True Love

Hello again,

It has been raining all day today, so I had some time to make another LO.

As soon as I saw the challenge over at Kiddie Lit, I knew I wanted to make a LO of my daughter Chloë and her stuffed doggie "Woefie". She's had it since the day she was born, and she loves him to death. Were Chloë goes, Woefie goes.

The challenge was to create a LO based on the children's book
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams:
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Isn't this a wonderful story?? I so love this, and this passage screams "Woefie" ... he's lost most of his stuffing, has been "operated on" more times than I can count, his eyes turned completely white after I put him in the washing machine one time ... he looks terrible, but to Chloë he's the most beautiful doggie of all times.

Here's my take on the challenge:


The title reads: "True Love" and the journaling reads: To Chloë Woefie is as real as the love she feels for him.

We had to incorporate some soft texture onto our LO to reflect the texture of the rabbit in the story, so I used Chloë's old T-shirt to make the heart balloons.

I will also be submitting this LO for the stitching challenge over at "The Next Step". Since the lovely ladies at "The Next Step" started their challenge site, I've tried to incorporate their monthly techniques in at least one of my LO's of that month. And boy was this a challenge for me. I don't ever use my sewing machine. My grandmother left me her sewing machine after she died more than 7 years ago, but I haven't used it since. Well, that's not exactly true, I did try stitching on a 8x8 LO once, and though it looked okay, it wasn't a huge success. But it really looks gorgeous on this page, and I think I have to thank Lucy for this, thank you so much for your awesome tips on machine stitching, it worked like a charm!



I started out by stitching the threads for the balloons, and added the hearts later on. What do you think, not bad for a first time sewing machine stitcher huh!! I'm feeling mighty proud of myself today LOL. Mind you, I haven't looked at the other entries yet, so it's quite possible mine looks totally worthless next to the others, but I so love the look of it. After the hearts I stitched the frame. If you look closely, you'll see that the first time I went around the edges, I stitched an almost perfectly straight line ... I really had to force myself to make some swirls the second time around ... I'm still having a hard time "making some sort of a mess... ". But I did it, and again ... feeling mighty proud of myself for that LOL.

I know this is a really simple LO, and I tried adding a few things, but I kept putting them away. I love it the way it is, not every LO has to be filled completely, right?

Okay, enough chatting for one day. Let me know what you think!

Love xxx Peggy

Songbird Scraps LO and I was tagged!

It's time for the second challenge of the month over at Songbird Scraps. Here are the lyrics which hopefully will provide you with some inspiration.

Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
This thing called love, I just can't handle it
This thing called love, I must get around it
I ain't ready
Crazy little thing called love
This thing called love, It cries like a baby
In a cradle all night
It swings, it jives
It shakes all over like a jellyfish
I kinda like it
Crazy little thing called love
There goes my baby
She knows how to rock 'n' roll
She drives me crazy
She gives me hot and cold fever
Then she leaves me in a cool, cool, sweat

Alphaville - Forever Young
Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while
Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not
Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men
Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune
The music's played by the madmen

I was inspired by a line in the second lyrics: "this race is won". I used pics of my son winning the gold medal in a race between several schools in our district. I used a lot of black inking on this LO, I inked every piece of paper and even the edges of the pics.


I used his medal as the center of one of the flowers, and the ribbon of his medal as the stems.


For the title work, I drew white and black lines to highlight the title and to create a shadow effect. This is really pretty in real life!


And I wanted to show you this one last thing. I punched the holes for a stitched frame around the whole of my LO, but while stitching, I left open some of the holes. I first saw this done by Jenneke (thanks for the inspiration Jenneke!!!!), and I looooove the look of this. I promise you, it's even better in real life!

I don't find it easy to scrap pics of my son ... typical boys' LO's are difficult I think, which for me is kind of strange, because I never make typical girly LO's anyway ... you'd think I'd have less problems with this. However, I do, so if anyone knows some tips to create really cool boys' LO's, please let me know!

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Now onto some other fun things: The one and only Jocelyn, yep, the one we all love and adore, tagged me with this award a while ago:


I'm supposed to share 10 things with you that you probably don't know yet, so here goes:

• I am an only child, a fact I'm not too thrilled about. I used to wish for a brother or sister for christmas, and I'm still not all that happy my wish was never granted.

• Unlike Jocelyn, I don't mind standing in line all that much, though I am one impatient lady. The thing I hate about it though is that I always seem to be standing in the wrong line, mine always seems to be moving the slowest, or even not at all. I mean it, if you see me standing in line, don't go standing behind me LOL.
  

• I'm shy, very much so. I know, I've shared this info before and for you who follow my blog this isn't a new thing, but it is something that even people who know me don't suspect of me (I'm great at hiding it, I have a big mouth), so it should be on this list.

• I didn't get to have a best friend until I was over my thirties. I used to feel jealous whenever I saw an episode of "Friends" or "Sex and the City", I felt I was missing out by not having friends like that! I never thought I would experience such a friendship, you know, where you can tell each other every little detail of your thoughts and feelings. I know have not one but two best friends, and I love them dearly. There is nothing I wouldn't do for them, and I know they feel the same way.
  

• I'm a cocooner. Even on the rare occasion that the kids aren't home, I don't mind it one bit if we don't go out. I love just hanging on the couch with my hubby, enjoying the peace and quiet and each other.
  

• Though I am an only child, I don't value material things all that much. Of course there are things I would love to have and having more money sure would make my life easier, but there are other things in life I value more.
  

• I fall asleep on the couch almost every night, and only go to bed if I wake up in the middle of the night. This habit came to be because I hate going to bed in winter time, I can't stand those cold sheets. Luckily I have my hubby to keep me warm, he's one of those people who never get cold..., but whenever I go to sleep before he does, you'll find me (snoring) on the couch.
  

• I'm a bad loser LOL. This is something my parents never could get out of me. I still don't like to lose, though I'm able to hide this fact a bit better than I used to when I was younger. My son is the same way, and I now see it's not an endearing quality. I do so understand how he feels though.
  

• I love to sing, especially when I'm driving. As soon as I get in the car, I put on the radio or my favorite CD and I start singing along. Although this must drive my hubby crazy (I didn't say I was a good singer!!!), he has never once made a remark about this. Love seems to be not only blind but deaf as well LOL.
  

• I talk too much, but I guess that won't come as a surprise to any of you LOL.

Now I would love to learn some new things about the following people, so consider yourselves tagged!
Keandra
Maryangella
Jenneke
April
Mandy
Come on my friends, tell us some things that might surprise us and grab that award!

Well, that's it for now ... I still have a mini-album and an altered project to share, but I have to sort out my pics first, so I'll leave that for another time.
As always my friends, thank you so much for your sweet and encouraging comments, I so appreciate them and I love to read them. I feel so lucky to have met you all through this wonderful hobby of ours!

mwa xxx Peggy

Jodi's giveaway

Go and check out Jodi's blog. She has opened her own Etsy Shop selling her handmade embellishments, and they are gorgeous!!! She wants our help to get the word out, and in return for this, she will draw out TEN lucky winners who will each receive a box of goodies from her shop!!

Here are my favorite embellies, which can be found here: www.sweetvintage78.etsy.com



We were only supposed to give three favorites, but I couldn't make my mind up between the chipboard buttons and the doilies... LOL.

If you haven't visited Jodi's blog before, take some time out to look at her gorgeous work, I'm sure you'll love her blog as much as I do!

You have until the 31st of July to spread the word and be eligible to win.
Good luck to you all!

xxx Peggy

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

Glimmer Mist

Recently I received a bottle of glimmer mist in a RAK sent to me by the lovely ladies of "The Next Step". I was so excited to try this out for the first time, and though I still have to practice a bit, I can't wait to use it on one of my LO's.

Which leads me to the following:
Tattered Angels are running a competition to celebrate their new LOOK!!

In order to be in the running to win some of these divine, brand new, not yet released Winter 2009 glimmer mist colours, all you have to do is .... load up a pic of the new look glimmermist colours, and the phrase:

Glimmer Mist is the same great product with a Fabulous NEW Look!

Next, send and email of your link to: liz@mytatteredangels.com and your name will be entered in the draw to WIN some glimmery goodness!!

Give it a go ladies!
xxx Peggy