Dutchie in Canada

Dream and Hearts!

2012-01-22T16:38:00.000-05:00

The DutchArtJournal group of which I'm a member has monthly themes in which everybody can participate. The winner gets the spot on the homepage for a month!
"Dream" is the theme for February, this is my page!
Stamps are by Dyan Reaveley, aren't the just awesome?

And this page is just for fun!
Loved the quote I found on the internet and the images are by Tumble Fish Studio which I totally adore!

Perfume + spread!

2012-01-06T19:20:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I showed my Lipstick page, and while looking in my journal, I found it kind of silly looking all by itself.

So, I decided to make another page next to it, about my favorite perfume!

This is the result, I just love these stamps by Dyan Reaveley, Further around the Edge, the leaves are just gorgeous and so much fun to color with spray ink!

And when you see the 2 next to each other it looks like this! Totally happy with the out come!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Resolutions!!

2012-01-03T09:08:00.000-05:00

Even though it's already January 3rd, I've made a New Years resolution!
I'm going to try to post at least once a week here.... I know, it's gonna be pretty hard I think, but.... let's just give it a try!

The first day of the year started of so gloomy that I decided I had to make something bright and colorful, so I choose pink!
See for yourself!

Canal Houses

2012-01-02T14:30:00.001-05:00

First of all, a very happy New Year to all of you! Hope you have a good one!!

My year started fine, made 2 journal pages already!
This one is for the Art Journal Challenge at the Craft Barn, all about Buildings!
Loved this idea, and I still had my stamps of the Dutch Canal Houses which contain a little picket fence and a bicycle too, so that came in very handy!

Hope you like it!

She Art

2011-11-06T16:46:00.000-05:00

Especially for my mom!! (hi mom, love you lots!)
I know I've stayed away from posting here way too long, sorry about that!
Live keeps me busy, either with work or just living and of course crafting!

So this is what I've been doing lately!
Totally in love with She Art, kind of "discovered" by Christy Tomlinson. She's so very good at this, and gives workshops too!
Haven't taken those, but want to, so I'm saving up to follow an online class!

These two I saw on her blog, loved the idea of the dresses on a clothing line and tried to make them myself! Think it's not so bad at all!

This is a small canvas board, also She Art, played with paint/creditcard stamps, and paper to make the She!

And these last two are also on canvas boards! Love playing around with paint, stamps, stencils and quotes or just a thought of myself.

Okay mom, happy now??

Thanks for stopping by again, and I'll try not to stay away so long!

Fly with Me

2011-09-18T10:18:00.002-04:00

Inspired by an article in the latest Somerset Studio, "With one Stamp" I took my new stamp (which I adore!) by Suzi Blu and stamped it on watercolorpaper.

After that I used some of the ideas Kristin Robinson used in her piece, and made it my own. Glued the canvas on cardboard and now it's hanging in my craftroom, and I love it!!

Collecting Art as an Investment

2011-09-16T16:44:00.006-04:00

When it comes to collecting art, art lovers have many reasons for pursuing the hobby. Art is beautiful, it incites emotion, it can have deep sentimental value to a person and it also allows an individual to express who they are with the pieces they keep in their home.
If you love art, and love the adventure of collecting pieces, why not turn your hobby into a lucrative side project? Putting your money into a high interest savings
account certainly makes a great deal of financial sense but collecting art can be an additional investment for the long term.
The following are just a few tips that can help you to get the most out of investing in artwork.　

Image Source: http://www.artmarketblog.com/2008/06/05/investing-in-art-market-businesses-artmarketblogcom/

Know What to Look For: When shopping for art to be used as an investment, it’s incredibly important that you have a good idea of what to look for. For example, the most beautiful piece of art in the world will be useless as an investment if it doesn’t meet a variety of criteria.

For one, the art needs to limited, as in there should only be a few prints/copies/etc of the piece available. Next, the artist should be considered an “up and coming” artist. In other words, he or she should be on the cusp of popularity, as you can usually ensure a massive increase in worth on pieces from such artists. By knowing what to look for, you can drastically increase your chances of making a worthwhile investment.

Avoid Personal Preference: One of the most important things you can do when looking for art to use as an investment is to leave your personal preference at the door. Remember that investing in art is about more than choosing that which appeals to you, as this characteristic simply isn’t going to add to your ability to turn an investment on art. Rather than focusing on personal preference, take into consideration elements of the artwork that make it worth investing in.

Avoid Entering into Large Investments: If you find a piece of art that is already highly sought-after, chances are you’re going to end up paying a great deal of money for it. This is never a good idea, as your chances of turning a profit on such a piece of art are quite low.

That said, you should strive to purchase art that is relatively inexpensive when you buy it, as you’ll have a much better chance of turning it into a large profit over the course of a decade or more.

Shop Around: Become a regular art exhibit visitor and keep up with what’s happening in your local art scene. You can build up a large network of artists, collectors and investors this way. Sign up to receive newsletters, join various social media networks and stay abreast of what’s happening now in the art world.

This way you’ll always be up-to-date with the who, what and where of the art landscape, increasing your chances of acquiring valuable pieces that you can turn in to a long term investment.

Some of my latest work

2011-08-25T19:23:00.003-04:00

This is what I've been doing the last couple of months, journaling, and I love it!

These 2 pages have images by Tumble Fish Studio which you can find at Deviant Scrap and Lisa's Altered Art.

Lots of acrylic paint, stencils, and stamp

Speaks for itself I think!

Love this one for some reason!!

Tips for a Fun & Safe Pontoon Adventure

2011-08-17T14:44:00.003-04:00

A pontoon boat is a flat boat that rests atop pontoons and its flotation devices have enough buoyancy to float a heavy load. Pontoon boats, however, don’t just float. They are often equipped with substantial engines, and thus require a boat license to operate legally.
The reason why pontoon boats are so popular in Canada and elsewhere- is that in terms of owning, leasing and insuring them, they are extremely low cost. They are also convenient, comfortable and spacious, which makes them a perfect family choice for both fishing and pleasure boating.

Image Source: http://www.crosswindsmarina.com/pontoonboatrentals.htm

Tips for a Safe Pontoon AdventureAchieving your boat license has prepared you to operate a standard motorized watercraft, but pontoons handle quite differently, so take the necessary precautions. The following tips are a good start: Avoid piloting a pontoon boat in rough waters and inclement water. Monitor the weather, and react to potential bad weather immediately. If the weather is unavoidable, slow down as much as possible and trim weight aft.

Fairies

2011-08-03T15:16:00.002-04:00

It's August, so a new challenge at Journal Journey.
This time it's all about Fairies!

I love fairies, and remembered this cute image which I got from a friend, so no clue who deserves credits for it, and I just had to use it!

Had a hard time with the background this time, first gesso, then my water soluble crayons, no, not good enough, so paint..... and more paint, with a baby whipe (love those things in combination with paint!)
Finally, when I was satisfied, I added some details, and my page was done!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Comments

2011-07-23T15:18:00.005-04:00

For some reason I can't leave any comments on blogs!
The people that participate in the Journal Journey and visit me, I want to revisit. I do, but when I wanna comment, I have to log in like 10 times, and nothing happens........

Don't really like it, but can't seem to do anything about it, so sorry girls! Hope you read this and get why you don't see me commenting on your pages!

While I'm here, I might as well show you another page I did recently.

This is my youngest daughter Anouk, who turned 16 on July 11. She decided to go and get her G1 and she did! So very proud of her!

Well, thanks for stopping by and hopefully I can leave comments again soon!

Journal Journey challenge #1 Pink & Orange

2011-07-04T11:04:00.003-04:00

Let me start by saying that it has been too long since I've posted here..... Life... busy, work, not scrapbooking anymore, but more into Mixed Media and Journaling.... Ah well, guess you all know what it's like, time just flies and before you know it, another month is gone....... without any blog postings......sorry about that!

Anyway, at the moment I'm totally hooked on Art Journaling, love to work with paint, water soluble crayons, ink, stamps and so on......
And, I've found a blog that has an Art Journal challenge going on, started this month and is once a month, so I must be able to keep up with that!

Journal Journey's is a blog hosted by Dawn, and the first challenge is Pink & Orange!

This is my take on the challenge, used my water soluble crayons, Stampotique Originals stamps, punchinella, and some swirly stamps from my stash!
Had lots of fun doing this page, hope you like it too!

Card and some Skinny's!

2011-04-21T18:24:00.002-04:00

This card I've made with one of my new Stampotique stamps, love these funky gothic kind of girls/faces!

And Marijke and I are swapping Skinny's (3x5) since a couple of months, these 3 are the ones I've made for her for this month!

Use a picture/stamp of a dog or a cat, it became a dog:-)

Yellow colored skinny, made it kind of Mixed Media

And we used the grid technqiue with an embossing pen. Never did that before, but I actually love how this one turned out, a lot thanks to the stamp I've used I think!

Spring!

2011-03-23T11:09:00.002-04:00

Bi weekly theme at Gothic Arches is Spring....... love spring... but when I look out the window, I'am having doubts...... there's about 4 inches of snow on the ground, and still falling:-(

Anyway, Butterflies are a part of Spring for me, so I embossed the small ones with copper embossing powder, cut them out and used foam to stick them to the arch. The bigger one is embossed directly on to the arch!
Papers are by My Minds Eye and have a glitter to them, hard to see on the scan though.....

Butterflies

2011-02-21T16:01:00.001-05:00

New theme at Gothic Arches, Butterflies!
Love butterflies, so I've used images by Lisa's Altered Art (yes.... again!!) and made a grungy background with alcohol ink, gesso and stamps.

Thanks for looking!

Tiny Fairies

2011-02-20T14:06:00.002-05:00

Don't know why it's been so long that I did a challenge at 4x4 Friday, cause I love 4x4's! And Fairies......so this challenge was perfect for me!

The background is made with spray mist, image by Lisa's Altered Art, text computer generated.

Thanks for looking!

Faces

2011-02-20T08:14:00.000-05:00

I decided that it was time to play along in another challenge, after being away for so long.... (sorry friends, am very busy and can't find time to visit everybody daily.... hope you'll forgive me!)

"Faces" is the latest challenge at SPA and these stamps were perfect for it!
The faces are from IBFS and the pins on top are from a sheet by Art Journey.

Art Journey challenge; embossing powder

2011-01-17T10:12:00.004-05:00

My very first time playing along with this challenge blog, never had stamps from them, but, during my stay in the Netherlands last year, I was so lucky to buy some! Not the latest ones, but hey, you can't have everything right?

The challenge this month is Embossing Powders. Don't use them often enough, but for this challenge I couldn't resist using them of course.
The background of this Skinny is made with Distress ink and some glimmermist on top of it. All the stamps are by Art Journey, and I've use copper embossing powder by Martha Stewart.
Loved to play along and if you want to see more, just visit their challenge blog!

Stayed away a little too long!

2011-01-10T14:27:00.003-05:00

Sorry about that..... I've just been so busy with this and that, and didn't even think about posting here!

So, first of all, a very happy New Year to all of you! Hope you've had a good one! and that this year may even become better!

The only thing I've been doing for the past few weeks is making a start at Christmas cards/tags for this year, here's just a couple of them!

Made for Swaps!

2010-12-19T17:34:00.002-05:00

For the Arch swap I am doing with Patricia, I've made this Gothic Marie

And these 2 Blue flowers

For the 4x4 swap with Anneke, I've made this cute birdie, with the Painted Paper technique

And also these flowers, I so love to do this!!

Finally had some fun time again!

2010-12-19T17:26:00.002-05:00

It has been a while since my last post, but I'm still very busy with work, and the hours that I am home, I'm doing the household things.... too bad!

Well, this afternoon, while the rest of my family was out shopping, I've been playing with Distress ink, images by Lisa's altered art, stamps, embossing powder, glimmer mist and lots more......

These are the results of a couple of hours of pure fun!!

Some of my latest....

2010-11-24T08:53:00.002-05:00

Made about 2 weeks ago, but just didn't have time to post!
I used the Oxford Impressions Steampunk sheet for this skinny, love those stamps, now I just need more time!

This ATC is made with the same sheet, so as you see, it fits perfectly although if you use a skinny, card or something else you have a little more "working space".

This Christmas 4x4 is made with the Painted Paper Collage technique, I'm so totally in love with this... can't stop using it, the effect is different all the time!

Thanks for stopping by again, I know I've been bad with visiting and I'm trying to be better!!

Mail Art

2010-11-10T14:09:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since my last post, but I've been pretty busy working and hardly had any time to be creative:-(
What I did do over the past weekends was start making MailArt..... and this is just so much fun to do!

Instead of using an envelop, I've used a file folder here, made with a Coluzzle template, very fun thing to use actually! For this MailArt I used a lot of Basic Grey scrapbookpapers and other stuff I had laying around.

The back.... some stickers from packages I'd received, image of watch cut out, got that through a trade...

There's gonna be more of this, I'm sure, need more time first though!

I'm Back!

2010-10-13T18:46:00.005-04:00

Yup, me and my oldest daughter about a month ago at the airport, ready to go to Holland!!

Just me...... tired.....almost 9 pm.....time to go through customs, do some duty free shopping and get on the plane!

Mom and me.

Marloes, my brother and me on the Afsluitdijk.

Hello Canada........we're home!!!!!!

Just a couple of pictures, I didn't take that many, but Marloes and I had a great time in Holland, saw lots of friends and family and enjoyed eachothers company........

Thanks to everybody back there for your hospitality...... it was great seeing you all again! Hope to be back soon!

Break!

2010-09-10T14:21:00.001-04:00

Having a blog-break...... going on a holiday, and I will see you all somewhere in October!

Still working with the paper collages!

2010-09-05T14:55:00.002-04:00

I think I've really found what I like...... this is just so great to do, love working with the tissue papers, scraps of all kind.... and you get the best results!
This one "Friendship has no Boundaries" is for my best friend, hope she likes it!

And I've made this one for a friend that's moving...... and she loved it, colors go well in her new house!

Till next time!! And thanks again for stopping by!

2 Little Birdies.........

2010-08-24T18:43:00.002-04:00

..... Singing a song!
Again, inspired by Serena Wilson Stubson's article in CPS of May/June '10 and something else than the flowers I've showed in my last posts.

I'm totally happy and satisfied with this mixed media piece, the tutorial in the CPS can be used in so many different ways, and I'm planning on making a lot more of these, with different things on it!

So much fun.......

2010-08-22T18:18:00.002-04:00

To do these painted paper collage canvasses.... on this one I've used burgundy paint, and on top of that some silver and metallic pearl, which gives it a nice shimmer.

I really love making these with different colored papers and paint, it takes a little while, but the results are just so surprising every time.

More painted paper collage

2010-08-15T17:08:00.006-04:00

In this post, I told you, there would be more of these canvasses, with the painted paper collage technique!
And finally, there's #2...... different colors, much softer, and I think I like this one better!

This technique was in the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, written by Serena Wilson , she's so talented!!

Beach Stroll

2010-08-05T15:55:00.002-04:00

And another one, love these "lager" ladies on the beach!
Again I played with gesso/acrylic paint/stamps/soft pastels and an image by Jennifer Garant.

Beach Babe!

2010-07-28T14:00:00.002-04:00

Finally after weeks without any creative outburst........ this Beach Babe was born today!
Love the outcome of it, playing with gesso/acrylic paint/stamps/soft pastels is just great!
Image is by Jennifer Garant!

Happy Birthday!!

2010-07-11T09:58:00.001-04:00

Happy 15th sweetie!!
Hope you have a great day! And...... if we win later today, we're gonna have a big party!!

Georgina Island

2010-07-05T08:24:00.003-04:00

Friday July 2nd we left for a long weekend stay at Georgina Island, which is in Lake Simcoe. The drive was not too long, about 3.5 hours, and when we arrived at Virginia Beach we even had to wait for the ferry.

The view was nice, so....... take some pictures......

And, as we were on our way, the Dutch soccer team was trying to beat Brazil...... and we were cheering them on, wearing orange shirts and a flag on our car! So much fun if you run into other Dutch people, and honk the horn LOL

But eventhough we were not able to watch the game, we were very happy one of us had a Blackberry so we could keep track of the score...... I think while we were waiting it was 1-1....... so exciting!

(When we arrived at the cottage we watched the last 10 min. and my gosh........THEY WON!!! the Dutch beat Brazil, awesome!!)

Yes, the ferry!!! Another 15 min. on the boat and we were there!

Our cottage for the weekend! A nice porche at the front, 5 bedrooms, 2 bath's, 2 livingrooms, large kitchen...... we had a great time!

Out for a walk, eventhough it was really hot...... being at the water gave us some relief.... you can see how happy Henk and Anouk were with that ha, ha!

It was a short stay, but we had fun, relaxed and enjoyed the weather and each others company...... so happy to be off today though..... poor Henk and Marloes, they have to work.....and it is very very warm here..... temperatures are over 30 C but it feels like about 43 C.........

Ok, I love Summer, but this....... so glad we have airconditioning!!

Thanks for stopping by again!

And again.......Niagara Falls.........

2010-06-30T08:35:00.002-04:00

If you have company staying at your place then you just HAVE to go to Niagara Falls with him....... cause that is something you have to see when you are in Canada!

So, that's what we did last Sunday!

Marloes, Joost and me went behind the Falls.........awesome, very loud.....but unforgetable!

Made of the Mist........did NOT go on it!

Joost and Marloes

Of course........ us........

Joost.......enjoying his day very much!

Overwelming noice, lots of water!

And the view behind the Falls.........

A great day......... as always when you go up there!

Now work today, tomorrow is Canada Day and Friday......we're heading out........ enjoying a great weekend with nice weather hopefully!!

SPA Sea Voyages

2010-06-19T20:23:00.000-04:00

Sea Voyages is the theme for this week at SPA.
This is what I made of it, background is scrapbookpaper by Basic Grey, the bottom half I used because the pattern reminded me of plants you find in the sea...... Image of fish....no idea where I found that, but somewhere on a sheet.......
Image of the lady is profided by the late Suzee Q on Flickr.
Bird stamp by Tim Holtz and the text is computer generated...... also on Basic Grey paper.

Thanks so much for watching!

SPA; Roses

2010-06-16T14:08:00.004-04:00

First time playing with a challenge at SPA and I really like it. The size is a little different than I'm used to, but if you do ATC's, Skinny's, and 4x4's a postcard size is a nice change!!

Loved to play, and I had some images by Lisa's altered art laying around, and I thought they were perfect for the theme!

Thanks for stopping by!

I WON * more swaps!

2010-06-14T09:50:00.003-04:00

At Eraserqueen's blog was a contest going on, place a link on your blog, and leave a comment and you had a chance of winning this awesome Peacock painting!
So, I took a chance and........ I won! So this painting is going to get a nice spot in my craftroom soon!!! Thanks Andrea!!!!

The swaps are still going strong, these 2 gesso/acrylic paint 4x4's I'd made for Anneke!

She received them last week and.......she likes them!!!

And this arch with the big lady......

I made that one for the arch swap with Patricia! She received it too, so I can show it. Happy to hear that she likes it too! Can't miss actually, the image is just too funny!!

And for the rest..... I didn't do much crafting..... the weather/time/no mojo all worked against me so...... hope for better times!

No idea when, work is busy this week and coming Saturday we get a guest for 4 weeks..... so I don't think there will be much time left to be creative!

Ah well...... we'll see!!

Thanks for stopping by again and have a great week!

Last part of ABC swap!

2010-06-09T10:09:00.002-04:00

Actually, time flies, in september I started swapping with Nel, ATC's and the alphabet was our subject........ and now..... we're done! 26 ATC's flew to the Netherlands and to Canada and it was so much fun to do!

These last 4 are on their way to Nel now, and I hope she likes them!

Background is Distressink

Background is sponged with Distressink

Again a background with Distressink, but sprayed with water and dried with the heatgun.

And it's probably obvious I love Distressink backgrounds...... cause again on this one, I used it! Several different colors, to try to get the sky/sun effect and the land the Zebra stands on.... Personally I think it worked out fine!

Painted Paper Collage

2010-05-29T14:28:00.002-04:00

In the latest Cloth Paper Scissors is an article about paper collage, with paint, tissue paper, mod podge, scrapbookpaper or other papers and all other kinds of materials you like and want to use..........
So, I started of using a 5x7 canvas board, and just did what I liked, used contrasting colors and had tons of fun!

Be sure there will be more of these!!

May 24 weekend!

2010-05-26T19:45:00.003-04:00

At the moment it is the most gorgeous Summer weather here, temperatures around 30 degrees Celcius and kind of humid....... that has been for about 4 days in a row now, very nice, but yesterday and today it was a little too much!

So, I made this funny 4x4, image by Jennifer Garant, and again, used gesso and acrylic paint and had a lot of fun!

And we had a long weekend, May 24 was late Queen Victoria's birthday, and that is a Holiday here, so....... we enjoyed the weather, spent 2 days outside and bought some plants!

Like this gorgeous rhododendron, and a very lovely Silver Willow. Also some annuals which will start blooming very nicely in a little while!

Just love to sit outside and enjoy all these great colors...... great weather, each other...... cup of coffee.......man, live is good!

Showing some finished swaps

2010-05-21T17:49:00.004-04:00

These 3 connected ATC's I made for Edith. At a Yahoogroup we are both a member of, we have a seperate group that trades ATC's every month, so much fun!!

These 4 ATC's were for Nel, for our monthly ABC swap. As you can see, we're almost at the end, just another 4 more to go and we are done....... but if you see the collection I've got...wow, gorgeous!

And with Marijke I've started a Skinny swap, my gosh, these are so much fun to make! All 3 have savely arrived in the Netherlands, so I can show them here!

We've agreed on making 2 skinny's with a theme/color/picture or technique, and the 3rd is a surprise! Love it!

Latest work

2010-05-16T09:42:00.003-04:00

Just some things that I made the last couple of weeks.........

A 4x4... image by LandofNodStudios

A canvas board, image from Jennifer Garant

Arch for the monthly swap with Patricia, grungy technique

And 2 4x4's for the monthly swap with Anneke, theme Lace!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Happy 19th!!!

2010-05-12T08:49:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday sweetie!!

Transfer, and gesso/acrylicpaint

2010-05-06T09:11:00.002-04:00

The last couple of days I've been playing with gesso, paint, ink, and lots of stuff...... even did a transfer with Mod Podge........
Turned out nicely don't you think........ kind of vague, but that gives it a nice vintage look I think!

I've also been making some 4x4's, with gesso and acrylic paint..... stamped with paint..... did a lot of things and these 2 are the result.

Honestly, I'm crazy about this one, love the lady with the big boobies, the colors, just everything turned out like I wanted it to!
If you stop by at Marijke's blog you will see a 4x4 similar to this one! We both used the same picture and she taught me how to do this technique, I love it, and am addicted I think!

Thanks for stopping by again, and have a wonderful day!

Explore! * Gypsy Music

2010-04-30T18:51:00.004-04:00

Today I had so much fun playing with gesso, acrylic paint, stamps, gelpens and an awesome image from LandofNodStudios!

Together with Marijke, I decided to use this picture, cause she'd made a skinny with it too, and I loved it!

So, we came up with a plan.......... we're going to swap Skinny's and this is the one she's getting! (not telling any secrets here, she knows all about it!)

This technique is just so much fun!

I used it on this 4x4 too, and had some sequin which I put over it, and dabbed some ink on it, which creates a very nice effect!

So......... more of this technique coming soon!

Have a great weekend!

Innocence

2010-04-24T11:14:00.003-04:00

This was the image given at ACF this week.........
This is the ATC I made with it! (smudges are my dirty scanner!)

Flying High

2010-04-22T09:24:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I had some crafting time with Marijke, from the Netherlands! Now you'll probably wonder, "how can you have crafting time, if one lives in the Netherlands and the other in Canada........."
Well..... that's not so hard, email opens a lot of doors, so...... through email we dicided which flying lady we were going to use, and whether it would be a skinny or 4x4......
I made a skinny, Marijke made both, so if you want to have a look, hop on over to her blog!

Flying Lady is from Lost Coast Designs, the stamp on top from I Brake for Stamps, and the other little thingie I don't exactly know.......

More to show!

2010-04-19T09:15:00.002-04:00

Showing some ATC's I made over the weekend, using the grungy technique. Made with alcohol inks, gesso, stamps and pictures found on the internet.

And in my last post, I totally forgot to show the Arch I made for Patricia for our monthly arch swap!

Background made with distress inks and some stamps!

Swaps!

2010-04-15T17:35:00.003-04:00

These ATC's (that blogger loves to put in the wrong order, even if I upload them correct!!) I've made for Nel, for our monthly ABC swap!

And these 4x4's were for Anneke, we have a Technique swap going on, this month it was alcohol ink. For the first one, Color Confused, I put drops of ink on the paper, and used a straw to blow them in different directions....... It sounds like fun, it is fun, but....... you get kind of high doing it LOL

Satisfaction Guaranteed!

2010-04-08T09:10:00.001-04:00

I've made another skinny (3x5 inch) with lots of paint, water, chalk, gelpens and a stamp!
Image is by Land of Nod Studio's at Flickr!
So much fun to do!!

Little to show

2010-04-02T19:04:00.003-04:00

First of all, I have to tell you that it is the most wonderful weather here in South Eastern Ontario...... After the really mild winter we've had, al of a sudden Spring kicks in and yesterday and today the temperatures went up to 25 Celcius! My gosh..... we've been outside all day, even had supper outside...... I could get so used to this kind of weather, love the sun, love to sit outside.......
Tomorrow it's gonna be nice too, but I think Sunday temperatures are dropping again...... please, no more last "snow storm" like we can have here..........
It's really weird, this is the first time since we live here, that we've seen grass in March!! Mostly it is half of April already before the snow starts to melt.... I "loved" this Winter ha, ha!

Ok, because of the nice weather I haven't been doing much, and most of what I did, I can't show yet, cause it's for swaps!

This is what I can show, a 4x4 I made this week.

Background is scrapbookpaper (Basic Grey) text found in my stash, and image from LAA. I love all those images, the vintage look of them, still can't get the vintage out of my head!

And to stay in the vintage style.....

HAPPY EASTER to all of you all over the world!

Skinny time!

2010-03-28T10:53:00.003-04:00

This week I made some Skinny's (3" x 5"), just for the fun of it, cause I wanted to!
The ideas came while I was sleeping and when I woke up Friday, they were still there, so I started working them out!

Scrapbookpapers, old postage stamps, dymo label and Lisa's altered art images

Same used here, extra is the flower and brad, that's why the scan is a little blurry!

All ingredients as above, exept for the Bingo sheet..... thought it gave a nice touch to it!

Thanks for stopping by again, and have a great day!

Have Faith

2010-03-24T09:50:00.001-04:00

"This old Photo" you had to use for making your arch at Gothic Arches this week. Loved it...... used some Basic Grey scrapbookpapers, lace, bling and cardstock!

TMTA In a row

2010-03-22T10:08:00.003-04:00

Theme at TMTA is "In a Row"

This is what I made with that!

Latest work

2010-03-20T14:24:00.002-04:00

Showing some of my latest ATC's.

Stamps by Stamping Back

Images all from free sheet by Paperscraps (Flickr)

Image from Art-e-ology (Flickr) text by Ceremony (Flickr)

Image by Art-e-ology (Flickr) text by Crowabout.

Background and text by Ceremony (Flickr) image found on the internet.

More 4x4's

2010-03-20T14:10:00.002-04:00

All the stamps on this 4x4 were a B-day present from Anneke for me!

The technique for our monthly swap was Distress ink this time! I made these 2 4x4's for Anneke and had lots of fun with it! Love making backgrounds with Distress ink!

Granny knows Best!

2010-03-16T12:58:00.001-04:00

Words of Wisdom, theme at 4x4Friday.
First time playing there, it was fun!

Swapping ABC's

2010-03-12T11:13:00.002-05:00

These are the ATC's I've made for Nel for our monthly ABC swap in March!

M for Mona

N for Nude (gotto take a risk every now and than....... LOL)

O for On the Road, had a hard time with that letter, sometimes the most obvious words seem so dull, so I used a kind of "different" one!

Thanks for stopping by again!

More Arches swapped!

2010-03-08T08:58:00.004-05:00

I guess we all know, time flies by! It's already March, and if you swap a lot, you notice it even better...... a month is nothing, it may have 28, 30 or 31 days, they fly by fast, if you want it or not!

So.. March, another month for swapping Arches with Patricia, and I had so much fun making this one for her!
There are hardly any stamps on this one, but what is stamped, is gold embossed too! What I've used is scrapbookpapers, ribbon, bling, stamps, embossing and one of the wonderful pictures from a free sheet by Freubel-Art (Rianne) They are just awesome and I have to remember I've got those cause they ask to be used more often!!

Patricia received mine last Friday, and........ I got her's the same day!

Isn't this just the most gorgeous arch you have ever seen? I've really no idea what kind of stamps she has used, exept for the woman's head, I've got that one too, but I think it is just great! Wonderful orange colors.. I love it!

Now you can learn

2010-03-07T15:49:00.002-05:00

Now you can learn

Yesterday I made this Skinny, just for fun, to try it out once again. A skinny is a little larger than an ATC, size is 3" x 5" as an ATC is 2.5" x 3.5" so you have a little more "room to play on"

All the images used are from #52 sheet of Collage Play with Crowabout, they are all great, and I don't use them often enough!

Sending hugs and kisses!

2010-03-05T09:13:00.001-05:00

Made for ACF, that image of that cute little curly haired boy is just irresistable!

Latest work!

2010-02-28T18:30:00.002-05:00

Just showing some of my latest work, all ATC's

These 3 gentlemen are from free sheets by Land of Nod Studio's, backgrounds scrapbookpaper and handpainted background from a free sheet by Land of Nod Studio's too!

Scrapbookpaper and picture from.. sorry, don't know that site!

Made for a trade at Lets swap ATC's

Thanks for stopping by again!

Some things to show!

2010-02-19T18:18:00.002-05:00

Here the ATC's I've made for the monthly ABC swap I am doing with Nel.
J Joie de Vivre

K King of Hearts

L Love...... with one of the adorable pictures by Kim Anderson!

And for my monthly arch swap with Patricia I've made this one........

Starts with a "P" as always, and because I can't wait till Spring starts...... it has kind of Spring colors!

Thanks for stopping by again!

2010 Gothic Arch Challenge

2010-02-16T10:03:00.002-05:00

At the Inkurable Stampers is an extra challenge throughout the year. A Gothic Arch challenge, and you can step in anytime you want to, as long as you make all the challenges!

I decided to make arch shaped ATC's and that is a real challenge! They are small, and sometimes it's hard to make everything you want on it to fit!

#1 Theme Butterflies.

#2 Theme Lace.

#3 Theme Crowns.

So, do you like to make Gothic Arches, stop by at their blog, you can read all about it there, and there is a special Flickr group where you can show your arches!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Faux Leather

2010-02-11T12:54:00.003-05:00

For our monthly 4 x 4" technique swap Anneke and I agreed on doing the faux leather technique. This is so much fun to do!
As she received the ones I made for her, I can show them here!

I found it pretty hard to stamp on a kind of "slippery" surface, so I stamped on other paper and just cut it out and glued it to the cards.

Anneke's cards are in the mail, I sure hope they get here soon!

Swapping ABC's!

2010-02-08T18:37:00.005-05:00

These gorgeous ATC's I received in the mail today, Nel has done great work again, love this monthly swap we've got!

And these are the ones I've made for Nel, order is not quite right, but I think you get that it's G, H and I.

The ones for this month are finished, but not yet mailed out, so I can't show them yet!!

Send in the Clowns

2010-02-03T10:28:00.002-05:00

TMTA - Circus

Paper Trail

2010-01-29T15:01:00.002-05:00

Great, Canada Post and the Dutch TPG work wonderful together, and Anneke received my share of our swap this week!
This months technique was Papertrail, working with oilpastels, stamps and spraymist.

These 2 I had made for her!

And today, I got hers in the mail, and they are just gorgeous!

So funny to see all the different things you can do with this technique!

Isn't this just a sweetie?

And I love all the different squares on this one! The green paper is all shiny, guess it's called holographic paper, not sure, but unfortunately you can't see that on the scan!

On to next month......Faux Leather technique.. so much fun!!

Swapping Arches!

2010-01-24T13:02:00.005-05:00

Last month I told you Patricia and I started swapping Arches! No rules at all, no techniques set, no nothing........ except one thing, we had to use the first letter of our names. Well, not so hard you think, but hey, I can tell you, finding words starting with a "P" that are useable for an arch....... mh, pretty hard!

But I came up with one, Perfume.......nice word, nice smell.. found a nice picture on the world wide web, worked with alcohol ink on a sheet, and on the letter "P" stamped on the front of the sheet and I like the result, and guess what, so did Patricia!

And the fun thing is....... she also made an arch using alcohol inks, a little more stamps than I did, and I adore this one!

I really like it, that without talking about a technique we both used the same materials for this months arch!

Can't wait to see what I will get next month, but I have to come up with an idea for her first LOL

Thanks for stopping by again, and have a great day!

Short post.........

2010-01-20T09:42:00.002-05:00

Just to let you know I'm still around:-)
All the things I have been working on lately, can't be shown yet, cause the people they are for haven't received them yet!
So, just an ATC I've made, a triangular shape, very nice to do, but also very hard to find something that fits on it!

I really have to make more ATC's as I'm trading a lot lately, fun, but I have to have some left LOL. So of to my desk and start creating again!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by again!

First work of the year!

2010-01-08T14:19:00.002-05:00

Finally I start to feel better, last Saturday I went to the Walk-in Clinic and got antibiotics, made it worse first, I even got a fever. Didn't go to work all week, and last night I went back to the Walk-in again, and got a cough medicine with codeine in it! Boy, did I sleep good at night! For the first time in about a week I didn't wake up coughing like crazy!

But staying at home, not feeling well, can be very boring, so Wednesday I started to make some ATC's (the first 3 on the top row), yesterday I made the orange one, Wings, and just now I finished Grin..... that's fun to do, making an ATC out of cardboard that you tear a bit. I used some beads, wax thread, buttons and staples for this one, and the pictures on all the ATC's are by Lisa's Altered Art!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T18:33:00.002-05:00

Better late than never, a very happy 2010 to you all, with lots of love, happiness, health and... creativity!

Dutch yummie treats!!

2009-12-22T18:34:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend, my SIL and BIL were here and we were reading a Dutch cookbook. We stumbled into a very good Dutch treat, Bitterballen!
Marloes so desperately wanted to make them, that we headed of to the store to see if we could find the ingredients. We had a bit of a hard time, but managed to get what we needed, and when we came home, we started!

This "yummie" looking stew is the filling, we had cooked beef with beef broth and herbs for about an hour, cut the beef real fine and made a stew with butter, flour and the broth.

After that we had to make little balls of the stew, and roll them through breadcrumbs and egg for 3 times.

They were ready to be put in the deepfryer now!!! (and we had a bit of a taste of the stew and man, was that ever so good!)

This is how they looked when they were done after about 4 minutes... a little musterd with it.........oooooooooh yummie!!!!!!!!!

And Marloes can show you how yummie they were!!

Hope I didn't make you feel hungry now....... LOL

Blog break!

2009-12-14T18:31:00.003-05:00

At the moment, I'm very busy with lots of things, like most of you in Blog land I guess. Hardly have time to create and I'm having some health related problems, (nothing serious though!) so I've decided to take a blog break.

But not without wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY, HEALTHY and CREATIVE 2010!!

Maybe I will post before the New Year, no idea, if not, see you next year!!

No power, play time!

2009-12-07T08:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had no power for about 4 hours, so I decided to give myself some "playtime" and started making Distress ink backgrounds.. Until I wanted to use my heattool...... and it didn't work..... No idea why....... and than it hit me...... ofcourse, no power, no use of heattool!!!

That's how used we are to using electricity...... when you need it, you've got it...... only not when I needed it LOL

Anyway, after the power was working again, and I had cut my pictures in the meantime, I could finally make my backgrounds, and this is the result!

(pictures are by Lisa's altered art)

Had a lot of fun, and I think I am going to make some more backgrounds, work starts at 1 pm, so I still have some time! No idea when I can show those, cause I work all week..... nice, but not much play time!!

Have a great day, where ever you are!

Swapping Arches

2009-11-29T08:08:00.003-05:00

Patricia and I started swapping Arches, and last Friday I got the first one in the mail, my gosh it is so beautiful!

We agreed on using stamps and mixed media, and....... the first letter of our names! And this gorgeous Miss Eve is what Patricia made for me!

Mine had to start with the "P" of course, and I made this Playful little clown for Patricia!

This is really lots of fun, and I'm already thinking about what to make for January!!

3!

2009-11-25T17:10:00.001-05:00

My entry for Wednesday Stamper, theme 3! (the dirty dots are my scanners!)

Just "clowing" around

2009-11-25T13:08:00.002-05:00

My entry for Mixed Media Monday, theme Playingcards!

So Happy!

2009-11-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

With Anneke I swap 4x4's every month, each month we use a different technique, and this month it was Happy Accident. (for a tutorial, click here)

Look what gorgeous cards Anneke made for me!

Shoot for the Moon........

2009-11-19T15:02:00.002-05:00

Everything has to have a first time, so here's my first Arch!
GothicArches' theme this week is Stars..... picture is from ACF, just in time to use that one!

Colorful Skinny!

2009-11-19T11:07:00.003-05:00

(click on image for larger view)

My first skinny (3"x5") ever! Made for Theme Thursday, theme.. Lots of color Skinny!
Images are from free sheets by Crowabout.

Always Explore

2009-11-18T16:23:00.001-05:00

My entry for Wednesday Stamper, theme "maps"
Thanks for stopping by!!

I am Woman

2009-11-16T09:54:00.002-05:00

(Click for a larger view)

My entry for Mixed Media Monday, theme I am Woman. Just a "simple" ATC, but I loved the picture!

Image from free printable sheets by Lisa Vollrath

Some ATC's

2009-11-12T09:01:00.003-05:00

It's been a while, but I've been down with the flu for about a week. Still not a 100% but at least the creativity started to flow a bit!

All these are made with the Happy Accident technique, one of my favorites at the moment, Hermine is the one who came up with this idea, and if you click here, you will get to her tutorial!

No idea why they are all over the place, blogger won't work with me!

Thanks for stopping by again and until next time!

Halloween!!

2009-11-02T09:44:00.004-05:00

I know, Halloween is over already, but at Nancy's Darkness Inspiration blog

it just keeps going on till November 12!

Love those challenges and this is what I made!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Vampires!

2009-10-23T18:26:00.002-04:00

Nancy had a new challenge, a week ago already, I just missed it cause of my mom being here, but as it is a 2 week challenge... I am still in time with this one!
Vampires was the challenge... well, they are really "hot" at the moment, movies, tv-shows, at least here we have Vampire Diaries, and I like that show a lot!
So I googled a bit and found this really creepy vampire "girl" cut it out, and glued it on a background done with soft pastels. The letters are from a puzzle in the newspaper, they come in very handy sometimes! Oh, and I made an ATC!

Thanks for stopping by again, and have a great day!

Webster Falls

2009-10-21T18:59:00.004-04:00

It's already been 10 days since my last post, but, I'm enjoying my mom's company very much, and hardly spend any time at the computer, so I forgot to update here!

We've done some nice things already, and yesterday we went to Webster Falls, close to Dundas Ontario. A gorgeous area, specially now with all the fall colors! It's not as huge as Niagara Falls, but........ well, just have a look!

Fall colors
The falls

Mom and me

Acting silly!

Again, mom and me
(click on the pictures for a larger view)

As you can see, we had a great time! It just goes by way to fast! So, every day we make the most of it, stay home and do fun things, or go out and see nice areas. Henk and I both have the week off, actually, I'm off next week too, so we can spend more time together, cause those 3 weeks are gone before we know it!

I'll try to update again, all depends on what we are doing, if we make pictures and if they are worth sharing!!

Just one more day..........

2009-10-10T10:07:00.003-04:00

Yep, just one more day and we are going to the airport to pick up my mom! She's coming to visit us for 3 weeks, life is sooooo good! It will be so great having her here, doing nice things, chatting, just relaxing and enjoying eachothers company!
Two years ago she came for the first time, last year we went to the Netherlands, and now it's her turn again:-)
We just can't wait..... just one more night ....... the girls are all excited and so are we!

So, I guess the coming weeks I won't be posting that much..... so I leave you with this ATC I made this week, with new stamps, from I Brake for Stamps, awesome store!! Actually, these stamps are by Stampinback in the Netherlands, but for me it's easier to order in the States and I Brake.....sells this line too!
Only the Vive la France stamp is from Cherry Pie, and as I love all things from France, I'll probably see if I can find more stamps!
Thanks for stopping by again, hopefully I will find some time to post, maybe with some nice pictures, you never know!

Swapping is so much fun!!!

2009-10-07T09:21:00.002-04:00

A new month, 2 new swaps!
With Anneke the technique swap, this month the technique we used was embos resist!

These two I made for her

And she sent me these........ aren't they just gorgeous?

And with Nel I'm swapping ATC's, this month the D, E and F were up!

I've made these 3 for Nel,

And she has made these 3 gorgeous ATC's for me..... don't you just love the Da Vinci one...... it's so vintagy!!

Black Hats!

2009-10-04T12:14:00.003-04:00

The second challenge at the Darkness Inspiration blog is Black Hats!

For this ATC I've used alcohol ink, Butterscotch and Terra Cotta, and stamped the spider web with Archival ink and I really like how it turned out!
Love the two cute witches with their black hats on!

Thanks for stopping by again and have a great day!

Look what I got!

2009-10-01T15:12:00.001-04:00

Last Tuesday I received something in the mail from England. No clue what it was, and even when I saw who the sender was, I had no idea what she would send me!

When I opened the envelope, I was really surprised and a lot of "oh's" and "ah's" were heard! Paula sent me this wonderful, gorgeous looking ATC book, with some absolutely stunning ATC's in there! Look at all those stamps......my gosh..... I'm going to be so pore...... I want them!!!!!!!!!
Paula, I emailed you already, but girl, this is such a wonderful surprise, I love it, thanks so very much!

Oh, and btw.... I'm still here, but kind of busy, working on swaps and stuff, and I can't show the things here yet until the ladies it's for received them! So be patient!

Script and Happy Accident

2009-09-25T09:52:00.001-04:00

This weeks theme at Theme Thursday is Script/Writing! I knew what to do, make another 4x4 and finally use the script stamp I had laying around for a while, no idea where I got it from anymore though!

The picture is from Lisa's Altered Art, lace, flower and brad are from my stash!

Hermine had made a tutorial called "Happy Accident" guess you know what she ment by that! It was not suppose to work out like that, but..... it looked awesome, so..... happy accident!

The tutorial is not on her blog, but..... what you do is, crumble up some aluminum foil, glue it to your paper/cardstock, take a transparant sheet and an applicator and put some alcoholink colors on your sheet. Then put some blending solution on your applicator and go over it again.

Put some Diamond Glaze (Dimensional Magic by ModPodge gives the same results) on the aluminumfoil, put the transparent sheet on top of it, and....... the waiting begins!

After an hour you will start to see the changing of the colors, and after a whole day of waiting, (I know, that's long, especially if patients is NOT your middle name!) you'll see that the colors have seperated completely and it looks a lot different than when you started!

The colors I've used here were Lettuce, Butterscotch and Cranberry and as you can see, it looks more "orange" now! I love the effect of this, and am definately going to make more of these!!

*Edited* If you would like to see Hermines tutorial, just follow this link, it will direct you to her blog, where you can download and save it.

The picture used is also from Lisa's Altered Art!

Thanks for stopping by again and have a great day!

4x4 Trade

2009-09-21T19:33:00.005-04:00

Starting this month, Anneke and I are doing a 4x4 technique swap. We started with the Bandana technique, Anneke made these 2 gorgeous cards for me,

and I've made these two for her!

Can't wait to get started on the cards for next month, this is really very nice to do!

Wild Wimin'

2009-09-20T11:55:00.001-04:00

At Theme Thursday, the challenge was to make an ATC with swirls in it.. so here is my very simple, swirly ATC...

Just some blue-ish purple scrapbookpaper, stamped some swirls on it, added a picture of Lisa's Altered Art and I was done!!

I actually wanted to show you more, but I feel somewhat "under the weather" so I haven't done anything else yet.... Maybe next time!

Thanks for stopping by again!

Creepy.......

2009-09-15T15:49:00.002-04:00

Nancy has a new blog, Darkness Inspiration, she decided to do this, cause she's kind of into Dark Art and Halloween lately. Twice a month there is a challenge and the first one is Zombies and you had to make something scary with them........

No idea if this is scary enough, but..... I wouldn't like it if I ran into Mona Lisa looking like this at night....... I made, of course, an ATC, googled a zombie Mona, and used some Halloween stamps I had laying around!

Hope you like it Nancy, I had fun making this one!

CrowAbout and ABC swap!

2009-09-10T13:14:00.002-04:00

Week51 of CrowAbout, boy, that's a scary one, but a lot of fun to work with!! The background is made with the help of one of Hermine's tutorials Nature Inspired, if you go to her blog you see a link in the right sidebar.
Loved playing with paint, gesso and pastel crayons!

And I even used some Halloween stamps I bought last week, small acrylic sets for just $ 1.-- each!! The RIP, bats, house and wich are part of those sets!

***

Nel and I are doing an ABC swap, we started this month, and boy, that is so much fun to do! We are using ATC's for the swap, and I've made these for her!

And this morning the mailman delivered the ones Nel made for me! They are just gorgeous, love them all, and I can't wait to get started on the D, E and F!

Thanks for stopping by again, have a great day and until next time!

Cards and Tags!

2009-09-06T08:08:00.002-04:00

Friends of ours celebrate both their birthdays today, so I wanted to make some cards for them! I used to buy cards, but since I have some stamps, I love making them myself again!

This one is for the birthday "girl"..........

And this one is for the birthday "boy"! I had fun making them, now let hope they like them!!

Guess it was in June/July that Hella and I agreed to do a tagswap. Finally this month we sent them out, and it was a lot of fun making them, totally different than a card or ATC! These two here, I made for Hella...............

And these two gorgeous tags Hella made for me! I love them..... she worked with masks and distress ink and has some awesome stamps... Thanks so much for this wonderful swap, I'm gonna hang these somewhere in my craftroom cause I want to enjoy them for a long time!

Turquoise and Red

2009-09-02T10:55:00.002-04:00

Wow, it has been a week since a posted last.... I've been busy with a lot of things, but I can't show them yet, not until the people it's for, have received them! So that will come in a next post!

A new week, a new theme at Wednesday Stamper...... Turquoise and Red..... Well, I love turquoise, and yes, I did have that color ink.. so I just sponged a 4x4, stamped Mona in Red, used some acrylic cornerstamps (Tim Holtz) and my printer for a title. Since I love the bling lately, I thought it would look nice to put a red blingy thingy in the corners,..... et voilá, my card is done!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Some work

2009-08-26T09:52:00.004-04:00

Not much to tell from this side of the world! Still no scrappin' MoJo, but MoJo for other things is really here!
I've made some ATC's lately, wanted to put them in a slide show, but for some reason blogger won't let me...... so, here they are, the normal way:-)

You can find these and more at my Flickr page.

And Wednesday Stamper has a new challenge up, Dogs.... well, that wasn't so hard, a Golden Retriever is my favorite, would love love love to have one, but that will come, I'm sure about that! So, what is better to use if you don't have a dog stamp, than a lovely picture of a Golden puppy! The stamp with sayings about friends fits perfectly, so, tataa.... my 4x4 was done

More CrowAbout!

2009-08-18T09:51:00.005-04:00

Just a quick post to show some things I did over the weekend and yesterday! As it was way to warm outside, with the humidity kicking in like crazy (at least for me it did, don't like it at all!) I spent the days with my feet above the vent, and enjoying the airco blowing on them:-) That sure felt good, although after a while they (my feet) started to feel like icecubes!

(click on the picture for a lager view)

Anyways..... this ATC is made for a 1 on 1 swap at PaperFollies, one of the Yahoogroups I'm a member of. It's send to it's new owner yesterday, hope she likes it!!

(click on the picture for a larger view)

This is sheet #49 of CrowAbout, doesn't make sense at all, but I had fun making it, and that's what's important right? The background is made with soft pastels, what fun working with those, gonna do that more often!

(click on the picture for a lager view)

And this is the cover for all the 5x7 pages I will make with the sheets. I've used several different weeks, but I'm most crazy about the "ladiebirdbutterfly" with legs!