Life and Scrapping

Joining collage monday...

I already loved Donna's Inspiration Wednesday, and have made a page now and then in my art journal...  when she started Collage Monday i tried to keep away from the urge to start another dedicated album especially to collage... and i've been successful at that for weeks...

Yep, have been...

ah... you guys know me by now... cannot resist a good amount of inspiration... especially when i know that i have many similar products laying around neatly organized in my studio...

And i must say... Zentangle is very cool!

 

Oil pastels...

One of my favorite things about Donna's Inspiration Wednesday is her use of various art supplies...  like her i cannot pass an art supply store without going in... love to browse through all the racks with pencils, paints and papers... love it to take out some of these beautiful pastels, all sorted by color (man, those rainbows are sure a feast to my eyes)-, feel the weight in my hand and look endlessly for a perfect set of colors that i want to buy...

On one of these occasions -Gerard and i were in Groningen, visiting the Groninger Museum- i bought a small selection of Sennelier oils pastels... purples and metallics... very pretty and a bit on the expensive side... i kept save in a little box, but did not find a good opportunity to use them...

But Oh Joy, this weeks Inspiration Wednesday Donna had the featured...! Yay! So i took them out, and went to work on my own take of her art journal page...

Hmmm, what do i have that starts with a P that i can use?

• Patterned paper (digital "Twenty twenty paper kit' by Karla Dudley for DHD)
• Pink Post it not
• Price tag
• letter P
• Parchment paper, stamped with a Polka dot Pattern
• Vintage Phone shape (cut with Silhouette)
• Polka dot pattern (cut with Silhouette)

 

• Pink Paint

• Pretty Patterned stamp (Anna Griffin Rose collection by All night Media)
• and my small collection of Sennelier oil Pastels

• Page from an old book with Printed text

• Printed text on Plastic sheet

• People (small woman icon cut with Silhouette)

And then Donna used her Golden 'white wash paint' to cover the whole thing! And so did i...

And then it was time to actually use the Sennelier Oil pastels on top, like Donna did... but i did not want a purple colored page after all that lovely pink i used... and because i could use some fresh air :)  i took a trip to the art supply store down town... luckily it was dry for a few minutes, it has been raining all day... i guess Summer i definitely over...

Yes, that's more like it!

And Donna was right, those oil pastels are very nice to work with indeed... very soft, and popping colors...

After i added all the color, i sealed the pages with a spray varnish to prevent everything from smudging... and i placed the polka dotted parchment paper and the printed plastic sheet on top...

And i must say... the metallic Senneliers are even better... i added some silver on top of the light gray and you can see the shimmer here and there, even after the heavy rubbing that i did...

And this is the end result... LOVE it!

Oh, and on another crafty note: my Scrapbook on the road is huge already... needed to buy some bigger book binding rings this week... almost done... Yay!!!

And how was your weekend? As rainy but crafty as mine?

Have a good week!

Dots, bingocards and butterflies...

Although my Scrapbook-on-the-road-in-progress is overflowing my workstation, i couldn't help myself and entered a challenge by Shimelle... she made a LO in yellow and white, with tiny polka dots, butterflies and a bingo card, and it immediately inspired me... i knew i had some similar products in my stash...

and just received some suitable pictures in my inbox of a sailing trip last weekend, i decided to join in...

This (click) was Shimelles LO... i liked the painted yellow frame on the textured background, so i copied that with my own supplies...

i stamped the Jenny Bowlin butterfly with the same yellow paint...

Hmm, the background paper is in fact white... always difficult to get a real life picture :)...

instead of writing i added some stamped images with my favorite Pink Paislee clear stamps on the yellow frame... and... you know me: of course it was not complete with a few tiny glass beads...

Simple, but a happy one, don't you think?

Playing with pictures...

Here at the VanderRee house hold it's back to the daily routine of work, school and every daily duties!

Stach is a 'group 5-er' now, can you believe it?  He told me yesterday that he has to write very small letters now, and that he's allowed to choose what ever he want's to write with on Fridays! I can still remember that from my own schooldays... (all the girls in my class used to write with those very sweet scented pens... mán, those were cool!) My little boy is not little anymore!

Anyway, i can still dream a bit about our vacation, because the desk in my studio is filled with vacation pictures...

and my scrapbook on the road is filing up very nicely...

In the end i decided to use sheet protectors (cut down to the right size) to cover my photo's... i had them developed on clossy paper and i didn't like all the finger marks etc. on them... it makes the album bigger than i anticipated, but taking bigger binding rings will solve that problem in no time! And my pictures stay in good shape!

I'm half way though my pictures now, so i'll expect the whole album will be huge :) Hopefully i'm done with it by this weekend, so i can get back to my WITL project!

What are you guys doing with your vacation pictures this year?

 

Just a glimpse in the studio...

Just wanted to make a quick post to share my ware abouts in the studio this evening:

It's very late, so the photo is a bit grainy, but i thought you didn't want to miss this one...  have been working on my WITL project, and Jonas kept me company!

Oh, and look what's on my desk:

My vacation pictures were deliverd today! So... i won't be bored this weekend, with two projects (this and this) in the making!

Sleep well!

WITL 2011- Sunday

Yay, the last day of this 'documenting the every day' adventure blogged... i guess i'm left with at least 30 photos per day, but i have taken lots and lots more,  somewhere between 60 and 100 per day...

I'm glad this part is over, because the whole picture taking got a bit hard in the end... but all my hard work left me with a nice collection of notes, photographs and a few mementos...

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These are the highlights of Sunday, July 31th:

So sweet of Gerard to let me sleep in again...

So sweet that he had a cup of coffee ready for me when i came down...

So sweet that Stach still plays a hide an seek game with me when i try to take his picture...

So sweet that Gerard took Stach to the Money Museum, so i got the morning to myself and could work in m studio at this project...

So sweet how Stach told me all exited that he did a search in the museum, and that he read all the questions himself, and filled in all the answers correctly...

So sweet that he showed all happy that he made himself a coin...

So sweet that i could have the yummy indian egg that i made for lunch all to myself...

So sweet that Stach is often so exited when he comes home, that he's happy to be with us!

So sweet that Stach still wants me to sit with him in the bathroom when he takes a bath...

So sweet that he then tells me a lot of stories and things that are on his mind...

So sweet that he helped me taking pictures...

So sweet that i discovered this blurry but very cute picture that he took of himself with the camera  in the mirror...

So sweet that Gerard took care of dinner again (cheese fondue)...

So sweet that he read Stach's bedtime story and i could watch 'Zomergasten', our favorite summer talk show...

So sweet that Stach promissed me that i can read the next chapter tomorrow!

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Well, the capturing part is done... now it's time to make the actual album!

Bought a hot pink D-ring binder album at the Hema today, and i've been searching through my little digital paper stash to see if i have some patterned papers that match with this project! Unfortunately my vacation is over, and i had to go back to the office today... so i won't have lot's of time on my had to combine everything into a completed and -no doubt-  somewhat pink looking album! 

But i promise to be back soon with an update of my progress!

WITL 2011- Saturday

Although it was (and still is) a lot of work, keeping track of all our daily adventures throughout this week, the whole week has flown by! Only the weekend to show & tell here on Life and Scrapping... wow...

At the beginning of this project i was a bit worried that there might not enough 'stuff to talk about', due to us having vacation... but it turned out to be great!

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These are the highlights of Saturday, July 30th:

Yes, i could sleep in again...

Yes, coffee for breakfast again (and biscuit with sugar and my pills, naturally...)

Yes, Gerard and Stach are still having a lego space/Star wars battle...

Yes, i'm still busy in my studio working at this project...

But...

in the afternoon we went to 'de Parade'... a local 'circus like' festival with a lot of theatrical performances for kids and grown ups,  art stuff and various places to eat sushi, poffertjes, ice cream, Indonesian food, etc.

We saw two shows (both for kids) , had some ice cream (mine was strawberry pepper, really very yummy!!!) and Stach and i made a t-shirt! A great time was had by all, and it struck me again how much Stach has grown;  he's understanding much more, being able to concentrate at the performances (both were about half an hour) and he laughed about all the jokes!

At the end of the afternoon we needed to get some grocery shopping done, bought yummy things to celebrate the end of our lovely holiday, had a nice meal (pasta with salmon, ricotta and asparagus - Stach had pizza) at home with some very expensive but yummy chocolate cheese cake desert for me :) !! 

Gerard and i checked out Carla Sonheims summer on line art class (and he really encouraged me to join in!), Stach watched some tv under his favorite blanket, and after Stach's bedtime we watched a detective on tv (i watched two, to be precise, Frost ánd inspector Lewis, while folding laundry and editing photos!

It was a lovely day!

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WITL 2011- Friday

The highlights of Friday, July 29th:

Friday was a quiet day, because Stach played the whole day with his friends Wicky and Bram, who live around the corner! Most neighbourhood kids are on vacation right now, and Stach was totally delighted when we told him that they were back! He dressed and brushed his teeth in no time, and ran out the door, shouting that he was going to play at their place! Bang... door shut... and he was gone!

It gave us time do concentrate on other things... Gerard went back to work at our DIY job and started painting the staircase walls...after a few rounds of coffee and a round of washing and folding laundry i worked on my notes in my studio...

Hmmm, no need for my sunglasses today, but the weather was not too bad! We tried to find a fun thing to do for the tree of us for the next two days (we both use our own special equipment: Gerard his iPad, i use my favorite magazines :) )... not so easy, since we've visited many amusement parks, museum and zoo's already!

At the end of the afternoon Stach makes a very quick stop at our house to ask if he can have dinner over at his friends... oh, he's so happy to be able to play with them again, how can we refuse? So... bang... door shuts... and he's off again!

I have a glass of (mixed) wine in my studio, and then go down to see if dinner is ready!

Stach's back at 20.00, but is still a bit hungry... i can't get an exact idea from his story what he actually ate, so i make a rice cracker with peanut butter for him, and then some yoghurt and we have another slice of our home made chocolate cake together!

One of his friends is a few years older, and apparently he's allowed to watch Robin Hood (the one with with Kevin Costner) later that evening on tv... Stach is wondering - although he immediately tells me that he thinks my answer will be NO-  if he can watch too! Ah, nice try, sweet little man (well, not so little anymore, if he's interested in a movie like that!)!!!

So it's of to bed for him, but i read him a big chapter from 'de grijze jager'!

I spent the rest of my evening blogging, writing and loading photo's for this project! And... of course... i go to bed way to late :) !

WITL 2011- Thursday

Here are the highlights of Thursday, Juli 28th:

It was a good day, and we've been enjoying the sunshine and each other company very much!

Stach won himself a gift, for eating his whole Thai chicken roll yesterday when he didn't like it at all (hmmm, we're not showing  the best paranting skill here, i know... (but it was Gerards idea :), but it worked!) So we headed into town, for a bit of luch, shopping, eating Italian ice cream, etc.

I got realy spoiled too: bought some extra art supplies (a crafty girl can never have enough, right?), a very sweet and elegant bracelet and Gerard and Stach decided to surprise me with some perfume!

It was again a fun game to get Stach's picture, i enjoyed Campari flavored icecream (very yummy... sweet and sour at the same time! We visited the old postoffice, got my bank pass unblocked (that i somehow totally blocked this week), got more DIY-ing done at Gerard helped me with the enourmous jod to select, photoshop and upload our holiday pictures to th developer!

What a great day!

WITL 2011- Wednesday

I took many pictures that day... i guess i got into the hang of it :) !!!

For the first time this year Stach isn't happy when i want to take his picture,  but i managed to turn it into a bit of a game taking photographs just when he's hiding or crawling away...

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Here are the highlights of Wednesday, Juli 27th:

Wednesday was all about photographing, playing games, washing, backing and diving away every time mom wanted to take a picture :)...

and it was about eating, cooking, writing, and enjoying ourselves with all of that!

I was happy about:

- the good time Stach had at oma Annette (his voice and eyes lightened up when he told me all about the things he did and the food he ate and the games he played with her when he was staying over!)

- the yummy chocolate cake Stach and i baked together and the way he was so totally involved in the proces of getting/buying the ingredients, mixing them and backing the cake...

- the sunshine at the end of the afternoon!

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Again, it's a LOT of work taking the pictures, loading and selecting them, keeping track of everything we did by taking notes... not to mention posting about my daily adventures here on Life and Scrapping. But so far, so good! As they say here in Holland: "rustig aan, dan breekt het lijntje niet..." (take it slowley, then the string won't break...)