Brace yourselves - extremely long post!

Good morning ladies,

Phewww, I finally have some time to just sit down and write on my blog. I have been so busy lately, and though much of it has been all about fun, spending time with my kids and having friends over for BBQ's ... a girl still needs some time of her own, don't you think?

Still, this being said, I still have so much cleaning and ironing to go through, so after having updated my blog, that's what I'll be doing. I'm so far behind on my housework ... now, I'm never really caught up, I'll never receive the housewife of the year award, but this time I have let things go far even for my standards LOL. We've had some incredible weather these last few weeks, tropical heat even for Belgian standards (close to 30 degrees Celsius), and it was just too hot to do anything but relaxing and swimming. Just to let you know how hot it was, we had to drag the kids out of the pool in the evenings every night between 9 and 11 pm. If you know what the Belgian weather is like, you know how rare this is! Some pics of the first summer fun:

Our little paradise (still under construction haha, but it'll do for now!)

My girls having fun together

My son (on the right) and his two best friends

The tropical heat is gone now, and the temperature has dropped to 20 degrees max. Although this is more comfortable if you're planning to stand behind an ironing board, I do hope summer will be back soon. We've had such bad summers these last few years, and I do hope this one will be so much better. We got off to a good start anyway.

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On to some scrapping news then. The new challenge is up at Songbird Scraps. We have our own Ning site now, be sure to check it out. You can click on the badge in the right column if you'd like to join in in the fun. These were the first of this month's lyrics:

Mint Car - The Cure The sun is up
I'm so happy I could scream
And there's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be
And here with you it's perfect
It's all I ever wanted, oh
Almost can't believe that it's for real

I really don't think it gets any better than this
Vanilla smile and a gorgeous strawberry kiss!
Birds sing; we swing
Clouds shift by and everything is like a dream
It's everything I wished...

99 Luftalloons (English Translation) 99 red balloons.
floating in the summer sky.
Panic bells, it's red alert.
There's something here from somewhere else.
The war machine springs to life.
Opens up one eager eye.
Focusing it on the sky.
Where 99 red balloons go by.
99 dreams I have had.
In every one a red balloon.
It's all over and I'm standing pretty.
In this dust that was a city.
If I could find a souvenier.
Just to prove the world was here.
And here is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go.

I was inspired by the first lyrics and this is what I came up with:


I had very little time to work on this one, and it didn't come out exactly as I had hoped, though it does look better IRL. I do like the page though, especially those flowers give a gorgeous effect IRL. That bottom pic isn't the best pic ever, but it means so much to me, as it's the first pic I took of my three kids together (and my hubby even managed a smile, which is rare ... he hates having his picture taken!), which is why I wanted it to stand out a bit. I did think about scrapping the two top pics, which were taken only minutes after Christina was born, seperately, because I love them soooo much, but that bottom pic just wasn't good enough to be scrapped on its own I think.

I used:
* Basic Grey - Granola - Vanilla Bean (background paper).
* Basic Grey - Lilykate - Chocolate (brown paper)
* Basic Grey - Oh Baby - Marigold (yellow paper)
* Little Yellow Bicycle - Vita Bella Collection - Green Floral
* Scalloped strip from one of the Sassafras papers
* Core'dinations cardstock - Vintage collection, canvas texture (purplish cardstock)
* American Crafts Thickers - Subway white

I distressed all the papers with my scissors and inked them with Ranger distress inks and layered the papers. I made the flowers out of plain white cardstock, inked them and distressed the edges and sewed the stems. The pics as well as the cardstock has been sanded, but that's much more obvious IRL. Not much more to tell about the how-to's of this LO.

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I still have to thank some people. First of all, I would like to thank the gorgeous Julie for that awesome RAK she sent me. She's giving away another one, and if I were you, I'd play along! She is so generous and her RAK's are filled with gorgeous goodies. Go check it out if you haven't already!

I also want the thank the wonderful ladies of "The Next Step" for my prize RAK, I love all of it and can't wait to find some time to start experimenting with the glimmer mist and the fabrics you sent me. And thanks for the continued inspiration. Lucy, your new tutorial on the bobbin stitching is awesome, just what I wanted to know, thanks!

Also a big thank you to the ladies from "Aussie Scrap Jack" for the package you sent Christina. She was absolutely thrilled with "her very own" goodies, and she has lots of ideas already to start creating. This was a very nice gesture of you, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it!

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Finally, the fabulous, sweet, incredibly talented Jenneke gave me these awards some time ago, thanks a lot girlfriend!!!



I'm supposed to pass these along to five other bloggers, and I picked these wonderful ladies:

Jocelyn - I noticed you already have the second award on your blog, but I couldn't find the first one, so that one's for you my rockin' friend. I guess you know by now how much I value our online friendship. You keep inspiring me, not only because of your work, but also with your continued positive attitude towards life and people. You're one sweet lady Jocelyn, and I love you!

Lisa - I first noticed your blog because of the hilarious stories you tell, but it didn't take me long to figure out that there's so much more to you than funny stories. You brighten my day with every post and comment, and I thank you for that my sweet friend. You're the best!
PS. Did I frighten you off with my long and depressing email?? It's been so long since I've heard from you :-(

Keandra - I love you girl!!! I'm always so excited to see you've made a new entry in your blog, because then I know I'm in for a treat. Not only do you make some of the best LO's around (I adore your work!!!!), but you share so much of your personal life on your blog that I sometimes feel like I know you personally. You make me laugh, you make me cry, you make me feel proud of your boys, and with those pics of your food you put on your blog, a lot of the times you make me want to come over for dinner LOL. I feel this is a true friendship, and I want you to know how fortunate I feel to have met you, even though it's a cyberspace friendship!

Maryangella - we haven't known each other that long, but already you're at the top of my favorite people's list. You're sweet, you never fail to leave a sweet and encouraging comment, and you're work rocks!!!!! I sure hope this is the beginning of a new friendship.

Kim - I love your blog! I love the combination of scrap stuff and personal stuff, and the way you challenge us with every-day questions. You always leave us with something to think about a little bit more.
PS. Did you read the comment in which I said I would love to play along with you and Lisa in the challenges you're doing? Still don't know how it works though, could you let me know?

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On a last note, I do want to tell you about a huge coincidence. You know how I always say scrapbooking isn't all that popular in Belgium, or maybe it is but just not that many have a blog. Anyway, about a year ago, new people moved into the house next door. We said our hellos and goodbyes, but we never really talked before. This might be hard to believe for some of you who follow my blog and who know how much I like to talk and leave huge comments, but I'm actually a very shy person. Once someone starts talking to me, I talk right back and the shyness disappears, but I'm still afraid (this was a huge problem in my childhood) to make the first move. I had thought about welcoming these people into our neighbourhood, you know, like you see in the movies, with a piece of pie and everything LOL, but I couldn't bring myself to do this.
This week, we started talking. Well actually, Britt, my "new" neighbour, started talking to me. She's a really nice person, and I'm so looking forward to getting to know her a little bit better. And now here's the coincidence: she likes scrapping!!!! She's the first person I've met in my circle of friends who even knows what scrapbooking is!!!! And she's living right next door!!!! How about that huh! I'm so hoping we can get together sometime and scrap, I don't have a scrap buddy, so that would be sooo great!

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Thanks for working your way through this long post. It had been much too long since I had posted anything, I really have to do it more and make the posts a bit shorter. But I really wanted to include everything right now, this way I can make a fresh start.

Hugs
xxx Peggy