Deck of Me - May 2007 - #18 / #19 / #20 / #21

Here are my cards for the month of May....
On #18, with the prompt "nature", I used a BamPop bird and a piece of the crinckle plastic technique, Nat and I tried last March.

On card #19 I described my hate for suprise party's, so don't ever throw me one!!!
The prompt for that week was "suprise".

The next card, #20, is the first card I made about my pregnancy. I was 10 weeks and some days pregnant at the time. The prompt was "change" and I described how you can already feel your body changing, but you cannot see anything yet on the outside!

The last card is about my word for 2007 (remember this layout?. Emily used the prompt "qualities you aspire"... Well... I am working on it ever since :-).

MLS blog - Dare # 27

You might have noticed already that the Dutch Dare blog has changed to the MLS Dare blog.yes...I have to remove the Dutch Dare banner from my sidebar... from my 2 peas account.... etc.)On this new blog, Memory Lane also promotes all the great goodies from the shop, so check out the site regularly or subscribe to the newsletter and you'll get an update automatically.





Anyway... this weeks challenge on the blog was "to make something for someone".I made this card for my eldest sister.On the background I used Scenic Route paper.The stamped image was made like this:first I stamped the butterflies with Versamark on to Chromolux paper.Then I brayered some dye ink from Vivid over the butterflies so they appear in the background. To finish I stamped the flowergirls on it with Stazon.

Deck of Me - April 2007 - #15 / #16 / #17

Finally..... I managed to finish all my Deck of Me art journaling cards and I will post them by the month.
The last Deck of Me card I posted was on May 3.

So...the prompt for card # 15 was "Parents"... well... what shall I say.
For card #16 someone else had to contribute to your deck of cards. I used a note that DH left for me in the hallway...when he went to work and I slept till late ;-).
The prompt for card #17 was "your bedroom".

Studio DaphNat - Resin Fresco Results

Remember I wasn't too happy about my results for the
last Studio DaphNat technique?
Well... I tried it again, and this time I just love it:








To achieve this result I used a big Heidi Swapp mask on a piece of leftover cardstock and covered it with Versamark. Got busy with the UTEE and the heatgun. Used 2 different colours of acrylic paint, white soft pastels and babywipes to wash the soft pastel and some paint away. Didn't like the effect so I used a white oil pastel instead. Well... I went wild and I loved the result! I also used this piece of paper for my new banner!

For today's layout I cut it in squares and rectangles as a frame for the photo of my cat, who loves to be outdoor on the balcony. The quote I used is from Alber Schweitzer and reads "there are only 2 ways to escape the sadness of daily life: music and cats"... :-).

So if you have some spare time, try this technique, you can do whatever you like as Nat and I showed you. Wanna see what Nat's results look like? Then visit her blog for more inspiration!

Happy Sunday!

Cool project!

HERE

Happy Birthday Dutch Dares!

1 year ago... we started the Dutch Dare blog and although I am currently no longer a part of the DT, I am still sooo proud that our challenge blog is now celebrating their first anniversary :-).

For this 1st anniversary the challenge was to be creative with the number "1". And so I took this opportunity to celebrate my 1st pregnancy ever!

EDITED:
The photo effect was done like this:
In photoshop I turned the photo's to black & white and played a bit with the exposure levels. Then I copied the layer and with this copy I started to play a little with different filters until I found one that I really liked. To finish I changed the opacity to see just enough of the underlying 1st layer.
I printed the photo's on a transparency and attached them to the BG paper.
Of course I could have also printed them directly on the PP... but when I started printing I had a different idea of how the layout would be.

You make me smile :-) award

Sweet Christiane, who I have "met" through Nat, gave me this "You make me smile" award. I am very honoured! Thank you Christiane!

I will give the award now to my first "blogbuddy" ever: Malou Nelson!
I love visiting her blog; the way she writes and the amount of pictures she shows on her blog make you feel like you are there with her! Whenever I visit her blog... I feel more happy afterwards :-).

Global Perspectives #1 - Hollands Glorie?

Finally there is a new challenge blog that actually asks something from you beyond the usual topics people scrap about normally. Check it out HERE to see what it is all about.

For the first challenge they asked to tell something about your own country:
On my layout you see a collage of typical dutch things; some of which I like, some of which I don't like. As an illustration to this double feeling I have, I used the lyrics from a Dutch song called "Het land van.." ( The land of.."). This song is about all the good and the bad things that Holland has to offer to its people. The title I used (Hollands glorie?) means something like "The best of Holland?".

I think in the end I am proud to be Dutch (and no Rita...I will not join your new political group LOL).. but there are also quite a few things that irritate me daily when I see it on the news.

(EDITED)
Here are some links, following the numbers on the pictures / in my journaling:
1) Marihuana: In Holland this drug is not illegal; I like it to have a choice without being thrown in jail. More info about the typical Dutch drug policy can be found in this article on Wikipedia

2)Windmills: something for tourists... they like them a lot
More info HERE

3)Pim Fortuyn: the Netherlands' first modern age political assassination. I didn't like his ideas, but am still wondering what would have happened if he had won the elections (this would have happened if he had not been killed). More info on him and his idea HERE

4) Theo van Gogh: another controversial man, like Pim Fortuyn. On the day of his murder and the weeks after the whole country was in shock and I think a lot of people were in fear of a big explosion of Muslim violence. Luckily this did not happen. I liked Theo's sense of humour, although sometimes he was really really rude, especially about Islam. An extensive article on him HERE

5) Bugaboo: I love this product. I think it is a good example of a really strong brand that conquers the world. It even appeared in "Sex in the City", and Gwybet Paltrow has it too. I am proud that it is a Dutch product. Of course I have bought one too for my mini-me...second hand though... it is sooo expensive. Check out their website.

6) Febo: Typical Dutch warm snacks "from the Wall"... You throw in 1 euro, open the little door and there is your snack... Imagine this...a whole wall full of little doors with snacks behind it. That's the Febo experience! I love to go there sometimes...they also sell the best French Fries :-).

7) Burka Babes: a really funny comic with comments about Islam and the role of muslim women in Dutch Society. Hilarious book! These burka babes have a lot humour!

8) De Zwaan (The Swan): Officially called the Erasmusbrug, this fantastic piece of architecture is stunning..or at least I think so! I don't really like Rotterdam (living in Amsterdam myself ;-)...)but they have some great architectural sites to visit!

9) Tulips: Aren't they the most beautiful flower you have ever seen? I love the simplicity of this flower! They are my favorites.

10) Bicycles: the weather doesn't matter..Dutch people hop on their bike..... I just ride my bicycle in the summer, for fun trips and picnics :-).

11)Traffic Jams: a rapidly growing problem..I hate it!

12) National Soccer Team: when they play..almost everybody wears something "orange".

For more info on The Netherlands.. check out this Wikipedia article.

TFL!

Studio DaphNat - Resin Fresco Technique

Okay, sometimes you try a new technique and you immediately get sucked into it...loving the results and claiming this is definitely your new favorite technique. Other times you try something new and you see the possibilities of the technique but the results are a bit dissapointing....
Today's technique was of the last category for me: I know I have to try it again to get a better result...and I was certainly inspired by Nat's outcome of it!
So I suggest you take a look at her blog now to see how it is done, and just have a quick look at my results to see how NOT to do it LOL...

Anyway..... I will try to make some more of these backgrounds to see if can achieve such wonderful results as Nat.

Maternity Leave = Scrap Time

Yep.....my maternity leave started this week.... I have not yet done a lot of scrapping but I intend to do so... as soon as we have more or less cleaned/tidied our appartment.......

Anyway...I had some time to make a Dutch Dare. This time the challenge was to use 9! pictures on your layout. Luckily I now found a great way to get rid of a lot of the soccer photo's I took during a match we saw in Stuttgart, Germany during the World Championships in 2006. The weekend we spend there was fantastic, with a visit to the Porsche museum, the Stuttgart Zoo (Wilhelma)....which is definetely the best zoo I have ever been to...and perfect weather! Nice beer there too :-)