Job interview and more

As some of you know I resigned from my job earlier this year. I have been enjoying life as a stay at home mom since March. However, I always said I would like to go back to work again. A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from one of the founders of a small consultancy firm in Utrecht. He wanted to know if I was interested in job with their firm. Both founders are ex-colleagues and their two secretaries are ex-colleagues too. One of the secretaries mentioned to the founders that I am temporarily unemployed and suggested to contact me. I was positive about a meeting, and this morning I went to see them. We had a very good meeting. It wasn't really an interview. They were very straight forward and told me that they would like to have me as part of their team. So it is all up to me. I had a very positive feeling about the firm, the people and the job content so if they come up with good conditions of employment - which I will receive by e-mail tomorrow - I will definitely say YES. I already told them that I am very interested, and they are very pleased. The good thing is that this company is only 20 minutes away from home. Well, if there is not too much traffic. This was my first job interview in 9.5 years and I can't tell you it wasn't a hard one. LOL!

To meet your curiosity with regard to my DT Call assignments I show you a few sneak peeks of my projects. I hope to show you all projects this weekend.

What a fun weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend. My mom and dad are on holiday in Ouddorp for 2 weeks, and had invited us to spend Whitweekend with them. The weather forecast didn't look that good for the weekend, but we were very lucky. We only had a little rain on Sunday evening, and a little bit today when we were on the beach. We all enjoyed ourselves very much, but Fleur and Sanne really had a blast. They spent hours outside in the garden on the swing, playing tennis, feeding the birds, etc. They had lots of fun on the beach too. We were only away for 2 days, but it felt like we were there for a week.

Sweet little girl

Do you recognize this little girl? This is me in the early seventies. I guess I was nearly three years old in this picture. I am working on the layout for the DT call and use this picture on it. I really like this picture.

Scrap Kit "Final Round" DT Call

The postman just delivered my scrap kit for the final round of the Dolls & Decorations DT call. All 8 contestants get this kit in the mail today. The assignment is to make at least 1 layout (min. 8x8"/max. 12x12"), and 1 item of your choice. This can be anything as long as it is scrapped. The kit contains:

• 3 sheets of Around the Block pattern paper (double-sided)
• 3 sheets of Imaginisce pattern paper (double-sided)
• 1 Daisy D transparency
• 1 Rhonna Farrer Clear Expressions 12x12" overlay
• Prima flowers
• Bazzill brads
• Dolls Originals Alphabet clear stamps
• Rusty Pickle Chipboard Accents

I really like this challenge. I already have some ideas in mind. The deadline is Sunday June 3rd at 6pm CET. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. :-)

Self Portrait

When I went to the Crop Till You Drop event in April I had to bring a nice picture of me to the workshop. Believe me, it took me quite some time to find a nice one. I think we have about 7,000+ pictures on our computer, and only 3 pictures - yes, ONLY 3 - met the requirement nice. First of all, there aren't many pictures of me. And secondly, the ones that I do have aren't always nice. I guess I am just too critical about my own pictures. There is always something that I don't like. My smile (or no smile at all), my hair, no natural pose, etc. Am I the only one feeling this way?

This morning I was doing the household. When I got upstairs and looked at the white walls I decided to take a break and take some pictures of myself. So I grabbed my camera and posed against the white wall. Do you think I am silly? I only took about 25 pictures and this one turned out the best.

Let's go outside

The weather is beautiful today. I spent the afternoon with Sanne as Fleur is over at her friend's Roy for a play. Fleur will probably stay with Roy for dinner unless she decides she would like to have spaghetti Bolognese cooked by her little sister instead of pancakes. Sanne and I first had lunch and then ran some errands. When we got home she wanted to go to the playgrounds near our home. We first went to the swing, and then to the slide. She really enjoys being outside.

Woohoo!

I just read on the Dolls' message board that I made it to the third and final round of the DT call. There are now 8 girls left, and only 5 will make it to the DT. This time we will receive a kit with scrap material that we have to use for our last assignment. I am really curious to receive the kit and hear more about the last assignment. Deadline for the final round was May 27th, but has been extended with a week.

Here's a card I made for Sophie who will turn 2 tomorrow. I found it difficult to make a card for a little girl. I didn't have much time to think about a nice design so it is quite a simple card. I used the new Doodlebug Birthday line and its sugar coated cardstock.

The last one...

...for this week. Another friend will also have her wedding anniversary this week, so I made another card. This time I used Chatterbox patterned paper.



Have a nice weekend!

A happy guy

Usually I don't post 3 times a day, but the only man in the house is so happy with his new lease car - which he got yesterday - that he asked me to post a picture on my blog. Well, I am not really into cars, but I have to admit that this one is worth a post. :-) Maybe I have to make a layout on Eric and his new "baby".

Did I already tell you?

That I am in the mood for cards? :-) Here's another card I made this afternoon. This one is for a friend who will have her wedding anniversary this week. I love the Scenic Route papers. Again I am inspired by someone on Two Peas in a Bucket.

In the mood for cards

If you surf the Internet you come across the most gorgeous and beautiful cards. I am not really good at card making, but I do enjoy making them. It are nice little projects if you are not in the mood or don't have much time for creating a scrapbook page. And also a great way to get rid of your left-overs. This card is inspired by a card I saw on Two Peas in a Bucket.

Revelation photo swap

Today I received Wendy's layout in the mail. I sent her a picture of Fleur made in March. She received my layout yesterday, so I can now show a picture of my creation. Wendy and one of her friends had a high tea, and took some funny pictures of each other. One of those pictures was sent to me. Not an easy picture to work with, but fortunately Wendy is very happy with my layout.

Here's the layout Wendy made for me.


And here's the one I made for Wendy.


Fortunately I am feeling much better today than I did yesterday. I woke up with a terrible headache yesterday. I took a shower and made breakfast for the girls, but then I went back to back. Eric brought the girls to school. I slept till noon, and finally got dressed at 1.30pm as I had to run some errands. I had plans to scrap a layout or work on a mini book, but unfortunately I didn't do anything during the day. Last night I did an attempt to scrap, but I only made this very simple birthday card.

Second round DT call

Today I submitted my entries for the second round of the Dolls & Decorations DT call. One assignment was to "stamp yourself silly" and the other was "freestyle all the way". What is freestyle? If you ask 100 people you will get 100 different answers. And if you read a scrap magazine or book you don't really get the answer either, because the various freestyle layouts differ a lot. My style of scrapping is more or less "free" so I created something that is close to my own style. I added a few extra elements such as felt, fabric and I used a black pen. And of course I used my sewing machine.



I altered a Maya Road tin for the stamping assignment. I stamped, but I didn't stamp myself silly. LOL! This tin goes with the mini book I made as a gift for my mom.

Sneak peak photo swap 9

Today was the deadline for photo swap 9 at the Dolls' message board. This time I was linked to Wendy. I received her picture weeks ago, but only started on the layout yesterday. I have no problems to work with deadlines, but when you have two months to finish a layout there is no need for me to start immediately. Now I finished this one I can start working on the photo swaps for Mandy and Lisette. I first have to choose a nice picture for Lisette otherwise she can't start on the layout for me.

My Mother's Day gifts

The best gifts you can get as a mother are the handmade gifts by your children. I like the days before Mother's Day when they come home with the gifts from school. They really do their best to keep it a secret and hide their gift, but it is not always easy. I really love the gifts they made this year.

The poem (in Dutch) they both learned in school

Lieve mama,

Mama, blijf maar liggen - het mag, ja het mag
mama, vandaag is het moederdag
Blijf maar lekker liggen - je hoeft niets te doen
hier is een pakje en hier is een zoen

Fleur's gift - a necklace of velvet ribbon and clothes-pins



Sanne's gift - a heart-shaped memo clip holder



Fleur's art



Sanne's Art



And gift coupons of Dolls & Decorations.

Happy Mother's Day

As my mom is away with friends on Mother's Day we went to visit her and my dad on Saturday afternoon. Peter and Li were there too. My mom made us a delicious dinner. I made this mini book for my mom. I wasn't able to show the result on my blog earlier as my mom visits my blog daily. My mom is a great fan of my work, so needless to say she was very happy with this gift. I was inspired by my sister-in-law Lisette who came up with this great idea. Thanks for the inspiration!

I am now off to bed, because I am sure my girls will surprise me early in the morning.

Change of plans

I have decided that I won't enter the layout I made earlier this week for the DT call. It is not that I don't like the layout, but since I used the same Fancy Pants stamps and the same title as one of the other contestants - who already put her work in the gallery - I thought it would be better to create something else. I already had the title in mind when I ordered the picture, but it is not very original if someone else used it too. I don't want to be accused of scraplifting or disqualify myself (not sure if that would happen), so I have created something different. I won't be able to show any sneak peaks yet, but will do so soon. Well, here is the layout that didn't make it.

Will this one make it?

This is a sneak peak of the Stamp Yourself Silly part of the Dolls & Decorations' DT call. Will this be my entry? Not too sure. It depends if I can come up with something better and more original. I will first work on my Freestyle layout.

School pictures

Fleur and Sanne got home with their school picture taken on April 18th. I am not too satisfied about the quality of the professional photographer this year. I think they can do better. By the way, this is a picture of the original picture as my scanner is broken, so the colors are not that good.

Explosion?

After an evening scrapping my desk looks like this. I clean my desk regularly, but after an hour (or even minutes) working on a project it is messy again. It seems like I am always scrapping on a few square inches. Sometimes it drives me nuts, and makes me clean my desk again while working on something. Otherwise I can't find my stuff. I just cleaned the living room, so I guess it is now time to clean my scrap room.....again.

Eric's Space

I am working on some scrapbook projects, but I can't show anything yet. Sorry! Therefore, I allow Eric some space on my blog. :-) He made some great pictures in our backyard this morning. Here's one of his favorites.

Yeah!

I made it to the 2nd round of the Dolls & Decorations' DT call. This round will be a tough one for me as we have to make a freestyle layout and stamp ourselves silly. I haven't done any freestyle scrapping before, and I do stamp on my layouts but I hardly know any stamping techniques. Quite a challenge, but I think that is one of the best things of this DT call. I know I am creative, but this contest challenges you to be creative in different ways. There are now 20 contestants left, and only 8 will make it to the last round.