Partying in Nieuw-Vennep

Once every year in the 3rd week of June we have a whole week full of fun in Nieuw-Vennep. There's a fair and every night artists are performing in "the tent". Unfortunately, I have not enough time to go every night, we still have to work now and then ;-) but last Wednesday we went to Nick and Simon. We had a great time, at least I did ;-) I don't think it was really Eric's music, haha. Normally I am not very in to Dutch music actually but I have played their cd's a lot. My favourite time to listen is when I scrapbook. Just turn the music really loud, sing along (sorry neighbours) and just relax.

So I had a great time. As I am not that tall I couldn't see all that good, but I really could hear them nicely enough, hahaha. The tent was full. They only played for 40 minutes or so, but we were all enthusiastic. Live they are really good.

My pictures are terrible but you can see very good we had a really good time. Eric, my SIL Annemarie, friend Wendy and of course me!!


Nick and Simon on stage


Wendy, me and Annemarie


Me and my SIL!!


Me and Eric

Laura #28

When I looked at Laura's sketch I thought: OMG! What should I do with that. Because the sketch this week is quite simple. Two blocks of paper, piece of ribbon, and you are finished actually. And I find it hard to make it more me like that. Then I sat down and nothing became how I wanted it to look. That's so arrrgggghhh!! Fortunately, Jillibean soup papers are so colourful that they will make up for my bad card idea.....and I do like the butterfly. And...the bling bling spices things up a little bit up don't you think? Because of that it didn't became a boring card.....but only because of that. ;-)

Card Patterns #19

After finishing the digital layout yesterday I really wanted to do some more!! Fortunately today I have the whole day to do so!! I want to spend as much time as I can with Eric but sometimes it's just not possible. Perfect time to spend some time in my scraproom ;-)

I started today with the card for Card Patterns. I like sketch 19 this week. Perfect for a father's day card!! As my parents are on holiday I don't have to be afraid they will see it on my blog. Tomorrow Eric and I will go there, so my dad will get it a little bit earlier than he thinks!



Now I am off to do some little grocery shopping.....and then some more of the same!!

Beautiful song

My friend Marjan has a You tube video on her blog from a beautiful classic music piece. Same like her I am not into real classical music, but if it has a little aha-factor I often enjoy. Same like this video below. This song really hit me hard when I heard it for the first time. Hear and enjoy!

Beautiful Thailand

After three weeks of doing absolutely no scrapbooking today I really wanted to sit down and finish some things!!! I have to admit I have been missing doing this a little bit. Just sit down and make some cards, a layout or a digital one. Last Wednesday my BF had to do some work behind the computer so I started to fnish the inside of my holiday journal book. I collected the photos already and the book itself is finished, now the inside. I want to handwrite all my experiences in Thailand with only one or two favourite photo of the day. I can tell you that is more difficult than I expected. I made so many beautiful photos. I will show the mini journal book as soon as it's finished. I hope to finish this weekend though.

But first on the agenda today was a digital layout I started right after I got home from Thailand! A few of my favourite places and photos. As I took more than 800 photos it was very difficult to choose! The day we went to the elephants was my absolute favourite day. I didn't like the ride itself but the rest was great, feeding them, just look at them. Interesting animals those elephants. And Thailand has some beautiful views. And of course I had to choose a photo of our group. We had such fun all together. I am looking back at an absolutely great holiday.

Another one.....

OK, I am not happy today. Today I found out that another scrapstore is closing her doors. Ok, she will continue as a webshop but for me that is just not the same!!! I want to see, feel and ehm....smell the papers. See the texture, the real colours, etc. Why??? I know it's none of my real business, but still. The next few weeks I will go there to shop my last few things......

1st Annual Ultimate Card Showdown

I know.....I have been a bad, bad, really bad blogger this week. And I also have not much to show now. But I think I have a really nice reason for my bad behaviour. I met someone last week.....a really nice person if you know what I mean ;-) But I have been spending a lot of time with him, also this weekend, so no time for making cards or scrapbook anything else for that matter. And you know what? I am happy with that right now.

But yesterday my favourite sketchblog 2 sketches 4 you celebrated her 1st birthday....and they celebrate it with the Annual Ultimate Card Showdown!! It's big, exciting and full of prices!! And if something is your favourite you are happy to make a little time for that right? After one week there will be 30 finalists who will go further. And this challenge takes the complete month of June. I am curious what will be next. For this week we had to take Laura's sketch 27 and make the most stunning card ever. Well, I don't know about that, but I made this card for my BF. Yes, I can call him that!!!

CP #16

Scrapbooking influences my life big time. During everyday life I am constantly thinking about new subjects for layouts or ideas for cards. Nothing different also happened during my holiday. I didn't want to make straight on pictures constantly. Also some strange or unusual ones. Not everything worked out the way I wanted to, but I have one picture I like most. It's somewhat blurry and absolutely not perfect, but it reflects the beauty of Thailand....in my opinion. Beautiful flowers in combination with the beautiful temples Thailand has.



And I never thought I would miss making cards and layouts that much. Even during my holiday when I checked my mail I also took a peak of the sketches which were provided that week. How low can you go during holidays hahaha. So I am glad I am back to make those cards again. Today my friend Arlette is celebrating her 30th birthday. Last night we went on a party together so I already congratulated her. But tonight is the big party. For this special birthday I made this special card. I used sketch 16 from Card Patterns.

I'm back

Hi, I am back again. I arrived yesterdaymorning on the airport, tired and all. Fortunately I was able to sleep quite a lot on the airplane so I don't have a big jetlag. Ok, I was tired the whole day yesterday but I managed to stay awake untill 9pm. And after that I slept almost 12 hours in a row, hahaha.

My holiday to Thailand was one I will never forget again. It was the greatest experience so far. I really loved it. I stayed in luxurious hotels, but also in hotels with no electricity. The contrast of that all made it unforgetable. And I made new friends. We had a fun group and we did quite a lot all together. But in every group you have a few people you like most. So do I....and I guess a few of them I will see or speak again!

Because I talked quite a lot about my journey and never showed any pictures I made a grid with a few of my favourite photos. I have 800 of them so I have a lot to scrap!! I can't wait. Unfortunately, I want to make my travel album with the new travel line of Little Yellow Bicycle, but it's not on the market in Holland yet. I know it's coming, but I have to be patient (that's so hard!!!). But for now....here's the grid, with my explanation underneath.



1. The temples in Ayutthaya. So beautiful, but it was a very hot day that first day.
2. A Buddha. I really like the Buddha thought. Don't complain about things you can't help (like raining).
3. Our guide from Thailand, Tommy.
4/5. We went on an elephant ride. I didn't enjoy the ride itself so much, but the elephants were great.
6. Me on the River Kwai Bridge. The museum really impressed me. You could see Dutch documents in which you read about the dead of a loved one.
7. The view during a boat trip.
8. A group picture in the Hellfire pass. That's where the railway was built and where so many people died working on it.
9/10. The Royal Palace in Bangkok.
11. A monkey we saw at a special temple. There were lots of them and they were not always this cute I can tell you!
12. This is what we call a Barbie taxi! My friends are negotiating about a good price. The prices here are so low. On Holland I can't get out of my street for that price!
13. This is my room at the floating Jungle hotel. No electricity there. Dark was really dark. The only thing you had was an oil lamp and a flash light.
14. The view from our resort on Koh Tao island. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
15. The beach in Koh Tao island.
16. A group picture on our last evening together on Koh Samui island. The day after the group splitted. I stayed behind while my friends went to Bangkok already.
17. I have bad toenails on my big toe. I had them fixed with acrylic nails and I am so pleased with it....I had to make a picture ofcourse.
18. The view before we went on a public bus to Surat Thani for the night train.
19. On the beach of Chumphon. It rained that day, but it didn't stop us to go swimming in the see.
20. In the boat we had to take to arrive at the Jungle Hotel. No bus could bring us there.
21. A shop advertising at the floating market. We couldn't stop laughing when we saw this sign. It's Dutch and the Hema is a well known shop in Holland.
22. On the boat from Koh Samui to the mainland.
23. This Buddha we saw at entering the mainland.
24. Some details of the temples at the Royal Palace in Bangkok. 3-dimensional. So great to see. A lot of bling bling over there!

Sad day

My holiday here in Thailand is almost over. Today the group splitted. I (and 5 others) have an extention here in Koh Samui so 3 more days to enjoy the sun and the beach (if the sun shines, because now it's raining). Unfortunately, the rest of the group are now on their way to the night train to Bangkok. And so are most of my buddies in the group. And also the guide. Yesterday we heard that we need to go to Bangkok by ourselves. Everything (tickets for bus, boat and train) are taken care off, but we don't have a guide anymore.

I must admit I cried a little seeing my holiday friends going into the bus this morning. Especially after a great night last night. We first had a farewell dinner and afterwards we went to a bar talking and playing some pool. When we wanted to go to the resort again, it started raining a little bit. We are Dutch so no problem for us. At first, because after a few minutes it rained very hard....what falls here in 30 minutes falls in Holland in a day!! So we came in the hotel totally wet. Even my underwear was completely soaked. But we had so much fun together.

That was the bases for almost the entire holiday. We had such a great group! Ok, in every group you have some irritations every now and then, but in general we had so much fun. This holiday is so different every day. We saw a lot of different things, typical Thai things, typical Thai foods....and yes even I ate everything. And I am very very very difficult with eating things.

So, I am going to enjoy the last few days of my holiday on Koh Samui, the night train to Bangkok, Bangkok.....and then Thursdaymorning I will be back again....See you!!

Short message

Hi everyone,

Yes, a little message from Thailand. I couldn't resist. We have a free day here in Hua Hin to enjoy ourselves. A nice change after 5 days of going in and out of a bus to see all kinds of things. It was great. I already saw great temples, elephants (even in my "backyard"). And we stayed in the Jungle hotel. Without any electricity, only the sound of the water underneath the cabin. And most of all, no airco. It's hot here, that's for sure....and now I absolutely appreciate the lightswitch more than I ever did. Some things are so normal for us, your forget that some people don't have that at all.

We are now in Hua Hin. A really beautiful place....google it to see for yourselves....the photos are all true!!! Tomorrow we will leave this place again to go to another.....and then the islands are on the list. I am so curious to see Koh Tao and Koh Samui....especially after all the stories our tourguide tells us. His name is Tommy and a real Thai. You can see that in a lot of things.

Ok, enough for now....maybe I speak to you later....and ofcourse photos will follow!!!

Laura #25

One more day and I will be in the airplane off to Thailand. But I am glad I could play along with 2 sketches 4 you this week. I had a little trouble with the sketch...but it turned out to be a nice card though. And did you see the new designteam! What a talent we have in scrapbookland.

Short message for now.....I will be back in a few weeks. I hope to post a few things during my holiday but if I can't! See you then!

A card for a friend

Today we will have a babyshower for my friend Marijke. We haven't been seeing her for quite a while now, but we didn't want to let this go past without a party! Nothing fancy, just a few presents, somethings to eat and drink and just have a pleasant afternoon. And lots of talking ofcourse!

For this occassion I made a card for her. Because we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl I wanted to use some blue and pink mixed together. This Valentine line from My Mind's Eye is perfect! Because a baby is often there out of love ofcourse.

Card Patterns #13

We are at sketch 13 already. Time goes fast. And you see more people attending every week. On their blog they mentioned 120 people who made a card by the sketch. So great. I didn't start at sketch #1 myself but at #3, but after that I didn't mis one I guess. This weeks sketch again is great. And the designteam did a fabulous job again too.

I am afraid I have to miss two sketches in a row now because of my holiday, but in three weeks on Saturday I will be back!! And I might find the time to do the other ones aswell.

I can't believe this

Queen's day is supposed to be fun. Preferable nice weather, sitting on a terras with a cold drink, just seeing people walk by. Visiting the markets where little children are selling their old toys to get a little money to buy new toys. That's our tradition. It's also tradition that our Royal Family visits one or two towns in Holland. This year was no different.....at first.

Because it became drama this year. Queen's Day will probably never be the same again. Some kind of idiot drove right through people who were watching the Royal Family when they went by in the bus. The exact "why" is not known, but the first rumours are that the driver drove the exact same route the Royal Family drove. Unfortunately, there are two persons dead, probably more even.....

Normally I am proud of my country during this day. Maybe I am reacting emotional now, but I love Holland. It's one big party on a day like this and nothing big ever happened before. And then one person who ruins everything.....for everybody. It was such a nice day today.....but this flag has to be halfway up now.



* Edit 19.30 hrs: I have been watching the news all afternoon. At this moment 4 persons are killed in this accident and 5 persons are severely injured. The police has reasons to believe it wasn't an accident, but an attack on the Royal family. If you see the coverage of what happened it stays in your head. People laying all over the road, seeing CPR, really tough. I admit I have been crying a few tears about this. If this has so much impact on me, how is it for people who actually saw this happen "live" and the children who were there. Too hard to understand. I need to write this down. I am sorry...it helps me cooping with this.