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My Pinterest addiction hobby

It is your Birthday today. We are not celebrating. You’re not adding another digit to your age. You stopped growing older four months ago.
You always told me things have a positive side, that I should look for it instead of letting things get me down. The only positive I can think of now is that I will always remember you as the beautiful lady with the blonde locks. We, the ones left behind, grow older and get more wrinkles and pains and aches.
I wish we could’ve grown old together and laugh about it, sipping our old ladies drinks on a sunny terrace before we grab our walking frames and stumble back to the old people’s home where we have adjacent rooms (we so often joked about that!).
My last package never made it to you. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see the things I made especially for you. Your favourite colours. I imagine you would have been proud of me. Me, the one that always hated non-digital crafts, actually managed to create something. I did it because you encouraged me, you said I could do it and after a while I started to believe it. And you know what, I could!
There’s so much more I need to talk about. So often something happens and I think: oh I should ask Caroline about that… only to be punched in the stomach by the thought that you are no longer here.
I don’t know where you are, but I bet it’s a spiritual nirvana. You will be loved there as you are here.
Please keep an eye on me and guide me when I’m having a hard time. I don’t know why I ask this, because in my heart I know you do. I feel your presence.
The “C” I decorated for you has a place of honour in my new craft room. I see it every day and think of you.
I miss you, my friend, more than you could ever know.
 

 
Bewaren

Aaaand it’s that time of year again. Time flies, whether you have fun or not :p

Many awesome designers signed up for this year’s Blog Train and you can find all participants H E R E. But hurry, the list will be taken down at the end of this month and once it’s gone, it’s gone!

Here’s my contribution! Enjoy and leave some love!

Download link (5.4 MB)

Happy Holidays!

Bewaren

It’s hard to believe, but it’s December again! Time for our 8th edition of Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies (WWCSF).
When I started this, I never expected it to go on for this long. So glad we’ve got a wonderful bunch of designers who decided to participate this year. Some of them have been on this blog train from the beginning and I know I can always count on them. Thank you ladies, you know who you are 🙂

As I’m really into Pocket Letters these days, I wanted to create something that could be used for both scrapbooking and PLs and I came up with 30 different journal/pocket-letter cards. They are 2.5×3.5″, 300 dpi and if you print them on cardstock, you’re ready to go!

You can download it here (28.3 MB).

To see the complete list, please go to the Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies Blog, where you’ll find links to lots of goodies, created for you by designers from all over the world!

Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday Season, a peaceful Christmas and I hope you enjoy the freebie!

Hahaha! What happened to 3 and 4, I hear you ask. Well, I still haven’t sent #3 and forgot to take pics of #4, yep, that’s me 🙂 But the recipient of #4, the lovely and sweet Mary, assured me that she would take pics once it arrives (long story, but it’ll get there one day :D)

For #2 I signed up for a swap at the PocketLetterPals website, theme was Fall. I used a lot of wood veneer embellishments and coloured them with the StazOn Midi Ink Pads. A lovely neighbour donated a big part of her stock to me and I couldn’t wait to try them out. Such lovely colours!!

Front

Back

Close ups

Front Row 1

Front Row 2

Front Row 3

Back Row 1

Back Row 2

Back Row 3

I love all the fall colours and had fun making this one. Unfortunately I don’t know if my swap partner received this PocketLetter, nor if she liked it or not, as I haven’t heard from her since. She did sent a lovely PL, so I’m grateful for that. I’ve heard of people who sent out their PL, but never received one back. I honestly don’t understand why you would do that. I can understand if you sign up, something comes along and you’re not able to create one, but all you have to do is let your swap partner know. And, call me old fashioned, but I think a ‘thank you’ is just good manners, whether you like the PL you received or not.

I saw pics of PLs that weren’t to my taste, but I stepped in to this swapping thing with one thought on my mind: I want to create a PL I love, one *I* would love to receive, so that’s what I do. Not everyone is creative and I appreciate the work and time that goes in it. Okay, some PLs may be less elaborate than others, but it’s the thought and dedication that counts.

Okay, on to PL #5. I just HAD to sign up for this swap as the theme was: ‘My Country/Hometown’. My swap partner was Melody from Canada and she sent me an awesome PL with lots of goodies!! Happy Mail 🙂

I wanted to do something with the colours of the Dutch flag (red/white/blue) and came up with this..

Front

Back

Close ups

Front Row 1

Front Row 2

Front Row 3

Back Row 1

Back Row 2

Back Row 3

I always add a tea-bag with a Dutch Tea blend, but the packaging usually clashes with the papers, so I create a pocket using one of the PLs papers, and then it matches. COD you say? No comment!
The pair of mini wooden shoes (Back Row 3) is a fridge magnet 🙂 I love love love it! And of course the charms I picked: a bike and a Dutch house.

Had lots of fun with both PLs. I takes me hours, days, to put everything together, but that’s part of the fun!

More to come, as I’m on PL 14 already (behind with posting pics – as always!)

Pinterest keeps me entertained, most of the time. I love searching for new craft projects and while I think: “Oooo, I’m going to do this”, I hardly ever start a project.
Until I saw a pin that really got me interested: a pocket letter. What the heck was that?
I started searching the net and found all the info I needed on Janette Lane’s Blog, the ‘home’ of pocket letters. She explains it perfectly in this blogpost.

I joined the Pocket Letter Pals network, joined a few groups (one of them being ‘Christmas’, of course!!) and it wasn’t long before I found someone to swap with.
Aaaaarghh, panic.. – glue and me don’t go well together and I wasn’t sure if I could deliver. I mean, my head was full of ideas, but I’m a perfectionist and I want things to turn out just as I envision them (which often isn’t the case :p). But now I found a swap partner and I HAD to deliver!

So I started, a bit apprehensive. To my surprise I had a wonderful time, searching for the right papers and embellishments. I was so happy with the results, this was definitely something I wanted to do more!

Apart from the letter with information about me and my life, I wanted to add more personal stuff. So I started a Pinterest board with small projects, which would fit into the pockets.

I wanted to personalize the PLs I made, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to include my scrapbooking graphics (which were collecting dust) and I decided to add a special info graphic with the name and date to each PL. Yes, it’s more work, but I just love that personal touch.

The best thing about Pocket Letters is that each pocket is a small project (huge projects scare me off). You don’t need to finish the pocket letter in one go, you can take it a pocket a day 🙂

Here is the pocket letter I made for Leslie in Texas, USA – and I got a great pocket letter in return.

Front

Back

Close ups

Front Row 1

Front Row 2

Front Row 3

Back Row 1

Back Row 2

Back Row 3

And because you can’t send a Christmas Gift without wrapping it, here’s the PL ready to go

If you’re into Pocket Letters already, consider joining the Pocket Letter Pals network. There are loads of swapping events being organized and many groups to join for special interests (Christmas, Harry Potter, Owls, Faeries, Countries, to name a few).
If this is all news to you, give it a try, I was hooked in seconds and I’m sure you will be too.