Memory Box

Celtic Midsummer Festival

2008-07-07T11:49:00.003+02:00

Last Saturday I went with my df Petra to a Celtic Midsummer Festival. I've got a thing for the Celts (escpecially Scotsmen) as long as I can remember and so does Petra.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had a wonderful day. The music was nice, the food was good, the bands were great and we met some interesting people. Here are some pictures of our day.
A Celtic Family
The Germand band Faun. I'd never heard their music before but I'm hooked.
The Sassenachs, unfortunately their pipemusic came from a keyboard, but the music was fantastic anyway
And how about this young lady? She was kind enough to pose for me and I'm definately going to make a LO with this picture!! Such a nice young girl too!
This bbq was just out of this world, never tasted meat more tender, yummie.

Of course I've got loads more pictures, but this way you get an idea. We also found out there's going to be a Midwinter Festival on 20 and 21 December. Guess who's got one of those dates blocked in her diary ....

MY BABIES

2008-06-29T18:48:00.003+02:00

Maybe you remember that we had to put our dear cat to sleep in May. Well dd and me didn't like the house without a cat, so last monday we went to the animalshelter to look for a new (adult) cat. Well, we ended up with these two

This is my little baby Saartje (Dutch for "little Sarah) she's only 9 weeks old and the cutest little kitten ever. She makes the tiniest little sound when she wants my attention and I'm totally in love with her.
And this little lady is Terror Abby. Yes, you've read that right: Terror, 'cause this little madam (who's 4 months old) most certainly is. She races throuhg the house as if she's lived here always. She "attacks" poor little Saartje who doesn't stand a chance yet and is full of mischief. But she's also very sweet and loving. In fact, this little lady actually picked us when we went over to the shelter. She loves to snuggle up around our neck and giving us little kisses. Still, she is a little terror ;-)

Jessica and Jennifer

2008-06-12T19:18:00.004+02:00

Jessica is my 19 year old neighbour girl. She's really ill, she needs a new kidney, but none of her relatives is compatible, so she'll have to wait for a donor. About 5 weeks she was taken into hospital with an infection, which was hard to fight and she lost her will to fight a little bit too. I felt really helpless and just had to do something, so I asked the ladies from the messageboards to send me a card for Jessica. The response was huge!!!
Yesterday I decided to go up to the hospital and surprise her with the first 61 postcards. Yes, that's what 61 postcards look like.
I decided not just to hand them over to her, but pimped a brown paperbag. First time I did this and I quit like it.

But there was more through the Regenboogboom foundation, I was able to get this beautiful quilt for Jessica as well, it's absolutely gorgeous and is now lying on her hospitalbed. These are so-called dreamblankets. They're being handed out to children and adolescents who are terminally or chronically ill.
I don't know who made this quilt, but I can't thank her enough. Jessica was very surprised and happy with all these tokens of affection of people she doesn't even know. It broke my heart to see such a young girl, lying in that hospitalbed, wanting me to take her home. We kind of made a pact that she's really going to try her best to get better so she can come home in a fortnight and we can celebrate her coming home.
When I drove back home, I drove towards a rainbow and to me that was a symbol that all will turn out well.

My own daughter Jennifer, who will be 19 in October, passed her exams today and I'm afwully proud. This means she'll be going to the University of Groningen in September to study psychology, how proud can a mother be???

a different look at things

2008-06-11T06:49:00.002+02:00

This blogentry is not entirely my own. I came across this post on Kat's blog Secrets of a Butterfly
It's called:
A multitude of Facets

Within ourselves there is a multitude of
facets waiting to be unveiled. On the right
day,the most fortunate of us are able
to loose our inner boundaries,allowing
ourselves to take on a new and refreshing
image. in that state of existence,where old
habits are cast aside and new thoughts are
given a chance,we discover a luscious cross
field where we take in impressions,colours,
and shapes with a completely open mind.
A truly enriching state.
This invigorating process of self-development
is known and described in many cultures and
often praised in ancient,however eternally
young,symbols. The region bordered by the
Caucasian Mountains in Russia is home to the
famous Babushka doll,which with its many
reincarnations is the most inspiring and pre-
cise icon of eternal fertility and self-renewal.
The Babushka invites reflection-and rightfully
asks the eternal question: Do we live well
enough with our old forms and facets,
or do we give our inner, unborn truth
the new chance it really deserves?
(words from a Pilgrim jewellery leaflet, picture from google)

To tell you the truth, I'd never looked upon those little dolls like that, but when I read it, it all made sense. All I want to do now, is to find a really nice set to display, just to remind me of all the layers of me, of layers I need to shed and renew, and of the layers I like and that can stay

The second LO

2008-06-05T22:05:00.002+02:00

This is the second LO I made with photographs taken by Anita Mundt The shots are very different but to me, they both radiate happiness.

my beautiful peonies

2008-06-03T22:10:00.003+02:00

My garden is a mess, a jungle, I'm not fit enough to do it properly myself, and it's hard to find someone who's got the time to help me. Sometimes it annoys me, but most of the time I can live with it. But.... amidst the weeds and the grass there is my beautiful peoniebush, I planted it about 3 years ago and it's getting prettier every year. This time I decided to cut them and put them in a vase for me to enjoy. Boy am I ever happy I did, the smell that comes off these flowers is soooo sweet and every time I look at them my heart fills with joy to see such beauty. I think I'm gonna buy myself a dark variety too.

StM "Perfect Day"

2008-05-30T21:21:00.002+02:00

As always when I enter the Scrapping the Music challenge, a last minute entry. The photographs were taken by Anita Mundt Photography and Design. The photoshoot really was a perfect day for the girls.

HAVE TO MAKE UP

2008-05-30T08:30:00.002+02:00

After yesterday's "goofy" picture of my dd, I have to make up of course, so here are 3 of my favourite pictures of her, taken during the photoshoot with Anita Mundt. Anita also took great shots of her best friend and of the girls together, I might put those up later.

Little changes and Her Space/My Space

2008-05-29T08:04:00.003+02:00

You will have noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately and I certainly haven't been scrapping much. This has made me decide to change the course of this blog a little, yes, I still will be scrapping and showing it here, but I've also discovered I love doing other crafts (which you can see here) and there are so many other things that go on in my life that also fill my memorybox, that I've decided to make this a more general blog. Naald en Draad will continue to be my needlecraftblog, but over here you'll read about all kinds (if you're interested haha)

Soooo onto something else, for quite a while now Anita Mundt and Kirsty Wiseman are running the blog Her Space/My Space which is a daily photochallenge. I do not always participate, but these are two of my latest shots

Beast

Goofy (Jennifer is sooooo going to hate me for this)

I totally missed this

2008-05-18T08:51:00.004+02:00

Somehow I missed some comments lately. One was from my dear friend Leontine she gave me this award
Thank you girl, you're very special to me!!

"All" I have to do, is pass it on to 5 girls that cheer me up, I know so many more girls that do, but here are 5 of them

Rachel (and her fabulous little boy Macs) Rache, your blog really cheers me up and Macs is a great contributor
Birgit Birgit, you've been my scrapbookinspiration since day one. I totally love your work and what's more important, I totally love you as a person. You're one very special lady!!
Beki Girl, just about everything on your blog cheers me up, especially your BAGS!!!!
AmandaJean your quilts are amazing and inspiring
Ria you haven't been part of my life very long yet, but already we're embarking on great creative journeys, thank you so much!!

And the ones I didn't mention here, know who I mean, love you girls!!

for cardmakers

2008-05-18T08:29:00.003+02:00

I discovered Mirkwood Designs a site where you can find great templates for making cards. I printed out this one to make a birthdaycard (I saw some examples at The Paris Salon and really liked them) and this one to make a weddingcard. I'll show them when they're ready. I also hope to do some scrapbooking with this shot I took of my dd

I've been spending a lot of my time on my needlecraft, but obviously I still have the scrapbookingvirus running through my veins too.

She's gone

2008-05-12T23:50:00.002+02:00

Last month she turned 17. Tonight we had to put her to sleep. Her backlegs started to get paralized and when I phoned the vet he said we'd better come over. Considering her age, it was best to let her go. Rationally you know all this, but when an animal has been part of your family for 17 years, it's very sad. The house feels a bit strange tonight. I keep thinking she'll come asking for food, or hide when it's bedtime and she's got to go to the kitchen. I guess it will take some getting used to.

photoshoot

2008-05-10T11:50:00.003+02:00

In an earlier post I wrote about my daughter's prom. Of course I took some shots, but I think she deserved a little bit more than my shots, so yesterday I took her and her best friend for a photoshoot to Anita Mundt in Burum, Friesland.

This morning I found these two pictures in my mailbox

As you can imagine, we're very curious to see the rest now!

2 quick cards

2008-05-01T14:31:00.002+02:00

There are a lot of people moving house at the moment it seems, so I quickly made 2 little cards, playing with watercolours (not my forte yet) I think they're simple but fun. TFL

Koninginnedag (Queensday)

2008-05-01T09:18:00.005+02:00

On 30 April the Dutch celebrate "koninginnedag" it was the birthday of the late queenmother. As our queen celebrates her own birthday in January, it was decided that the celebrations would continue in April. A lot of people are dressed in orange, the colour of our Royal Family, and there are open fleamarkets everywhere. I had a very lucky find, this book on Gustav Klimt, one of my favourite painters

I also found two dvd's "Green fried Tomatoes" and "City of Angels" Hours of fun and all of that for 5 euro's!

There was also an intercultural market in the town I went to, with nice food, music and dance.

Some of the ladies of my voluntarywork

Traditional "horsedance" these children were so serious about this, great to watch!

One of the bands (I've known the boy in red since he was only 5 and my babybrother's best friend)

A card and a sneak

2008-04-25T21:38:00.002+02:00

Looks like I've got some mojo back! I made this card this morning
And a LO with one of my dd prom-pictures. I like this LO so much that I'm gonna try to get it published in a magazine, so for now only a sneak.Thanks for looking, have a great weekend.

Creative Buzz challenge #4

2008-04-24T16:11:00.005+02:00

Today we ask you to write a letter to someone who will never receive it.For instance, to someone who is no longer here or to someone who you don't even know but who did something for you or one of your loved ones to help, or maybe even quite the opposite.To the baby you would have loved to welcome in your life but that never came... or to someone you lost contact with. Maybe you have regrets, maybe not.Who ever it is to, write from your heart!

With the other challenges I didn't really have a LO in mind straight away. But with this, it was so easy. I wrote a letter to my father who passed away 30 years ago, this August. As this letter is very personal, no showing of journalling this time (I know, I'm normally not too shy to share my journalling, but this is different) just the LO. TFL

Creative Buzz challenge #3

2008-04-22T22:54:00.002+02:00

If I would win a million dollars...

My life would be a lot easier, it wouldn't even have to be a million, a couple of thousand would do, just enough to make me stop worrying, to let me buy what I want, when I want. Go shopping with my daughter instead of just windowshopping, get rid of the bills instead of hustling them around and see which one gets paid this time. Oh and I would so love to go on a holiday again, soak up some sun and recharge my batteries. But until then I can only dream and get on with it, 'cause girls like me don't win a million dollars, nor do they find prince charming and his fabulous castle.

Creative Buzz challenge #2

2008-04-22T22:45:00.002+02:00

Be inspired by quotes!

I was inspired by the quote the girls put up

"You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do" Eleanor Roosevelt.

Deciding to leave my husband and start a new life for myself was the scariest thing I've ever done. Leaving a good man and a stable and secure life for insecurity and, as it later turned out to be, a lot of instability. A lot of people didn't understand it, I had everything a girl could wish for, but I was so unhappy. My life isn't easy, and it's pretty scary at times but I've never regretted my decision and am proud that I faced my fears and did what was best for me.

Creative Buzz chalenge #1

2008-04-22T22:38:00.003+02:00

Write something funny someone in your environment said. That could be as little as only a few words or as much as a whole conversation between you and somebody else.

This is the story about my daughter's love for meat and one day I'll take a picture of her eating an enormous hamburger and this journalling will go with it:

"I AM meat!!"
You love meat, always have, always will I guess. When you were about 10 you once said "I'd love to be a vegetarian, but I just love meat too much" And recently you put it even stronger. When I started a diet, we also scaled down on the meat (I never realized how much meat we actually ate) You started complaining that the pieces were awfully small, when I told you that we didn't really need more then that you just look at me in dispair and sighed "But mum, I AM meat!!"

Cards

2008-04-22T07:26:00.002+02:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to the "ArtSpecially" event in Zeist, where I bought quite some new stamping stuff. Amongst that lot came a beautiful set by Tim Holtz. We'd used this set in a workshop and I'd totally fallen in love with it so I just had to get it. My scrapmojo is totally down the drain, but last friday I managed to make to cards and I really like them. Someone actually thought they were bought from a shop!! That really made me feel very proud!! TFL

Just have to share this

2008-04-20T09:29:00.005+02:00

Last night my daughter had her "Gala" (promnight) and we had to take some pictures of course, and I just wanted to share some with you. Silly enough, I didn't take shots of the girls individually, but hey I know there will be more to come when she's at Uni.

Very Proud mum

Best Friends

The back is also worth a look

Being silly is sooo much fun

Jennifer, Anne-Kees and Hilde

MemoryLane Scrapbooking and The Creative Buzz

2008-04-20T07:40:00.004+02:00

Remember I won a prize at Memorylane Scrapbooking a little while ago? Well this is what the mailman brought me last week.

I totally love it, the fresh colours really give me that summerfeeling (and it isn't even really spring over here yet!)

Over on The Creative Buzz there is a new challenge which is right up my alley, it's all about journalling. The first challenge is to write about a something funny someone around you said, and I've got just the thing for it. Thanks girls for this inspiration!!

7 Gypsies

2008-04-07T09:28:00.002+02:00

I love all the fun 7gypsies has, I just should do something with them, I've got the cutest little filefolders lying around and just don't know what to do with the, so girls, I'm gonna bring them over to a crop one day for some solid advise ;-)

6 Yorkshire puddings

2008-04-07T09:21:00.002+02:00

I don't make them as often as I would like, but when I do, this is one of the tins I use (I also have one for 12) Hmmm maybe I should invite my family over for a proper English dinner again sometime