This sweet baby is 21 years of age today

I am a bit emotional today - lots of things have happened and I'm not really motivated to post but it's my sons birthday and I need to write a little bit about him. David was born with Down Syndrome, autistic behavior and he is deaf, but not totally as he does respond and understand us when we talk basic with him - and he doesn't speak either..

Although it is tough to have a son like this, God gave me instant love and grace for this boy. He is an adult of 21 years today and I still have to wash him, brush his teeth, in fact do everything for him. He is sick today too, but I can still hear him laughing as I write this.  It's LOVE that gives me the strength to carry on even when he ties me to the home and I have to miss out on a lot of things. Its God's Love and Grace and I want to thank and honor Him for it. The Bible says:

Truly I say to you, In as much as you have done to one of the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me.

Math.25:40

To know that I am really serving Jesus when I love and cherish my son has given my life an extra dimension.
I am very grateful that he gets picked up in the morning to go to a wonderful school where he is occupied and I am also happy that he gets brought home in the evenings. I need that little break. It has taught our other sons how to handle and cope with handicapped people with respect and love. It has added dimension to my DH's life who is used to solving problems - David is a problem he can't solve and it has humbled us.
So today I want to thank David for his influence in our lives in making us softer, richer and deeper in our hearts to have been gifted with his weakness and having to deal with it in everyday life.

Playing with bird images

Just playing with some same color papers, but different tones.. gives a different effect. But its still collage. I love playing with these bird stamps.

 Have had a very busy weekend so it was nice to relax for a couple of hours in my little room.

Have a good week!

Tag - but not Valentines

It just doesn't come naturally to me - Valentine's art... I can't do it. I can't craft with hearts, red, pink and white colors - it just doesn't happen. The theme at Tag Tuesday is Valentines, but try as I might, I am blank! Even though DH will be 50 very soon and I would love to give him a Valentine's tag, I can't.

So I made another type of tag, a birthday tag for somebody....

Not very inspired to try something different, buy stamps, join in challenges - I need to be productive, so I'm working away the scraps again.....
Thanks to Karen of the Graphic's Fairy for the Bird image, which I found here, love birds!

Napkin Art

I received a lovely little surprise package of napkins from a blogging friend, Cynnie from Germany,  yesterday. Only just recently I was admiring napkin-art in the Somerset Gallery mag. So I thought I would give it a go as I had some of the special clear gel glue that is needed.

Because I am not very patient it isn't as neat as it could have been, but you don't see it close up on the photo, so I won't worry about that!
I have framed it as it is too bulky to put onto a card.

A little collage

I tried to sell this birdcage stamp on Ebay (France) without success. I tried looking at it in a different way, to see if there was a creative way to use it and all of a sudden I saw a picture in it.

 
I already had this stamped birdcage and the little image sitting in my scrap bin (as Suzz calls it, that must be the American word for basket) so I put them together and created a little collage card. The flower, sentiment and shells were also in the scrap bin and just seemed to fit. I have Suzz to thank for the websters page too..on which I printed an Eau de Cologne perfume bottle label from The Graphic's Fairy, which can be found here.

 Another little card with the same label. Just added a butterfly.. but no gems... that gets taking used too!

End of the week Scrap Tag

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday! The soft mild sunny weather has changed to cold icy winds here at the moment. The sun is still shining but its 'indoors' weather.

I love cutting out butterflies while I'm watching the Tennis which is my favorite sport to watch. But sorry girls, not a Federer fan, I am rooting for Rafa - he's pure entertainment! I still had some tiny scraps over after cutting out the butterflies and I just cannot throw them away, so this is the result of the scraps from the scraps, if you get what I mean. I was looking for a home for the center panel, so just added the tiny squares around it for my tag.

My butterfly pile has doubled in the mean time, and I have started with dragonflies too. Might do this with flowers and birds...

Thank you ladies for your visits, I am always so happy to see you!

Lace background stamp from Hero Arts

This is a gorgeous background stamp, have always wanted it since I saw Godelieve use it white embossed on vellum on her blog here. On this card, I white embossed on music paper. I thought it would go well with the HA Hydrangea stamp and basic gray. Love these colors.

 

I picked out one of the butterflies from the pile.... as I said I would be making lots from scraps.

What is it about cutting out butterflies - I think the thought of using them on a card in the future is very motivating!

Tag Tuesday - Winter

I didn't expect this theme on Louise's blog this afternoon as I was preparing myself to use butterflies and lovely light colors for the Spring! It is so soft and warm here. But that is often the case in the South of France and it can turn cold again.

I used part of a stamp from Sugar Lump Studios, of children on a sledge in the snow, using tea-dye distress ink. I decorated the outside of the tag with different winter foliage stamps in peeled paint and shabby shutters distress ink and used a sentiment that Louise sent me a while ago. It is one of my favorite words ' JOY' - and I always interpret it as the JOY of the Lord, because that is a precious thing to have. I have e-mail contact with a friend in Holland and we have decided to send each other joy-reports - it is a great reminder of everything we can be thankful for! So much can happen in just a week!

 I made this one very quickly before I cleaned and put the stamps away - I have a little head-start for next year Christmas now.

Lace and butterflies

Whenever I see the Hero Arts Lace Frame stamp I always want to use it and here I have inked it up with Forest moss distress ink and added a newly found vintage photo which I love.

During the summer holiday in Spain last year I had made loads of butterflies and shells from scraps of paper to use when needed, as can be seen here:

But I have used them all and given some away - so I am looking forward to stamping on lots of new scraps soon to make a new pile for the weeks to come... can't craft without butterflies!

A Dutch blogger - Wilmi

If you want an idea of what Holland is like, visit Wilmi on her blog here. I lived in Holland nineteen years ago, so it is always a joy to visit this country again, Les Pays Bas, via her blog. Her blog is full of color and life and she is sharp in her observations as well as humoristic in her journaling.

This envelope with goodies is what Wilmi sent to me - it reflects who she is - COLORFUL! She blogs about everyday life with photos, she creates cards from magazine, paints stories on stones, creates wonders from old pieces of wood - an all round creative person - thanks Wilmi for letting me taste a part of it!
The following two cards have been made around the die-cut she sent me:

I am wondering if my friends in America know about this diecut because I have never seen them use it. I used a webster page and an image I recently found but didn't note where. I'm sorry about that.

Wilmi had also given me a doily which I have never used on cards before, and love! I used half of it on this card and the other half is a diecut from Helle.

It feels and looks like a beautiful sunny day today - Spring already?!!
Have a good weekend!

One layer card using masking for Hero Arts challenge

Hope you are all well ladies!
I made this collage card for the Hero Arts monthly challenge. The theme is to use masking on your project.

Once I have masks for projects I save them as it shortens the time you need if ever you want to use them again and get a quick idea. All stamps are Hero Arts, the butterfly is from the scrap basket.

Tag Tuesday - a bit of fabric

Tag Tuesday this week is to use a bit of fabric, and that is my butterfly. It is stamped with a stamp from Eline Pellinkhof on fabric.

I used a piece of a Webster page and the children's image is a stamp from Artistic Outpost.

Just loving collage again

Happy Sunday! Here it is grey and damp.... But inside warm and cozy!

I am not motivated to enter any challenges these last months - I just create spontaneously as the mood is and the time allows. Going with the flow I suppose.

 Like yesterday I just pulled out four pieces from my scrapbasket (see card above), juggled and glued and had myself a little card within twenty minutes. Thats how I love creating - picking up papers lying in a pile and turning them into a useful object that I can bless somebody with. When I pray I ask the Lord to show me who I can send a card too and bless them - usually, with a Bible verse or just a word of encouragement.
At work I have many opportunities to include a little creation in the mail I send. So I am happy that being creative is a tool I can use to bless others. I know how it blesses me ridiculously when I receive something from somebody in the mail, so thats what motivates me to create too!

Having made one collage card, never satisfies me, so here is the second one that followed.

Tag Tuesday - Mosaic

Definitely the most challenging challenge to date on the Tag Tuesday blog.
 

I don't even know whether I like this or not... but the sheer challenge of trying this technique just drove me.
I cut all the pieces out by hand. I had a template which I glued to the back of the stamped Peacock image and cut it out that way. Then I glued the pieces down and marked between the lines.

Masking

A couple of cards using the masking technique.

 

With the Lace background stamp I went for a different effect for the background.

These are Hero Arts stamps and the bird is from Artistic Outpost.

Little collage tag

This is not for Tag Tuesday - I need to think about that one, but this is a tag that just came together with a diecut that Hellemor sent me. Thanks Hellemor, I love that pp!

I reduced the size of the digital collage stamp I put together with Hero Arts and Artistic Outpost stamps and adhered to a smaller diecut.

See you later in the week!

Review of 2010

I wanted to do a little review of 2010 - one thing I made in every month that I want to remember. What better place than here at the beginning of 2011. Starting with January. My favorite is March 2010, three down.

I was all into digital butterflies at this time.
In the mean time I dropped the MS punch and it broke so I don't have use of this anymore. Loved distressing then and still love it!

Still using digital butterflies, big size. I also received some diecuts from Sue which I started using on cards.
The background flourish stamp which I got inspired by on Lin's blog has proved such a versatile HA stamp to use.

More digital butterflies and my first use of the Grass stamp from Hero Arts, intertwined with some lavender and pollen.

Used up some scraps to make a pocket with a tag.

This was made using the batik technique for my DH for our anniversary the 15th May.

Using up the scraps from the last months.

 

Love making tags with scraps too.

One of my favorites stamp I got around August last year, the Hero Arts Hydrangea.

The challenge in September was to make a tag with a banner.

Using up the scraps again with a grid.

  

A card using some of my favorite papers, colors and stamps.

For December I chose my robin tag.

I have made an exposition of my favorite cards made by other ladies from the Hero Arts flickr group, which can be found by visiting this link

Grids and inspiration

If there is one thing that I love the most that is mixing and matching with papers and colors, thats why I love these type of cards!

 

Just recently I got hold of some papers from Eline Pellinkhof who has a Dutch line of stamps and patterned papers. The colors are quite bold but I was drawn to them nonetheless. But I'm finding it difficult to cut into the papers, so I thought I would use the packaging in which the papers came.... I'm all for recycling anyway.

I want to share two other cards which two of my blogging friends made showing a unique way of using inchies that I am definately going to try myself. The first one is a grid which has been placed inside a stamped frame which has been white embossed on black paper. I think it is stunning! Look how the black and white brings out the vibrant colors of the inchies which have been punched out of stamping projects. Excellent!

This card is made by Nancy Krueger.

Secondly, feast your eyes on this beauty from Patty. Patty does not have a blog but can be found on the Hero Arts flickr gallery here.

This is so BEAUTIFUL! The inchies have been molded into a heart - I am definitely going to have to try this. I also love the color choice.

Have a fine day!
Jacqueline