18 !

In a few days my oldest daughter is getting 18! Wow, what a beautiful age.
I've made her this card. Of course I used a 2sketches4you sketch, designed by Kazan.
Love this sketch and the frosted card from Sheetloads/Shortcuts.

A card and a little Josh Rouse song.

Today was a cold and quiet day. I didn't do very much today. Finished a card, bought some birthdaypresents and drunk a cup of tea with my girlfriend in a nice, but unfortunately not so warm, café.



A little Dutch poem.

Thuiskomen
wat is vriendschap
wat is liefde
anders dan
het weten
en ervaren
Ik kom thuis
bij jou
Jij komt thuis
bij mij
Gisteren en morgen
veilig geborgen
in het nu
bij jou
bij mij

I want to introduce you to Josh Rouse (1972). He's an American singer-songwriter and I love his music. He's not very known in The Netherlands but deserves to get a little attention.

Listen to his song "Quiet Town".

Yes, I'm still alive!

I know it's been a long, long time ago since my last post.
A lot is going on right now and I'm not in a scrapping mood.
But today is my fathers birtday and I had to make a birthdaycard for him.
Of course I used a sketch from my favorite card sketch blog 2sketches4you and here's my card. I used some October Afternoon papers which I bought some time ago but didn't use until now.
Do you see the first snow of the season on the roof of my car? It's not much, but I think there's more to come.




And there was a big and happy surprise for me by mail. A lot of ladies from the Dolls & Decoration forum send me cards because they miss me at the forum and wanted to say "Hi" to me. I feel so very happy about that and you all deserve a big hug from me. Thank you so much.



Yesterday I went out for dinner in a lovely restaurant in Zutphen, called Barrio Cubana, and the food was really nice. I think you should give it a try when you are in the neighbourhood.

My vacation and my own sketch,

Last week we went for a holiday to Egypt. The weather was very nice, it was sunny and the temperature was 30C, every day! Our hotel was great and there was a lovely reef in front of the hotel. We went snorkeling all day and that was very special.
We saw the most beautiful fishes and want to go back some time.



Because of my vacation I didn't manage to make this weeks sketch for 2sketches4you.
But I DID make my own cardsketch. I wanted to make a card in a different shape than usual and decided to make a round one.
This is my sketch and a few pictures of my card.






On the 2sketches4you blog you can find this weeks sketch, made by Kazan.
I think it's a very elegant sketch and hope to find some time this week, but I will be very busy making a present for a birthday later this week ;-)



I hope to see many lovely cards made after my sketch. Please let me know and be sure I visit your blog.

Very difficult.

Last week I received two Pop Up Cards from De Nami Design and a sketch from Laura from 2sketches4you. Our challange was to combine them.
At first I was enthusiastic about the idea, but when I start working with it I couldn't find the inspiration I needed.

So, I'm not very pleased with the result but nonetheless I will show you some pictures. I think when you visit the 2sketches4you blog you'll find some very lovely cards, LOL. This challange was to big for me.





Next monday I'll be back with my own sketch and card. I already finished it and I'm quite pleased with the result.

Kazan's sketch 11!

This is already Kazan's sketch 11. They say that time flies when you're having fun, and that really is the truth. I didn't hardly use sketches before I discovered 2sketches4you, but I can say I'm a true addict now.
My Design Team Membership is coming to an end at the end of this month and I'm gonna miss it. Fortunate 2sketches4you is not ending, so now I can try to be the first to post every week, LOL.

This sketch was a pleasure to work with. I've used a quote, printed on transparent, some Creative Café stuff and of course my sewing machine. I think I can't live without that thing.






By the way, did you see the DT call? Try it, it's fun to be part of this team.

My new 2sketches4you card and World Card Making day 2008!

Finally I'm feeling better. The last two weeks weren't my best, but here I am again, the happy me! Let me start to say thank you for all your very nice comments on my "Officially Friends" post. I really loved reading them and you bet I'll cherish this new friendship.

And as you all know monday is 2sketches4you day. Time for a fantastic new sketch, made by Laura. This sketch was so easy to work with and I really enjoyed it.
I'm going to use this card as a birthdaycard and stupid me forgot to "change the age". And because I'm sure the "birthdaygirl" reads my blog, I just gave away a surprice. Oops.

This is Laura's sketch 10.



And here's my take on the sketch.




Last saturday, we celebrated "World Card Making Day". The whole 2s4y team made an extra card to celebrate that event. Both Laura and Kazan made a sketch and I played with Laura's sketch. I've used a piece of Hambly transparent, crocheted around it and used some KI lace and papers. You can see a lot of lovely cards on the 2s4y blog, so please take a look.



I hardly celebrated WCMD because I wasn't at home all day. I went shopping in Utrecht with my friend Anne and on our way home we bought some Indonesian food. We cooked some rice at home and had a lovely dinner.
After dinner, Anne wanted to scrap a card, her first one! We choose a not so complicated one and had a lot of fun, at least I had.
Of course I helped her a little bit, but she cut out all the flowers, choose the papers, used the Crop-a-Dile and placed the letterstickers. I'm sure the receiver will be highly surprised with this beautiful result.
Here's a photo of the result. Look how blissful Anne, the blonde one, looks.



I'm proud of you girl! Your first card made on WCMD.

Officially Friends.

I didn't feel to well last week and didn't have much interest in scrapbooking at all. Finally on friday I got some inspiration and made Kazans sketch 10 for my favorite sketchblog 2sketches4you.
There's a little nice story behind the title of this card and I'm gonna tell it to you.

You might know that I'm teaching classes in a gym and I love doing that very much.
One of our members wrote a nice comment about me in the gym's guestbook and only signed it with A. You can imagine I was curious, who he or she was. My family joked that I wrote the comment myself. LOL.
One week later, I talked about the comment in my class and thanked A. for it and said that I liked it very much. After the class, a woman came to me. We shaked hands and she told me her name and said that she wrote the comment.
We talked for a few moments and I told her I thought about her as the sender of the comment. Why? Only because I often see her smiling and laughing during my classes.
Later, she send me an e-mail and from that moment we start e-mailing, a lòòòòòt.
Last week we met and talked and talked and talked. Time was flying and we had such a nice time. She's such a nice and kind woman and she can make me laugh and make me cry.
Last thursday I wrote her an e-mail and signed it with "your new friend".
On friday I got an e-mail back with the question: "Are we officially friends now? ;-)"
That little sentence gave me the inspiration for the title of this card.
And yes, A., we are officially friends now :-). This card will be in your mailbox soon and I hope you'll like it.

This is Kazans sketch:



And this is my card. I've used some Creative Café transparent. Love that stuff.



On the 2sketches4you blog you can find a lot of inspiration. If you are a cardmaker, I'm sure you'll love that blog.
Be sure I take a look at your blog to see what you did with the sketch! Enjoy it!

Two weeks ago I made some more cards which I'll show you. I was inspired by a Dutch magazine. Thank you Je@net.

I love transparents.

All the 2sketches4you DT members received a package with four transparent cards from this weeks sponsor Sheetloads, and had to use it for this weeks sketch. Some weeks ago I've made some cards with Hambly transparent, so I knew I would love this new product.
The possibilities with transparents are endless. When you take a look at the Sheetload ShortCuts blog, you can see a lot of examples my 2sketches4you colleague Carla made. So very lovely.

This weeks sketch was made by Laura and she did a great job. I love those curved lines and used them on the last page of my card.

For this card I used 1,5 sheet and made a 3-page card for my youngest daughter's birthday. She needs to be patient because her birthday is not until december.
Stitching the transparent is no problem and I'm always using normal sewing needles, so just try it if you want.

Some music.

Sorry, nothing to show yet.
I've just put some of my favorite songs on my blog. I also wanted a few older songs but couldn't find them. What a pitty.

Just a question. Do you like music on blogs or not?

Oh, and I want to tell you that I'm pretty pleased with the card I made today for next weeks 2sketches4you. Laura made a very lovely sketch but I'm sorry that you have to wait till monday to see it ;-)

Have a nice weekend!

Something different.

This weeks sketch from 2sketches4you was made by Kazan.
I thought it was a perfect sketch for something different.
I've made a little gift bag. First I had to make a pattern, because most bags are to big for one sheet of scrapbookpaper. It was fun to do and I'm pretty pleased with it.

This is Kazan's sketch.



And this is my little gift bag.



I hope you'll enjoy this weeks sketch as much as I did and I'm looking forward to see all your beautiful creations.

Bonus card Ashild

This week it was Ashilds turn to create the bonus sketch. It's a sketch with several layers and I like it. It is always a pleasure to work with these October Afternoon papers, so I used them again, and I still have a lot more :-)
Ashild, thanks for your lovely sketch.
If you want to see the sketch and Ashilds lovely card, check the 2sketches4you blog.




In yesterdays post I told you about the cool clear cards from Sheetload ShortCuts. You can win a package of four cards just by leaving a comment on their site. I wish you luck!

Another card and a lovely prize.

Last week when I was playing with Laura's sketch my first take was made of this blue paper and the big bow. When I glued the paper and the bow, my inspiration left me and didn't visit me that week. So, at that point I decided to make a complete new card and that's the red one as seen on the 2sketches4you blog.
Yesterday, I saw the blue card again and suddenly knew what to do with it. This is the result and I'm pleased with it.
Made this card for my parents, who are celebrating their 46th weddingday next sunday.



In august, when I visited Carla's beautiful blog, I saw a link to the Sheetload site and hopped over for a look. I liked their monthly sketch and the great prizes, so I made a card and guess what.....I won! Yeah, I'm happy!!!!!
You maybe remember my card and this is the prize I won. Love it!




Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch (yes, really!), BasicGrey Two Scoops - Fibers, 6x6 paper pad and Heart Smudge Stamps

Alicia, the owner of Sheetloads Shortcuts introduced beautiful Clear & Frosted Cards. There a are a few examples made by Carla and those are so cute. I love clear products.

Laura's sketch 8.

This week it is Laura's take to make the sketch for 2sketches4you. And again she did a great job. I love the sketch and think I might use it for some more cards.
I didn't use any patterned paper and only used three colours.
I love the red paper from Creative Café, it's a shame I didn't use it before.
I tried to handstitch a border, but it didn't turn out as lovely as Danni does it. Guess I have to practice a lot more ;-)





If you've never visited the 2sketches4you blog I really think you have to do it this week. There's always a lot inspiration over there. I wish you a very creative week!

Three new cards.

Finally had some time to scrap this week. I'm very busy learning the new choreography from BodyPUMP 67. This new release is awesome, I really love it!

This first card is made after Christine's sketch. She is this weeks maker of the Bonus Sketch from 2sketches4you. I love her sketch and didn't have much troubles with it ;-) Check her blog to look at her lovely work.



The second card was my first take on Laura's sketch 7. At first there was no butterfly and I didn't like the card. It simply was not finished and now it is.



The last card is a total scraplift from Sherry Wright. I love her work.





Back to BodyPUMP. Have a nice day!

Happy monday with Kazan's sketch 7 and RAK winner.

Finally I can show you the card I've made using Kazan's sketch 7. I'm getting addicted to these weekly sketches and I'm loving them more and more. And I'm very happy Kazan, Laura and the other members of their 2sketches4you Design Team are so very friendly. They're giving me such a feeling of appreciation and that feels very good. Thank you all for that.

When my daughters took some of my stuff away for my birthdayRAK, I saw the chipboard birds and realized I didn't use one of them. So for this new sketch I had to use them. I sewed through the chipboard and that was quite easy to do. Only the curves were a bit hard. So if you want to try it, be careful. Have fun with the new sketch and I'm visiting your blogs to see your takes.
This is Kazan's sketch 7.



And this is my take and a close up.




Yesterday my daughters printed all the quotes from their birthdaypost. There were a lot of lovely quotes and I'm happy to tell you that the winner of the RAK is Eveline.



Eveline, mail me your adress at jokebk@hotmail.com and the RAK will arrive later this week. Thanks all for participating, it was fun.

Scrap now, clean later.

I love that quote and I love a lot more quotes about cleaning, or do I have to say about not cleaning ;-)
I'm really in a scrapping mood this week. I've made this card all by myself.



And in the middle of the night, when the house is so very quiet, I scraplifted two cards and one layout. No, not all in one night but in two. Yawn, yes, I do feel a little tired. Tonight I will go to bed at a more normal time...........I think.






That's it for now. I'm gonna clean the house. Have a nice weekend.
I'll be back on monday with my new 2sketches4you card and I have to say I like that one.