We put out the flag

Yes, yes, yes he did it. Jeffrey passed his exam and we celebrated this last Wednesday with family and friends. In the afternoon he could expect a phonecall from his mentor with good or bad news. Very good news for him and such a relief for me because Jeffrey said to me: I think you're more nervous than me mom. And I must admit that he was right.

School is done and now he has a summer job and at work every day. Saving some money to get a licence for his moped. After his tractor and school exam this is his new goal.

Then there is this oldie ..... a new toy and again a mechanical project for both boys. Last year they were busy with a mini sidecar racer and this will keep them busy this summer.

Still not much scrapping but Kars asked me to demonstrate at the KKD again in September. So that means a lot of scrapping and because I already know what goodies I'll be working with I'm doing some brainstorming since ......

I leave you with a mini-album I created a while ago. It has a wooden cover that orginally was a doorhanger telling visitors where I might be when I'm not answering the frontdoor.

Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend.

June challenge at Hobby Farm

I'm not much of a blogger these last couple of weeks but hope to visit your blogs in the next week and see what you all have been doing.

It's already June and we had a lot of sunshine so far. Love to see how everything grows. A lot of flowers and also trees with so much blossom. It all looks so lovely and when I sit in the garden I really enjoy it all. That's also the reason why I used these nice pictures for my layout of the monthly challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. Please hop over and you will find new sketches for this month's challenge. Evelien asked me to design a card sketch again.
Here's my work on both sketches.

#A gorgeous summer day - I used the sketch for one page.

Feel free to join this challenge on one or both items and don't forget to email your layout or card to hobbyfarm@pandora.be. Maybe you're the next guest designer.

Last month Nathalie Onderdonck created the winning card and she's the new guest designer. Congrats Nathalie and I'll look forward to the next challenge and what you're gonna do with it.

Wish you all a good week and thanks for peeking.

Jarno's birthday and a German guest

Party time again ..... Jarno got 14 today and I wanna say "Happy Birthday baby".


A bit sleepy while opening a little present at breakfast, because we already celebrated yours on Sunday 24th when it was DH's birthday. Since Jarno was born we celebrated both on his day. We had a lovely sunny day but unfortunate no pictures because my camera refused everything and now I know that I need to buy a new one because costs for repair are to much. For the time being I can use a camera of my parents.

This week we have a guest in the house. I told you a few months ago that Jarno was lucky to go to Germany on a school exchange. This week his German partner Tobias stays at our home. A busy week which started on Monday when the students arrived at 14.30 at the trainstation in Schagen. Walking and talking back to the GSg, having a drink and showing their school it was time to pick up Jarno and Tobias at 16.00. After a cup of tea and cola it was time to relax for a while .....

..... and maybe catch a fish for diner ..... LOL

Four days of fun and an overloaded programm but they wouldn't have missed a thing. There was a BBQ, going to the beach, time for shopping, visiting Alkmaar, bowling/eating and school things as well. Today it was already time to say goodbye.

The boys had a wonderful time and decided to meet up again this summer when we're planning to visit our family in Germany during the holiday.

Wish you all a very good weekend and thanks for visiting.

Hobby Farm and school exams

A bit late but a new month so that means also a new challenge at the Hobby Farm blog. You will find a sketch for the May challenge at the site and maybe it's an inspiration for you to give it a try and become Guest Designer for next month. I love the papers, embellishments and other stuff I got from Evelien to create my project for this month. Great to see what the other girls did with the same sketch and if you're curious yourself please take a look at the site.

Evelien asked me to design a card sketch. Here's my work on the card sketch. If you like challenges please feel free to join this one and create something nice based on one (or both) of the sketches. Hilde Vranken is the Guest Designer for this month. Boukje created a stunning card and won the April card challenge. She did a wonderful job because this was already her second time she won. Congrats to both designers!

Yesterday the school exams started and that means two weeks of hard work for Jeffrey. He did well this year so his average is good. I think he doesn't have to worry but you never know what happens when you're nervous.

Have a good week and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Way to long .....

since my last post but a lot happened since Jeffrey's birthday. He invited some friends and family for the evening but has plans for a great party end of June when he has finished secondary school. Hopefully with a good result for his exams.

The reason I didn't post for such a long time is because of very good but also sad news. The good news is that I applied for a new job and last week I got a phone call telling me that I can start May 15. It's a brand new position and I will be working together in a team with two colleagues. Started some training already to be prepared for this new adventure. I love it and hardly can't wait to get started!!!

Another thing which made me jump was an assignment from Kars for a Dutch crafts magazine called "Mijn Creatieve Hobby". Can't show anything yet but altered a few wooden objects and used a lot of paint and scrapstuff. For the complete article you have to wait till nr. 5 which will be released this summer. Maybe you noticed already that I changed my sidebar a little. LOL

Got a very nice email from Jana of Scrap-art-Zine telling me that two layouts and an altered project will be published in the Summer issue. Lucky me and I'm very honored about this.

Our big boy did a very good job because he passed his tractor exam. With only 4 faults in his theory exam and showing the examiner his practical skills by riding around our village he was successful to get the "green paper".

How cool is this ....

Then there is also a very sad thing to tell you. My grandma passed away the day before Queensday. She lived next door all my life and we shared so many wonderful memories. October 2008 she fell and was taken into hospital, 3 weeks later she moved to a nursing home. Declining week by week she died in her sleep April 29, 90 years old. During the ceremony on Monday I was able to speak about her and telling that I will miss her a lot.

Didn't scrap for weeks but printed some pictures this afternoon so maybe this weekend I have the inspiration to start again ....

Yeah and finally I'll show you the mini I made when I followed Revlie's workshop at SAL. Finished it weeks ago but because of my non blogging here it is ....

Wish you all a wonderful sunny weekend and thanks for stopping bye again.

P.S. will show the projects for the May challenge at the Hobby Farm blog in my next post.

Birthday boy

Today Jeffrey is celebrating his 16th birthday. As he told us lots of times these last couple of weeks "16 means so much more ..... so much more than yesterday when you're only 15". He's very busy preparing for his tractor licence and now he's allowed to drive on the public road with his moped. Having fun doing this in his spare time ....



... you can imagine how happy he was to get this wonderful present early this morning. His own maintenance kit, so no longer using dads tools.

Happy birthday baby and have a great day.

Hobby Farm and BG#29

At the Hobby Farm blog you will find new sketches for the April challenge. Evelien asked me to design a card sketch. Here's my work on both sketches.

If you like challenges please feel free to join this one and create something nice based on one (or both) of the sketches. Please take a look and see what the other girls did. Karen Taylor is the Guest Designer for this month.

Materials I used for this layout and card:

Patterned papers - Basic Grey "Gypsy".

Buttons, brads, letterstickers - Basic Grey "Sultry".

Cardstock - ColorCore.
Thickers - American Crafts.

Flowers, ribbon - Prima.

Other - chalk, fineliner, staples, Dymo, waxcord and bling.

Basic Grey Challenges has a nice one up this week. Create a Spring/Easter themed project. I did a lot of layouts the last couple of weeks so cards are fun to do for a change. And with a lot of birthdays and anniversary's ahead it's good to have some on hand. For this card I used the beautiful Porcelain papers.

Thanks for visiting my blog and Happy Easter to you all.