Peeping through the keyhole...

Hi guys!

Look what I found in my mailbox today!
The birds and bonnets vintage workshop swap screen has arrived.
It is so, well what can I say? It's just too good for words.
All panels all gorgeous; see and judge yourself:

You just have to click the pictures to see the amazing details...Look at the 'bonnet' page and the 'bird' page used as backgrounds, the tags, the veil, the lovely buttons etcetera, etcetera.

From the right to the left the panels were made by:

Kathy Laury (Country Chintz)
Brenda Schenck (Dragonlady)
Heidi Nutzman (Liquorish)
Rachael (the Rose Room)

And here the artist the other way around:
Rachael (the Rose Room)
Heidi Nutzman (Liquorish)
Brenda Schenck (Dragonlady)

Kathy Laury (Country Chintz)

I am so pleased with this screen; thank you ladies! Chapeau! (it's French for hat, or better: I take my hat off to you, in other words I make a deep bow)! Or should I say: Bonnet!? LOL
This swap has been so much fun! To see what over a 100 swappers did with more or less the same material, it's just amazing. Don't forget to check the Flickr group to see more panels. Thanks Beth and Karla for hosting!
Those two lovely ladies are not only very very creative and talented, they are generous too. We have been swapping around and look what they have send me:


This yummy parcel was send by Beth.


This tag was given by Karla. Thanks a million girls!!
All this stuff is getting a good spot in my little craftroom which is under construction as a result of a challenge hosted by Michelle right now. But you girls have my permission to look through the keyhole:

Especially for all dutch girls who love some details...
June 21st my craftroom has to be tidyied up, reorganized and supplies should be better manageable. It has been a long way baby, but I think I'm going to make this challenge.
Michelle already has posted some 'before' pictures and a questionaire that everybody has filled in. So I have been busy, there was no time to complete the red challenge with some pictures outside. To make it up to you I'll show you one: it's my red hydrangea or better known up here as hortensia. It's flowers are made of the leather kind of foliage, so this one will be beautiful until it starts freezing... I hope to see you sooner though.
Take care girls love and hugs,
LiLi M.

Peeping through the keyhole...

Hi guys!

Look what I found in my mailbox today!
The birds and bonnets vintage workshop swap screen has arrived.
It is so, well what can I say? It's just too good for words.
All panels all gorgeous; see and judge yourself:

You just have to click the pictures to see the amazing details...Look at the 'bonnet' page and the 'bird' page used as backgrounds, the tags, the veil, the lovely buttons etcetera, etcetera.

From the right to the left the panels were made by:

Kathy Laury (Country Chintz)
Brenda Schenck (Dragonlady)
Heidi Nutzman (Liquorish)
Rachael (the Rose Room)

And here the artist the other way around:
Rachael (the Rose Room)
Heidi Nutzman (Liquorish)
Brenda Schenck (Dragonlady)

Kathy Laury (Country Chintz)

I am so pleased with this screen; thank you ladies! Chapeau! (it's French for hat, or better: I take my hat off to you, in other words I make a deep bow)! Or should I say: Bonnet!? LOL
This swap has been so much fun! To see what over a 100 swappers did with more or less the same material, it's just amazing. Don't forget to check the Flickr group to see more panels. Thanks Beth and Karla for hosting!
Those two lovely ladies are not only very very creative and talented, they are generous too. We have been swapping around and look what they have send me:


This yummy parcel was send by Beth.


This tag was given by Karla. Thanks a million girls!!
All this stuff is getting a good spot in my little craftroom which is under construction as a result of a challenge hosted by Michelle right now. But you girls have my permission to look through the keyhole:

Especially for all dutch girls who love some details...
June 21st my craftroom has to be tidyied up, reorganized and supplies should be better manageable. It has been a long way baby, but I think I'm going to make this challenge.
Michelle already has posted some 'before' pictures and a questionaire that everybody has filled in. So I have been busy, there was no time to complete the red challenge with some pictures outside. To make it up to you I'll show you one: it's my red hydrangea or better known up here as hortensia. It's flowers are made of the leather kind of foliage, so this one will be beautiful until it starts freezing... I hope to see you sooner though.
Take care girls love and hugs,
LiLi M.

I saw red again

Hi!!

I think this "I saw red' challenge is a success, don't forget to look at other participants' blogs, that is what these challenges make so special. Thanks Sandra-Sadie Olive's journal for hosting this event.

So let's see where I have seen red in our house.

I think it's interesting, I was tending to say that there was hardly any red in our house. Looking around I noticed that red obvious is one persons favorite color:

This was my present for Mother's day, made by my son. He has thought about it. Putting a yellow chocobo feather (one of his favorite game creatures) on top of this teabox and a lot of glitters, yep the tarnishing kind!

And another person favors red too:


My husband's dream is to own a red Ford Mustang cabriolet 1964-66 one day...
(the large one of course).

And there is more red; I remember I wanted this couch shape in blue, but we couldn't find it anywhere so now
we have a red couch in the right shape:

And coordinating curtains:



Curtains in the bedroom:


This is how I keep my cleaner in the bathroom:



(It's an old bottle with an old German scrap filled with a cleaner; do you know Andy?)



It seems that every girl likes shoes. I like Jan Jansen shoes so much I even like to read about them.



I bought this for someone special today. I'm hoping to get invited on that polka dot party!
(Does anyone out there know how to polka? I will be desperately in need of a polka tutorial, once I get invited of course...)



About two weeks ago my daughter received this rose to celebrate that every one in her class has made it this year. She does a secondary school, which includes education in the fields of singing, dancing and acting; in short an education in theater skills. All kids in her class had public auditions two weeks ago and at the end all classmates received this rose and the message that everybody is going to the 3rd grade. Do you believe this? Still about 6 weeks to go and they still have a lot of rehearsals....Why should those children work hard? They already know that they will pass their tests!
Next time I'm going to find some reds outside!

Nog even verder met rood;
ik dacht eigenlijk dat ik nauwelijks rood in huis had, maar ik vind het wel interessant dat je nu ineens bewust op zoek gaat naar rood en ook ziet dat anderen die kleur niet voor niets gebruiken. Mijn zoon vindt rood blijkbaar mooi. Ik kreeg van hem voor moederdag deze mooie rode theedoos. Hij is het enige kind dat ik ken dat zijn ouders echt vader en moeder noemt, reuze handig als je bijvoorbeeld in een pretpark bent. Bij "maammaaaaa" kijkt iedereen op. Als er 'Moeder' geroepen wordt is het toch echt mijn beurt!
Ook mijn man heeft een rode droom: Nog eens een rode Mustang Cabrio 1964-66 te bezitten en dan een grote!
Wij hebben een rode bank. Ik wilde graag zo'n soort vorm, maar dan in het blauw, maar die kon ik toen nergens vinden. Nu dus rood en dan ook bijpassende gordijnen.
Ook in de slaapkamer zit er rood in de gordijnen en niet te vergeten de embrasses.
In de badkamer is het schoonmaakmiddel rood.
En vandaag kocht ik dit rode kinderserviesje voor een speciaal iemand. Nu nog wachten op een uitnodiging voor het rood met witte stippen feest!
Een rode roos mag natuurlijk niet ontbreken en laten we die nu net in huis hebben.
Onze 14 jarige dochter kreeg hem cadeau aan het eind van een optreden. Zij doet een theateropleiding aan een middelbare school. Iedereen uit haar klas moest een publieke auditie doen, het was echt geweldig. Onze dochter deed een monoloog. Aan het eind van de avond kregen alle kids van hun mentrix zo'n roos met de mededeling dat ze allemaal over waren naar het derde jaar. Goed om te weten als je nog 8 weken school te gaan hebt en de proefwerkweken nog moeten beginnen...gelukkig dat die kids de hele dag zitten te msn-en enzo, dus ik geloof dat ik de enige ben die die link gelegd heeft.

(Zal ik dan die oranje challenge gaan organiseren? Vanaf zaterdag uiteraard....)

Hugs L.

I saw red again

Hi!!

I think this "I saw red' challenge is a success, don't forget to look at other participants' blogs, that is what these challenges make so special. Thanks Sandra-Sadie Olive's journal for hosting this event.

So let's see where I have seen red in our house.

I think it's interesting, I was tending to say that there was hardly any red in our house. Looking around I noticed that red obvious is one persons favorite color:

This was my present for Mother's day, made by my son. He has thought about it. Putting a yellow chocobo feather (one of his favorite game creatures) on top of this teabox and a lot of glitters, yep the tarnishing kind!

And another person favors red too:


My husband's dream is to own a red Ford Mustang cabriolet 1964-66 one day...
(the large one of course).

And there is more red; I remember I wanted this couch shape in blue, but we couldn't find it anywhere so now
we have a red couch in the right shape:

And coordinating curtains:



Curtains in the bedroom:


This is how I keep my cleaner in the bathroom:



(It's an old bottle with an old German scrap filled with a cleaner; do you know Andy?)



It seems that every girl likes shoes. I like Jan Jansen shoes so much I even like to read about them.



I bought this for someone special today. I'm hoping to get invited on that polka dot party!
(Does anyone out there know how to polka? I will be desperately in need of a polka tutorial, once I get invited of course...)



About two weeks ago my daughter received this rose to celebrate that every one in her class has made it this year. She does a secondary school, which includes education in the fields of singing, dancing and acting; in short an education in theater skills. All kids in her class had public auditions two weeks ago and at the end all classmates received this rose and the message that everybody is going to the 3rd grade. Do you believe this? Still about 6 weeks to go and they still have a lot of rehearsals....Why should those children work hard? They already know that they will pass their tests!
Next time I'm going to find some reds outside!

Nog even verder met rood;
ik dacht eigenlijk dat ik nauwelijks rood in huis had, maar ik vind het wel interessant dat je nu ineens bewust op zoek gaat naar rood en ook ziet dat anderen die kleur niet voor niets gebruiken. Mijn zoon vindt rood blijkbaar mooi. Ik kreeg van hem voor moederdag deze mooie rode theedoos. Hij is het enige kind dat ik ken dat zijn ouders echt vader en moeder noemt, reuze handig als je bijvoorbeeld in een pretpark bent. Bij "maammaaaaa" kijkt iedereen op. Als er 'Moeder' geroepen wordt is het toch echt mijn beurt!
Ook mijn man heeft een rode droom: Nog eens een rode Mustang Cabrio 1964-66 te bezitten en dan een grote!
Wij hebben een rode bank. Ik wilde graag zo'n soort vorm, maar dan in het blauw, maar die kon ik toen nergens vinden. Nu dus rood en dan ook bijpassende gordijnen.
Ook in de slaapkamer zit er rood in de gordijnen en niet te vergeten de embrasses.
In de badkamer is het schoonmaakmiddel rood.
En vandaag kocht ik dit rode kinderserviesje voor een speciaal iemand. Nu nog wachten op een uitnodiging voor het rood met witte stippen feest!
Een rode roos mag natuurlijk niet ontbreken en laten we die nu net in huis hebben.
Onze 14 jarige dochter kreeg hem cadeau aan het eind van een optreden. Zij doet een theateropleiding aan een middelbare school. Iedereen uit haar klas moest een publieke auditie doen, het was echt geweldig. Onze dochter deed een monoloog. Aan het eind van de avond kregen alle kids van hun mentrix zo'n roos met de mededeling dat ze allemaal over waren naar het derde jaar. Goed om te weten als je nog 8 weken school te gaan hebt en de proefwerkweken nog moeten beginnen...gelukkig dat die kids de hele dag zitten te msn-en enzo, dus ik geloof dat ik de enige ben die die link gelegd heeft.

(Zal ik dan die oranje challenge gaan organiseren? Vanaf zaterdag uiteraard....)

Hugs L.

A girls day out

I can recommend everybody a day out before children's vacation starts. Here the kids have to go to school for another 8 weeks...so I have to plan a day out or better dayS out straight away. This day out is preferable with a girlfriend who shares the same interests as you, interests which your kids hate or just don't like to do as long as you.

Just before the May vacation my neighbour Z. and I went to Antwerp in Belgium and we had sooo much fun. We went by train and we both didn't recognize the station, which recently has been dug into the ground, but fortunately we got out of the train just in time. We went shopping all day and look what we found lying on the ground....

It's Z. dressed in red* who is holding our treasure, though we were in doubt. We just started shopping, what to do with this head all day? and where to keep in the train when traveling back, who was taking this one on her lap??? So we decided to leave miss Piggy's head just were we found it. Can you imagine finding such a thing at the street? Well, it wasn't just at the street, it was at the famous Vrijdag (=Friday) market. Here people are auctioning their merchandise. Things that are unsold are just left behind and everybody is digging in the stuff that's left (my children not to mention my husband would hate that). But Z. and I found more treasures:



I'm holding a free antique cup and saucer while Z. (mind you: under her red jacket a red sweater) is holding an antique glass. Both brocante marmelade jars at the table were found on the ground as well.


There are a lot of antique stores in and around the Kloosterstraat. Of course in the heat of the hunt one just forgets to take pictures...but I managed to take this one of a wreath at Tante Brocante. It would look great with Christmas so we'd better start collecting cutlery and utensils right away!
Plan your days off while you still can ladies, don't tell me that I didn't warn you in time!
Have a nice week!

PS:

* Sadie Olive is having a challlenge: I saw red. While Z. is wearing a red jacket I thought I could combine things. Check at Sadies for more participants.
Look what I bought today:



'Is there something going on in blogland?' my beloved husband asked immediately when he saw our new placemats. He didn't like them, even not when I asked him five times...'as if my opinion matters', he complains every time. Sure...they'll stay anyway!

Lieve dames er is een rode challenge in gang gezet door Sadie Olive. Maar ik wil jullie er vooral aan helpen herinneren dat de grote vakantie over een week of 8, of bij jullie in de regio misschien al eerder, begint. Het is goed om van te voren nog een dagje uit te plannen, het liefst met een vriendin die jouw interesses deelt. Zo was ik met mijn buurvrouw Z. in Antwerpen. Op de Vrijdagmarkt vonden we gewoon op straat de zwijnenkop, tsja maar wat doe je de hele dag met zo'n koppie? Gewoon laten liggen dus, hoewel Miss Piggy op de foto toch wel een hele mooie vondst lijkt. Wat wel mee naar huis mocht: een antieke kop en schotel, een antiek glas en twee jampotten (leeg), die we ook gewoon op straat vonden. Verder zagen we nog een prachtige rode stoel die ook prima in deze post zou passen, maar in het heetst van de strijd (zo mag je de brocantejacht toch wel noemen?) vergat ik natuurlijk foto's te maken. Behalve dan van de krans van tante Brocante.
Op de laatste foto mijn aankoop van de dag: een aantal placemats. Mijn geliefde vindt ze niet mooi, ook niet na 5 keer vragen: Vind je ze echt niet mooi?
Toch blijven ze. Ik begrijp ineens waarom hij wel eens verzucht; 'Waarom vraag je eigenlijk mijn mening?'


Dames ik wens jullie alvast een gezellig dagje uit voordat de vakantie begint!
greetz L.

A girls day out

I can recommend everybody a day out before children's vacation starts. Here the kids have to go to school for another 8 weeks...so I have to plan a day out or better dayS out straight away. This day out is preferable with a girlfriend who shares the same interests as you, interests which your kids hate or just don't like to do as long as you.

Just before the May vacation my neighbour Z. and I went to Antwerp in Belgium and we had sooo much fun. We went by train and we both didn't recognize the station, which recently has been dug into the ground, but fortunately we got out of the train just in time. We went shopping all day and look what we found lying on the ground....

It's Z. dressed in red* who is holding our treasure, though we were in doubt. We just started shopping, what to do with this head all day? and where to keep in the train when traveling back, who was taking this one on her lap??? So we decided to leave miss Piggy's head just were we found it. Can you imagine finding such a thing at the street? Well, it wasn't just at the street, it was at the famous Vrijdag (=Friday) market. Here people are auctioning their merchandise. Things that are unsold are just left behind and everybody is digging in the stuff that's left (my children not to mention my husband would hate that). But Z. and I found more treasures:



I'm holding a free antique cup and saucer while Z. (mind you: under her red jacket a red sweater) is holding an antique glass. Both brocante marmelade jars at the table were found on the ground as well.


There are a lot of antique stores in and around the Kloosterstraat. Of course in the heat of the hunt one just forgets to take pictures...but I managed to take this one of a wreath at Tante Brocante. It would look great with Christmas so we'd better start collecting cutlery and utensils right away!
Plan your days off while you still can ladies, don't tell me that I didn't warn you in time!
Have a nice week!

PS:

* Sadie Olive is having a challlenge: I saw red. While Z. is wearing a red jacket I thought I could combine things. Check at Sadies for more participants.
Look what I bought today:



'Is there something going on in blogland?' my beloved husband asked immediately when he saw our new placemats. He didn't like them, even not when I asked him five times...'as if my opinion matters', he complains every time. Sure...they'll stay anyway!

Lieve dames er is een rode challenge in gang gezet door Sadie Olive. Maar ik wil jullie er vooral aan helpen herinneren dat de grote vakantie over een week of 8, of bij jullie in de regio misschien al eerder, begint. Het is goed om van te voren nog een dagje uit te plannen, het liefst met een vriendin die jouw interesses deelt. Zo was ik met mijn buurvrouw Z. in Antwerpen. Op de Vrijdagmarkt vonden we gewoon op straat de zwijnenkop, tsja maar wat doe je de hele dag met zo'n koppie? Gewoon laten liggen dus, hoewel Miss Piggy op de foto toch wel een hele mooie vondst lijkt. Wat wel mee naar huis mocht: een antieke kop en schotel, een antiek glas en twee jampotten (leeg), die we ook gewoon op straat vonden. Verder zagen we nog een prachtige rode stoel die ook prima in deze post zou passen, maar in het heetst van de strijd (zo mag je de brocantejacht toch wel noemen?) vergat ik natuurlijk foto's te maken. Behalve dan van de krans van tante Brocante.
Op de laatste foto mijn aankoop van de dag: een aantal placemats. Mijn geliefde vindt ze niet mooi, ook niet na 5 keer vragen: Vind je ze echt niet mooi?
Toch blijven ze. Ik begrijp ineens waarom hij wel eens verzucht; 'Waarom vraag je eigenlijk mijn mening?'


Dames ik wens jullie alvast een gezellig dagje uit voordat de vakantie begint!
greetz L.

Being tagged again and a peek in our garden

Hi all!!

I have been tagged twice again. I love reading about you girls. But somehow it's less fun when I write these facts about myself. So to make it a bit more interesting while you are here I'll show some pictures of the garden.

Maria Elena has tagged me and she wants to know 7 strange and unfamiliar things about me.
Now the other day I was thinking about 7 weird things. I asked my husband and he said: only 7?
But I wrote seven weird things about me here already I told him, but he thinks those were 7 weird incidents.

Here we go:

1. I'm a night animal.
I can stay up very late and having no problems at all, no matter how early I have risen. I can sleep in daytime when ever I feel like it. Especially when watching Pokémon with my son I cannot keep my eyes open. There are times that I sleep less than 4 hours without interruption for nights and nights in a row. Now I have read that in that case you will overproduce a hormone that makes that you will eat too much. So I really cannot help :-). I like these kind of theories and that brings us to:

2. I have all kind of theories. Like how my whole life would have been different if I was born in time. My mother was expecting me September 26th. I was born October 8th. At that time you had to be 6 years old before October 1st, when you started primary school. So that first time (of many to come) of being late did cost me an extra year in Kindergarten (which is btw THE most useful education ever invented; learning how to copy, cut and paste is most helpful to a lot of working people nowadays while being able to recite Pythagoras' theory doesn't help you much further in most occasions). If I was born in time I would have had other classmates, other friends, probably never met my husband, having other children etc. etc.

3. When I cook I never taste but I only smell. And it works! I love to cook Italian, Indian, Indonesian, Moroccan, Turkish, Dutch whatever! When I read a recipe I'm always adding stuff and leaving stuff already when reading.

4. I like way too many things. I simply cannot choose. I like all kind of stuff in my interior. Antiques, vintage, Cath Kidstonlike, modern stuff (if it's inventive). I like to read and I like to write. I like history. I like to craft. I like to sew. I like to shop. I like to travel. I like to stay at home.
But I dislike house cleaning and nasty people.

We are having goldfish in our pond!

5. I have a memory for totally useless things. Like: I remember what I was wearing when hubby and I had our first date. On the other hand I cannot remember where I have left my credit card, the one that I have lend to my daughter. I remember her giving it back, me thinking I will not need this one on vacation, so let's put it away carefully and then...blank zero nothing!!

and tadpoles!

6. I love jokes and funny stories, (not the joke that everybody is telling but one that you invent yourself) and I laugh out loud even, or should I admit especially, when I tell them myself...:-}

7. I can work in my studio even when it looks like this:

And believe me the other side is the same or worse.
That's why I'm joining a challenge hosted by Michelle 'to have your working space organized by June 21st.' And of course I will make that.


Viola Molly Sanderson

I have been tagged by Nicky as well:

1. What was I 10 years ago?
I was married to Mr. M. already, having two kids (the same) and having a part time job as a personal assistant to several members of Parliament. Helping them making and preparing their speeches. I specialized in educational issues and issues concerning working conditions and working environments. I was a collector at that time too, my main interest then was vintage and mod Barbie.


2. Five things on my to do list today:
1. Ironing (but I didn't feel like it/forget it, I don't have a memory for these kind of things either, but the day isn't over yet.)
2. Mail lots and lots of people (haven't done that either)
3. I still have to call my nephew who is celebrating his 15th birthday today. Congrats to you Ian!
4. Make a blogpost and do something creative too.
5. try to find the forms of my sons next school, so I can register him for secondary school. Yep I have found the forms, but I haven't filled them all in yet.
(What on earth have I done today??)

3 snacks I enjoy:
Flemish fries with mayonaise
All kinds of french cheese, the more they stink the better!
My homemade pies.

We now have electricity in our garden too!

It shouldn't have to be that obvious concerning to me. Ooh men...you have to explain them everything....


4 things I would do if I was a millionaire.
I think this is a tough one. I really am a happy and lucky person already.
Should I write that I wouldn't care about the shipping costs of vintage wallpaper if I was a millionaire? My husband would probably stop working and poke all day around here mmmm....
Would I try to do a bit more about political issues like poverty and aids in the third world? Probably.

5 places where I lived
I started in Rotterdam, very near the railway. This was a house with no bathroom, no garden and no balcony. At that time there were not enough houses for everybody, so my parents occupied this house illegal. They were 'krakers' (dutch word for illegal inhabitants) avant la lettre.
From there we moved to the Hague,where we lived in an apartment with bathroom and garden so we were really doing well.
I rented a room in Leiden when I was 19. Living with a landlord and landlady, both very nice people, we still keep in touch. After that my boyfriend (now Mr. M) and I rented two rooms in a house at one of Leidens famous canals. But those rooms were at the back of the house, so no nice views for us.
After that we moved several times in Leiden and then we made this 'big move' to Dordrecht where I still live, though not in the same house as where we started.
These are all places in the Netherlands, even in one county 'South Holland'.

And now I have to tag 6 people...
These people can choose what they want to tell us:
7 weird things or Nicky's tag or nothing at all, if they don't feel like it.

Wil (casa nostra)

Jeanette and/or her daughter Emma
Linnea Maria
Sol
Marianne

and finally Mme
Vosgesparis who has told us a lot allready but I'm missing 7 (or more) WEIRD facts about her....
As a reward they may tag six other bloggers, wow!



Are you still here?
Have a nice day, hugs LiLi.