Moving Right Along

while some of you are digging into the holiday turkey, vlbf Peter and me are on the move! yup, moving again... i've done it so many times in my life, you'd think i'd be a pro... but i'd really rather be doing pretty much anything else :) it snowed here last weekend, so i thought i'd share a couple of pics of the view from our (soon to be not our) apartment:
and i had a visitor again last Saturday night! he left me kruidnoten (traditional, little, crunchy gingerbread cookies) and schuimpjes (like flavoured meringue) in my (still not cleaned) shoe. i got a lot of eating to do. :)

How Corny!

the current challenge at Caardvarks is to use this picture to make a card:i had a lot of fun planning and then finally putting this one together. i used the colours from the pic, and "growth", a "tall" card, and raffia all have to do with corn, right? i used Bo Bunny papers, felt Thickers, Basic Grey buttons, and hearts cut from felt.

Spirit of Christmas

another beautiful sketch this week from 2 Sketches 4 You. i used Bo Bunny paper for this one, cut out the scallops, the heart is frosted paper with snowflakes, and i made the swirl with wire from my jewelry making stash. the stitching gave me some trouble as i am trying to figure out the correct tension for my sewing machine. i was reading about how to do this on the net, and one site said to make sure your bobbin is full of thread, so you don't run out midway. like duh. well, i was sewing along and my thread was jamming and then not working... i checked... guess what the problem was... like duh. :) but i still haven't figured out the correct tension! anyway, thanks for looking and have a great day!

Haarlem at Night

the weather here still amazes me! it can change literally every 15 minutes, and you can easily get all 4 seasons in an hour. this morning we had snow, thunder, rain and beautiful sunshine before 11 am.

we went for dinner at Popo, a Mexican restaurant in Haarlem last week. we enjoyed a good meal and, even better, great service! the waiter heard us speaking and asked if we were English. vlbf Peter said "no, i'm Dutch" but the waiter continued to speak to us in English. i thought that was so nice and considerate! and a nice change for me to understand what was going on and not have to wait for vlbf to translate! i think Haarlam is a beautiful city, with lots of character, winding cobblestone streets, and interesting little shops.

Three Cards Today

i found this awesome Fancy Pants paper last weekend, and this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You was the perfect opportunity to use it! i added some scallops and a bit of ribbon too.the second one was for the bonus sketch. i found these trees just last night at a place that is the closest thing to a dollar store that i have found here in NL so far.
for this one, i wasn't sure about using the "cute" paper with the "elegant" flowers... but the recipient of this card (my mom) will really like both, so i went ahead and used them together. thanks for stopping by, and have a good day!

Some Great News!

good morning! i just found out that my card was chosen as the winner of the Caardvarks "Chocolate" Challenge. i'm so happy that they liked my card! thanks so much to everyone at Caardvarks - i can't wait to try out my new Scor-it!

Sinterklaas is Coming to Town!

actually, Sinterklaas arrived with his helpers last Saturday on his boat from Spain. i left my shoe out that evening and this is what he left me (with a personalized note attached :)), which was pretty lucky considering i didn't clean my shoe before putting it out, which one is supposed to do or risk being left a twig (or worse yet, being stuffed in his sack and taken back to Spain.... wait a minute... i wonder what the weather's like in Spain atm...) but that's not all! apparently, Sinterklaas will leave me something if i leave my shoe out every Saturday evening until Dec 6, when i'll get the "big" present. not a bad deal, hey? :)

*it's a chocoate letter M (with hazelnuts) in my shoe, locally made from a Dutch company whose factory is near where vlbf Peter grew up

Just in Time!

i'm really loving these challenge sites! i've always worked better with a deadline... :) here's my last-minute entry for this week's lovely sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. thanks for stopping by and i hope you're having a great weekend so far!

Friends and Chocoate, Friends with Chocolate!

phew... it's finally done but this one was a toughie for me! it's my entry for the Caardvarks "Chocolate" challenge. i knew what i wanted my card to look like, but for days and days i just couldn't seem to get the idea in my head onto paper! i finally got it out though... and here is the finished product. thanks for stopping by!

Sint Maarten

it was Sint Maarten (St. Martin's Day) here yesterday. kids go door-to-door carrying paper lanterns and singing songs in return for candy. we went for a drive around the neighbourhood to check it out (we live in an apartment so figured we wouldn't have any kids at our place, but vlbf Peter bought a big bag of mini Snickers just in case ;) )

What Size?

i've been wondering lately what the "standard" handmade card size is, if there is such a thing.... i made this one to fit an A2 envelope and when i first cut the card stock, i thought it was so small, but now that it's done, i think it's okay. i read a while ago on the hilarious and talented Lauren's blog that she didn't worry too much about the size fitting an envelope, that people just throw the envelope away anyway. so using that wisdom, i made cards whatever size i felt like. what size are your cards? here's my "little" card. i tried hand-stitching on it as well:

Another Christmas Card

thanks for your nice comments about my last card! it's very motivating and makes me want to make more stuff! i made another Christmas card using MME "Be Merry" paper, which i'm loving atm and will use it to make at least one more!

Flowers from Holland!

okay, so i'm a girl ... so i like flowers, right? then i come to Holland, where the flowers are *so* inexpensive and they last for about 2 weeks!! so all spring and summer long, i had a bouquet. here are a few samples and pics from the market in Haarlem:

Purple Christmas Card

i made this card using Laura's Sketch 12, from 2 Sketches 4 You, which you can find here. my original idea was much closer to the sketch (it was, really, it was! :) ) but this is what i ended up with:

Scrappy Christmas Tree

good morning! my friend in Canada finally got her package in the mail the other day, so I can show you the tree I made:i used a 26.5 cm high styrofoam cone, Making Memories FaLaLa paper cut into 1.5 cm x 6 cm strips, regular sewing pins and felt to cover the bottom.after gluing the felt, i folded the strips in half and pinned them in a circle, starting at the bottom and slightly overlapping the edges, all the way to the top. then i cut two stars and glued them together with a toothpick, which i used to attach it to the top. i pinned two pieces of ribbon to the top as well.

Spread the Joy!

i want to share something with you that i saw on my walk this weekend. the Dutch have a nice habit of announcing life events that they are celebrating such as a birth, birthday, retirement, graduation, etc by putting up balloons, flags, signs, storks, etc in windows and on the front of houses. i like this one - when graduating from high school, the student's backpack is hung outside from the flag:

i think it's a nice way to share the happiness with your neighbours and anyone happening to be passing by. then i saw this baby ...

Card Challenge

i made this card for the latest Caardvarks Card Challenge, "Initial Reaction." i wanted to make a "guy" card, which is usually a bit more difficult than "girl" cards, and i'm quite happy with the end result. i hope they like it too!

More Cards

i'm going to show you a few more cards i made. this is one of the first attempts :)
this one was for very lovely bf Peter's grandfather for his 93rd birthday. he and his wife are very sweet and i always enjoy our visits.
this one i made for my bff friend in Budapest for her birthday. we chat online almost every day, usually for hours!

this one i made for my mom, which i sent along with some goodies from Holland. she likes the stroopwafels.

this one i made for my friend's birthday. she lives with her husband, dog and cats in Victoria, BC. we've been friends since we were both 5 years old!

and this one i made for my dad, for his birthday.