Sketches! {by Tamara} #88

time for another lovely sketch from Sketches! {by tamara} and i gotta say... this one's a *fun* one!! here's my card:
head over to Sketches! {by tamara} to check out this week's card sketch, see the beautiful creations from the rest of the dt and join in the fun!!

Interesting Habits, Customs, Traditions.....

... or at least, Dutch habits, customs, traditions, ways of doing things that *i* found interesting, in no particular order:

• people are greeted with 3 cheek-kisses
• birthdays are very important at all ages - the person celebrating his or her birthday holds the celebration, invitees sit in a circle, everyone congratulates (by handshake or 3 kisses) everyone in the circle for the recipient's birthday
• cake is taken to the office or cookies to school for one's birthday
• a calendar with only birthdays listed for each month is hung in the washroom
• social activities and appointments are rarely spontaneous, and are often booked months in advance
• bathtubs are not popular, but shelf toilets are
• dishes are not rinsed after washing
• hands are washed in the kitchen sink after using the washroom
• home births are the norm, and pain relief is not readily available
• Zwarte Piet- Sinterklaas' black-faced helper
• the Polder model of consensus decision-making
• hagelslag - sprinkles as a sandwich topping
  

"As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own." Margaret Mead

Sketches! {by Tamara} #87

it's Thursday and that means another great card sketch over at Sketches! {by Tamara}! i sure hope you join us this week and would love to see what you come up with! here's my card:

Makes My Heart Smile

my sweet blogging friend Oliva presented me with this award, which truly does "make my heart smile!"i'm sending it out to all the bloggers out there who i visit and leave comments for, who inspire me and/or touch me in some way. thank you, you are all wonderful!

Moving On.... Woohoo!

after one year (to the day!) i am leaving the Netherlands. we've been planning this for a while now (the main reason i did not look for work here after receiving my permit) and we are very excited and happy that we are finally able to do it!

i'm looking forward to *so* many things, but mainly to spending time with my awesome relatives and friends, the European lifestyle i fell in love with years ago, good food, sunshine, shopping malls, convenience stores, bathtubs, hills, 4 seasons, no/less wind, festivals, and a rich culture/cultural activities.

i am thinking about starting a new blog on my European experiences, as i believe that i will have more to share about our new locale, but i am not much of a writer... more of a visual type, in case you haven't noticed...:) i can usually talk on and on about most things, but once i sit down in front of a keyboard... i got nothing. so i'm thinking about keeping this blog as my "creative" one... a side that i am very fortunate to have had the time to re-develop this past year.

my NL experience compilation:

typical quaint Dutch scene:water everywhere:
and sheep and cows and ducks everywhere:love these benches outside the houses... though i've never actually seen anyone sitting on one:
in the summer, the sun sets really late and it's light out until like 10:30 pm or something:long beaches stretching on forever... lovely when it''s not raining or windy:
these cool-looking things are razor shells! i had never seen them before coming here:

Queen's Day.... national celebration and garage sale in one!
Bon Jovi rocks Amsterdam! my fourth time seeing them live!
my trusty bike Mabel... who has since found a new home:
pannenkoeken - a delish cross between a pancake and a crepe, with apples, raisins, or ham, etc baked in:
at restaurants, the bill would sometimes be presented in little boxes or baskets. this is one cute example:
one area in a flower warehouse:
say it with flowers ... those are orange flags - orange is the national colour:
... keep on movin' on and don't look back!

Welcome Spring!

... big time! spring, you are very welcome to visit anytime!! :)

"Pursuit of Happyness" was on tv last night. . i know, i'm a bit behind the crowd (as usual :)) i thought it was sad, but good. "based on a true story" movies have always been my faves.

the current challenge at Caardvarks is to make a "critter" card. i found this butterfly at the local housewares store, and thought a flower-shaped card would be appropriate for this one. the template can be found at marthastewart.com thanks for looking and i hope you're enoying some sunny days wherever you are!

Weekend in Berlin

i loved Berlin... such a great mix of worn, run-down areas and clean, modern sights. we only spent a weekend there, but could easily have stayed a week going to all the sights and museums.(i still can't believe i can say that i've been to the Berlin wall!! :)))) ) highlights of the trip were vlbf Peter getting a good steak dinner, and me getting a vanilla latte from a well-know coffee chain. (i don't like seeing the same chains everywhere i go, but i sure enjoyed that coffee :)) ... and getting these yummy goodies (and two more that we ate on the way home) from a bakery.

Easter Greetings

i'm getting started on my Easter cards; gotta get them done early so they'll get there in time because i mail most of them overseas. it's so nice to use bright, "springtime" colours these days. this one's based on this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You.
thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend!

Sketches! {by Tamara} #86

it's finally Thursday, and i can finally show you my very-first-ever card made as a Sketches! {by tamara} dt member!! head over to Sketches! {by tamara} to check out the beautiful creations from the rest of the dt, and to come up with your take on the sketch!

Find the Joy

we had a couple of hours of sun this morning, a rare occurrence that i learned a while ago to stop everything and enjoy :), so we took a short walk along a lake near here. it was very cold and windy, but it sure felt great to feel a bit of sunshine.

this is the card i made based on this week's lovely sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You. i wanted a "grungy" kind of look to match the tag.

Bouquet of Love

i made a card using the latest sketch from Card Patterns, and i got it in just in time (i think)! i did all the stitching by hand and played with the position of the hearts for a while. and added some bling, you know, just because! :) here's another bouquet i wanted to share with you - bought these at the roadside flower-seller guy, along with a bouquet of 5 hyacinths for about $12 cdn. i find most things are more expensive in NL, but flowers are definitely *a lot* cheaper. lucky me!!

Wonderful News!

i am so happy and excited to announce that i have been chosen to be a part of the Card Design Team for Sketches! by {tamara}! i'm very much looking forward to creating and sharing with the rest of the dt, and i do hope you join in too!