scrapannelies

Cowboy

2012-01-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

Another image from my stash. I created the background with Ecoline and salt. I don't know which ink I should best use on such a background, 'cause the black comes off a bit. Because the image is quite big, I didn't have to do much more: I just added some stars with Versamark in the background and a box with the sentiment.
My supplies: cowboy from Third Coast (draggin'), stars from De Creatie and sentiment from Whimsy Stamps

Challenge on stamping group

2012-01-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

Every two weeks there's a challenge on our stamping group. As I'm such a slow crafter, I sometimes start with a challenge, but then my ideas get blocked and most of the time I don't finish it in time. But I plan to do better this year!
The first challenge is to use something old and something new on your card, atc, etc. The background is the old part of my card. I made it a couple of months ago and it's lying in my box since then. The stamp I embossed in gold is my newest stamp :) It's not a new design, but I only bought it last week.
My supplies: the girl is from Paper Artsy (US-Yule Tide Plate 1), the new stamp is from Artemio-Magenta and on the background I used stamps from Marianne Design and Hero Arts.

A condolancy card

2012-01-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

Another image that I have for a long time, but now I finally used it in a card. I've learned this 'mirror' technique on a reunion of a Belgian stamping club. Because the image has a dramatic feeling, I used it for a condolancy card. Hopefully I don't need it soon.

The tree was one of the first stamps I ever bought. In fact I didn't stamp at that time, but as a local craft shop stopped I bought all kind of stuff there. I don't remember the brand right now. The (Dutch) sentiment is from Different Colors.

Simple Butterfly card

2012-01-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

This is another example of stamping with distress stains. When I bought them a while ago I tried to use them in different ways, but I didn't do anything with these tests untill now. I didn't know how to start on this card and then there was this idea. Very simple, but I like it a lot :)
The butterfly stamp is from Tattered Angels (Nature Grateful Journey) and the sentiment is from Stamps Antwerpen (I think).

First card of 2012

2012-01-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

When I look back at 2011 I see that it was not such a creative year for me. So one of my resolutions for this year is to spend less time behind my computer and much more time on crafting. Since it's only the first week I'm holding on to this resolution :)

I stamped the image with distress stains. Maybe the stamp had to many details, so the result was an unrecognisable image. As I didn't want to throw this away, I stamped on top with black ink and it looks good enough for me.

The image is from Crafty Individuals and the sentiments are from a Hero Arts clear stamp set.

My favorite cards of 2011!

2012-01-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

http://debby4000.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-favorite-of-2011.html

2011 wasn't my most creative year, but I intend to do better this year!

These are my 5 favorite cards:

Christmas menu

2011-12-23T10:09:00.001-08:00

Last week my mother asked me to create menus for Christmas evening. Because I have little time lately, I said I wanted to do this if she helped me. I've tried to convince her to start cardmaking many times, but this was the first time she agreed to it. We had a long discussion before we found the right concept. Because our table decoration is mainly black we chose this dark colour combo. The background is made with a cuttlebug embossing folder, then lightly inked and finally some painting with stickles. This glittering is not obvious in the picture, but it's really nice in reality :)

Shopping

2011-12-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

As the end of the year is coming closer, I seem to have even less time for crafting. But that doesn't mean I don't think of it. I bought some great new stuff lately and I thought I'd share this with you.

First I spend my birthday money in a great stamping shop in Belgium(http://blog.chriscoudenys.be). It was my first time there and I was amazed how many stamps you can get in such a small place. The shop owner was a very nice lady and gave us lots of tips. It was not easy to choose, but this is what I brought home.

Secondly I went to Pipoos (http://www.pipoos.be/) as I read in their newsletter the loyalty card are worth extra now.

On top of this the Martha Stewart punches were in reduction, which made I only had to pay 6€ for all of this :)

And last but not least I went to Boekenfestijn (http://www.boekenfestijn.com/) last Thursday. I love reading thrillers and I came home with about 10 new books. But a lovely extra is that they also have hobby materials. A difficult choice and I already regret I didn't buy some other stamps, but my budget is limited. And you can't buy everthing, even if it's really cheap.

Birthday Cards

2011-12-17T00:46:00.000-08:00

On December 1st I celebrated my birthday. Because 30 is pretty special, we went 4 days to the Christmas market in Germany. I really had a great time with lots of shopping, gluwein and also some cultural activities.
From some members of a stamping group I received these beautiful cards. Thanks a lot Linda, Bea, Christine and Monique!

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge Blog

2011-12-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

The Lili's Little Fairies Challenge Blog will continue where Lili of the Valley Challenge finished. The first challenge will be posted on January 5th:

http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/

Creanijn's candy

2011-12-08T10:01:00.001-08:00

http://creanijn.blogspot.com/2011/12/creanijn-candy-bij-100-volgers.html

Vicky is giving away great candy when her blog reaches 100 followers. I'm already a fan of Creanijn's sketches for a long time. So don't just go there for the candy, but take some time to check Vicky's cards and layouts!

Sugar Bowl challenge 70

2011-11-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

http://sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-70maria-thereses-sketch.html

I like challenges because you end up with a card you'd never make without the challenge. The Sugar Bowl had a sketch challenge plus the option clean and simple. Not easy with no embellishments or patterned papers, but I've really enjoyed this one!

I'm back: LOTV challenge

2011-11-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-118-sketch-by-bev.html

After a break of several months, I finaly created again! I've chosen the sketch from LOTV challenge to get started. As you may know I love sketches (both for cardmaking as scrapbooking). I'm happy with the result, and I think I'll start on another christmas card soon as time's getting shorter to get them all finished.

Penny Black Challenge 175

2011-11-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2011/10/penny-black-saturday-challengeweek-175.html

Having my mojo back, in combination with 2 days off work is really great for my christmas cards. But I think this will be my last one for today as I have running training this evening.

Marianne Design challenge 41

2011-11-02T01:18:00.001-07:00

http://mariannedesign.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-41-vintage.html

What a challenge: create a vintage christmas card! Not easy I thought, but after some searching around in my stuff I found these gorgeous (but still unused) Martha Steward punches. I think they look quite vintage, so I used these as the starting point. I also found some old looking patterned paper from Daisy D's and I've kept the rest quite simple.
.

Vacation photos

2011-10-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've had a great week in Italy (although I needed some days to get used to the Italian way of life, for example: the traffic is really crazy there). I don't have new cards to show you yet, but I'm trying to get everything in my life into place and hope to find time and my mojo in the near future. For now, I'll just leave you some vacation pictures!

POMPEII

CAPRI

SORRENTO

Vacation!

2011-09-16T12:06:00.001-07:00

I'm off to Italy for one week, hopefully there will be more action on my blog afterwards!
Hugs, Annelies

My next 2 cards

2011-07-21T07:59:00.001-07:00

Here are my next two cards. These are inspired by a Hero Arts video .
On my first attempt I probably used to much water and the flower was very unclear, so I stamped it on top with black ink.

My supplies:
Stampers Anonymous (swirl)
Marianne Design Eline's Vintage (sentiment)
October Afternoon (flower)
Aladine 'Texte du Monde' (script)
Distress ink: old paper, peeled paint, barn door, broken china, rusty hinge
Colorbox: frost white
clear embossing powder

Two bird cards

2011-07-16T04:04:00.000-07:00

Last monday I was hopping around some blogs and I suddenly wanted to ink my non-cute stamps. I immediately had several ideas, but it took me some time to get from a rough idea to a finished card. These are the first ones. I had the backgrounds in my stash and they were perfect to combine with this lovely stamp (which was still uninked).
My supplies:
Distress inks: Bundled Sage and Scatterd Straw
Stamps: Judi Kins 'Whispy Bamboo'
Marianne Design Eline's Vintage
De Stempelwinkel 'Hummingbird on flower'

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 170

2011-06-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2011/06/challenge-170-sketch-time.html

LOTV challenge 102

2011-06-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2011/06/challenge-102sketch-by-donalda.html

It was quite hot this afternoon, but I thought it was the perfect weather to create my first christmas card this year :)

I've used this great LOTV stamp (Lisa's candy) and Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper pad ( Lisa's candy). It was a while ago since I've used my cuttlebug, so I'm happy I've finally dusted it of. I used it with Spellbinders Labels four and Marianne design Creatables. The sentiment stamp is from a Hero Arts set ( Kat's candy). After I finished it I realised I forget the ribbon from the sketch, but I think the result is ok.

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 62

2011-06-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

http://sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/challenge-62-marlenes-sketch.html
For this card I've used a card kit I won on Erica's blog (www.scrapaliciouscards.blogspot.com) during a Simply Sassy bloghop. I love the Sugar Nellie stamp 'Laid back dude', Basic Grey Marjolaine papers and some embellishments. I usualy find it difficult to create cards for males, but it's a great kit for these. I've added some buttons, papers and a Penny Black sentiment stamp.

Baby boy card

2011-06-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

I've been such a bad blogger and cardmaker lately :(

This is the only card I created during this last month. It was for a collegue's first grandson (after 2 granddaughters): Mauro.
I scraplifted this idea from a great Dutch cardmaker: http://nancyvandenberg.blogspot.com/

I hope to be back soon with some new cards!

Stamp Something Challenge: Anything Goes

2011-05-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've been on a holiday to Spain, so it's been a while since my last post. I had a fantastic time there, but back to reality now. I'm entering this card in the Stamp Something Challenge (http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com/ ). I think this is my best Copic coloured image so far. Mostly it ends up darker than intended, but I hope you can clearly see the different shades here :) It was already a bit dark when I took this picture, so sorry for the bad quality.

Sketch Saturday

2011-04-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.com/2011/04/week-152-23rd-april-sponsored-by.html

I heard in the news that Belgium is the warmest place of Europe, so the weather is perfect for some crafting outside! Although the little wind makes it difficult sometimes :) I worked with the sketch from Sketch Saturday. I changed it to a rectangle card ('cause postage is double for square cards in Belgium). This also meant I had less space for the 3 embellishements, so I moved them to the corner. I'm quite satisfied with the result, although I think the orange part would have been better a bit bigger.

Scrappfabriken Candy!

2011-04-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

http://scrappfabriken.blogspot.com/2011/04//blogcandy.html

Whimsy Stamps Blog Hop

2011-04-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

http://whimsystamps.blogspot.com/

Paris: Champs-Elysées

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://creanijn-sketches.blogspot.com/ I'm actually getting to the end of my second scrapbook album ever:) I still have 2 double and 2 single layouts to go :) This layout is about the Champs-Elysées. The name says enough so I didn't add extra journaling. There is not a lot of colour in the pictures, so it was not easy to choose a colour scheme. I've finally choosen yellow-gold cardstock to reflect the glamour, although I have to admit I'm not really impressed with this avenue.

Paris: Jardin des plantes

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

This layout goes perfect with spring temperatures of the last days:) I've choosen patterned paper with flowers as this layout goes about the botanical garden of Paris, a really nice place to hang out for a couple of hours. I've worked again with a great sketch from Vicky. If you like sketches you should definitely check this great blog: http://creanijn-sketches.blogspot.com/. Something seems to be wrong with my recent posts. If I put an 'enter' to start a new line, blogger doesn't save this. I've found out this is a browser related problem, only with Internet Explorer. As solution they advise to temporarily use another browser, but I really don't know how I should do this. Hopefully this problem will soon be solved, but untill then my posts will look a bit weird :(

Card for a friend

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Because the father of a stamping friend passed away last week, I wanted to make a card for her. It's the first time I made a card for this occasion and I hope I don't have to use this stamp much in the future.

Creanijn Album Track X

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://creanijn.blogspot.com/ The last page from my album goes about food. The title says in Dutch: Enjoy your meal! It was the first time we booked only breakfast. We had to find a place to eat every evening. Luckily that was not so difficult: there was a great Italian, Indian and Thai. Only once we were disappointed in a British restaurant. The PP are Kaisercraft 'Pennyroyale Collection' and the font is Platin Schoolbook from Cricut. Nothing else on this page except little cards from some restaurants in Cascais. To see all the pages of my Portugal album, you can use this link .

Cute Card Thursday Challenge

2011-03-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-157-sketch-by-deb.html It's been a while since I entered a challenge, but I thought this sketch was really great, so I had to give it a go. I turned it upside down as this fits better with the direction the girl is looking at. I coloured the image with copics, but I still have a lot to learn. I think shadows are so difficult

Creanijn Album Track IX

2011-03-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://creanijn.blogspot.com/

Next week will be the last day in my Creanijn Album, but this is actually the last page which I finished. I don't know why I had so much difficulties with this one. I just didn't know where to put the title and journaling. I finally chose to do the journaling on the pictures, so there was plenty space left for the (quite long) title. .
Patterned paper is the double sided Scenic Route 'Sentimental Small Daisies White', title is created with Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and for the journaling I chose Augie font.

Knotsgekke kaartendagen

2011-03-20T02:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my mom and I went to Knotsgekke Kaartendagen (a craft show in the Netherlands).
I think this edition was less interesting in comparison with other years. There weren't really great actions and there are some things on my wish list that I didn't found. But no worries, I've spend my money on other great stuff as you can see :)

Creanijn Album Track VIII

2011-03-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://creanijn.blogspot.com/

This week a layout with lots of pictures, just how I like them :) There was still some space left for an entry ticket of the castle and some journaling with a brief summary of the highlights of that day. I absolutely love the striped patterned paper. It's again from Scenic Route: Coral Pink Jade Stripe (2 sides) The elegant title is cut with Cricut Jasmine cartridge.

Jude's Half Term Candy

2011-03-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Check Jude's blog to see how you can enter her amazing half term candy (31-03)
http://crafts-international.blogspot.com

Birthday card for my mum

2011-03-11T00:50:00.001-08:00

My supplies: will follow later

Creanijn Album Track VII

2011-03-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's Monday, so time for the next page of my Creanijn Album Track. If you've seen the other pages too, you may have discovered some themes in my album. Of course Vicky's sketches are the obvious one (http://creanijn.blogspot.com/). Another theme seem to be the use of double sided paper. Maybe it's more expensive, but I really find it so practical. This time I used Scenic Route - Cape Town (both sides from 'Argyle' page). The last theme are my Cricut titles. I used one of my favorite cartridges on this layout: Stone Script. I did the title in different colours tot illustrate the different places we visited.

Katarina's candy

2011-03-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

Katarina has amazing candy on her blog:
http://kamadesign.blogspot.com/2011/02/big-celebration-candy.html

Don't forget to Katarina's other blog where you can find everything related to crafting: stamping, scrapbooking, sewing, jewelry, crocheting, etc. : http://craftersguide.blogspot.com

Paris: Montmartre

2011-03-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was doing the Sketch Support blog hop and I really felt like some scrapping myself. So afterwards I started working on this layout. I already planned using Creanijn sketch 52. I have lots of pictures printed in function of some sketches, but I hope to also use one of Allison's sketches soon.

My supplies:
PP: American Crafts Sixth Avenue Lincoln
CS
Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge
Spellbinders nestabilities (for the circles)

Creanijn Album Track VI

2011-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

http://creanijn.blogspot.com/

This is the first page of the only organised excursion we booked. With only 4 other persons, it was almost a private tour :) We saw so many great things that I used 2 pages for the pictures of this day.
I'm actualy having a little problem with the right page. Probably because such a large part is covered with patterned paper and I didn't glue it well enough, it's 'bubbling' a bit when opening the album on this page :(
I don't remember which patterned paper I used here, but the title is cut with Cricut Jasmine cartridge.

Simon Says Stamps Challenge

2011-02-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

A real challenge for me this week: make your own embellishment!

I've searched some tutorials on the internet and found a great one by Durvina: http://durvina-ala-carte.blogspot.com/2011/01/tutorial-van-de-zelfgemaakte-bloem.html I'm really happy with the result of my flowers and I'll definitely use this technique again!

My supplies:

- Sugar Nellie 'Country Style' stamp ( Bea 's candy)

- Marianne Design Eline's Vintage sentiment stamp ('nice day' in Dutch)

- DCWV paperpad The Whimsy

- cardstock

- Copic Ciao markers: B00-02 (trousers), E50-51-93 (skin), G05-07 (grass), Y11-21 (hat), W1-3 (shoes), E31-33-35 (fence), YR00-02 (shirt), Y11-E35(hair)

- EK Succes Retro Flower and the leaf punch is from Pipoos

Creanijn Album Track V

2011-02-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

http://creanijn.blogspot.com/

Before we left, I actually didn't know so much about Lisbon, except the tower of Belem. The most well know monuments are situated in the same area: Belem. It's an amazing place and we had a fantastic day. We took great pictures, except from our pasteis de Belem. Because I didn't want to ruin my layout with ugly photos, I just used the (empty) sugar bag from there. Patterned paper is Scenic Route 'Laurel Scrap Stripe' and the title is created with Cricut Stone Script cartridge (one of my favorites). Colours aren't that good, but I hope you like it!

Paris: hotel

2011-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Finaly another layout in my Paris-album! I've based it on sketch 23 from Creanijn (http://creanijn-sketches.blogspot.com/). I think it was the easiest layout I ever choose papers for. When I saw the little brochure of the hotel, I remembered I bought similar patterned papers a long time ago. I found them pretty quick and they were perfect! Because I had less photos than on the sketch, I filled the empty side with lots of flowers.

My supplies:
- K&Company patterned papers
- Cricut cartridge Jasmine
- EK Success retro flower punches
- Dew drops
- Colorbox Stucco
- Zig writer (black)

Creanijn Album Track IV

2011-02-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Time for the next layout from the Creanijn Album Track (http://creanijn.blogspot.com/ )!
This is actually one of my favorites. It's about the day we spent in the newest part of Lisbon: Parque dos Naçoes, the location of Expo 1998 World Exhibition. A nice contrast with the older buildings we usually visit. To reflect that modern feeling and the Expo theme (water) I choose PP from SEI 'on the coast'. I used both sides from one paper. Some ribbon and an entry card are the finishing touches.

Copic Creations Challenge 43

2011-02-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

http://copiccreations.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/challenge-no-43-were-cool-2/

I have a map with stamped images and when I don't have so much time I colour images which I can later use for making cards. This image comes out of my map and was one of my first attempts in colouring with Copic markers. I only had about 10 markers at that moment, so maybe the combinations look a bit weird, but the result is quite ok I think. Because this card looked to clean, I distressed all the edges.

My supplies:
DCWV The Whimsy Matstack
Anya stamp
Marianne Design Eline's Vintage ('Enjoy every moment' in Dutch)
ribbon from Action
Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Distresser
Copic markers: hair: E35-E57, skin: E51, dress: B00-B93, flowers: B00-B93-YG11

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 53

2011-02-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

http://sugarbowlblog.blogspot.com/

I think this is my first entry in the Sugar Bowl challenge. I just had to ink my new stamp! I absolutely love this 'pillow talk', but it was quite difficult to colour it nicely. My first two attempts went completely wrong with the shadow on the dress. The third time, her hair was way to dark. The fourth time I was happy with the result, but the blue didn't match with the patterned paper I had chosen. So this is the fifth image that made it on my card :) I'm happy with the result and would like to hear your idea about it!

My supplies:
- Sugar Nellie 'Pillow Talk' stamp
- Marianne Design 'Eline's Vintage' sentiment stamp (it says "it's your birthday" in Dutch)
- Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge
- Basic Grey Wisteria patterned papers (leftovers from this layout)
- Flowers: don't remember where I bought these
- Copic markers: skin: E50-E51-E93; hair: E31-E33-E35-E37; dress: B60-B63; pillow: Y21-Y28-YG91

Birthday card for Paula

2011-02-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

My mother asked me to make a birthday card for one of her friends, Paula. I've used one of my all time favorite stamps. Because something was missing I inked all the edges a little bit and I'm happy with the result!

My supplies:

- House Mouse: Make a wish

- Penny Black: sentiment stamp

- cardstock

- patterned paper: DCWV The Whimsy matstock

- ribbon from Action

- Colorbox Stucco

- Copic Ciao: E31-E33-E35-E50

W1-W3-W5

YR00-YR02

YG06-G14

Y02

Birthday card for Rune

2011-02-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've made this card for the birthday of my nephew's youngest son, Rune.

My supplies:
- CC Design stamp: Philip Fairy Tales ( JayJay 's candy)
- Popcorn the Bear: sentiment stamp
- cardstock
- patterned paper: SEI on the coast-high tide
- copic ciao markers: B00-B02-B39
Y11-Y15
E50-E51-E93
E47-E49
W5
YG 23

Creanijn Album Track III

2011-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Next step in the Creanijn Album Track: after choosing pictures and analysing the sketches, followed selecting papers. The base was always white cardstock, but the PP should match with the pictures. For each page we could choose papers from Vicky's shop (http://shop.creanijn.be/shop). I chose Scenic Route - Ashville PP for this layout. I'm still having doubts about this as the colours are very bright.

Baby card

2011-02-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

A collegue of mine became grandfather last week. As his daughter did a student job with us a couple of years ago, we wanted to give her a little present, with a card of course. I've kept it quite simple, so this is the card for Ferre.
I've used a stamped image I once received in a swap. I must say I don't think I'll enter such a swap again. I received lovely images, such as this one, but also some mini images or even not good stamped images, while I tried hard not to disappoint the other swappers with my images. Another problem is that you don't know which paper or ink is used. I coloured this image with copic markers, but had little 'bleeding'problems. Luckily I could solve this with the 00 marker.

My supplies:

-stamped image from a swap
-cardstock
-patterned paper from DCWV The Garden Party
-copic ciao markers E50, BG09,BG34, Y21

Creanijn Album Track II

2011-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

I started last week showing the result from the Creanijn Album Track I attended a while ago. Before the workshop we received a mail from Vicky (http://creanijn.blogspot.com/) with the number and the sizes of the pictures we needed. It was quite a work to go from 800 to 50 vacation photos and I even had little discussions with my mum (= my travel partner). On the day of the Album Track we received a handout with all the sketches, so everyone could work in their own tempo. I really liked this concept!

This page is about the village where we stayed. Not so much to see there so one page was enough to show the highlights. The PP is from Scenic Route - Rockland Clarendon Street.

New Year's Eve Menu

2011-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last year my mother and I went to Pipoos and while I was choosing supplies, my mother looked at the examples in the shop. She saw a very nice tealight card and said she wanted to make this as a menu on New Year's Eve. You must know my mother never wanted to try cardmaking before and at home she already had doubts about her idea. But I conviced her to give it a try. I found a great tutorial (in Dutch, http://madeliefjuh.blogspot.com/2010/03/kaart-met-een-doosje-werkbeschrijving.html) and with some help she finished the first menu. We kept it simple as my mother doesn't really love cute stuff. Our guest were very impressed with these little gifts!

P.S. I have to admit I made the other 7 menus, as my mother didn't really enjoy it.

Copic storage

2011-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Some months ago I discovered a craft shop in my neighbourhood. The scrapbook and stamp corner was rather small, but as it's hard to find this in Belgium, I was happy with it. Little later the owner unfortunately decided to specialise in knitting and jewelmaking and to stop the other activities. Sad news, but I was also able to buy great stuff in the sale. My Magnolia and Copic collection exploded. I went to the shop on my birthday to spend the money I received and the nice owner asked if I wanted to have the Copic tower as she didn't need it anymore. I was really enthousiastic as I didn't have Copic storage yet. This weekend I bought the last 4 missing Ciao's and this is how my tower looks like now. I already left spaces for the new colours soon to be released :). When I have time I still want to add number to the markers, so I can immediately grab the right colour. I haven't decided what to do with the cilinder in the middle: cut if of or put something over it? Ideas are welcome!

Creanijn Album Track

2011-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

On 11/11/2010 I went to an album track, organised bij Vicky (http://creanijn.blogspot.com/). I'm not the world's fastest scrapper, so it was a great idea to have an album finished in 1 day.
It was a fantastic experience. I worked with Vicky's sketches from 09.00'till 17.30, with only a little break for lunch and some cake in the afternoon. The result was an album with all the patterned papers and pictures glued together. There was no time left to add details such as title, journaling and embellishments. It took me quite a while to have all this done at home. But now I'm proud to announce my first scrapbook is completed! To avoid an overdose of pictures I'll show a LO every week, starting with the cover today! It was actually the last page of the album track, as it's made with leftovers from the other pages. I created the title with Cricut-Georges and Basic Shapes cartridge.

Favorite five of 2010

2011-01-06T10:05:00.000-08:00

http://debby4000.blogspot.com/2010/12/favorite-five-of-2010.html

I don't seem to get started this year, so a look back on my favorite cards of last year.

Favorite Christmas Cards

2010-12-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

http://debby4000.blogspot.com/2010/12/fave-five-christmas-cards-2010.html

I saw on Debby's blog a post with her 5 favorite christmas cards she made this year. Great idea I thought, so here are my favorites. I think they illustrate my cardmaking style: simplicity rules :)

Birthday cards

2010-12-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

I celebrated my birthday last wednesday and was very happy with the birthday cards I received from some ladies of the Belgian stamping group I'm a member of. So I want to share these with you too.

A new challenge blog!

2010-12-05T09:56:00.001-08:00

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/craftyhazelnuts-christmas-challenge.html

A new challenge blog starts on January 1st and to celebrate there's great candy you can win!

LOTV challenge

2010-12-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-76-few-of-my-favourite-things.html
This week our challenge is a Theme – A Few of My Favourite Things - we would like to see creations using craft items and stamps you couldn’t do with out.

My favorites I used on this card are:
- Copic markers: I received some new colours for my birthday this week and now have 140 ciao's!
- Basic Grey patterned papers: I don't want to count my BG papers, I think I have almost every collection!
- Distress ink: I love distressing, but usualy don't know when to stop so it's maybe a bit to much distressed!
- LOTV stamp: of course!

Simon says Stamps challenge

2010-12-05T00:55:00.000-08:00

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/simon-saysits-sketch-time.html

A quick one, but I'm really happy with the result!

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge

2010-11-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/
As you may have noticed I love challenges, so I'm happy to say another challenge blog starts on January 1st. Go check it out and you may even win some great candy!

Simon Says Stamp Challenge

2010-11-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/10/simon-says-punch-em.html
This week's challenge sounds Punch'em. I used my favorite punch on this card: retro flower from EK Success.

My supplies:
- Sarah Kay stamp 'Bernadette admiring the spring flowers' ( Martine's candy)
- Marianne Design Eline's Vintage (sentiment stamp)
- aquarel pencils
- Basic Grey Wisteria patterned paper
- Dew Drops
- EK Succes Retroflower punch

WOJ challenge

2010-11-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

http://wojmondaychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/10/challenge-90-distressing.html

I'm really into Christmas cards this weekend, so here's number 3. This time I'm entering the Whiff of Joy challenge: distressing. I used Pumice Stone Distress Ink on the edges to get a distressed look.

My supplies:

-WOJ stamp Charlie building Snowman

- Marianne Design Eline's Vintage (sentiment stamp)

- Copic markers face: E50-E51-E93

hair: E35-E57

blue clothes: BG01-BG05-BG09

grey clothes: W1-W3-W5

snow: C1-C3

nose snowman: YR16-YR23

hat snowman: 100-W7-W5-W3

- Basic Grey Figgy paper pad

- Distress Ink Pumice Stone

LOTV challenge

2010-11-02T03:32:00.001-07:00

http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/10/challenge-71-sketch-by-bev.html

I'm having an extra long weekend and since the weather's not so good, it's perfect to make some cards. My second christmas card, this time based on the sketch from the LOTV challenge blog.

My supplies:

- LOTV 'Christmas Ted - Balancing Act' stamp (Lisa 's candy)

- Hero Arts stamp (Kat 's candy)

- Copic markers

- Dovecraft 'Noel' paper pad

- Martha Stewart border punch

- flowers and brads from my stash

Papertake Weekly Challenge

2010-11-01T07:25:00.001-07:00

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/2010/10/sparkly-bright.html

It's been a while since I posted. I had other things on my mind as my grandfather was in hospital and passed away last week. It's the first time now I feel like crafting again. I tried this week's challenge on Papertake Weekly: Sparkly & Bright.
I based this card on an example I saw at my LSS. I hope you can see it fits in the challenge as I added Stickles on the border of Tilda's cap. (not easy to photograph this)

My supplies
- Stickles Frosted Lace
- Copic markers: E50-E51-E93 (face-hands)
Y28-E53 (hair)
R22-27-29 (red clothes)
G21-YG63 (green clothes)
W1-W3 (grey clothes)
- patterned paper: Lori's candy
- Magnolia stamp: Tilda Santas little helper (2009)
- sentiment stamp: Hero Arts = Kat's candy

Bizzy Becs New Store Blog!

2010-10-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Check out Bizzy Becs New Store Blog, where you will now see all Bizzy Becs Store Design Team's Inspiration Cards, Tutorials.. Plus LOTS & LOTS of Giveaways.
http://bizzybecsstore.blogspot.com/

Christy's candy

2010-10-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

http://tiddlyinks.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-candy-continued.html (04-11)

I couldn't resist

2010-09-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

Last week I was extremly lucky and I won several blog candies! The first one I received was from Lisa . As I'm leaving on vacation in less than a week I have lots of things to do and actually no time to craft. But I couldn't resist: I had to try. I'm so happy with this gorgeous stamp from LOTV. The actual cardmaking with some yummy papers from the candy will have to wait 'till after Portugal.

Paris: Thalys

2010-09-05T02:26:00.000-07:00

I was having problems with the title on this page. It was laying on my desk for weeks, but the inspiration didn't come. Untill I saw this layout on Pamela's blog. I realised I bought Thickers a while ago, but had never used them. I found these black ones that look perfect on my layout. I'm really happy with the result!

I used sketch 85 from Creanijn . My supplies are:
- cardstock
- patterned paper: Urban Lily 'Pinkalicious collection'-Itty Bitty Pink
- American Crafts 'Jewelry Box' Chipboard Thickers
- handwritten journaling with Staedtler pigment liner 0.5

Corfu: Halikiopoulos lagune

2010-09-04T04:32:00.001-07:00

This is only the left part of a layout. The other half still needs journaling, but as it's a different subject you can also see them seperately. I created this for a challenge to use 4 torn edges on your layout. I finished it when the deadline had passed, but the main thing is I really like this page very much! I've used a Becky Fleck sketch from April 2006.

My supplies:
- cardstock
- patterned paper: My Mind's Eye - Magnolia- Serene "Dream" Floral/teal
- George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge
- Stabilo point 88

Kos: Zia

2010-09-04T04:31:00.001-07:00

I'm working with two themes in my Kos album: Basic Grey papers and Creanijn sketches. The result on this page is a combination of Archaic papers with sketch 30 from Creanijn. I'm not 100% sure about the layout, maybe it looks a bit weird because the pictures are so close next to each other?

Kos: mandraki

2010-09-04T04:30:00.000-07:00

There were some layouts laying in my drawers which only needed small finishings, such as adding journaling, buying extra paper, etc. I wanted to work on these pages before to start new ones.

For this specific layout I didn't have enough patterned paper in my stock. I bought a Basic Grey Wisteria kit last year in Paris, but for a double page layout you often need more than one paper of a certain pattern. I found the extra papers I needed in the Creanijn shop . I created the title with my Cricut and printed the journaling from my pc. The layout is based on sketch 51 from Creanijn.

My supplies:
- Basic Grey Wisteria patterned paper
- Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge

Create4fun Challenge 32

2010-08-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

http://create4fun-challenge.blogspot.com/2010/08/challenge-week-32.html

I'm really in a cardmaking mood. Here's another christmas card for another sketch challenge. Again I've changed the square sketch into a rectangle card (see previous post). This card has more patterned papers than I'm used to, but I'm satisfied with it!

Supplies: Basic Grey Eskimo paperpad ( Lisa 's candy)
Sugar Nellie stamp 'Lola with gift'

Friday Sketchers Sketch 114

2010-08-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

http://fridaysketchersblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/sketch-114-sponsored-by-motivet.html

Yesterday I read on someone's blog only 136 days are left 'till Christmas. Time to get started with those Christmas cards. I've based this one on the Friday Sketchers challenge. I changed the square sketch into a rectangle card. If you post a square card in Belgium, you have to pay double postage, so I try to make most rectangle cards. It's of course easier to decorate square cards as you have more space. So I keep it quite simple and I therefor left the sentiment on the front behind and just stamped it on the tag.

Supplies: Victoria Case stamp ( Lori's candy)
Basic Grey Eskimo paper pad ( Lisa's candy)
EK Succes Retroflower punch
brads (?)

Just Magnolia week 67

2010-08-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

http://justmagnolia.blogspot.com/2010/08/week-67-special-monthly-challenge.html

I'm happy to be in vacation this week, so I have plenty of time to be creative. My second card is for the Just Magnolia blog. I've never used acetate before, so this was a real challenge for me. I've spend quite some time on this card, but I'm really happy with the result and I'm sure I'll send it to a special person.

Not easy to see the acetate in the picture, but it's in the window of course.

Charisma Cardz Challenge: teddy bears

2010-08-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/2010/08/challenge-31-teddy-bears.html

It's been a while, but it seems I found my mojo back! I already created a card with gift holder yesterday, but I'll show it later. I don't know for which occasion I'll use it yet, and it still needs some finishing stamping. This is my second creation in my vacation: a birthday card with a special fold. I really like how it turned out. I use aquarel pencils for the colouring and I'm starting to like this more and more. I want to enter this card in the Charisma Cards Challenge for this week, which is Teddy Bears. I love this Popcorn stamp, although it's quite big and there's no space left for embellishements.

Candy Link!

2010-07-11T08:08:00.001-07:00

http://pinkgem-janet.blogspot.com/2010/07/pink-gem-candy.html

Janet over at Pink Gem is being very generous & offering this fabulous candy. You have until 30th July to enter !

Simon Says Stamps Challenge

2010-07-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/06/simon-sayscheck-it-out.html

'Check it out' sounds this week's challenge. I thought this would be easy, but it took me a while to find suitable papers. Because I didn't have a pencil that fits with these papers, I tried paper piecing for the first time. I actually like this technique, so I'll definitely do it again. The sentiment says 'happy holidays' in Dutch.

Papertake Weekly Challenge: In Stitches

2010-07-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/2010/06/in-stitches.html

I have this stamp for 22 months now and I'm ashamed to say this is the first time I use it. It's probably the good weather that inspired me for this nice 'summer feeling'-stamp. I want to enter this card for the Papertake Weekly Challenge which is 'in stitches'. I did some faux stiching in light grey around the borders.

Create4fun Challenge Week 25

2010-06-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

http://create4fun-challenge.blogspot.com/2010/06/challenge-week-25.html

"Make a baby card"

I've made this card for Boris, the grandson of a collegue. It was not so easy 'cause he was born to early and he had a weight of 880 gram! But he's a little fighter and is doing great, so the parents decided to finaly send the birth announcement!

I've used this stamp from a friend and don't know from which brand it is. It's also the first time I decorated the inside of a card.

Album Cover

2010-06-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

It seems the weather here doesn't know summer starts tomorrow, so I've had a creative Sunday afternoon. I've made a cover to put in the fotoalbum for 2 collegues that retired recently. I'm showing one 'cause they look exactly the same. I've used cardstock, Magnolia patterned paper and Cricut George and Basic Shapes cartridge

House Mouse Challenge

2010-06-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/2010/06/challenge-71-blog-hop-winners.html

I don't have a lot of House Mouse stamps (yet), but this one is perfect for this week's theme: SWEET. I used a Mojo Monday sketch, so it went pretty quick. I'm happy with the result and I hope this gives me inspiration for the rest of the weekend.

My supplies:
- Basic Grey Euphoria papers
- cardstock
- House Mouse stamp 'Make a wish'
- Sentiment stamp from Action (a Dutch budget shop)
- Doodlebug mini brads 'black cherry'
- flowers ?
- aquarel pencils
- Victorian Velvet Distress ink

Scrappassion Challenge Blog Hop!

2010-06-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

http://ria-scrappassionchallengeblog.blogspot.com/

I have to admit nothing creative comes out of my hands these last weeks. I'm frequently visiting blogs in the hope to feel like starting cardmaking or scrapbooking again. During my search for inspiration, I discovered a great Dutch challenge blog. There's a blog hop going on right now and you can win some candy, so now is definitely the time to check this fantastic blog!

This is the candy you can win, offered by these sponsors:

http://www.descrapheap.nl/

http://www.dolls-decorations.nl/

Simon Says Stamp Challenge

2010-05-13T10:55:00.001-07:00

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/05/simon-says-sketch-challenge.html

Since it's a holiday and the weather is really bad, it is a perfect day for some crafting. So here's my second card of the day.

My stamps:
- Paper: Creamotion paperstock Vitorian Romance
- Stamps: Sarah Kay, Mariane Design Eline's sentiment(sentiment)
- Flowers: ?
- Brads: Doodlebug Designs, ?

Penny Black Saturday

2010-05-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/05/penny-black-saturdayweek-100-blog-hop.html
My first Christmas card for this year! I love how it turned out, only the white around the stamped image is a bit to white I think.

My supplies:
-stamps: Penny Black (image+sentiment), Hero Arts (Tiny Snowflakes)
-paper: Basic Grey Wassail, cardstock
-ink: distress ink aged mahogany+pine needles, memento
- pencils
-cuttlebug + nestabilities

Spesch Designer Stamps Candy

2010-05-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

http://speschstamps.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-candy-alert.html (15-05)

April's Prima's Product Pick

2010-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

http://prima.typepad.com/prima/2010/04/primas-product-pick-april.html

Karen's Fabulous Candy!

2010-05-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

http://charmedcrafts.blogspot.com/2010/04/sweet-may-candy.html (end may)

Scrapbookweekend!

2010-05-02T01:36:00.001-07:00

http://scrapavanti.blogspot.com/2010/04/scrapavanti-scrapbookweekend-15-en-16.html

Er is op scrapbookgebied al zo weinig te beleven in België, dus wil ik toch eventjes reclame maken voor het Scrapavanti Scrapbookweekend. Op 15 en 16 mei is er van alles te beleven in Kortrijk. Dus ga vlug kijken op hun blog!

Card Positioning Systems Challenge

2010-04-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2010/04/cps-162.html

I haven't been really creative these last weeks. I just didn't have inspiration. So I'm really happy with this card. I hope it'll be a new start for me. I adjusted the sketch a bit to fit the size of my stamp and card.

My supplies:
Basic Grey patterned paper 'Mellow'
Whiff of Joy stamp 'Lou Celebrating Monkey' (candy from Kat )
Marianne's Design stamp 'Eline's Vintage'
Distress ink 'Tea Dye'
Copic markers

Kellie's Candy

2010-04-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.keliewinnell.com.au/?p=4632

Kellie is celebrating 100 000 hits and she can offer the Spring Pixies Kit (sponsored by All That Scraps) Isn't this great?

Lots of new cards!

2010-03-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have my computer back! It took a while, but now I have a new hard disk and hopefully it'll work a long long time.

I haven't been really creative these last weeks: no time and no inspiration. But luckily there was a meeting of a Belgian stamp club yesterday and I finished several cards! I met nice people and learned a lot of new techniques. Here's the result:

Knotsgekke Kaartendagen

2010-03-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last week there was a big cardmaking event in the Netherlands. I was a bit disappointed 'cause last year there were more interesting offers, but I didn't drive so far to come home with nothing. So this is the new stuff I bought there. I also picked up 4 new cricut cartridges which I bought on a Dutch auctionsite: 4 cartridges for 100€ was a pretty good buy I think :)

Candy links

2010-02-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

I usually but these links in my sidebar, but I'm having problems with that today, so I'm doing this here:

Maria: http://mariasstudio.blogspot.com/2010/02/candy-anyone.html (26-02)

Anyone for Anya?

2010-02-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

http://anyoneforanya.blogspot.com/2010/01/sketch-6.html

This seems to be a card with lots of 'first times':

- my first entry for the Anyone For Anya? challenge blog

- the first time I use this stamp

- the first image I coloured with Copic Ciao markers

The result isn't really what I had in mind, but I think it's ok like this.

Finally another card!

2010-01-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

http://fridaysketchersblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/friday-sketchers-87-sponsored-by.html

http://diecutdreams.blogspot.com/2010/01/challenge-32-bears.html

I had no inspiration and no time these last weeks to make a card, layout or so. I thought some challenges would stimulate my creativity. So I combined a sketch challenge with a theme challenge: bears! I used my aquarel pencils to colour the stamped image. I'm only a beginner with these pencils, but I'm quite happy with the result.

My supplies:

- cardstock

- Stazon Jet Blackink

- Aquarel pencils (Koh-I-Noor Mondeluz)

- Fiskars 'treading water' punch

- Popcorn the Bear 'Birthday Hugs' stamps (candy from Penni )

- K&Company 'amy butler' patterned paper (candy from Suzette )

I'm off to London!

2010-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

No activity on my blog the next days 'cause I'm going to London tomorrow. Or at least I hope so 'cause there were some problems with the train last week. I'll be back on Tuesday.

Quixotic Paperie Candy

2009-12-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

http://quixoticpaperie.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-round-up-and-some-new-year-candy.html (05-01)

Happy New Year candy is a MYSTERY GIFT PACK with a value of approximately £40!

My favorite card I created this year:

Create 4 Fun Challenge week 52

2009-12-27T02:38:00.000-08:00

http://create4fun-challenge.blogspot.com/2009/12/challenge-week-52.html
I don't have a lot of time during these holidays, but I really wanted to try this challenge 'cause I loved the sketch . I turned it around and I'm quite happy with the result!

My supplies:
- Basic Grey Eskimo patterned papers (candy from Lisa )
- Magnolia stempel 'Tilda with Dalecarlia Coat' (Christmas Collection 2008)
- Aud Design stempel
- Retroflower punch EK Succes
- leaf punch Pipoos
- aquarel pencils
- cardstock
- brads Zeeman