Life is good

how to

make this cute x-mas tree, i bet you were wondering that, right?!

well. i tell ya. in a minute. first let me tell you i was totally inspired by Gigi's fab trees, i decided to give it a go. i know i don't even come close to her craftmanship, but i had fun making them and now i'll share my "how to make" with you!

first of all gather your supplies: the Scrap-Club December kit and use:
-> 2 pieces of patterned paper (depends on how big you want your tree, mine is 15 cm wide and 20 cm height (when the paper is flat)
-> the big round paper doilie
-> the Crate North Pole Journal Stickers -> i've used the brown & blue border
-> different patterned papers to wrap the 'gifts' and make the flowers
-> something to stick it on, i've used oase, but maybe you'll find something else
-> a stick of some kind (i've used an old brush)
-> the green and brown/creme ribbon

1. start with cutting your patterned paper you want to use for your tree. make 2 'trees' out of it (make sure the y fit lying on top of eachother!

2. sew the edges together on the sewing machine, or sew by hand using the blanket stitch (my favorite!)

3. cover the bottom half of your 'stick/brush" whatever you use as tree trunk with the green ribbon

4. fill your tree with fiberfill or other stuffing material

5. to make sure your filling doesn't come falling out, i made a quick & easy "filling-keeper"...

6. cut a small strip of patterned paper and put glue dots on both ends. pick a hole in the middle where your tree trunk can go through.

7. glue the edges of the 'filling-keeper' on the INSIDE of your tree on both sides and it keeps the stuff from peeking out :D

8. cut a star and glue it on top

9. put your doilie nicely over your oase or whatever you use (you need to stick the tree trunk in there though)

10. use the brown sticker from the Crate North Pole Journal Stickers to secure the doily and drap it around

11. wrap the patterned paper around matchboxes or other small materials. you can also sew one together, stuff it with some fiberfill and put a punched butterfly on top.

12. use the blue sticker from the Crate North Pole Journal Stickers to finish the bottom of the paper of the tree.

13. and embellish with some cute home made paper flowers. how to make these? here you go!

14. cut a circle (by hand) from patterned paper. i've used different sizes to create different sizes of flowers

15. cut the circle, beginning from the outside and cut in circles towards the inside of the circle.

16. like this:

17. when you are finished it must look like something like this:

18. than start rolling the patterned paper with your fingertips. the pattern you want the flower to look, is looking up!

19. when you are almost finished you have this last piece, the inner circle, which is a big better than the rest of the circle. that's where you put your glue dot, or other strong adhesive.

20. holy cute

so i dare you to jump on the wagon and go create your own fabulous X-mas tree with the December Kit from Scrap-Club. consider this as my 'sketch' and let's rock & roll x-mas trees!!

and since the December kit was so much fun to work with, i've also created these layouts:
"how many times?" (hoe vaak)

how many times gets she to skate on natural ice? last year was her first year!! hopefully many will follow, she had a blast!

falala!

hopefully this year Ruben is in the mood for a cute x-mas pic!!

together (samen)

they were so cute decorating the x-mas tree together last year. Sanne helped Ruben out when he couldn't reach the exact perfect spot he neede to put his decoration LOL.

the no-fail-technique: use your punch (square/circle/whatever) and make a grid. works every time!

now onto my new mini and the cute embellishments i'm working on!

life is good. falala
rev

jingle bells, jingle bells...

tralalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaa

some new sneaks for you to get you in the X-mas spirit! i'm already in FULL GEAR.



all made with the fabulous December kit from Scrap-Club!

but first we have to deal with that other old man with the beard.... Sinterklaas finally has arrived in Holland and the 'fun' of "schoenen zetten" (kids place their shoe so they get a gift in it, well, they hope so!) has started!

Sanne totally surprised me by saying: "mommy, i so hope i'll get some cookies (pepernoten) in my shoe and that Sinterklaas will give the gifts to the poor children. look in my room, i already have so much toys!". wow. i never would have tought that of her (maybe repeatedly saying to her she has more than enough and there are poor children in the world) is helping? and we also participated (last year also) at making a shoebox stuffed with gifts & toys. they hand it out in countries where children are less blessed money-wise. those pictures of small children in total ecstasy with their box filled with fun goodies almost made me cry. we are so blessed.

life is good. preparing the next mini album WITH KIT!
rev

fun recipe and a sneak!

what happens when you are trying to loose weight? you see FOOD everywhere. but the good part of it is (well... besides loosing the weight ofcourse!!), that i try to seak new healty recipes! and found a good one for brussels sprouts! so, i thought it was a great idea to share, although i'm not sure if it is really really low calorie. guess you should decide for yourself :D

doesn't this look yum to you?? it did to me and we LOVED it. so here you go:
brussels sprouts (spruitjes) for 4 persons, approx. 500 grams (we are BIG eaters...)
basmati rice (basmati rijst) for 4 persons, approx. 300 grams
mushrooms (champginons) (a lot, cut in halfs)
bacon slices (speklapjes) 4 pieces
soy sauce (ketjap) a few spoons
sambal (but i left it out! too spicy for us!)
spring onions (bosuitjes / lente-uitjes) (one 'bush')
fresh carlic knoflook (two parts)
sesame seeds

cut the bacon slices in small parts. marinade the bacon slices with the soy sauce and 2 parts of fresh carlic and leave for half an hour. prepare the rice (cook). cook the brussels sprouts for a few minutes (i did for about 5 cause i do not like hard vegetables...). cut the mushrooms in half, the spring onions in rings. bake the bacon slices quickly so they are crispy and brown. i always remove the fat and start with a 'dry' pan. add the spring onions and the mushrooms and keep on baking. add the brussels sprouts and the sesameseeds and bake till you think it's ready (i usually cook by what i see, not so much by time...). serve with the very lovely basmati rice and you are a rockstar in da kitchen i tell ya. no seriously. it's really nice & good & lovely & FOOD.

so enough of food cause i'm already getting hungry and just finished lunch!! the december kit from Scrap-Club just arrived and it's lovely! it's good to work with fabulous products, beautiful colors and fun embellishments!! so a little sneak:

fun stuff on the 'menu' today (gotta keep the food-theme going on here...). working on mentioned kit, working on new stuff for my Etsyshop, finishing Sanne's stuffed animal i've promised LONNGGGG time ago and she simply doesn't stop negging for it (geesh...:D) and later on grandma is celebrating her birthday so wine lovely tasty water is coming up.

life is good. have a good one!
rev

packing kits!

last night my dining table looked like this

and i'm not complaining! i am thrilled that so many of you already ordered my "Our December Rituals" kit & turorial, that i barely got something left to put in my Etsyshop REVolution.

if you've ordered one and was on the waitinglist and DID NOT get an email from me with payment details, please send me an email cause something is going wrong than!

i totally forgot to show these 2 layouts i also created with the November kit from Scrap-Club. silly me. i got the December kit and boy o boy my hands are ITCHING to start!

there's a little story behind this one... when they play on the 'playground' across the street i have to come along cause Ruben cannot play outside without 'supervision' :D. so i drag my crochet stuff with me and started to make flowers. what else a girl can do while watching the muppets right? soon the kids started asking: "can i have one...?". ofcourse. so they had one and lately there's this new show on the Dutch TV called "X-Mix". i believe it's a week excuse for a 'totally-spies-look-a-like' but the kids LOVE IT. so i put their crocheted flowers on their wrists and soon they started to 'talk' into their 'watch'. like "beem me up Scotty but than phrases from THEIR TIME". it cracked me up how Ruben was following Sanne's lead and did exactly what she did & said.

Sanne is in Group 3 (first grade i guess) and is starting to read & write. unbelievable how quick that goes. what a fun process to witness. she sees words & sentences everywhere! and i find notes and stuff written down on mostly anything from her. "the cat is wet" but ofcourse in Dutch. she cracks me up.

planning on working on this gorgeous December kit later today. laundry & cleaning is serious business on my agenda for today. when Sanne's from school we go to the Library cause that's FUN when you are 2,5 and RUN RUN RUN like you can't hide... some kits to post, some administration to finish. i've got a feeling that i'm working late tonight for the company, finishing up a huge order and before i forget: the difference was I LOST 5 KILO'S (11 pounds) IN 5 WEEKS. i'm feeling SO good. should have done this earlier, but now it's working since my sweet friend Sandra is whopping my ass if i'm not a good girl...

life is good. even without lots of chocolate...
rev

this is it

*** EDITED: you are so quick!! only 5 more kits left and they are going like crazy! so don't think too long, once they are gone, they are gone! ***

the kit. the "our december rituals"-kit. it will be available for only 25 euro (about $37.50)! yes! how freaking cool is that? the tutorial will be 7 euro ($10.00).

what's in there:
1 full sheet of Toga tiny alphabet letter stickers
1 piece of chipboard for front and back cover
1/2 sheet of Kraft cardstock
1 sheet of Bazzill white cardstock, cut in strips of 7,5 cm
1 strip of 10 cm Bazzill white cardstock
12 pieces of patterned paper 15x15 cm (mostly doublesided)
1 sheet of an old Dutch book
1 big blue or green envelop
2 cupcake papers
1 string of white embroidery floss
3 pieces of crepepapier Jenni Bowlin, red
2 pieces of 10x10 cm fabric
stuffing for the fabric pieces and for the felt
1 piece of white transparancy 8x10 cm
1 piece of patterned paper 6x10 cm
2 white Hambly Rubons (sizes vary, 1 small circle/square and 1 bigger circle/square)
1 piece of Scenic Route grid paper 8x8 cm
1 piece of striped patterned paper Ki Memories 10x15 cm
1 piece of Rhonna Farrer snowflakes patterned paper 10x15 cm
1 little brown envelop
1 star shaped piece of paper
1 lace paper (color varies, red or blue) Ki Memories 15x15 cm
1 piece of cork 14x16 cm
1 chipboard swirl
8 colored tickets (red, blue, grey, green)
2 binding rings
4 small Scenic Route label stickers
13 buttons (5 white, 5 blue, 2 red, 1 green)
3 prima flowers (white, blue, green)
1 pearl top pin
2 felt stars (blue/brown), 3 small felt stars (blue/brown)
1 small felt heart
1 small fabric heart
2 chipboard snowflakes
3 punched blue cardstock butterflies
6 small pieces of ribbon 4 cm
3 pieces of ribbon 8 cm
2 pieces of ribbon 20 cm

told ya it was loaded!!

better light!!

and this is what's it's all about:

they LOVE to browse through the pages, finding stuff in envelopes, touching the material, laughing at the pictures. do i love this hobby or what?

so you can still sign in for the waitinglist! in a few days it will be LIVE on Etsy and when they are gone, they are gone! if you've already send me an email for the waitinglist, than you are on the waitinglist. if i didn't email you back: than i DID NOT get your email, so try to contact me again please.

on a side note.... what to do on a sunday morning, when daddy is home??

you get one kid up-side-down, one attacking you with a plastic swoard and run run run...

they sure crack me up big time!

mommy loves her camera :D. talk about capturing the moments he!

ofcourse, when one kid goes up-side-down it doesn't take long before the other starts to "MY TURN MY TURN"

what is it with the up-side-down part they so love?? and don't worry: i WON'T do this. first i'm not tall enough, their heads would drag around the floor (hey, talk about ideas!), second i'm not strong enough i would drop them any mintue, and third: what are dads for anyway? ha.

life is good. even up-side-down
rev

our december rituals

wanted to show you a bit of a peak of the new tutorial AND kit coming up soon: "our december rituals". it's about Sinterklaas (for the Dutchies), Christmas & New Years Eve (oud & nieuw). it's more of a journal than a mini album but there's room for lots and lots of pictures (i've used 25, but there's room for more or less, whatever you want!). simple 4x6 (10x15 cm) so NO cropping needed. landscape or portrait, black & white or color, ANYTHING goes!

sorry for the poor lightning, it was already getting dark. ofcourse i'll take better & clear pictures for the tutorial!

sneak of the first page...

and some cute handmade felt-fabric embellishments!

the kit will contain LOTS of patterned paper, cork, transparancy, felt stars and hearts, fabric heart, a bit of fabric, string of embroidery floss, buttons, lots of ribbons, 2 sort of 'envelopes', a full sheet of tiny letter abc's, tickets, cardstock, crepe papier, a sheet of an old Dutch book, prima flowers, cup cake papers, 2 Hambly rubons, 4 Scenic Route label stickers, pearl pin, chipboard stars, chipboard for front & cover, chipboard swirl, binding rings.... so i guess you can say it's JAMPACKED with good stuff!

and this time: when you buy the kit & the tutorial you can choose ANY tutorial for free to go with it! my gift for you!. and the FIRST 7 buyers will get a free copy of the "Christmas food, fun & Crafts magazine"!

if you already know you WANT this, please send me an email and i'll put you on the waiting list. remember: last time the kits were sold out in 2 days so be there or be square... so be there!

planning to go on etsy in just a few days!

see any difference??

life is good!
rev

OUCH!!!

what not to do when walking down the stairs holding your todlers hand....

-> carrying other toys in your other hand so you can't hold onto something yourself;
-> not paying attention where you put your feet;
-> slip & fall and PULL DOWN your toddler as you go....

yup. that happened two days ago. i always walk first down the stairs. Ruben follows and i hold his hands and he carefully places his feeth, trying to get his balance... but mommy wasn't paying attention, we were chatting (cause he's CHATTY and FUNNY at the moment) and i simply slipped & fall. about 3 steps down. but in my fall, i was holding his hand and in a reflex i must have pulled him down. he fell HARD on his head. big cry, big scream. Sanne who was already downstairs came rushing up yelling "mommmyyyyy Ruuuuubbbb are you ok?!". she took care of the toys (first things first right?) which i let go and fell all over. and i took care of Ruben who was crying like crazy. yelling at me: BAD MOMMY. STUPID MOMMY ("domme mama"). i try to comfort him, but he simply had to cry so hard he started throwing up. that's always his bonus... luckely we weren't injured badly. he 'only' had a big lump on his head, a cut and bruises. and shaky. he was more shaky because of i pulled hiim down i guess. poor thing. i said i was sorry about a gazillion times, but he still looked at me like: YOU did this.... luckely that didn't take long. chocolate made it all go away for him. i know BAD mommy again but who cares about a bit of chocolate right?

he's doing fine now. being his happy funny self again. he's falling in love with a girl on preschool. so cute. talking about her every day, every minute. what she's doing now. when he goes to bed he says: "Lena also to sleep?". the cutest. he wants to kiss her. BIG KISSES. such a womanizer i guess :D

over to the fun part. photobooth on my imac. HELLO fun.







we were to close to the imac, so the flash made sanne's head all white. next time i'll do better...

December Rituals album is coming along nicely. i hope to finish it this weekend. i'll put it on my blog first. so if you are interested than you can reserve your kit through email. after that i'll put it in my etsy. so this time kit & tutorial!

"hssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaakv bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb" that's what Ruben has got to say about all this.

life is good. keep away from stairs mommy...
rev

some new stuff

the new issue from Creatief met Foto's dropped on my doormat, so i can post what was in the last issue. i worked with the new line from Teresa Collins, and that was more fun than i expected :D

i'm on the bottom pic, Sanne on the top. geesh, she sure looks like me he?

woohaaa she's getting so big!!! come on. just stop time for a bit and let me enjoy some more sweet moments... she asks questions like: who were the first mom & dad in the world mom? ahhhhh.

journaling is in Dutch: when i was just pregnant with you and found out you were going to be a boy i seriously couldn't wrap my brain around it. i already had a girl, knew how that 'worked', what to do with a boy? seriously? sticks & stones & cars and all that stuff? now i know better, it's pure luck, pure happiness!

journaling in Dutch: with Sanne i already had this, and now with Ruben it's the same: i LOVE to smell their feet. those cute little toes. YES even if they are sticky & smelly...

journaling is too long to translate, hey i'm not an idiot... but the layout is about our Sunday morning ritual: we have a very very LOONNGGGG breakfast. like lot's of yummy bread, stuff to put on and just quality time on the breakfast table. we all love it and look forward to it. it just had to be documented :D

and this is my favorite. it's a double 8,5x11 layout. "just a day". i journaled about what we did every hour on that particular day. okay, it's some work to have a notepath ready and jot down what you did, but i promise you in a few years (or even a few months!) from now you'll enjoy reading this more than you think! pictures are just random pictures of us. i don't feel like dragging my camera along all day, but maybe one day i will.

stay tuned for another update on REVolution sometime this week with my new Christmas journal :D. or actually it's a Sinterklaas-Kerstmis-Oud&Nieuw journal, covering all the holidays in one WITH A FABULOUS KIT. last time my kits were sold out within a few days, so watch me if you want some :D

life is good
rev

ta da da!

just updated my Etsy Shop REVolution with these fun embellishments, all handmade (yup need to keep those hands busy since i'm loosing weight! 3 kilo's in 3 weeks, that's like crazy).

the Little Round Revolutions. they are with 6 of them in a package. diameter about 3,5 centimeter (1.4 inches)

the chocolate ones (** the naming of my embellishments have got NOTHING to do with my obsession with food...**)

the pop ones

the romantic ones

the smooth ones

the sophisticated ones

and than the biggies:

the happy ones (biggies are 5 cm diameter (3.5 inches)

the romantic ones

and finally the sophisticated ones

and to give you an idea, you can create something like this:

journaling is in Dutch: how to think of and set up a company of my own isn't new to me, Artifex exists almost 10 years now! but it feels so good to think of something else. to start something else. something where my hart is now. something where i can let my creativity flow. something that gives me butterfly kisses all over again: my own
Etsyshop: REVolution with tutorials, kits and handmade embellishments.

did you know by the way i can type like crazy? really like crazy? like 567 hits PER MINUTE. that's a whopping 10 LETTERS per second. come on. that's not human anymore right? and 95% correct, so i really can type peeps. i SHOULD be in the Guiness book of Records. just to keep you updated :D

life is good
rev

why do all good things come to an end....

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

{Nelly Furtado}

i was soooo sad when i received the news from Ronda of One Little Word closing it's doors. you should read the post over on the blog, i can't tell it in any better way. One Little Word has meant so much to me over the last couple of years. the simple word forced me to think beyond my journaling. i usually made a layout about myself, my childhood, the pain, the sorrow. it's been like therapy for me.

i'll miss it muchos. it's been so much fun to find out what the word was (when i wasn't in the team yet) and to check later on if i was in the slightshow (come on, we all need a bit attention right?). later on it felt like a dream come true to join the Creative Team. Ronda, Jessi, Gigi, Karla, Lynn, Denise & Gudrun became such close friends and feel like family to me now. they should move to the Netherlands but they aren't very interested. maybe i can confince Jessi, her hubby is kinda Dutch so it's worth the try :D.

but i completely understand that lifes comes in the way sometimes and things move on. when one door closes, others WILL open. so to all of you who LOVED One Little Word as much as i did: THANK YOU for all the support from the bottom of my heart. happy & thrilled that Ronda is keeping the blog up, so inspiration will be at your fingertips.

on a different note: Sanne has have a bad cold for 2 weeks now and today i finally find the time to go to the doctors (BAD mommy...). she's got narrowing of her eardrums as a result of that and she's 99% DEAF. i finally do have a reason to yell at her now... in class she sits in front of the teacher, otherwise she doesn't hear a thing... so big chance she needs some eardrum tubes soon... she cannot swim for at least 3 weeks now (because of the chlorine in the water) and that sucks... cause she just started for her B. ah well. move on. she's got nose spray and hopefully that'll make her snot go away... but the bad hearing can stay for WEEKS. aaahhhh.

anddddd some happy news too. i've been working my ass of making embellishments for REVolution, my Etsyshop. a sneak of some stuff that will be uploaded very very soon.

update on the decluttering: i finished Ruben's cloths closet, 2 huge bags to my friend for Felix. Sanne's room: DONE & happy about that. Livingroom: next, Bathroom: next, Our bedroom: uhm. next?, Scrapbookroom: half done :D, Attic: DONE, and that my friends, was a HUGE accomplishment.

so life is good. loose the crap.
rev