Happy Birthday To Me, A Card And An Award :D

It was my birthday last Saturday, I turned 39...so from now on I'll start counting down, next year I'll be 38 again and so on until I reach an age I can live with :-p Seriously though, I had a lovely day at the craft fair, bought some great goodies and got spoiled the night before as well by my family (I live 200 km away from them, so on my rare visits I always get spoiled ;o)).

I will be posting some blog candy in the next week or so, a belated birthday candy and also for 75,000 hits on my blog, so watch this space!

Made this card for the new challenge over on Double Dutch Challenges, which is a sketch :D. Can't remember who the paper is by (it's my age you see, the memory is the first thing to go ;o)) but the stamp is by Sugar Nellie and the flowers were of course made with EK Success Retro Flower punches :D!

Also got an award from Janneke, thanks Janneke :D! It's another "revealing" award, so here goes:

The rules are:
I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word.

Where is your cell phone? Recharging on the kitchen counter
Your hair? Red
Your mother? Nel
Your father? Wim
Your favorite food? Mexican
Your dream last night? I had one, just can't remember it
Your favorite drink? Dry white wine
Your dream/goal? To be happy
What room are you in? Living room
Your hobby? Crafting
Your fear? Mice
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Not where I am now
Where were you last night? At a friend's house
Something that you aren’t? Stick thin ;o)
Wish list item? Car
Where did you grow up? Rotterdam
Last thing you did? Cook dinner
What are you wearing? Sweats
Your TV? NCIS
Your pets? Minou and Kyra, my cats
Friends? To be treasured
Your life? I'm content
Your mood? Right now? Good
Missing someone? Yes
Vehicle? My multicoloured bike ;o)
Something you are not wearing? Earrings
Your favourite store? All craft stores
Your favourite colour? Red
When was the last time you laughed? Today
Last time you cried? Last night
Your best friend? Monique
One place that I go to over and over? Work...and my craft room ;o)
Facebook? No
Favourite place to eat? El Pacho

Phew, that wasn't too much "soul searching" ;o) Didn't stick to one-word answers though...it's been confirmed, I talk too much! Anyway, I'm passing this award on to the Double Dutch DT, come and get it girls :D!

That's all she wrote :D, thank you for stopping by and your much appreciated comments, see you soon!

Hugs,
Erica

Notebook Purse

I went to Belgium over the weekend (more about that next week) so haven't really got a lot to show you, apart from this notebook purse that I made for the new challenge over on Double Dutch, which is to alter or make a purse :D I got the notebook a few years ago from a friend and finally made use of it...I'm a bit slow sometimes ;o)

Materials used:
Magnolia stamp, Papertrey Ink text stamp, MME paper Pretty Please, Prima Marketing flowers, Joy! Crafts pearls, brads, McGill twig punch

That's all from me this week, hope to have something more to show you next week! Thank you for stopping by and your lovely comments, they're much appreciated :D

Hugs,
Erica

Fright Night!

It's such a shame we don't have Halloween in the Netherlands, I love it: the dressing up and begging for sweeties is right up my alley ;o) We do have "Sint Maarten" in certain parts of Holland, also where I live, when children make a lantern and go round all the houses singing a special song and they are awarded treats. I didn't know this when I first moved here twelve years ago, so when loads of kids showed up on 11 November I didn't have anything to give them but biscuits...I'm surprised they didn't egg my house ;o). Anyway, I do celebrate Halloween with a few friends in that we make Halloween cards for each other, here are some of my spooky creations:

List of Ingredients:
Magnolia stamps and paper, Papertrey Ink text stamps and ribbon

SCACD stamp, Papertrey Ink text stamp, MME paper, brads, QuicKutz star die

Have a good week all, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

Hugs,
Erica

More Of The Same...And An Award :D

Sorry I've been MIA, I've been busybusybusy with work stuff, but also found some time to make some long overdue gifts :D. I've used the same paper again, because it was still on my desk and because it's just so darn cute, but I promise I'll put it away now and use something else, so you can finally take off your sunglasses!

This one was made using the packaging of a Papertrey Ink stamp set, and is absolutely stuffed to the brim with Merci chocolates...seemed appropriate, as it's a "thank you" gift ;o)

And these two were made using a Timeless Template by the very talented Lauren Meader. The templates are sold via Papertrey Ink and are only five dollars for the pattern, instructions and a boatload of ideas! You can download the whole file straight away after you pay, and start crafting :D. The bottom one is the original pattern, with two pockets, the top one I altered so it can fit through a letterbox.

Ingredients used:

Magnolia and Sugar Nellie stamps, Papertrey Ink text stamps and ribbon, Hero Arts text stamp, Three Bugs in a Rug paper and text sticker, EK Success Retro Flower Punches, McGill branch punch, Queen & Co. pearls, brads, spacers

Now onto this lovely award I got from Coby, Femke and Janneke, thank you ladies!

It's another "tell all" award, you have to tell ten things about yourself and be completely honest...here goes:

1. Because I don't have a husband and children like most of my friends, I sometimes don't feel as "grown up" as I should, there's still a bit of a kid in me. Then I get to pay my mortgage and some bills and hey presto, all grown up again ;o)

2. When I was little I wanted to be a ballerina (didn't get into ballet college because of my back), a stewardess (not tall enough), a kindergarten teacher (don't know what happened there, that would have been fun! Kids love me, see 1 ;o)) and a hairdresser (my sister put paid to that, one hairdresser in the family was enough she said). Never ever ever did I say I wanted to be a secretary, yet that is what I am...

3. I suffer from foot-in-mouth disease: first I say what's on my mind, then I engage my brain. I'm working on improving that, but it's a hard habit to break after 38 years ;o)

4. I'm very impulsive, also not always a good quality...

5. I have a white streak in my hair, it's been there since my early twenties. My dad has exactly the same streak in exactly the same spot. Guess I'm not the milkman's after all eh ;o)

6. I've been dying my hair since my early twenties... ;o)

7. I wear contact lenses because I'm too vain to wear glasses. I only wear those when I'm home alone and the curtains are drawn!

8. I have an excellent memory for license plate numbers (picked that up when I was little, playing the license plate game while on the road with my dad, who was a truck driver) and telephone numbers, which is useful, but other than that my memory sucks and I'm the queen of the yellow post-its ;o)

9. I am the world's biggest procrastinator, and often have to finish stuff up in a hurry. I work even better under pressure though ;o)

10. I love to go to an online store, throw all sorts of lovely goodies in my basket (really fill it up, not with cheap stuff either!) and after half an hour or so just empty the basket and go to another site. It's a great kind of retail therapy as it doesn't cost anything and it really does help with the blues!

Right, that's enough honesty from me, reading back I see how vain I really am! Must do something about that too...;o) I won't pass this on to anyone as I think most people have the award already (yes, I know, I'm late again...) but if you don't, please feel free to take it and be totally honest, it's very therapeutic!

Have a lovely evening, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!

Hugs,
Erica

Get Your Sunglasses Out ;o)

I got a bit carried away with these cards, they are a little "loud" for my taste, but the paper was so lovely I couldn't stop piling it on! On the bright side (okay, the even brighter side) my cold is much better, cough is nearly gone and I don't sound like I'm at death's door anymore...when I was just a tiny wee thing I used to have terrible asthma, so now when I have a cold it really sounds more life-threatening than it actually is ;o) Serves me right for smoking I suppose...

Anyway, onto today's cards, the top one is for the Sugar Bowl Challenge, the other one is just because and the third is a tin, which I made to house my new Miss Anya stamps.

List of Ingredients:
Sugar Nellie stamp, Magnolia Stamp, The Greeting Farm stamp, Papertrey Ink sentiment and ribbon, Three Bugs in a Rug paper "Spread Your Wings", EK Success Retro Flower punches, Joy! Craft pearls, Doodlebug brads, CD tin

That's all she wrote for now, thank you for stopping by and your lovely comments (and get well wishes from last week!), have a great week!

Hugs,
Erica

Mission Impossible ;o)

The new challenge over on Double Dutch is to make a shape card. My intention was to make a heart card, but as I left it till the last minute (again!), and had the mother of all hangovers (I know, my own fault but totally worth it, it was a great party...I think ;o)) combined with the mother of all colds (some serious self-pitying going on here! On the plus side, I now have a very sexy voice ;o)) I made this hanger instead. I think it's cute, and hey, it is a different-from-normal shape, so that qualifies right? ;o)

Materials used:
Magnolia stamp, Hero Arts sentiment, MME paper, Papertrey Ink ribbon, Queen & Co pearls, EK Success Retro Flower punches, Nestabilities

That's it from me, the light from the monitor is hurting my eyes and I'm going to snuggle on the couch and feel very sorry for myself...bloomin' common cold! Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely week!

Hugs,
Erica

Oops...

Wanna know how long my resolution lasted? Three days...you can stop laughing now ;o) I'm actually blushing as I sit here typing this, it's just too pathetic for words isn't it! But on Friday one of my colleagues asked me where she could buy a 3D frame, and I knew just the place: my favourite scrap store! So as she didn't have the minimum amount needed for free shipping I offered to order a little something as well so she wouldn't have to pay the EUR 6,75. Ended up costing me a lot more though ;o) As my friend Monique pointed out: it was an impossible resolution, like not eating chocolate for six months...after I'd made her wash her mouth out with soap, I had to agree with her, so I'm just going to try and cut back, instead of stopping altogether...more realistic, no?

Anyway, remember me telling you about my colleague who has worked for the company for 40 years, the one I made the gift card envelope for? Well, I made an album for her with the pictures from the celebration dinner, and here's an impression of it (this is not the whole album, my colleague asked me to show only group layouts on my blog, and of course I respect her wishes).

The labels contain personal messages from all the colleagues who attended the dinner

Now who is that hiding behind her hands...yes, that would be me! I need bigger hands I guess ;o)

Spot the obvious mistake...I corrected it before I gave her the album ;o)

Materials used:
BoBunny Flutter Butter papers and buttons, QuicKutz dies, Basic Grey pearls, Papertrey Ink ribbon, Martha Stewart and Fiskars punches

Hope you have a lovely week, we're enjoying an Indian summer over here, very nice :D. Thanks for stopping by and see you next week!

Hugs,
Erica

Insomni-Card...

I've been having a little trouble sleeping these past few days, and have tried everything I could think of to just nod off already: drinking warm milk (yeugh!), counting sheep (that bleating really gets on your nerves after 45 sheep or so ;o)), vigorous excercise (has the opposite effect, wakes me up even more!), taking a hot bath...nothing works! So after several frustrating hours I just get up again and go make a card! This one is for the anniversary challenge over on Double Dutch, it's a fab challenge set by DT member Marja and I made not one, but four versions of it, none of them entirely to my liking...this one was made the day before the challenge and it's my favourite one of all. I'll tweak the other four during the sleepless nights to come (no doubt), and show them to you next week ;o)




Materials used:
Magnolia stamp, Papertrey Ink sentiments, Dream Street papers, EK Success Retro Flower punches, McGill leaf punch, Martha Stewart punch, Joy! craft pearls, buttons, scrapper's floss

Have a great week everyone, thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments and see you next week!

Hugs,
Erica

Good Intentions...

Looking around at the mountains of paper, still waiting to be used, the avalanches of stamps, uninked as yet, and the boxes full of flowers, ribbon and embellishments, I have made my new year's resolution a little early this year...apart from when I go to the craft fair in November for my birthday (so, with birthday money, not "my own" ;o)) I'm not going to buy any more stuff for at least six months! Watch this space and see how long that resolution lasts ;o) Seriously though, it's ridiculous how much stuff I've accumulated in just five years of scrapping and stamping...but I'll bet I'm not the only one, right? ;o)

Anyway, I made this card for the new challenge over on Double Dutch, which is a sketch :D. This challenge is only on for a week, next Tuesday sees the first anniversary of our challenge blog which we're going to celebrate in style!



Ingredients:
The Greeting Farm "Miss Anya" stamp, Whiff of Joy sentiment, Kaisercraft paper, EK Success retro flower punches, McGill leaf punch, brads, pearls

I received two awards, from Femke and Willy, thanks girls! Both awards require you to tell seven things about yourself...now let me think...

1. I am absolutely dreading my 40th birthday next year and am not planning to be in the country when the big day arrives...I am planning to be in denial about it though ;o)

2. I secretly love to watch Strong Man competitions and motor racing on TV...secretly, because it's not very girlie is it ;o)

3. I have been taking motor riding lessons for some months now, but because of my two jobs it isn't easy to find the time to keep it up. It's great fun though, and I am hoping to get my licence next year!

4. I think I might be experiencing an early mid-life crisis, because as well as the lessons I've also made an appointment to get a tattoo...it will be small, because I'm not into pain (I also hope my mum isn't reading this...oh well ;o))

5. It is absolutely impossible to take a good picture of me. The one at the top of my blog is a complete fluke and will stay there until the end of time! :D

6. I lived in England for six years, worked there as a nanny in a tiny little village with just the one road and of course the one pub ;o) The kidlets I took care of then are now 23 and 18...I feel old...again ;o)

7. I also worked in London as a secretary for an events company and met the Queen of England (hmmm, that should have been item 1 shouldn't it...)

8. I love books, absolutely devour them and I have a complete library at home of books I read again and again. I buy one or two new ones a month and will have to move house soon to accommodate the books ;o)

9. Like most women, I think, I love chocolate! Milk chocolate with nuts is my favourite, and I have to have some every day...it's quite astounding I'm not the size of a house...although I used to be ;o)

10. Over the last few years I have gradually lost 27 kg, or 59 lbs. I'm not there yet, but I feel sooooo much better already :D. Plus it's nice not to have to buy my clothes at the camping goods store anymore (you know, tents ;o))

Well, everything you always wanted to know about me but were afraid to ask ;o). I'm sticking to ten items, otherwise where's the mystery right ;o)

I am passing these awards on to my Double Dutch colleagues: Moon, Jolanda, Janneke, Marja, Willy, Ava, Heike and Joan

That's all from me for now, I'm off to watch Desperate Housewives...another addiction, but one that doesn't cost as much ;o) Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

Hugs,
Erica

Da di dum dum dum

That title doesn't mean anything, I just didn't know what to call this post ;o) Although I suppose it could be a happy tune, as Minou had to go to the vet's today to have a tooth extracted (on her birthday as well!) and she seems to have come through the anaesthetic alright, though she still has a wobbly walk and glares at me every now and then ;o) Her appetite is back and she appears to be pain-free, though that may be a different story tomorrow, as I expect she's still high on painkillers...

Anyway, on to my cards and project :D. The cards are for my mum and stepdad and my sister and brother-in-law, who are both celebrating their wedding anniversaries this weekend (one couple on the 30th, the other on the 31st). The layouts are from an old Whiff of Joy challenge (still one of my favourite sketches) and from the Friday Sketchers challenge blog.

The box is for the new Double Dutch Challenge, which is Back In Time, meaning you can take your pick from the previous 24 challenges and recreate your favourite one :D. I chose the triangle box, easy to make and such fun to give! I'm going to put a bib in this one, it's for my colleague who had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago.

Materials used:
StampAvie stamp, Papertrey Ink text stamp, BoBunny "Flutter Butter" papers, pearls, EK Success Retro Flower punches, McGill leaf punch

Hänglar & Stänglar stamp, Papertrey Ink sentiment, BoBunny "Flutter Butter" papers, pearls, Nestabilities label, EK Success Retro Flower punches, McGill leaf punch

QuicKutz limited edition bear die (how cute!) and rub-on text, Nestabilities ovals, Cloud 9 papers, pearls, ribbon

That's all she wrote folks, I'm going to keep Minou company wherever she decides to plonk herself down, and lay humbly at her feet until she forgives me for taking her to the vet ;o)

Hugs,
Erica

Just The One...

Not a lot of card-making time last weekend, and I'm preparing for the next few challenges on Double Dutch, so just the one from me this week ;o) It's for my colleague who had to have an operation on her wrist (she broke it last year) and it's also for the Sugar Bowl challenge, which is a great sketch and, if they get 200 entries or more, they'll double the prize and give away two sets of the new, yummy autumn stamps! So hop on over there and join in the fun!

Materials used:
Sugar Nellie stamp, Papertrey Ink sentiment, MME papers, Prima flowers, EK Success Retro Flower punches, McGill leaf punch, Basic Grey pearls

Have a great week everyone, thanks for stopping by and see you next week!

Hugs,
Erica

And Round Again ;o)

Hihihi, another round card! Had to make this in a hurry at the weekend, because the colleague I'm filling in for during her maternity leave had her baby last Friday, a month early! The little one is in an incubator until she can regulate her own temperature and has gained some weight, but everything is okay and of course her parents are over the moon, so that calls for a nice card :D

The other card is for the new Double Dutch challenge, which is a colour theme: pink, brown and cream.

Materials used:
Stamping Bella stamp, Cloud 9 paper, QuicKutz rub-on text and heart die, Doodlebug button, Joy! Crafts pearls, ribbon

StampAvie stamp, Pebbles Inc. paper and Candy Dots, QuicKutz rub-on text, EK Success Retro Flower punches, spacers, brads

Have a lovely week everyone, thanks for stopping by and for your much appreciated comments!

Hugs,
Erica

Round Round Baby Round Round ;o)

I found some extremely lovely, sumptuous cards on this blog and decided to make one of the cards as an exact replica for a friend who's just had a baby. Well, I went a bit overboard and one became three...they are just so easy to make and soooo lovely!

Also made an envelope for a gift certificate for my colleague, who's been with the company for 40 years...can you imagine, forty years! We're going out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate and, whilst I think it's bad enough she's getting gift certificates (don't get me wrong, I love getting them myself but it always seems like such an "easy" gift doesn't it) I thought I should at least brighten them up a bit ;o). The circle with the number on it is actually a little mirror...I had a heck of a time getting that photographed without my hand showing in it, I tell ya!

List of Ingredients:
Cloud 9 paper, Bazzill sentiment sticker, Stamping Bella sentiment, ribbon, Doodlebug button, QuicKutz heart die, pearls

KaiserCraft paper, Bazzill sentiment sticker, Papertrey Ink sentiment, ribbon, Doodlebug rub-on text, QuicKutz star die, pearls

Basic Grey "Lemonade" paper, Bazzill sentiment sticker, Elzybells sentiment, ribbon, button, Stamping Bella baubles, QuicKutz party hat die

Basic Grey "Wisteria" paper, Prima flowers, QuicKutz "Abigail" alphabet, ribbon, McGill twig punch, button, pearls, brads, spacers

That's all from me for this week, thank you for stopping by and see you next week!

Hugs,

Erica

Teenie Tiny...

Isn't this little bag the cutest? Got the pattern via Create4Fun, along with the sketch for the card. Also made a gift card holder for the new Double Dutch challenge, so all in all I had a busy day on Sunday! As of course, on Saturday nothing went according to plan and I didn't produce a single thing...isn't that always the way? I'd cleared the decks, so to speak ;o), by doing the housework on Friday night and so I had all day Saturday after my riding lesson to make cards. Zip, zilch, nada, niente, absolutely nothing came out of my hands, and out of sheer frustration I gave up and took a nice long nap instead ;o).

List Of Ingredients:
Magnolia stamp, CC Designs sentiment, Autumn Leaves paper, Prima Marketing flowers, brads, button, ribbon

Magnolia and Whiff of Joy stamps, Papertrey Ink sentiment, MME paper, Prima Marketing flowers, Basic Grey pearls, McGill leaf punch

Magnolia stamp, CC Designs sentiment, Autumn Leaves paper, Prima Marketing flowers, Stamping Bella baubles

Have a great week everyone, thanks for stopping by, your comments are much appreciated!

Hugs,
Erica

Tea For One, Two, Three, Four, Five...Six! ;o)

Hi everyone, I made this teabag holder (originally by Beate) last weekend, it had been on my list of "crafty things to do" for a while (you do not want to know how long this list is ;o)) and I finally got around to it. It's on its way to someone special as we speak, she'll be able to have tea for six as I couldn't just put two tea bags in of course, that would be stingy wouldn't it! I even bought tea with yellow/green/pink bags to match the paper...yep, just call me crazy *lol*

This card is for the new challenge over on Double Dutch, which is a sketch :D.

List of Ingredients:
CC Designs stamps, Papertrey Ink sentiments, Doodlebug paper, EK Success Retro flower punches, Nestabilities, Stamping Bella baubles, glitter stones, ribbon

Whiff of Joy stamp, Elzybells sentiment, K&Company paper, Prima flowers, brads, spacers, QuicKutz leaf die, stick-on pearls

That's it from me for now, going to have a nice relaxing weekend and catch up on all the shows I've taped, maybe do some card-making... Hope you all have a great weekend too, thank you for stopping by and see you next week!


Hugs,
Erica