The best things in life are free!

There is nothing better than finding a parcel in your mailbox, when you don't expect it. And this is what I found last week: Wil has sent me this beautiful parcel with the lovely envelope with a sweet note in it.

Says she wanted to thank me for the price she won in my giveaway in February. At that time Wil didn't have a blog, but now she has. You should visit her at Casa Nostra and say 'Hi' from me. Wil is an expert in buying old trash and making treasures of them, buying treasures as well and: (papapapapapaaaaaa:sound of trumpet):

Wil is also great in making cards! Look what she has sent me: A photo album filled with 7 of her artistic creations. The eighth is stuck to the album but

I have removed the others from the album and they are hanging proudly in my almost finished reorganized craftroom, so I can enjoy them every day! Thank you Wil! I feel so lucky with these works of art. They truly inspire me!

Don't forget to click on the picture to see them better. I will use these images in my blog in due time, if I have your permision Wil, of course I will mention that the image is yours.

Living in the northern hemisphere I just want to tell you that in my part of the world the Lime tree is blooming. If there are blooming Lime trees in your neighbourhood, don't forget to go and smell. To me (and I know that scent is a very subjective and personal thing) there is almost nothing that smells better than the blossoming Lime tree. Reminding me of fresh laundry, new born babies and my mother. My mother died almost 12 years ago, but she taught me to enjoy the smell of the trees, the twittering and nesting of all little birds, all small things that you never should take for granted, but enjoy them with all your senses. To me it's seems to be easy; looking out of the window there is a row of Lime trees in our street.

Looking down I can see about 20 working men who are making a new drain, hahaha I bet they don't enjoy the smell of the Lime tree! Which is merely impossible at day time, hidden behind the smell of all their machines. But I'm smart: I have taken a little twig inside;



Always enjoy the smell of Lime trees while you can!
I'm curious to know what's your favorite smell...


Enjoy each and every day!
Thanks again Wil!

Nog even een korte vertaling:
Van Wil kreeg ik een prachtig album toegestuurd vol met zelfgemaakte kaarten, die heb ik eruit gehaald en in mijn bijna gereorganiseerde knutselkamer opgehangen. Wil heeft ook een blog 'Casa Nostra' die kun je boven of in de sidebar aanklikken om haar even een bezoekje te brengen en vergeet haar niet de groeten van mij te doen!
Heel erg bedankt Wil!!

Op dit moment bloeit de Lindeboom. Ik ben dol op de geur van lindebloesem, die doet me denken aan de geur van net gewassen linnengoed, pasgeboren babies en mijn moeder. Mijn moeder is al bijna 12 jaar dood, maar zij heeft me geleerd van deze geur te houden. En ook van het gekwetter van de vogeltjes, van de manier waarop de meesjes hun nestjes maken en uitvliegen, kortom van alle dingen in het leven die je nooit voor lief moet nemen, maar waar je bewust van moet genieten, het liefst met al je zintuigen.
Ik lijk het gemakkelijk te hebben met een straat vol Lindebomen maarrrr juist op dit moment zijn ze een nieuw riool aan het aanleggen. Mmm, daarom heb ik maar een takje bloesem mee naar binnen genomen.
Wat is eigenlijk jouw favoriete geur?

Geniet van het leven!
xoxo LiLi M.

The best things in life are free!

There is nothing better than finding a parcel in your mailbox, when you don't expect it. And this is what I found last week: Wil has sent me this beautiful parcel with the lovely envelope with a sweet note in it.

Says she wanted to thank me for the price she won in my giveaway in February. At that time Wil didn't have a blog, but now she has. You should visit her at Casa Nostra and say 'Hi' from me. Wil is an expert in buying old trash and making treasures of them, buying treasures as well and: (papapapapapaaaaaa:sound of trumpet):

Wil is also great in making cards! Look what she has sent me: A photo album filled with 7 of her artistic creations. The eighth is stuck to the album but

I have removed the others from the album and they are hanging proudly in my almost finished reorganized craftroom, so I can enjoy them every day! Thank you Wil! I feel so lucky with these works of art. They truly inspire me!

Don't forget to click on the picture to see them better. I will use these images in my blog in due time, if I have your permision Wil, of course I will mention that the image is yours.

Living in the northern hemisphere I just want to tell you that in my part of the world the Lime tree is blooming. If there are blooming Lime trees in your neighbourhood, don't forget to go and smell. To me (and I know that scent is a very subjective and personal thing) there is almost nothing that smells better than the blossoming Lime tree. Reminding me of fresh laundry, new born babies and my mother. My mother died almost 12 years ago, but she taught me to enjoy the smell of the trees, the twittering and nesting of all little birds, all small things that you never should take for granted, but enjoy them with all your senses. To me it's seems to be easy; looking out of the window there is a row of Lime trees in our street.

Looking down I can see about 20 working men who are making a new drain, hahaha I bet they don't enjoy the smell of the Lime tree! Which is merely impossible at day time, hidden behind the smell of all their machines. But I'm smart: I have taken a little twig inside;



Always enjoy the smell of Lime trees while you can!
I'm curious to know what's your favorite smell...


Enjoy each and every day!
Thanks again Wil!

Nog even een korte vertaling:
Van Wil kreeg ik een prachtig album toegestuurd vol met zelfgemaakte kaarten, die heb ik eruit gehaald en in mijn bijna gereorganiseerde knutselkamer opgehangen. Wil heeft ook een blog 'Casa Nostra' die kun je boven of in de sidebar aanklikken om haar even een bezoekje te brengen en vergeet haar niet de groeten van mij te doen!
Heel erg bedankt Wil!!

Op dit moment bloeit de Lindeboom. Ik ben dol op de geur van lindebloesem, die doet me denken aan de geur van net gewassen linnengoed, pasgeboren babies en mijn moeder. Mijn moeder is al bijna 12 jaar dood, maar zij heeft me geleerd van deze geur te houden. En ook van het gekwetter van de vogeltjes, van de manier waarop de meesjes hun nestjes maken en uitvliegen, kortom van alle dingen in het leven die je nooit voor lief moet nemen, maar waar je bewust van moet genieten, het liefst met al je zintuigen.
Ik lijk het gemakkelijk te hebben met een straat vol Lindebomen maarrrr juist op dit moment zijn ze een nieuw riool aan het aanleggen. Mmm, daarom heb ik maar een takje bloesem mee naar binnen genomen.
Wat is eigenlijk jouw favoriete geur?

Geniet van het leven!
xoxo 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.

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.