Happy Birthday

Today my dear and amazingly talented SIL Lisette is celebrating her 40th birthday. She and her hubby will be spending the weekend in Paris. I am sure they will have a wonderful time together. Congrats, Lisette!

My card for Lisette turned out quite simple, and I am not completely satisfied. Something was 'wrong' with this card and I couldn't tell what it was. When editing the picture I realized the punched border should have had the same width as the checked paper instead of the same width as the flower paper. It's a little detail, but it's the reason why I am not really happy with the card.



And a close-up of the gorgeous blue pearl swirl by Zva Creative.



Supplies: Zva Creative: Pearl Swirl PE-02-CB-131 Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (kraft), Papertrey Ink (vintage cream) Patterned paper: October Afternoon Report Card Button, ribbon, twine, ink: Papertrey Ink Rub-ons: Melissa Frances Tools: Sizzix Bigz XL die Scallop Card, Martha Stewart Flower Bed deep edger punch, sewing machine

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lots of Jillibean Soup

Yesterday we woke up with a few inches of snow. The girls were excited. I was a little less excited as I had to go to work. I took me 2 hours to get to the office, and it's only 11 miles. Fleur and Sanne were off from school yesterday afternoon and built a snowman with Eric. I do like snow but not when I have to go out by car.

I have been really busy and haven't had time yet to post my layouts that went up on the Jillibean Soup blog yesterday.

The first layout is about Sanne. This photo was taken by my talented SIL Lisette back in August. She and the kids were in the Netherlands for 2 weeks, and when we got together we had a little photo shoot with our kids. Sanne loves it when auntie Lisette takes photos of her. The journaling is written on the kraft tag.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper Patterned paper, journaling sprout, bean seeds: Jillibean Soup Stickers: American Crafts Thickers Tools: Martha Stewart Scallop Dots edge punch, sewing machine Pen: Uni-ball Signo White Tag: Creative Cafe

The photos on this second layout were taken by Florence Bavinck during our photo shoot on October 31st. The girls had lots of fun during the shoot. The scan of the layout is not good as there is supposed to be a little white border on the right.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper Patterned paper, alphabeans, bean seeds: Jillibean Soup Buttons: Rusty Pickle Ink: Papertrey Ink (Orange Zest) Tools: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

With a little one in the family I have an adorable subject to scrap about. Nick is a real cutie, and my brother sent me some lovely photos. For this layout I used my favorite blues from the Alphabet Soup and Soup Staples collections.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper Patterned paper, stamps: Jillibean Soup Stickers: American Crafts Foam Thickers Tools: Fiskars border punch, Stampin'Up! circle punch, sewing machine Lace: local haberdashery Ink: Versafine Onyx Black Other: button, tag, date stamp, staples

The journaling of this last layout is about Fleur and Sanne being crazy about their cousin Nick.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (white) Patterned paper, alpabeans: Jillibean Soup Tools: Sizzix Stars #2, sewing machine Ink: Papertrey Ink (Spring Moss)

I'll be back with a card tomorrow. Until then!

Xmas Banner

I have a Xmas banner to share with you that is up on the Jillibean Soup blog today. Grandmas Christmas Soup collection is one of my favorite Christmas collections this year. I just love the colors and patterns. I had a hard time taking a picture of this banner. It's not that difficult to take a good picture of the banner itself, but the lighting was so poor due to the bad weather. The picture doesn't do justice to the banner, but I can tell you it does look wonderful IRL.



Supplies: Patterned paper, ribbon, twine: Jillibean Soup Buttons: Rusty Pickle Letters: Cosmo Cricket Chipboard Alpha Tools: Sizzix Bigz XL Layered Banner, Sizzix Stars #2 Ink: VersaColor Pinecone Other: chipboard

You can find a new Download Monday project online at www.truikebron.com today. Jeanet Tiemessen and I both made a gift box using October Afternoon papers. You can download the instructions (Dutch only) of our projects here.

Have a Happy Monday!

Nine

Today our sweetheart is turning 9. She woke up at 7.15am this morning, but went back to bed as she was the only one awake. At 7.45am she knocked on our bedroom door asking when we would come to surprise her with the gifts. Tee hee.....she could no longer wait. She was really happy with the gifts we bought her.


Photo by Florence Bavinck

This afternoon my parents, brother and his family (if Nick feels well), my MIL and FIL will come over. And.....my dear SIL Lisette and Rebecca, Ruben and Renee will come too. They are here for the weekend, and I really look forward to seeing them again. It will be the last time that we see each other before they move to Australia at the beginning of January. We only see each other 2 or 3 times a year, but now that they move from the UK to Australia we will only see each other once in a few years. Of course we are sad to see them moving so far away, but the good thing is that we plan to visit them in Australia one day. We have never been to Australia, so a family visit is the perfect occasion to go there.

Here's the card I made for Fleur. I couldn't resist using October Afternoon's Farm Fresh again.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (white) Patterned paper: October Afternoon Farm Fresh Ribbon: Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist) Button, twine: Papertrey Ink Clear stamps: Papertrey Ink (Mixed Messages, Signature Greetings) Ink: Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate) Tools: Martha Stewart Daisy edge punch, sewing machine Other: tag

Have a wonderful day!

Birthday Wishes

Last Tuesday my colleague Jacqueline celebrated her birthday. I made her a birthday card and a small gift bag filled with delicious Christmas chocolates. These are soooo yummy! I used October Afternoon's Farm Fresh collection, one of my favorites at this moment.



Papertrey Ink's Aqua Mist ribbon matches perfectly with the October Afternoon papers.



I used Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eight to create a label for the gift bag.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (white) Patterned paper: October Afternoon Farm Fresh Buttons: Papertrey Ink Ribbon, twine: Papertrey Ink Clear stamps: Papertrey Ink (Mixed Messages) Ink: VersaColor Pinecone, Papertrey Ink (Vintage Dye Duo) Tools: Martha Stewart Daisy edge punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eight, EK Success Retro Flower punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper Other: tag, frosted plastic gift favor bags (Emma's Paperie)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

Zva Winners, Xmas Cards & Sketchy Wednesday

Good morning! Zva winners have been chosen and their name will be announced sometime today on the following blogs:

Teri
Hilde
Lynn M.
Lynn G.
Anabelle

We had a ball and we hope that you did as well. Thank you SO MUCH for visiting my blog. Please keep an eye out for another Zva Creative Blog Hop in the future.

It has been ages ago since I played along with Card Patterns. I check their new sketch every week, but I hardly have time to play along with my favorite challenge blogs. Too many things on my to do list and too little time. Earlier this week I played with my new Papertrey Ink stamps and made two cards with the lovely Holiday Button Bits stamp set. I {heart} buttons, so this is a great stamp set for me. The first card is based on Card Patterns' Sketch 44. I am not completely satisfied about this card as the reds of the ribbon, buttons and patterned paper don't really match, but I didn't have the perfect matching reds in my stash.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (kraft), Papertrey Ink (rustic cream) Patterned paper: Scenic Route Roxbury Buttons: Buttons Galore & More Ribbon: local haberdashery Clear stamps: Papertrey Ink (Holiday Button Bits, Signature Christmas) Ink: Papertrey Ink (Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Dye Duo) Tools: Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop edge punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

And here's another card that I created with my Papertrey Ink stamp sets. It's a 4 x 4" card.



Supplies: Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (vintage cream, rustic cream) Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly Buttons: Papertrey Ink (Holiday Mix) Twine: Papertrey Ink Clear stamps: Papertrey Ink (Holiday Button Bits, Signature Christmas, Vintage Labels) Ink: Papertrey Ink (Ocean Tides, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Dye Duo) Tools: Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop edge punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One, sewing machine

On December 1st the website www.truikebron.com was launched. You can find free downloads, sketches, tricks and fun projects on the (Dutch) website. One of the items on the website is Sketchy Wednesday. I did the design for today's sketch. I also made a layout and card based on my own sketch. Wanna see my projects? Hop on over here. Click on the sketch to download the pdf file.

Well, that's all for today. Have a wonderful day!

Zva Creative Blog Hop

Our First Zva Creative Blog Hop!

I am excited to be part of the Zva Creative DT! We are joining together today to share a Christmas or Holiday Tag that we each created showcasing the beautiful products that Zva has to offer. I am hoping that you will take some time to join us in a little bit of fun!

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She is linking to one of the designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. There are 12 design team members, so be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on 5 of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Those blogs will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can. Our team is so wonderfully diverse, so we are hoping that you will discover a talent that you have not been aware of.

This Blog Hop runs through midnight on Tuesday, December 8th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 9th. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment, the more chances you will have to be one of the winners.

I created a Christmas tag for this Blog Hop. I used a pearl snowflake combined with Cuttlebug's Ice Crystal die. The Zva Creative snowflakes are perfect for a Christmas or winter themed card. The pearls come from the 12" Double Chains strips.







Supplies: Zva Creative: Snowflake (PEW-02CB-102), 12" Double Chains (PEC-02CB-101) Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (kraft) Patterned paper: October Afternoon Very Merry Rub-ons: Pebbles Inc. Button: Rusty Pickle Twine: Jillibean Soup Lace: M&J Trimmings Ink: Papertrey Ink Tools: Cuttlebug Cut 'n Emboss Ice Crystal Eyelet: We R Memory Keepers Glitter: Ranger Stickles Frosted Lace

Please hop on over to see Teri Anderson.

Thank you SO MUCH for playing. We appreciate your support so very much.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy New Year

Our weather isn't that good at the moment. Lots of rain today, so the perfect weather to do some scrapping. Regina from The Cutting Cafe has designed some great templates, and digital stamps for the festive season. One of my favorite templates are the shaped card templates such as this Wine Bottle Shaped Card. The templates are very easy to work with, and you have a wonderful card within a very short time.



Supplies: The Cutting Cafe: Wine Bottle Shaped Card Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (white), Kars (glitter) Patterned paper: Jillibean Soup Soup Staples Ribbon: local haberdashery Stickers: American Crafts Foam Thickers Tools: EK Success Circle punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Ovals Large Other: eyelet, waxed cord

We had a wonderful Sinterklaas' Eve yesterday. We all got spoilt by Sinterklaas, and everyone was pleased with the gifts.



Have a wonderful evening! Until tomorrow...

For a Gracious Hostess

We are about to leave in a few minutes to celebrate Sinterklaas with my family and Eric's mom. The girls are really excited. I love celebrating Sinterklaas and being together with our families on Sinterklaas' Eve. Usually we stay home and have the others come to our place. This year we go over to Peter, Li and Nick. I made Li a gift box filled with delicious chocolates. Again I used the Tucked Away template from Papertrey Ink.



The crystal swirl, felt flowers and pearl brad are from Zva Creative. Their products are wonderful to work with. Don't you just love that big pearl brad? The size is 1/2".



Supplies: Zva Creative: Crystal Swirl (CRW02CA105), Pearl Brad (BRBK02CA103), Felt Flowers (FL01CB116), Foam Glue Dots (AD01CB101) Template, stamps: Papertrey Ink Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper Patterned paper: Scenic Route Providence Ribbon: Jillibean Soup Tools: QuicKutz Nesting Flowers, Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles Large Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Don't forget to check in on Monday for the Zva Creative blog hop.

Have a wonderful evening!

Pubbed Layouts

As promised, I would also show you the other layouts that were published in the previous issue of Scrapbook Magazine. I used the Soup Staples collection from Jillibean Soup on both layouts. I {heart} the Soup Staples collection. So many colors to choose from, and perfect to match with any of the other Jillibean Soup collections.

The first layout is about Fleur. This picture was taken this summer. Next week she'll be turning 9, and I love to see how she is changing. Not only in looks, but also in the way she acts and the things she loves to do. She spends more time on her hair and clothes and is more aware of her appearance. She is not really interested in kids' music such as K3 and Kus (Belgian and Dutch girl bands) anymore, but loves to listen to the Black Eyed Peas, Pink and Lady Gaga. The layout is based on a sketch by Becky Fleck from her Scrapbook PageMaps book.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (white) Patterned paper, journaling sprout: Jillibean Soup Flower: Prima Marketing Button: Rusty Pickle Tools: Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop edge punch, QuicKutz Alphabet Grand Diesel, sewing machine Other: foamtape, waxed cord

You may remember that Eric created this poster using a picture of Fleur and Sanne. I loved how the poster turned out and just had to scrap the poster.



Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (white, black) Patterned paper: Jillibean Soup Stickers: American Crafts Thickers Tools: Fiskars Upper Crest border punch, sewing machine Metal tag rims: CreaMotion Other: staples

Tomorrow I'll have a lovely gift box to show you. Until then!