Project 365: 1/6 and 1/7 (8x8)

I've said this before, but I'm really having loads of fun trying out new things on these pages. This time I did some stamping for the very first time ... most of you will think, so what!, but for one reason or the other I was afraid to stamp on my LO's, silly I know, but that's the way it is. I'm hoping after this I will have the confidence to stamp on my 12x12 LO's as well... I really like the stamped border around the pages, and would love to try that again.

Once I decided I would stamp, I was thinking what would go with that to liven up the pages a bit, and I came up with painting with distress inks and a waterbrush. It gives a real cool dirty look I was going for. I also like the look of a stamp that wasn't applied in full, like a part of the left border and the mahogany stamp next to the pics on the left page. This were actually mistakes, but I'll be doing that again I'm sure!

Journaling reads:
1/6: I'm always in a much better mood and feeling a lot more positive when my house is clean. Nicely cleaned, no more stuff lying around, it should be like it is on the pics all of the time. And each time I've cleaned up, I'm thinking: "This time I'm going to keep it like this" ... Well, I can dream, can't I?
1/7: So Cold! While we're almost freezing to death when we go outside, Vita doesn't seem to mind the cold at all!

Off now to try something new on the next pages!
TFL xxx Peggy

Another favorite to share ...

I made this LO, one of my favorites so far, in September. Today, I received my 130th comment on this LO on scrapbook.com, isn't that awesome!!! I can't believe I'm still receiving comments on this one (feeling proud and happy here, can you tell??), so I thought I'd share it with you.


This LO was inspired by a challenge giving on Scrapping the Music. The challenge was to make a LO based on the lyrics of the song "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart. I used the part (which is my journaling):

May you grow up to be
proud, dignified and true
and do onto others
as you'd have done to you

These last sentence is the rule we try to live by in our family, I can't count the times I've used this line... so it was an easy choice and perfect challenge for me.

I had a lot of fun making this LO, and used a lot of techniques us newbies can easily do without too many supplies.

I started out by altering the picture to black and white, than adding the colour red, and finally upping the temperature, which is what gives the picture this magical old-looking glow. The original picture is lovely, but IRL, this altered picture is just stunning!!

I made the flowers painting a brown paper bag (in which they sell bread here), it has a nice light crumbled feel to it, first with gesso, then with green acrylic paint. I used a fork to make the circular marks, which aren't really visible on the picture, but they are IRL. I painted some circles brown this same way, added a netted ribbon, a button, and stitched them to the paper. The transparant flowers I made by using a piece of plastic (this is a plastic cover of a cheap photo-frame), I used a permanent marker to outline the flowers and add the dots, cut them out and curved the petals by holding them above a candle. I fixed them to the page by stitching on a button.

The title was made in Word, printed and cut out. The journaling was inked in several colours, the edges were distressed with scissors, then glued and stitched to the page.

Finally I inked the edges of the background paper brown to give it a more finished look.

This description probably doesn't mean anything to experienced scrappers, but I added it for all the people like me who are new to scrapping, and like me, have no clue as to how others make all these wonderful creations they themselves think of as "simple"... and to show you don't always need expensive stuff. I hope it's useful to some of you ...

Off to do some ironing and hoping to get finished in time to get some scrapping done!
xxx Peggy

once, twice, tagged three times!

I was tagged by Shelly for the 6th folder blog tagged, , which has the following instructions:

1. Go to the section of your computer where you store all of your photos.

2. Select the 6th folder.

3. Select the 6th photo.

4. Post and explain about that picture.

5. tag 6 other people.....

I was also tagged by Wendy for the 5th folder blog tagged, which has the same instructions but with the 5th folder/photo.

Here are my 2 pictures:


This was our German Shepherd Jenny, the pic taken in December 2000. Wasn't she gorgeous? We got her in February 1997, 8 months old at the time, and she died last year on January 4th, she was 11,5 years old. She was the most wonderful dog, sweet, gentile, great with children, the best companion ever ... we still miss her dearly.



And here she is, my gorgeous little girl back in september 2001 ... I've always adored this picture of Chloë. She's about 10 months in this pic, taking her first steps by holding on to everything that comes her way, giving me her most beautiful smile ... she was such a happy baby, cute as can be and always charming her way into everyone's heart (she still does that btw).


Finally, Michelle also tagged me with the following instructions:

1. Link back to the blog that tagged you: http://www.withlovebymushy.com/blog/

2. Make a list of 6 (un)interesting things about yourself:

1) It's impossible for me to arrive on time, no matter what the occasion, I'm always late.
2) I know many people, and I like many people, but I don't call a lot of people my friend. I have only a few friends, but for those few, I'll do just about everything.
3) I'm a perfectionist, I don't start on something without giving it my 100%.
4) My hands are always cold (very annoying), unless I have a fever.
5) I'm a slow worker, more than that, I like doing things slowly, I hate being rushed.
6) I'm a night owl, I hate going to bed at night (usually I stay up till 1 or 2am) and I hate getting out of bed in the mornings. One good thing though, once I'm up, I'm ready to go!

3. Tag five other blogs, and let them know by leaving them a comment.

In stead of tagging different people for these 3 tags, I'll be tagging these 6 to explain about their 2 pics (the 5th of the 5th folder AND the 6th of the 6th folder), AND to give 6 (un)interesting things about themselves:

1. April
2. Kell
3. Mandy
4. Molly
5. Jeni
6. Jolene

If you haven't yet come accross these wonderful ladies, please take a moment to open their blogs, every single one of them will blow you away with their amazing work, their LO's are gorgeous!

Thanks to Shelly, Wendy and Michelle for thinking of me, and thanks to everyone who reads my blog and takes the time to leave a comment, they mean more to me than you might think!

xxx Peggy

Sneak Peeks and day 4&5 of Project 365

Sneak Peeks

I finished my very first layout as a designer for the Songbird Scraps Challenge. The first challenge will be up on the first of February, so be sure to pay a visit! Here are some sneak peeks of my LO:

Given the nature of the lyrics, I intended to make a very romantic LO, but as usual, it turned out quite different from what I had imagined ...



Day 4&5 of Project 365



I know I have to work faster on these pages, or I'll never get caught up, but I'm having so much fun with these pages! They are perfect to try new things and just experiment away ... this time I used my sewing machine for the very first time, you'll see there are some "mistakes" on there, but it still turned out pretty nice I think. I do like the effect of hand stitching better, but there certainly are occasions when I will opt for this techique, especially the zigzagging around the pic is a fun look!

For those of you curious about the journaling:
1/4: Lazy Sunday - Hanging about all day long in our pj's, playing Nintendo, watching TV, just doing nothing, we sure deserved this after such a busy holiday. Christina still had to read one of her books for school. She likes to practise her reading.
1/5: The kids are back into their routine of going to school and making their homework ... For me it hasn't been this easy, I basically did nothing at all today.

I'm finding it hard to really write personal stuff that go with the pictures, I hope this will change while I'm working on this project. Although I definitely want to document the day-to-day little things in our lives, I want some room for my thoughts as well, I just don't have any idea as how to include that as for now ... any suggestions anyone??? Thanks in advance!

xxx Peggy

Project 365

I've finally started on my project 365!

I've decided to make one page a day, 8x8, for several reasons. I didn't want to be restricted to just one picture a day. I'm sure there will be days when I will have trouble coming up with an idea for just one pic, but there will also be days when more than one pic is needed.

I also wanted to be able to do a lot of journaling. Though again this won't be the case for every page, I like the idea of having lots of space to say what I want when I feel the need to.

The first days are all about reading the newyear's letters to my mom and dad and my kids' godfathers.


Journaling: After spending a lazy day to recuperate from last night, we went to grandma and grandpa to read the newyear's letters.


Journaling:
January 2nd: Today we went to visit Uncle Jan and Aunt Tinneke in Gent to read our newyear's letters. It turned out to be such a fun day and we didn't get home until the early hours.
January 3rd: We all slept until midday, so we had to hurry to get ready to receive our guests. All of your godfathers came to our house to listen to your newyear's letters.

I had a lot of pictures of that last day, and it was just too difficult to choose, so I decided to print them of really tiny and put the majority on the page. I will be making seperate LO's of the letters read to their grandparents, godmothers and godfathers for each child, but when doing that I will have to be very selective choosing my pics because there are so many. That's why I wanted them all to be here in this page for me.

I'm off to do some ironing now, although I'd much rather just sit in front of my pc and look at all of your wonderful blogs!!!! But I'm finally getting caught up, and as I always say when I'm caught up ... this time it's going to stay this way ... yeah right LOL!!!

Talk to you later
xxx Peggy

Song Bird Scraps lay-outs

These are the LO's I made for the Song Bird Scraps DT call:


The only thing I could think of when I saw the lyrics we should get our inspiration from, was: "This is so true, and I so need to handle this better, I need to look at the glass as being half full". So I decided that would be the theme of my LO. I really wanted this LO to have somewhat of a funky look. I'm still experimenting with this style, and I would like it to be a bit more of a mess, even when trying to be funky I can't seem to get away from straight lines or some sort of balance and structure. I would love to be able to just shake that off, but I guess that will take some time and a little bit more self-confidence!

Now I have to admit this design isn't all mine ... I've seen this design of the sun coming up through the buildings done several times before by others, and I stuck in my head. It's also very similar to the banner of the challenge site "scrap the boys", where they had a challenge doing a LO inspired by this banner, so I guess that's how the idea got into my head in the first place.


I've been wanting to scrap this picture as soon as I saw this developped ... I just look the look of love on Kurt's face here ... I guess he really does love me huh!!
The photo was of poor quality, and I did some editing in PSE before printing it, which is why it is so bright. I wanted a mix of romance and playfulness for this LO, and I like the result. Though it's probably not the best LO I ever made, I love what it stands for and how it makes me feel.

Talk to you later!!
xxx Peggy

Exciting news!!!

Well ladies, I got the most awesome early birthday presents!! I'm dying to share my exciting news with you, so here goes:


Creative team member
First of all: I've been chosen for the creative team of Song Bird Scraps!!! Yeah me!!!
This brand new challenge blog will upload new challenges on the 1st and 15th of every month, providing 2 sets of song lyrics to inspire you to make a beautiful LO... the best LO from the month wins a delicious pack of goodies!!!!!! I'm counting on all my friends here to join in the fun and make this new blog a huge success!

And now that I've had some time to think about this and let it sink in ... is it normal that I'm starting to feel a bit nervous LOL???? I'm still such a newbie at this, I've never been on a creative team before, I so hope I'll live up to their expectations ... I do not intend to let them down!!

I would also like to congratulate fellow Songbirds Kristi Brandis, Chiquita James, Shelly Williams and Jane Smith. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you!


Fabulous blog award

I've been rewarded this fabulous blog award by not one but two of my sweet blogging friends Delaina and Jacque! Thanks girls, you are the sweetest! I've only been blogging a short time, so to be given this award is doing wonders for my self-confidence ... It's such a nice feeling to be appreciated and to know that some people are actually interested in something I have to say LOL.

Now I'm supposed to list 5 of my addictions (besides scrapping of course) and then hand out this award to 5 others whose blog I think is fab, so here goes:

My 5 addictions:
1. Cigarettes (way to many)
2. Eating (when I'm not eating, I'm thinking about eating ... sad I know)
3. Visiting scrapbooking blogs (I can spend hours browsing)
4. Bubbles (pc-game, again, hours go by so fast once I start playing that game)
5. ?

I couldn't think of a fifth one, but with 4 addictions like that, who needs a fifth, right??

And these are the 5 ladies I'd like to give this award to (choosing just 5 has been killing me, there are so many awesome blogs going around ...)

1. Mandy - A teacup of Scrapisms
2. Sasha Farina - Collection of Moments
3. Kell Lusted - Kells Tumbleweed
4. April - Scrapper Forever!
5. Lynn - Pretty Paper Swirls

When you see this award, please pass it on to 5 more and list your 5 addictions.

Be sure to check out Delaina's and Jacque's blog as well ... thanks again for giving me this award!


Well, that's it for now ... after having been sick in bed for four days, I have so much house work to catch up on ... better get started!

xxx Peggy

Sick

Hi everyone,

We've got a flu epidemic here in Belgium, and it hit me hard!!! I will spare you the nasty details, but it hasn't been pretty! I've had a fever for three days, which this afternoon has finally come down. And now it's 01.00am already, and I can't sleep because I have done nothing but sleep these last few days, so I thought I might blog a bit and try to get some sympathy from you ladies LOL.

I did manage to scrap a bit though, off and on, because I wanted to enter the challenge (creative team call) at Song Bird Scraps, which ended at midnight. Now, especially after entering the world of blogging and seeing everyone's beautiful creations, I probably won't have any change in qualifying, but you can't blame a girl for trying now can you!! Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing more of their challenges, because I found the lyrics to be really challenging.

I'm still too tired to spend too much time behind the computer, so I'm going to leave it at this. I hope I'll be feeling better tomorrow so that I can catch up on all of your blogs AND post some awards I have been giving by some wonderful ladies (yeah!!!!).

Talk to you later!
xxx Peggy

Latest LO: "Little flowershop"

You all know how it is, the holiday season is just busy busy busy. I haven't had any time to scrap lately, and now that I have, I can't seem to come up with something. I have one LO lying here half finished, but there's still something missing, now all I've got to do is figure out what!!!!

A month ago I did finish this LO:



I made this one for a challenge on a Dutch site, Scraptastisch, where the challenge was to use 20 flowers on your LO. Now, those of you who know me and my LO's a bit better, know that I'm not a big fan of flowers on my LO's. I like flowers well enough, I'm just not to keen on putting a whole bunch of them on a LO without a good reason. I like my embellies to have some sort of connection with the topic of the photo. So this was a challenge for me, but I did find the perfect picture for it. This is me when I was three years old, selling flowers made of crepe-paper at the beach, in return for seashells.

This was a very easy LO what techniques are concerned, and for my standards a very quick one too. I finished this one in a couple of hours, which might not seem quick to you, but believe me, for me this was a new record!!
I used cardstock for the background, the matting, the corners and the journaling.
I added some ribbons. The yellow one I stitched to the paper, the orange flowers were attached with brads in the centre of some flowers. The little flowers are beads which I stitched to the page, and which I only added to come to my total of 20 (well, 21 really LOL), but which turned out really cute I think.
I also added a green net, which isn't really all that visible in the picture, but is really neat IRL. The net reminded me of the fishing net I used to use when looking for seashells.
The flowers were made out of crepe-paper. For the stems I covered some straws with green crepe-paper. The flowers turned out a bit pale, so I painted over them to make them stand out a bit more.
Finally I wrote the title on a piece of white cardstock, coloured it in with regular colouring pens, cut it out and glued it to the page.
And ready it was, piece of cake. Maybe a bit too easy, because I didn't win the challenge LOL, but I like it, and it's something I wouldn't have done if I hadn't entered this challenge, and isn't that what these challenges are all about?

Well, I'm off to what hopefully will be a wonderfully lazy Sunday afternoon, and if my kids will let me, I'm hoping to finish the LO I'm working on right now, maybe even start another one I've been thinking of, and finally get started on my 365 Project. I'm starting this project off with a huge delay, which I'm not happy about at all!!! Did I take on too much ... probably yes, but I do so much want this project to happen, so ... high time to get started!!!

But first I would like to give all of you who have visisted my blog and those who have taken the time to leave me a comment a big thanks! I really appreciate it! I hope to get to know all of you a little bit better!