.

Have a nice sunday and enjoy the week ahead!

Another card

2012-01-14T12:09:00.000+01:00

Created for the January 2012 Sketch Challenge of Scrappin' Patch.

Materials I used:
cArt-Us - Cardstock.
Action - Flowers (6"x8" Paperpad).
ColorCore - Cardstock Bluebelle.

Prima - Flower.

Martha Stewart - Punch Garden Trellis.

Other - Bling, flower and ribbon.

Thanks for visiting and hope to see you next time.

Card with cArt-Us

2012-01-03T16:15:00.001+01:00

For the KKD in September last year I created several items. Most of it were cards as shown on the two canvasboards.

My favorite! Love the funny owl stamp on this one.

Materials I used:
cArt-Us - Flowers and Birds, Spring Flowers, Romantic Flowers (6"x6" Paperpads), clear stamps, cardstock.

Prima - Flowers #537456.

Tim Holtz - Distress Embossing Powder.

VersaMark - Ink - black.

Other - Bling.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Challenge

2011-12-30T17:56:00.000+01:00

The Kraft Journal has a website which I discovered just a few weeks ago. Inspiring and hosting nice challenges. For nr. 51, "Try Something New", I created a small gift bag.

Materials I used:
Little Yellow Bicycle - Magic Christmas Collection (paper) and sticker.
Prima - Journaling notebook.
American Crafts - Christmas ribbon.
Hero Arts - Stamp #c2919 Take Time.
Ranger - Distress Ink - Brushed Corduroy.
Other - Ribbon, Baker's Twine, brown tag, star pin, felt heart.

Thanks for your visit.

A Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T14:36:00.000+01:00

is my wish for you. Please click the link for something really cute:

http://ak.imgag.com/imgag/product/preview/flash/bws8Shell_fps24.swf?ihost=http://ak.imgag.com/imgag&brandldrPath=/product/full/el/&cardNum=/product/full/ap/3166187/graphic1

X-mas workshop

2011-12-21T22:15:00.000+01:00

The first workshop since we moved nearly a year ago.

A housewarming together with a little free workshop is what I had in mind.

Because of the holidays a small paperbag was the item they could work with. A lot of talking, laughing, sipping tea and coffee, eating delicious X-mas cookies and chocolates and finally going home with a beautiful gift bag. The evening was fun and it was so good to see the girls again. Thanks for the nice evening Sil, Linda, Gitta, Margriet, Anja, Elly and Anneke.

Hope to see you next time.

Fresh start

2011-12-18T14:37:00.000+01:00

My first post in months is a happy one.

Serious health problems with DH kept me from blogging. Now everything changed for the good and I'm happy to pick up my creative things.

Evelien asked me to join the DT again, so the first layout I created in ages is for the Hobby Farm blog.

A typical boys layout about Jeffrey passing his tractor exam. The title and writing says: Tough - Since you were a little boy you drove on the tractor but today is your day and you can hit the road.

Tough

Materials I used:
Prima - Harmony Collection, Blooming Retro (paper), Chipboard # 551254, Flowers #552473.
7Gypsies - Familiy Documents (paper).
American Crafts - Thickers nutmeg.
Cosmo Cricket - Tiny Type # TT581.
Other - Ribbon, rope, buttons, staples, fineliner and sewingmachine.

It's good to be back, wish you all a good week.

2011-08-08T12:35:00.002+02:00

Nice email

Look what I found in my mailbox a few weeks ago:

Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:34:37 -0700

Subject: May we feature My Scrappin' Point of View in our Best of the Web?
From: scott@become-inc.com
To: kmp_hofmann@hotmail.com

Hello,

I’ve just discovered your website and I’m very impressed with your crafting hobby. I particularly like your cards that you make. We have a home décor blog, Be @ Home, which features anything from interior design tips to room trends, and from time to time, we feature crafting-related content.

We would like to feature you in our Best of the Web, our weekly series recognizing the most informative websites on the web. We are always looking to feature new websites that have content relevant to our readers and would therefore love to share links with your website.

Best,
Scott

You will find my website linked here: http://pocketchange.become.com/2011/08/best-of-the-web-be-home-34.html

Wish you all a good weekend.

Mariska

2011-07-24T21:29:00.057+02:00

Demo Fancy Arts

It was a busy day at Fancy Arts in Emmen. An ad in the local newspaper reminded people about the demonstration with the Slice Fabric. So the whole day the machine was running to show the possibilities of cutting fabric, felt, foam, cardstock, etc.

I created different items showing that this small and handy tool is very useful for cardmaking, scrapbooking, patchwork and home deco.

Thanks to Fredie and her family for this nice day, which was full of chats with enthousiastic clients and unexpected things.

Wish you all a nice weekend.

Mariska

2011-07-17T22:00:00.006+02:00

Old stuff ...

While organizing my scraproom after we moved, I came across an old layout. Created this one for the Hobby Farm blog with the sketch Evelien e-mailed me.

Next Saturday Fancy Arts, a new craft store in Emmen, has it's official opening. Kars asked me to do a demonstration with the Slice Fabrique. At this moment my scraptable is full of Tilda fabrics, paper, buttons, lace, etc.

It would be nice to meet you there ....

Greetings Mariska

2011-06-30T21:15:00.001+02:00

Workshop

What a nice evening it was yesterday .....

The ladies of the Blanckendaell volleybal team enjoyed their first time scrapbooking. None of them ever scrapped before, some make cards but that's all. It's always a great challenge to work with a group like this. Thanks again for the invitation Helen.

Everything packed and ready to go.

Location this evening was the mill, a wonderful place to be.

Here are a few pictures of a very creative evening.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your week.

Greetings Mariska

2011-06-14T15:03:00.004+02:00

Where did time go .....

It's a long time since my last post in November 2010! Many good things happened since then .....

October 22nd we got the key to our new house. That was also the start of a very busy period, many hours of painting, cleaning and decorating the house. Three months of hard work and January 15 we moved to our new place. From that moment on a lot of little chores had to be done. The final thing inside the house was to organize my scraproom. Later on, when the weather became better, we started outside with the paving and yet the garden has our priority.

In the meantime many cups of coffee and tea were served to those who came to visit our new home. We celebrated all four our birthdays, Jeffrey turned 18 and Jarno 16.

It's hardly unbelievable but I didn't scrap for 8 months. My last creative outburst was an article for "Creatief met Kaarten" (Spring issue) which I finished in October. Used the beautiful Graphic 45 papers - Steampunk Debutant, Colorcore cardstock and Prima flowers. And guess what .... for the first time I made the cover of a magazine. A small picture though, but still .....

These are the five cards I created with the wonderful stuff Kars send me.

Two weeks ago a collegue asked me to do a workshop for 19 ladies of a volleybal team. That's what got me started to pick up my scrapwork again. A fresh start also needs a new look for my weblog.

Happy to be back and hope to see you next time, wish you all a sunny week.

Greetings Mariska

2010-11-01T12:19:00.001+01:00

Thanks

to those who voted for my card (see my last post). I didn't make it to the top 3 but it was fun to participate and will be going to the KreaDoe on Friday with my mom. Like every year it's a nice day out.

2010-10-06T21:02:00.027+02:00

KreaDoe Card Finalist

Yesterday I got a surprising email that my "Men Card" was selected as one of the 10 finalists for the card challenge at the KreaDoe website.

This is the card

and this is the link http://www.kreadoe.nl/nl-NL/Bezoeker/KreaDoe%20Creatief/Stempagina%20Categorie%20Kaarten/Mariska%20Hofmann.aspx

Feel free to vote for my card ... and "Thank you very much" if you do.

Nice that you came by.

2010-09-14T15:22:00.016+02:00

A weekend at Hobby Farm

Just another fun weekend, this time I was in the store in Eeklo. Evelien and Katrien invited me to do a demo with Webster Pages.

A little impression of my table ...

One of the cards I created with the gorgeous "Bloomers" and "Sparklers".

Tanya and I stayed in a great place, the Hampshire Classic Hotel "Het Godshuis". The place to be for Scraptastic 2011. Next year I hope to be there too.

I will show more cards and layouts in my next post.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

2010-09-08T22:54:00.004+02:00

KKD project

I enjoyed my time at the KKD last weekend, doing a little make 'n take. Shopkeepers were invited to create a mini Christmas tree with a styropor cone. Many women and some men attended the workshop using the beautiful items of the Kars X-mas collection.

This is my example of the tree ...

Waiting for the first one to come ...

An old acquaintance ...

and also Sue joined the tree project. Thanks girl, it was good to see you again.

Wish you all a good weekend and maybe see you next time.

2010-09-04T21:14:00.014+02:00

No excuses ...

why it took me so long to update my blog. At the moment other things have priority. I finished my layout for the September challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. Evelien send my this sketch and from time to time it's nice to work on a 6x12" layout. Surprising that even when the size is smaller so many pictures fit on the page.

Congrats to Ann Goesaert for being this months guest designer. She created a colorful double page boys layout.

Next weekend I will be demonstrating in the store of Hobby Farm in Eeklo. Last year I had a great time and I'm looking forward to go there again. Webster Pages and Prima is my stuff to play with.

Tomorrow and Monday I'll be at the KKD. This time no demonstration but a little make 'n take with the new Kars X-Mas Collection and styropor. The item is a cute christmas tree. In my next post I'll show you the tree and maybe some pictures of the KKD.

Wish you all a very good weekend.

2010-06-07T12:56:00.018+02:00

I'm still here

and it's time for an update. The new challenge at Hobby Farm is running now. But first I owe you my layout of last month.

Used a picture of Jeffrey when he signed his diploma.

Supplies: Papers: BoBunny * Stickers: American Craft, Jenni Bowlin * Flowers: Prima * Staples * Ranger Distress Ink * Buttons.

With the sketch I also created a card.

Supplies: Papers: BoBunny, G45, Basic Grey * Stickers: Making Memories * Flowers, Note paper: Prima * Buttons.

For this months challenge I used a picture of my niece. It's a little birthday present in a virtual way.

Happy Birthday Eline

Hope you had a wonderful day and have been spoiled a lot.

Supplies: Papers, flowers, bird, crystals: Prima * Stickers, buttons: Basic Grey * Stickers: Jenni Bowlin, Making Memories * Black fineliner.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

2010-04-12T16:59:00.005+02:00

April challenge

It's time for the monthly challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. This is what I created with the sketch of this month ...

My boys - just before their first ride in the sidecar, April '96.

I created another layout and rotated the sketch for this one. A beautiful b/w picture I got from my mom showing my brothers and me in the summer of 1969.

Maybe you like the challenge to create a layout based on the sketch and send it in before April 30 to hobbyfarm@pandora.be. You might win a coupon of € 20,00 euro which can be spend in the store of Hobby Farm.

There's more news at the Hobby Farm blog like the Scraptastic 2010 event. You will find all the information here.

Thanks again for visiting and wish you all a good week.

2010-04-02T11:20:00.024+02:00

Sadly ...

I didn't made the Design Team of Graphic 45, but it's OK though. To the girls who did I want to say lots of success.

This is what I created for the final round. An altered canvas with all the items on it that are my favourite techniques and stuff to work with. So you will find flowers, buttons, bling, ribbon, lace, stitching, distress and spray ink on this hanger. However a picture of me is very unusual.

From Ira I got the Ms Bright Side award. She's also a great fan of Graphic 45 papers and creates the most beautiful projects. Hop over to her blog and take a look. Thanks for this nice gesture Ira, you really surprised me with this.

To pass it on I have to mention 10 things that make me happy, 5 personal facts and also pick 5 bloggers that inspire me a lot. So here I go!

What really makes me smile ...

1. My three men

2. The new house we're building

3. That finally spring is here, I'm not a wintry type at all

4. Having my family and friends around

5. Riding my motorbike

6. Scrapbooking; creating layouts, mini's and altered items

7. My work

8. The garden with blooming hydrangea

9. Our 2 tame ducks begging for food every morning

10. Cooking and eating with friends

Five things about myself ...

1. I like being at home hanging about and make the house cosy

2. Hope to visit my brother and his family in New Zealand

3. Enjoy it to read (scrapbook)magazines

4. Go to the movies

5. I love to cook

The girls I want to horor with this award are ...

Evelien, owner of Hobbyfarm and asked me to join her Design Team in December 2008
Martine, she started a webshop with her sister selling delicious cookies

Dawn, love her digital scraps

Elly, such an inspiration in home decoration, beautiful handmade items and scrapping

Nicola, for her gorgeous cards

Wish you all happy Easter days and thanks for visiting my blog.

2010-03-17T13:26:00.011+01:00

Donna Downey is coming to Hobby Farm

If you want to join one of her workshops you can sign in for 13 or 14 April 2010. More info you will find at the Hobby Farm blog.

Almost forgot to show you my layout for the March challenge. Jarno celebrating his birthday at school a while ago.

Thanks for visiting and have a nice weekend.

2010-03-05T16:59:00.009+01:00

A happy girl .....

that's me. Please check this out.
Since the demo at Kars I'm addicted to their papers.

Wish you all a wonderful weekend.

2010-03-01T12:27:00.009+01:00

A few cards

Just a quick post. Yesterday was a day full of rain so a good reason to create some cards.

Thanks for visiting a enjoy your week.

2010-02-23T11:55:00.006+01:00

More Graphic 45

As I said before Graphic 45 was a real big challenge for me and today I'll show some of the items I did for Kars.

A litte kitchen blackboard

A layout about my mom and dads wedding day. I love using old black and white pictures.

Made cards as well ...

And a memory box filled with a mini-album showing pictures which are all about speed.

That's all for now. Wish you all a nice week and thanks for visiting.

2010-02-17T11:09:00.005+01:00

Challenge

Here's my layout for the February challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. Again I used Graphic 45 papers, some Prima flowers and alpha's of Making Memories.

Thanks for visiting.

2010-02-11T10:21:00.003+01:00

Kars

Sunday and Monday I demonstrated at the KKD in Ochten. Nice to attend this event for retailers again. Good to see Birgit, Liesbeth, Masha, Revlie and Martine and also enjoyed the talks with customers. Maybe this results in new assignments ..... which would be very nice.

It was a real challenge for me this time demonstrating Graphic 45 which is pretty "wild" stuff and for me as a clean scrapper totally different. But very happy when I see how the projects turned out.

Here a picture of my booth

and two pictures of a very cute couple. MDF figures covered with ribbon, lace, flowers, buttons, acrylic paint, gesso and patterned paper. I also used the sewingmachine.

Nice that you came by and wish you a good weekend.

2010-01-25T09:41:00.007+01:00

Exposition

How nice to read this in the newspaper .....

Thanks for visiting and have a nice week.

2010-01-10T13:45:00.002+01:00

January Challenge Hobby Farm

It's time to share my layout for the January Challenge at Hobby Farm! I have enjoyed working on this one. Thanks to Pencil Lines for the sketch this month.

There are a few things to win at the Hobby Farm blog. First, when creating a layout with the sketch you might become the next guest designer. The other thing is a fabulous price package,
worth € 180,00. HOW ..... Design a winter themed layout not using the traditional colors but bright ones. Good luck on one or both items. For more details please take a look at the Hobby Farm blog.

Wish you all a good week and thanks for visiting my blog.

2010-01-05T17:53:00.023+01:00

Scrapped

A few things for the Hobby Farm blog. Having a little holiday from Christmas till New Years Day was fun and gave me a lot of time to be creative.

X-mas tradition

Cool Guy

Amazing Fall

I used the pictures for the last two pages before but like them a lot so why not using them again.

Because December is a month of giving presents I created a gift box and a display for the holiday season.

A while ago I promised to show the drawing of our new house. So here it is .....

Something else that made me smile is the "Kreativ Blogger" award I got from Helen a few weeks ago. Thnx girl I really appreciate this.

Thanks for visiting.

2010-01-01T14:09:00.008+01:00

I wish

you all a healthty, creative and above all a very .....

Have fun .....

2009-12-20T19:25:00.010+01:00

Finally an update .....

I had in mind to post more often but somehow I didn't had the time. Glad to show some new items that I created for the monthly challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. First the layout sketch and maybe for you an inspiration to use this sketch and create something yourself.

Evelien also asked me again to design a card sketch for the December challenge.

Boukje won the last one and great that she's this months guest designer. She had the honor before and it's eye candy what she creates.

A beautiful snow white world ....

Friday morning, when the first snow was there I went outside and made these pictures around our house.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I will show the drawings of our new house in my next post.

Wish you all a good week.

2009-10-12T09:56:00.015+02:00

More stuff .....

In this post the rest of the items I created for the KKD and also the things I did for Hobby Farm. Unfortunately I couldn't show it myself at the demo but later on Evelien posted it on the blog.

Doorhanger - both sides

Autumn style wreath

Gift Bag

More cards

Hobby Farm projects with the gorgeous Basic Grey paperline "Lemonade".

Kars Demo

All clean and tidy (opgeruimd staat netjes)

Funny Friends

Fun and Laugh

A few cards
and another Gift Bag

Thanks for visiting again and wish you a very nice week.

2009-09-28T14:14:00.024+02:00

KKD Projects

I like to show you some of the items I created for the Kars demo. With a box full of beautiful "boyish" coloured stuff I was in my element.

First a layout I created for DH because we celebrated our wedding anniversary. "Still in Love" says it all. In my last post you saw already a little detail of the page. The picture is not that good but with a transparency is difficult to get a good shot.

"Back to School" is a layout about Jarno who's ready to go and collect his books for his 3rd year.

Then there was the "Diploma uitreiking" (your diploma). This was a very special evening for all of us.

" Road Trip" is done with a picture of the boys going for a ride on an early Sunday morning with their antique tractor.

"Old Glory" is with my mom and dad pictured, but sitting behind the screen you hardly can see them. Dad loves to drive his steam car and goes for a tour for fun.

I also made some cards and a few altered items. I now show two cards and the rest of the things will be in my next post.

Thanks for your visit and have a nice week.

2009-09-15T16:02:00.033+02:00

I'm back

and OMG is it that long since my last post. First of all thanks to those who send me an email asking if there's something going on. Nice to know that people miss you when you're not posting new stuff.

A lot happened these last couple of months. Only happy things I can assure you. First there is my new job (mentioned this before) and this took me a while to get adjusted to the routine of different working hours and the kind of work itself.

The summer holiday was good for all of us. Jeffrey had to relax a while after his exam before he started his summer job at a bulb-grower. He loves the job and is still working there on Saturday.
Jarno had a summer job as well and worked all the time in a restaurant at the coast. Doing the dishes, selling ice creams and handling the midget golf stuff. Now school started his job is over for a while but when the autumn holiday starts he's asked to come back.

We had our annual family biker weekend which was fun as always. The tours, the BBQ, the silly games and meeting up with friends we haven't seen for ages. The biker babies have grown (see below for an explantion).

We also went to Germany for a short vacation in the Munster area. It's about half an hour from the dutch border. Good weather and a lot of fun.

For the boys we had a surprise in mind they didn't expect at all. We bought tickets for the "Zwarte Cross". Maybe you may have heard of it but this was SO AMAZING AND SO UNBELIEVABLE. It's hard to explain what it is and like friends told us before you should go there and see for yourself what's happening and so we did ..... Music, theatre, moto-cross, fun, sun and a lot more .....

Then there was the invitation to demonstrate at the KKD again. Very honored and so happy to go again. This time the "Traveler" collection of Little Yellow Bicycle was all mine. Great to see the other girls again and also meeting some new friends. Staying in the hotel in Tiel I really had a nice time. Great to meet Martine again after such a long time. Here a few things I created with the goodies and more of it in my next post.

Evelien of Hobby Farm also asked me again for a demo in their store in Eeklo (Belgium). This was planned for last Saturday but unfortunately I couldn't go because of being sick.

For this demo I created a lot of different items but will post most of it later on. For this altered candle I used the Basic Grey Lemonade papers.

For this layout "Biker Babies" I used Adornit papers and Color Core cardstock. My boys at the age of 1 and 3 years old and now this seems so long ago already.

A new month also means a new challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. You will find a sketch for the September challenge at the site and maybe it's an inspiration for you to create something and give it a try to become next months Guest Designer. I love the Adornit and Basic Grey papers, embellishments and other stuff I got from Evelien to create my project for this month and the demo.

For this month I also designed a card sketch.

In the meantime I like to congratulate Charlot (DT member of Hobby Farm) as the winner of the Prima Teen Contest. Such a great honor for her. Also a warm welcome to Julia as new DT member.

The most exciting thing that kept us busy is that we decided to build a new house. All the things like paperwork, meetings with the builder and the architect, it all took us many hours to work out our ideas. The blue print is sent to the local councel for their approval and now we have to wait ..... More details later on ....

Thanks for peeking and I hope to visit your blogs in the next week and see what you all have been doing.

2009-06-22T16:47:00.011+02:00

We put out the flag

Yes, yes, yes he did it. Jeffrey passed his exam and we celebrated this last Wednesday with family and friends. In the afternoon he could expect a phonecall from his mentor with good or bad news. Very good news for him and such a relief for me because Jeffrey said to me: I think you're more nervous than me mom. And I must admit that he was right.

School is done and now he has a summer job and at work every day. Saving some money to get a licence for his moped. After his tractor and school exam this is his new goal.

Then there is this oldie ..... a new toy and again a mechanical project for both boys. Last year they were busy with a mini sidecar racer and this will keep them busy this summer.

Still not much scrapping but Kars asked me to demonstrate at the KKD again in September. So that means a lot of scrapping and because I already know what goodies I'll be working with I'm doing some brainstorming since ......

I leave you with a mini-album I created a while ago. It has a wooden cover that orginally was a doorhanger telling visitors where I might be when I'm not answering the frontdoor.

Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend.

2009-06-08T11:04:00.011+02:00

June challenge at Hobby Farm

I'm not much of a blogger these last couple of weeks but hope to visit your blogs in the next week and see what you all have been doing.

It's already June and we had a lot of sunshine so far. Love to see how everything grows. A lot of flowers and also trees with so much blossom. It all looks so lovely and when I sit in the garden I really enjoy it all. That's also the reason why I used these nice pictures for my layout of the monthly challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. Please hop over and you will find new sketches for this month's challenge. Evelien asked me to design a card sketch again.
Here's my work on both sketches.

#A gorgeous summer day - I used the sketch for one page.

Feel free to join this challenge on one or both items and don't forget to email your layout or card to hobbyfarm@pandora.be. Maybe you're the next guest designer.

Last month Nathalie Onderdonck created the winning card and she's the new guest designer. Congrats Nathalie and I'll look forward to the next challenge and what you're gonna do with it.

Wish you all a good week and thanks for peeking.

2009-05-28T21:43:00.015+02:00

Jarno's birthday and a German guest

Party time again ..... Jarno got 14 today and I wanna say "Happy Birthday baby".

A bit sleepy while opening a little present at breakfast, because we already celebrated yours on Sunday 24th when it was DH's birthday. Since Jarno was born we celebrated both on his day. We had a lovely sunny day but unfortunate no pictures because my camera refused everything and now I know that I need to buy a new one because costs for repair are to much. For the time being I can use a camera of my parents.

This week we have a guest in the house. I told you a few months ago that Jarno was lucky to go to Germany on a school exchange. This week his German partner Tobias stays at our home. A busy week which started on Monday when the students arrived at 14.30 at the trainstation in Schagen. Walking and talking back to the GSg, having a drink and showing their school it was time to pick up Jarno and Tobias at 16.00. After a cup of tea and cola it was time to relax for a while .....

..... and maybe catch a fish for diner ..... LOL

Four days of fun and an overloaded programm but they wouldn't have missed a thing. There was a BBQ, going to the beach, time for shopping, visiting Alkmaar, bowling/eating and school things as well. Today it was already time to say goodbye.

The boys had a wonderful time and decided to meet up again this summer when we're planning to visit our family in Germany during the holiday.

Wish you all a very good weekend and thanks for visiting.

2009-05-19T16:29:00.009+02:00

Hobby Farm and school exams

A bit late but a new month so that means also a new challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. You will find a sketch for the May challenge at the site and maybe it's an inspiration for you to give it a try and become Guest Designer for next month. I love the papers, embellishments and other stuff I got from Evelien to create my project for this month. Great to see what the other girls did with the same sketch and if you're curious yourself please take a look at the site.

Evelien asked me to design a card sketch. Here's my work on the card sketch. If you like challenges please feel free to join this one and create something nice based on one (or both) of the sketches. Hilde Vranken is the Guest Designer for this month. Boukje created a stunning card and won the April card challenge. She did a wonderful job because this was already her second time she won. Congrats to both designers!

Yesterday the school exams started and that means two weeks of hard work for Jeffrey. He did well this year so his average is good. I think he doesn't have to worry but you never know what happens when you're nervous.

Have a good week and enjoy the beautiful weather.

2009-05-08T22:07:00.012+02:00

Way to long .....

since my last post but a lot happened since Jeffrey's birthday. He invited some friends and family for the evening but has plans for a great party end of June when he has finished secondary school. Hopefully with a good result for his exams.

The reason I didn't post for such a long time is because of very good but also sad news. The good news is that I applied for a new job and last week I got a phone call telling me that I can start May 15. It's a brand new position and I will be working together in a team with two colleagues. Started some training already to be prepared for this new adventure. I love it and hardly can't wait to get started!!!

Another thing which made me jump was an assignment from Kars for a Dutch crafts magazine called "Mijn Creatieve Hobby". Can't show anything yet but altered a few wooden objects and used a lot of paint and scrapstuff. For the complete article you have to wait till nr. 5 which will be released this summer. Maybe you noticed already that I changed my sidebar a little. LOL

Got a very nice email from Jana of Scrap-art-Zine telling me that two layouts and an altered project will be published in the Summer issue. Lucky me and I'm very honored about this.

Our big boy did a very good job because he passed his tractor exam. With only 4 faults in his theory exam and showing the examiner his practical skills by riding around our village he was successful to get the "green paper".

How cool is this ....

Then there is also a very sad thing to tell you. My grandma passed away the day before Queensday. She lived next door all my life and we shared so many wonderful memories. October 2008 she fell and was taken into hospital, 3 weeks later she moved to a nursing home. Declining week by week she died in her sleep April 29, 90 years old. During the ceremony on Monday I was able to speak about her and telling that I will miss her a lot.

Didn't scrap for weeks but printed some pictures this afternoon so maybe this weekend I have the inspiration to start again ....

Yeah and finally I'll show you the mini I made when I followed Revlie's workshop at SAL. Finished it weeks ago but because of my non blogging here it is ....

Wish you all a wonderful sunny weekend and thanks for stopping bye again.

P.S. will show the projects for the May challenge at the Hobby Farm blog in my next post.

2009-04-16T12:19:00.005+02:00

Birthday boy

Today Jeffrey is celebrating his 16th birthday. As he told us lots of times these last couple of weeks "16 means so much more ..... so much more than yesterday when you're only 15". He's very busy preparing for his tractor licence and now he's allowed to drive on the public road with his moped. Having fun doing this in his spare time ....

... you can imagine how happy he was to get this wonderful present early this morning. His own maintenance kit, so no longer using dads tools.

Happy birthday baby and have a great day.

2009-04-08T14:20:00.015+02:00

Hobby Farm and BG#29

At the Hobby Farm blog you will find new sketches for the April challenge. Evelien asked me to design a card sketch. Here's my work on both sketches.

If you like challenges please feel free to join this one and create something nice based on one (or both) of the sketches. Please take a look and see what the other girls did. Karen Taylor is the Guest Designer for this month.

Materials I used for this layout and card:

Patterned papers - Basic Grey "Gypsy".

Buttons, brads, letterstickers - Basic Grey "Sultry".

Cardstock - ColorCore.
Thickers - American Crafts.

Flowers, ribbon - Prima.

Other - chalk, fineliner, staples, Dymo, waxcord and bling.

Basic Grey Challenges has a nice one up this week. Create a Spring/Easter themed project. I did a lot of layouts the last couple of weeks so cards are fun to do for a change. And with a lot of birthdays and anniversary's ahead it's good to have some on hand. For this card I used the beautiful Porcelain papers.

Thanks for visiting my blog and Happy Easter to you all.

2009-04-02T11:54:00.007+02:00

Goodbye Page Plans, BG#28 and teatime

I'm very sorry to announce that this weeks reveal will be the last one for Page Plans. Both Lesli and Chris are not able to continue the Page Plans blog due to increased demands from both of their professional and personal lives. I must say I had a wonderful time here and loved the sketches to work with. Thanks so much for the support and I want to wish you all the best and take care!

My take on the last one is a layout about Jeffrey and our little nephew Matt.

#50 - Friends

Followed another sketch this week which was at the Basic Grey Challenge blog. Again I used leftovers from the SAL weekend and after finishing the first one I decided to do another one. Here I turned the sketch.

How could I forget to mention in my last post that I had tea with Elly. Monday a week ago I had the chance to look at all the beautiful spots in her house. We had a lot to talk about and before I knew it was time to go home. The fun thing is that we met through blogging and seeing eachother at markets. Next time at my place?

Only one day till the weekend is here and tomorrow our youngest is coming back from his school exchange in Germany. Last Monday he, 12 other students and 2 teachers took the train to have a great week. Everyone stays in a host family and end of May the boy of his family in Germany comes here to stay at our home.

Have fun and take care!

2009-03-26T19:55:00.019+01:00

Scrap-A-Licious, Page Plans, BG#27 and tagged

Oeps! Almost two weeks since my last blog post. But there's a lot to tell .....

Last Saturday it was all about scrapbooking at the Scrap-A-Licious event organized by Corinne Delis. I drove off at 06.30, picked up Mandy and we arrived in Veghel at 8.45. The whole day was filled with 4 workshops, which means a lot of inspiration, new stuff and techniques (loved the spray ink) but above all a lot of fun and meeting blogfriends IRL.

The first workshop was given by Martha Bonneau. She's a very talented lady who loves fabric and the combination with the printed flowers we had to bring with us turned out really nice. We learned the French knot and created our own easy handmade fabric flower embellishment. At home I finished the layout with a bit of sewing.

Dina Wakley got us hooked on spray ink. WOW! Here workshop was all about texture! Creating a 12x12" technique layout, using spray ink, Magic Mesh, hand stitching, stamping and thickers with an amazing result.

The teacher of workshop nr. 3 was Jo-Anne te Raa. She let us create a home decor project. A metal ring covered with lots of Cosmo Cricket fabric, Jenni Bowlin stuff and the result was lovely ...

The final workshop was done by Revlie Schuit, a cute felt mini album with transparencies, Making Memories papers, ribbons, buttons and journaling stamps. We learned the blanket stitch to cover the felt edges.
During the day lots of free moments for coffee, shopping, lunch and diner and last but not least the lotery and crop in the evening. I was lucky to win a few prices and driving back home I could only SIGH and think what a WONDERFUL DAY it was.

Sunday means another week of Page Plans sketches. I used a picture of our tame ducks dashing through the snowdrops. They are such a cute couple. Next week will be my last layout for Page Plans so my 2nd period ends with nr. 50.

Thanks for peeking and hope the weather will be good this weekend.